by Darrien Lee
“Craig!”
Holding her hand, he said, “It’s almost over, Sweetheart. Hang in there.”
“Easy for you to say! You did this to me!”
He smiled and said, “I know, Sweetheart, but wasn’t it fun?”
Pushing his hand away, she snapped, “Don’t touch me, Bennett!”
Knowing she was irritated, he leaned down and kissed her on the lips.
“I love you anyway.”
At that time, Dr. Miller entered asking, “How’s my patient?”
“Mean as a rattlesnake.”
The doctor said, “Okay, Venice, are you ready to meet your babies?”
Since she was having another contraction, she could only nod her head. The doctor checked and found that Venice was ready to push.
He asked, “Craig, are you ready?”
“I’m as ready as I’m going to be.”
Venice said, “Let’s do this, Doc, and get your nurses ready to pick him off the floor. Punk! I can’t believe you did this to me.”
Craig laughed. “I see you’re still able to be a comedian, Sweetheart.”
Dr. Miller then said, “Okay, let’s do this. Get ready, Craig, because you’re cutting the cords.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Craig and Venice met the first baby. Dr. Miller yelled, “It’s a boy!!”
As he handed the baby boy to his nurses, Venice asked, “Is he okay?”
Craig kissed her on the forehead. “He’s perfect.”
The name they decided on was Craig Alexander Bennett, Jr. He weighed in at five pounds, two ounces and came out screaming. Craig cut the cord proudly.
Dr. Miller said, “Okay, Venice, one down, one to go. Are you ready?”
Still in pain, she responded, “I’m ready.”
Exhausted, he asked, “Craig, you still with me?”
Still in awe from seeing his son born, Craig humbly said, “I’m here, Doc.”
As the doctor prepared to deliver the other baby, his nurse looked at the monitor and said, “Doctor Miller.” He didn’t respond. He just looked at the monitor and in a calm but concerned voice, he whispered, “Craig, I don’t want to alarm you, but your other baby is having some trouble.”
Venice yelled, “What is it!”
Craig went to her side and said, “It’s okay, Sweetheart, but the other baby is being stubborn like someone else I know.”
Venice could see it in his face even though he tried to conceal it. Something was wrong. The way the nurses were hurrying around the room confirmed it. In a calm, but serious tone, Dr. Miller said, “Venice, we have to get your other baby out right away. I’m going to have to do a C-Section so we’re going to numb you from the waist down.”
Venice started crying and screamed, “I can’t lose my baby!”
Dr. Miller said, “Venice, calm down. I need you to relax for me. Can you do that?”
She looked into Craig’s eyes and saw the same fear ripping through his heart. Craig leaned down to her ear and whispered, “We’re going to get through this, Sweetheart. Everything’s going to be all right. You’ll see. I love you.”
Tears were still streaming down her face when she said, “I love you, too.
It only took a few minutes for Dr. Miller to numb her. During that time, Venice noticed their voices became faint and the room became dim. Venice couldn’t understand what was happening.
She closed her eyes and prayed; then she heard a voice call out to her.
“Niecy!”
Opening her eyes, she realized she couldn’t move. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She heard the voice again, “Niecy!”
Out of the corner of her eyes, she watched as Jarvis approached seemingly from nowhere. Unable to move, she looked into his smiling face as he leaned down and planted a kiss on her lips. He placed his hand on her stomach and closed his eyes. She looked around the room, then realized she was the only one who could see him. Craig was holding her hand with a bowed head and closed eyes, obviously praying. Only moments passed, then Jarvis opened his eyes and smiled.
“Niecy, don’t worry, your baby is just fine. I had to make sure there was no more sadness in your life. You’ve suffered enough sorrow for this lifetime. I love you and tell my son I love him also. I’m so proud that he keeps me in his prayers every night.”
Tears spilled out of her eyes.
“Jarvis, it’s really you. Oh, my God! You’ve come back to me!”
“No, Sweetheart. I’m only back to help you and to say goodbye. You were and will always be the love of my life. Be happy and know that I’ll always be with you. You and Craig have some beautiful children. I’m glad you two are together. I have to go now. Kiss Brandon and remember I’ll always love you.”
“Jarvis, whatever you did just now, thank you. I’ll always love you, too, Babe. Thank you so much for making me happy and for giving me Brandon.”
He kissed her one last time, looked up at Craig and said, “He’s a good man, Niecy. I’m happy for you. Goodbye, Babe.”
Before she could answer, he was gone. Seconds later the room became bright again and she heard Dr. Miller yell, “It’s a girl!!”
Even though she was stubborn and had already caused her parents to worry, Clarissa Alexandria Bennett had arrived. She weighed in at five pounds, six ounces.
Craig let out a sigh and asked, “Is she okay?”
Dr. Miller said, “She seems to be fine but we’ll check her out to be on the safe side. It was the damnest thing. One minute, the cord was around her neck; the next minute, it wasn’t. I’m glad I didn’t have to do the C-section after all. Congratulations!” Venice was overwhelmed as she heard their two babies fill the room with noise.
Craig said, “You did it, Venice.”
Solemnly, she answered, “No, I didn’t…it was Jarvis. I saw him, Craig. I was praying and he touched my stomach and told me everything was going to be all right. He said you were a good man.”
Craig was speechless upon hearing about Venice’s vision. All that mattered was that they had two healthy babies.
He kissed her and said, “All I have to say is, I’m glad I brought this necklace with me.”
“Where did you get that?”
“Brandon found it at Jarvis’ house. I’d been meaning to ask you about it but I forgot.”
Venice took the necklace from his hand and clutched it to her heart. He asked, “Whose is it?”
“I gave it to Jarvis as a gift a year before he died.” Venice swallowed hard and said, “Craig, he was buried with it around his neck.”
Silence engulfed them. For at that moment, Craig knew Jarvis had been their divine intervention who had saved their daughter. They never spoke about it again.
Six weeks later, on an October night, Craig was awakened by his hungry son. It seemed like only moments earlier that he had read Brandon a bedtime story and turned in for the night. Venice was exhausted from an earlier feeding with little Clarissa. Since deciding to breast-feed, there had been little time for sleep. He picked him up and stared into the tiny face, which looked like Venice. He was proud to say that Clarissa looked more like him. After staring each other down, he let out a loud squeal. Not wanting to wake up Venice and his daughter, they went downstairs to warm a bottle of recently-pumped breast milk.
The house was quiet and the moment was tender. Craig changed his son’s diaper, then let him finish off the bottle. In little or no time, he was sound asleep. Reminiscing over the past year, Craig couldn’t believe the wonderful things that had happened to him. He married his true love and she had an outstanding medical practice. They shared three beautiful children and he owned his own company. Needless to say, he couldn’t forget the tragedy that brought them back together. Looking to the heavens, he closed his eyes and said, “God bless you, Jarvis.”
After putting his sleeping son back into his crib, he climbed back into bed and held Venice securely in his arms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Darrien Lee, a native of Columbi
a, Tennessee, resides in LaVergne, Tennessee with her husband of twelve years and two young daughters. She is excited about the release of her sequel, Been There, Done That. Darrien picked up her love for writing while attending college at Tennessee State University, and it was that experience which inspired her debut novel, All That and A Bag of Chips.
She is a member of A Place of Our Own Bookclub, Women of Color Bookclub and Authors Supporting Authors Positively. Darrien also writes for the hot e-zine, The Nubian Chronicles, an online magazine where she shares her opinion on controversial issues on her page titled, “From The Desk of Darrien Lee.” You can view her work monthly at www.NubianChronicles.net
Please visit her website www.DarrienLee.com for upcoming appearances and events.
EXCERPT FROM
What Goes Around, Comes Around
BY DARRIEN LEE
Arnelle sat in her office, twirling an ink pen on her fingers. She was feeling homesick for the first time since coming to Philly. She missed the warm Texas evenings. Especially sitting out watching the sun set on her parents’ porch. She also missed her daughter, MaLeah, the source of all her determination to succeed. She was two years old now and right in the middle of that terrible-two stage. Leaving her was difficult, but necessary. She was very reluctant about relocating, leaving her parents in Texas to watch over MaLeah. Especially since her father had announced his candidacy to run for Mayor. She had to remind herself to be strong because she had a long road ahead of her. At that time the telephone rang.
“Bennett Sports Clinic. How may I help you?”
A deep baritone voice from the past answered.
“Hello, Arnelle, remember me?”
Arnelle froze and asked, “What’s up, Cyrus?”
He laughed.
“You know exactly what I want.”
Arnelle held her ground, but was becoming agitated.
“Forget it, Cyrus!”
With firmness in his voice, he answered, “You owe me and you know it!”
She stood and yelled, “Why can’t you just leave it alone and face it?”
“Come on, Arnelle. I’m sure your daddy wouldn’t be too pleased with what I could tell him about you; especially since he’s running for Mayor. The media would love to get a hold of this kind of information.”
“Are you trying to blackmail me?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes. You’re supposed to be my friend. You owe me!”
“Go to hell, Cyrus!”
Arnelle slammed the phone down and practically ran from her office. When she turned the corner, she ran right into a tall, hard body. Strong, firm hands kept her from falling to the floor.
“Excuse me! I’m so sorry!”
Arnelle lowered her head and tried to hold in the tears but was unsuccessful. She looked up into Winston’s eyes and broke down crying in his arms.
Startled by her response, he embraced her. “What’s wrong, Arnelle? Did somebody hurt you?”
She shook her head as he led her back into her office and sat her on the sofa. He retrieved some bottled water from her small refrigerator and handed it to her.
He sat next to her and asked, “Arnelle, why are you crying? Where’s Venice?”
She took a sip of water and wiped her tears away with her hand. “I’m fine, Winston.”
“If you insist.”
“Thanks for being here for me though.”
“You’re welcome,” he said softly.
“Venice went out to lunch with Craig. They should be back shortly,” she said as she wiped her nose with a tissue.
She still wouldn’t make eye contact with him. She just stared at the bottle she held in her hands.
Winston was mesmerized because she was absolutely gorgeous. He was also angry that someone had caused her pain.
“Who upset you, Arnelle?”
She finally looked at him.
“You’re getting a little personal, Winston. I’m allowed to cry sometimes.”
Reaching over, he wiped a lone tear from her cheek. “I’m not trying to get in your business, Arnelle. I’m just concerned and wanted to make sure no one had hurt you. You’re a friend of my best friend. I just wanted to make sure no one messed with you.”
She stood and so did he. He was dressed in a dark, gray suit looking every bit the great attorney he was. His neatly-trimmed goatee outlined a pair of luscious lips and, for a moment, she couldn’t take her eyes off them. The slight contact she was having with him caused chills to run over her body.
I can’t believe he’s still pretending he doesn’t know me. Now here he sits trying to be compassionate and concerned. I’ll play along, but not for long.
Clearing her throat, she asked, “Was Venice expecting you?”
“Not really. I just dropped by to see if I could take Brandon to the ball game Saturday.”
“Brandon will love that.”
“We’ve been before. It’s really cool. We always have a good time.”
She folded her arms. “I’m sure you do. Thanks again for being concerned. I’ll be fine…really.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Well, I guess I’d better go. I’ll just leave Venice a note on her desk.”
His eyes were doing a number on her and she tried her best not to let it affect her.
“Why are you doing this, Winston? What’s with the act?”
“What do you mean? I’m concerned about you and it bothers me to see you cry. Wait, what are you talking about, Arnelle?”
Something’s wrong here. I’m not sure if this is an act anymore.
Waving him off nervously, she said, “Never mind. Forget I asked. I’m sure Venice will call you as soon as she gets back. I’ll walk you out.”
What is it about this woman? What did she mean by that statement?
Winston left Venice a note on her desk as Arnelle waited for him in the front lobby. When he walked toward her, she felt his awesome magnetism. He stood over her and without any warning he picked her up and hugged her. Arnelle hugged him back and tried to recover from his sudden action. He released her, reached into his jacket pocket, and pulled out a small card.
“Arnelle, if you ever need anything or you just want to talk, call me. This card has my home, cell and private office numbers on it. OK?”
Arnelle took the card from his hand and smiled. “Thank you, Winston. Goodbye.”
She watched through the window as he walked in long strides out to his truck, climbed in, and drove away.
“Winston Carter III, I will find out why you’re acting like you don’t know me if it’s the last thing I do. If Cyrus is involved, I’ll never forgive him.”
