“What is it?” she questioned, surging forward.
I shook my head. “I don’t know, but I’m not feeling so well.”
My mother came over with Justice. They all looked concerned. “Does she have some time to eat something?” my mama asked.
Justice nodded. “Yes, we are ahead of schedule. I’ll see what I can find. In the meantime, why don’t you lie down for a few?” she suggested.
I gave a small smile. “That’ll be perfect. Thanks.”
I shuffled over to the bedroom and did exactly what was suggested. The issue was that once I lay down, it was like I couldn’t get back up. I only began to feel worse until the point I wasn’t sure I would be able to get married today.
My eyes cracked open when I heard the door open. I smiled sadly when I saw my husband-to-be standing there, looking as handsome as ever. His hair was freshly cut, and he wore a pair of frameless gold glasses. He was dressed in a tailored white Armani suit jacket with a gold chain lapel. His button-up beneath was white with black buttons to match his black bow tie and dress pants. His shiny, black dress shoes brought his look together and tears to my eyes.
“Hey, baby.” He greeted me in a soft voice. Walking closer, he bent, squatting beside my face. “You look so beautiful.”
Tears flooded my lash line. “Thank you. I’m sorry I’m ruining our wedding.”
He was adamantly shaking his head before I could fully get the apology out. “You’re not ruining anything. There is no wedding without you, Grai.” He stroked a finger down the side of my face. “Do you want to go to the hospital?” I gulped, feeling so guilty. He read my expression and shut down my racing thoughts. “Stop doing that. I promise everything is fine. I am still going to marry your beautiful ass.”
I smiled through the discomfort I was feeling, unable to strip out of my dress or move too much, so Poppa carried me out of the suite bridal style. His truck was pulled around and waiting for us when we got downstairs. He got me inside, then joined me. We held hands the entire drive to the hospital. I tried to keep my eyes open, but the motion of the car was making me sick.
“I think something is seriously wrong,” I confessed. If I couldn’t be vulnerable with the man I was about to marry, then why would I even be considering doing life with him?
He lifted my hands to his lips. “Don’t think like that, Bubbles. You’re going to be fine.” I allowed his words to wash over me as if they could erase the pain I was in. Of course, it didn’t work, but I allowed each kiss he placed on the back of my hand to restore my faith that everything was well.
When we made it to New Haven in downtown Solaire, we walked into a packed emergency room. My worried eyes roamed over to Poppa, but he remained calm. I allowed him to take the lead as we talked to the receptionist, dressed from head to toe for a wedding. Of course, we got some odd stares, but we paid them no mind.
“Hi, my wife needs to be seen. She hasn’t been feeling well,” he informed the nurse there. She turned to me with kind eyes and a smile before asking about my symptoms. I filled her in, then we went to sit down while I filled out the required paperwork. Halfway through it, my head began to swim, so Poppa completed it for me. I felt completely depleted of energy while I rested my head on his shoulder.
I used Poppa as an anchor the entire time, and he let me. As a matter of fact, his arm wrapped around my waist ensured it. I didn’t even realize I was crying until he began to wipe away my tears. “It’s going to be okay, baby. Don’t cry.”
When I glanced at him, I crashed into the waves of concern in the depths of his eyes. His love for me ran deep, and he would not leave my side until he knew what was going on with me. I could tell by the defiant set of his jaw. He planted a kiss on my third eye that somehow summoned the triage nurse.
Everything was a blur after that. She took my vitals, asked too many questions, and they made me do a urine sample before drawing blood. I was overly exhausted when I lay back on the bed in the small room. Poppa sat beside me with the phone pressed to his ear.
“Yeah, we’re in the back now. They drew blood and stuff like that. Have her scheduled for some stomach X-rays too.” He paused, listening to whoever was on the other end of the phone. He chuckled. “Bae.” My eyes fluttered open to find him watching me. “Loh asked if he can have a slice of the wedding cake.”
Despite the discomfort I was feeling, I couldn’t help but smile. My baby would be somewhere eating cake if the world were on fire. I couldn’t even be mad. Someone should enjoy it.
I chuckled. “Of course, he did. Yeah, let him have some.”
He winked at me, causing a blush to creep onto my cheeks. My eyes drifted back closed as he returned to the phone conversation. At some point, I must’ve dozed off because the next thing I knew, Poppa was shaking me awake. There was the weight of a cover on me that hadn’t been there before.
“The doctor is here, Bubbles,” he informed me. He was standing beside the bed like my personal bodyguard.
I was curled on my side, so I turned on my back and sat up. The doctor was an older black woman with kinky, gray hair. She smiled brightly. “Hi, Ms. Harlowe. I am Amara Brighton, the on-call doctor. I heard you were supposed to be getting married today.”
I smiled sadly. My eyes floated down to my wedding dress. It was still a beautiful gown, though not being worn for the reason intended. “Yeah, should’ve been on the dancefloor doing the Roy right now,” I whined.
Poppa and Doctor Brighton both chuckled. “Well, I’m happy you have a sense of humor because the reason you’re here today is quite simple. Can’t believe you stopped your wedding to come to the emergency room for it.”
I sucked in a sharp breath, preparing myself for the worst. Even my heart began to anticipate bad news and thumped rapidly. I reached for Poppa’s hand, and like magic, his hand wrapped around mine, giving me strength.
“What is it?” Poppa asked inquisitively.
The smile on Doctor Brighton’s face grew wider. “She’s pregnant.”
“What?” Poppa and I screeched at the same time.
