by Ashley
“You know all that you’re talking is just noise right now. We’re going. I’d rather raise hell and have it be a false alarm than do nothing and risk everything,” Rocko replied. “I dropped big money in that doctor’s account. This is what we pay her for, to be there when we need her.”
Rocko sped to the hospital and put the call in to their doctor to let her know they were on the way. By the time they arrived, Liberty could barely walk. Pain erupted through her abdomen. She was so distressed that tears clouded her vision. She had gone from calm to panicked because her body was telling her that this was not normal.
“This can’t be happening,” she whispered to herself as the fear of losing her child popped into her mind. This would be just fitting. She had never gotten to live the fairy-tale lifestyle for too long. Tragedy always struck her eventually.
“Rocko.” She looked at him with anxious eyes.
“Don’t worry, Lib. Everything is going to be OK. I feel it in my soul, ma,” he said. He kissed the back of her hand and got out of the car. He ran into the hospital to retrieve a wheelchair and then gently moved Liberty. He rushed her inside.
Rocko tried his hardest to keep his cool. Liberty was unraveling by the minute, and he didn’t want to lose his head and contribute to the chaos. If she was weak, then he had to be strong. He had to be levelheaded to support the woman he loved. He couldn’t stop his heart from aching, however. On the inside, he was torn up as worry held possession of his insides. Rocko had never been emotional. In fact, until he met Liberty, he had never loved any woman, not even his own mother. Venturing into the territories of the heart was challenging for Rocko. It meant that he had to put someone before himself, and so far with Liberty, it had been worth it. All he wanted to do was put her first and protect her, but this was one thing that he had no control over. He couldn’t bring their child into the world. That was her job, and he hoped that she was strong enough to pull it off. Liberty had a history of weakness, but right now, he needed her to find her inner strength. A small sense of relief flooded over him when he saw Dr. Blake. The tall, thin black woman wore a comforting smile as she stood in the middle of the hall waiting for their arrival.
“I’ve already registered you,” she said. “Please follow me this way.”
“I’m having a lot of pain,” Liberty said. “Something just doesn’t feel right.”
The doctor placed a reassuring hand on Liberty’s shoulder. “Don’t worry. We’ll find out what’s wrong. I’m going to take good care of you and your baby, Liberty.”
Rocko followed them into a room where he helped Liberty undress and slide into the hospital gown.
“Let’s get you up in the stirrups,” the doctor instructed calmly.
Liberty lay back and got into position, allowing the doctor to get a good view. Rocko stood near her head, holding her hand. He leaned over to kiss the top of her head, while silently fearing the worst.
“No wonder you’re in a lot of pain, Liberty. You’re dilating pretty quickly. Looks like you’re going to have this baby tonight.”
Suddenly, Liberty felt faint. She had survived so much in her lifetime, but she was unsure if she could survive this. She could feel Rocko’s hand massaging her back. She saw the supportive looks from the nurses in the room. There were people all around her, encouraging her in this, but somehow she felt alone. She had no mother to hold her hand, no father to whisper words of reassurance. Liberty felt abandoned in that moment. Rocko’s presence didn’t seem to be enough to calm her fears.
“What are all these machines? Is everything OK? Is something wrong with the baby?” Liberty’s questions were endless, and they were falling out of her mouth effortlessly. Nurses moved around her swiftly, moving Rocko to the side as they plugged IVs into her veins and put heart monitors on her stomach. She had so many tubes running through her body that she felt as if she might be dying.
“Answer her questions. We need to know what’s going on every step,” Rocko asserted.
“The machines allow us to monitor the baby’s heartbeat. It’s kind of low. If it drops any lower, I’m going to have to go in via cesarean,” the doctor replied.
“A C-section? That means something is wrong with the baby,” Liberty said in distress.
Rocko bent over her and kissed her lips. “I need you calm, our baby needs you calm. Breathe, ma. You had me in those Lamaze classes looking like a sucker. Now it’s time to show what you learned,” he joked. His charming smile caused her to smile, too. His spirit was infectious, and he began to breathe deeply in a pattern. She followed him. She felt Dr. Blake adjust the bed and lower the stirrups. She pulled the side rails up on the hospital bed, and suddenly, Liberty was being wheeled away.
“Rocko, let’s get you sterilized. I don’t like the way your baby’s heartbeat is sounding. We’re going into surgery now!”
Before Liberty could process anything, she was under a large glowing lamp, and everything around her was becoming hazy. She could hear voices that now sounded far away.
The doctor barking orders. The machines around her blaring in distress. Rocko’s voice demanding something.
There was so much pressure between her legs that it hurt. She could feel people pulling at her insides, and then she heard it—the sound of a baby’s cry breaking through the air. Before she could enjoy the sweet sound of the melody, her entire world went black.
* * *
Liberty felt as if she were floating as she came out of her induced slumber. Her vision was blurry as she forced herself to open her eyes. She turned her head groggily, her head feeling like noodles, falling lazily against her pillow. She smiled when she saw her baby being held. She was about to call Rocko’s name when suddenly, he turned around, and she saw the one face that she never thought she would see again. A’shai’s. It was her long-lost love, standing across the room, carrying her newborn son. He rocked him lovingly in his arms.
“Hey, sleepy-head,” he greeted her.
She was so groggy that all she could do was smile. “It’s a boy, Liberty. He’s perfect. You did good.”
“Hmm,” she moaned. She reached out to him, wanting to feel him, to touch him one more time. It had been so long. This can’t be real. This is a dream, she thought. Even if it was, she didn’t care; she wanted to live in this dream forever. It was the best dream she had ever had. He grabbed her hand as he cradled the baby in one arm. He stood over her, looking down at her lovingly. “I love you,” she whispered. “I miss you so much.”
“I love you, too. I’ma love you until I have no more air left in my lungs, Liberty. I’m so proud of you. You and me are forever, ma.” He leaned down and kissed her forehead.
“Forever,” she whispered as her eyes closed, savoring the moment. When she reopened them, it wasn’t A’shai’s face that she saw over her. It was Rocko’s.
She looked left and then right, taken off guard and confused. No, she thought. I wasn’t done with him yet. I still had so much to say. “Rocko?”
“Yeah, ma, it’s me and our son,” Rocko said.
Disappointment filled Liberty, but it quickly passed. Yes, she loved A’shai more than life itself, and she would miss him every day for the rest of her life. But he had come to her. She had waited for years, and his spirit had finally touched her. He loved her, he was proud of her, and he approved of her newfound family. Her seeing his face wasn’t a mistake. It was his good-bye. It was what she had needed all along, and finally she felt closure. A’shai was finally resting in peace now that she had found happiness.
She reached out her arms and whispered, “Can I see him?”
“Of course you can. Liberty, meet our son,” Rocko whispered as he passed their child to her.
An overwhelming amount of love blossomed in her heart when she laid eyes on his face. “He’s so small,” she whispered. “This is my child, our son.”
She looked at Rocko, and he melted. He had never seen a woman look so beautiful. The affection that emanated off of her was unfiltered, and i
t was all reserved for his son. He had never had that. His mother had abandoned him as a small child, so the fact that Liberty loved his son made him love her that much more. If he hadn’t been certain before, he was now. She was his angel, and although it had taken them forever to recognize their bond, he was grateful still.
Love danced all over Liberty’s body, and she couldn’t take her eyes off of her newborn. This was her son. Her purpose. She now realized that every single moment in her life had prepared her for this moment. Liberty had needed all of the pain she had endured to build character. She had to make all of the mistakes so that she could one day prevent the child she held from making them. Liberty’s life was so clear in that moment, as she experienced pure love for the first time ever. Nothing compared to it, and as she brought her child’s face to her lips, she felt joy.
“What do you want to name him?” she asked.
“King,” Rocko replied.
“I love that,” she whispered. “Hi, King,” she sang, her lips stretched in a smile. She turned her head to Rocko and pursed her lips. “And I love you. Thank you for my fairy-tale ending.”
Liberty had won. She had beaten all the odds. Through death, through prostitution, through human trafficking and family betrayal, she was still standing. Love had conquered all. Liberty was finally liberated.
READ MORE ABOUT ANARI, BARON, MILLIE,
and the rest of Ashley and JaQuavis’s best characters in
ILLUMINATI: ROUNDTABLE OF BOSSES
(Coming APRIL 2014)
Murderville 3
The Black Dahlia
Copyright © 2013 by Ashley & JaQuavis
Cash Money Content™ and all associated logos are trademarks of Cash Money Content LLC.
www.SimonandSchuster.com
All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
Any similarity to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
First Trade Paperback Edition: September 2013
Book Layout: Peng Olaguera/ISPN
Cover Design: Oddball Dsgn
For further information log onto www.CashMoneyContent.com
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012954025
ISBN: 978-1-936-39909-3 pbk
ISBN: 978-1-936-39910-9 ebook
Contents
Previously in Murderville 2
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
