“I love you more, girl.”
CHAPTER 28
NONI
“Itold you everything would work out.”
“You did,” Bali said as I sat next to her.
Red and Carter had some shit to do at Red’s house, so we came here to the family meeting and would meet up with them afterwards. Red seemed nervous about something, and I didn’t have the slightest clue what his problem was. We’d been getting along extremely well, better than we did in the beginning of our relationship. He had become everything I knew he could be, and I had become everything he desired as well.
“Girl, I been holding some tea since yesterday that I need to tell you about. You the only one I can tell this shit to, because of HIPAA.”
I frowned. There was no telling what had gone down while I was gone. “With one of my patients?”
“Naw. I had a new patient yesterday.”
“Okay. That means someone is pregnant. Who?”
“Aaliyah.”
I frowned harder. “Red’s sister?” I asked in a hushed voice.
“Yep. Guess who the father is? Before you ask, he doesn’t know yet, so he wasn’t there.”
“Bali, quit playing. Who?”
“Royal.”
My eyebrows damn near hopped off my face. That was the last name I was expecting her to say for some reason. I knew he was a fucking freak nasty nigga, but I didn’t think he was reckless enough to have a baby on the way. “Why hasn’t she told him yet?”
“She’s scared. They were just fucking around, having fun. She thinks he’s gonna want a DNA test. I told her that I believed he would be understanding and would do right by her and the baby.”
“How far along is she?”
“Girl, almost twelve weeks. I did a vaginal ultrasound. She’s having twins, Noni.”
“Ashanni is gonna shit a brick. We all fucking the same families. You and Maui are Semiens, and it seems me, Ashanni, and Royal love the Andersons.”
Bali giggled. She looked so much happier. I knew Carter would fix things. That man loved the fuck out of her. What she did had caught him off guard and had his head fucked up. I grabbed her hand, and said, “I’m so happy for y’all. I had faith in Carter.”
She shoulder bumped me.
“I don’t know about Red, though. We’ve been doing really good, but he seemed super nervous when I left. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but I hope it ain’t no fuckery. We’ve been through too much already, and we ain’t even engaged yet.”
My eyebrows nearly hiked off my damn face for the second time in five minutes.Is he gonna propose to me?Before Bali could respond, Uncle WJ walked in with a big smile on his face. That had to mean good news was on the way. He went to the mic, and everyone sat. Vida was holding Aunt Syn in her arms. She’d been having an extremely tough time mentally.
She’d gotten on TV and used her celebrity status to get the case some attention, telling the public of her time in a detention facility, what she saw, and how they split her family up like they did slaves. Well, that shit got more than “some” attention. The shit went viral.
Aunt Syn was extremely popular in the industry, maybe even more than Jessica. Unfortunately, I felt like the industry still hadn’t evolved enough to where BBW models got as much attention as the others. Aunt Syn was a baddie, even in her forties.
When that shit hit the airwaves, a fire started. Even big celebrities were speaking on it. Noah had taken to social media and released a statement. He was rarely on the internet making any kind of statement. When he went public about it, the shit got real. Beyonce’s internet was in a frenzy, especially southeast Texas and southwest Louisiana. Everyone knew the Hendersons in this area, so the shit really went crazy around here.
The family was on the news last week while I was in Vegas, and Jess had done an interview with one of the local news outlets in Houston. Aunt Syn had also ended up doing an interview withMS NOWas well. Everyone was calling for his release, and it had begun putting pressure on the government in a short amount of time. EvenThe ViewandABC News with David Muirhad covered it, along with indie reporters, Don Lemon, Aaron Parnas, Roland Martin, and Joy Reid.
“Good evening, family. I have great news to share with y’all.”
We all sat, giving him our undivided attention. When the door opened and Ryan, Noah, and Nate walked through it behind Watchful Eyes, my eyes widened. Right behind them was Uncle Marcus. Aunt Syn hopped from her seat and ran to him, crashing into him. Malia and Seneda were right behind her.
