Creed looked over at his mother, skeptically. “Where are you going?”
“Bowling.”
“With Fancy?”
“Fancy, is not the only person I know. Why do you always think I’m with her?”
“So, who are you going with? “
Her sons didn’t have to meet every man she dated, but Blossom was tired of coming up with excuses and being vague. She was an adult, and Creed wasn’t a child. “I’m going bowling. With a guy friend. Is that an issue?” She studied her son’s face for signs of emotion.
“A date with who?”
“A guy. That’s all you need to know.”
Blossom hated the fact that she would never tell her sons about Tech’s stint in prison. They would look at her like she was crazy. Their father worked for the federal government, and they went to private school. All her sons knew about the streets was what they saw in television and movies. Just because she was willing to give him a chance didn’t mean her kids would understand or even like the fact that she was dating a guy like Tech.
“Where did you meet this guy?”
“Creed, I am not doing this with you. I’m dating. Getting to know people. Your father has moved on, and I have the right to do the same. Maybe something will come of it. Maybe it won’t. Only time will tell, but I’m an adult, and you don’t have to worry about me. I can take care of myself.”
“I guess,” he mumbled. “You going to be going out every night?”
Blossom’s brows lifted as she tried to gage where he was going with his questioning. “No, I’m not going to be going out every night, but even if I did, you and Chosen are not kids. You have your own lives. Most nights, I have to beg the two of you to sit still long enough to eat dinner with me. When you are home, you’re in your room with the door closed on the phone. What would be the issue if I did want to be gone every night?”
“There isn’t one.” Creed took his sandwich and left the kitchen.
All Blossom could do was shake her head. Not a word was uttered from either one of her sons when Cedric started dating. She wasn’t sure what was up with the double standard but surely, her kids didn’t expect her to be alone for the rest of her life. Creed was pretty much an adult that was about to leave for college, and he still wasn’t taking the news well. She could only imagine how Chosen would react.
Blossom loved her sons more than anything, but she gave up a career that she loved to appease a man and raise her kids. The man was no longer in the picture, and her kids were older. Yes, she still had to be their mother, and she loved them dearly, but Blossom was living for her. There would be no more giving up what made her happy to satisfy someone else.
Khrome was laying on her side with her eyes closed, but she wasn’t asleep. She had been in the hospital for three days, and she was still annoyed. The doctors didn’t want to discharge her because her water had broken. There was still amniotic fluid around the baby, but they had to be careful. Amniotic fluid was what kept the environment that she was in, sterile. If too much fluid was lost, infection could set in, and the baby would be bornvery sick. Khrome had to be monitored closely. Seeing as how she was only six months pregnant, she was looking at being in the hospital for at least another two months at the least, and she hated that for her.
Lethal tried to make her feel better by telling her that she could still work for him from her hospital bed. At least she would be discharged to money in her bank account and while she was in the hospital, she was safe from Cam’s psychotic ass. Khrome’s back was hurting and it had been all day. No matter which way she turned in the bed, she couldn’t get comfortable, and she was just over it. She was glad her baby was okay but once again, things would go good for a little while, and then boom, some bullshit transpired to remind her that she’d never be one of God’s favorites. Trials and tribulations were a very regular part of her life.
Khrome’s eyes opened and widened a bit at the immense amount of pressure that she felt in her vagina. “Oh, that doesn’t feel right,” she mumbled as the nurse walked in the room.
“Hey, Hun. You okay? I’m just about to check your vitals.”
Khrome wanted to be sure of what she thought she was feeling before she said anything. Slowly, she turned on her back and attempted to sit up.
“Oh, Honey,” the nurse stated as she looked over at the monitor by Khrome’s bed. “You’re having a contraction, and it’s a big one. Have you been having them in the past hour or so?”
“My back has been hurting all day. It doesn’t feel good, but it doesn’t really feel like a contraction.” She panicked because of the look of concern on the nurse’s face.
“I need to get the doctor in here to see if you’ve dilated. I’ll be right back.”
“Noooo,” she moaned as it literally felt like something or someone was stomping on her vagina. Could she really be in labor and not know it? She had always heard that contractionswere excruciating, and there would be no doubt about it when she had one.
Despite being uncomfortable, on a scale from one to ten, her pain was only about a six. She’d had menstrual cramps that hurt worse than what she was currently experiencing. The nurse came back accompanied by a doctor. Khrome braced herself for the discomfort that was about to come. She hated this part. It felt as if the doctor was putting his entire fist inside of her vagina whenever he checked to see if she was dilated. Last time he’d checked, which was the day before, she was only one centimeter.
The pressure she was already feeling increased as the doctor probed her, and Khrome closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on breathing while waiting for the discomfort to subside.
“You must have been in active back labor for most of the day,” the doctor stated. “You’re seven centimeters dilated, and at this point, I don’t think we’ll be able to stop it. Once the baby comes, she’ll be taken straight to the NICU.”
Everything he said after that was drowned out by the pounding in Khrome’s ears. Her own thunderous heartbeat affected her hearing. She was terrified. How was she in labor? She had been thinking that everything was good and that her baby was going to stay put for a while longer. It was way too early for her to be born. Tears rolled down Khrome’s cheeks as she tried to process the fact that she was damn near ten centimeters. She had no one to call aside from Lethal. No friends. No family. That made her cry harder. She only had one job; to keep her baby safe, and she couldn’t even do that. The nurse comforted her while she cried, but Khrome was inconsolable. Lethal entered the room and when he saw her crying so hard, his heart dropped.
“What’s wrong?” he instantly feared the worst.
