𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐍𝐉

||𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬||

I hummed to myself as I got out the car. I look at my phone then up at the house, making sure I had the right house. Seeing that I was at the right address, I put my phone in my back pocket then opened the back door. I was doing my own deliveries since I liked to get out there and meet my lovely customers. Majority of them were elder white women who had an obsession with sweets. I didn't mind though since they were so nice, plus they gave some nice tips too.

I picked up the last package that sat on the seat. Always, I checked everything to make sure my desserts were fine. I would be devastated if icing was smushed against the top of the box or my bag ripped while I held it. I wanted to be as professional as I could be regardless if I was a small business. I put a lot of work in what I do unlike other businesses. That was just the type of person I was.

Making sure everything was fine, I grabbed the two boxes then shut the door with my butt. I walked up the sidewalk and to the big cream painted house that I was delivering my cupcakes to. Walking up the stairs, I held the boxes in one hand and used the other to knock on the door. I went back to humming as I waited for the door to be opened. Hearing noise, the front door finally opened and stood there was a pretty, light skin woman.

"Hello-"

"ANNELIESE!" she exclaimed, as if she just seen her long time best friend. I raised my brow out of confusion by the way she called my name. Never have I ever met this woman and she was calling my name like we were sisters.

"Umm, hi. I came to deliver your cupcakes, you ordered the strawberry cup-"

"Oh, girl I didn't know you made desserts? You was always telling me how baking was a waste of your time. Matter a fact, I thought you was down in North Carolina?" The woman continued and I stare at her with confusion.

"Ma'am-"

"Oh, come in girl. We have so much to talk about." she grabbed my arm and pulled me inside the house. I stumbled a little and almost dropping the boxes, but was able to catch them in time with my hand.

Jesus this woman have serious problems.

She led me into the cream and black living room. I will admit it was very beautiful the way the colors correlated together.

"Take a seat, take a seat. We have so much to talk about." she ordered. I didn't even bother to fight it anymore and instead sat on the couch. I place the boxes on the round coffee table in front of me.

"Ok, so I think you have-"

"Girl..." she cut me off, dragging it out like she was about to tell me some tea. "You missed out on some much mess lately. You remember Abraham that lived down the street? Well, turns out he's cheating on his wife with their neighbor Erica. Now, I already told you how they been looking at each other and how he's always helping her out at her house. I knew he was cheating the day he walked out her house at two in the morning talking about he was at work. Men are utterly disgusting."

Before I could say anything, she spoke again. "And speaking on men, your nephew been helping me out lately. He's such a gentleman which makes me wonder how George is his father. That man is evil as hell and abusive. I hope his wife or whatever she is to him, move on from that bastard because she deserve better. And speaking on that, did you move on because you look younger than usual. What cream are you using?" she asked, touching my face with her hands.

I politely moved her hands from my face, "I'm not using any cream. And excuse me, nephew?" I asked, stuck on that part.

"Your nephew, Lou. You can't possibly tell you don't remember that baby. Actually, he's here right now helping, I'll call him. LOU!" she shouted loudly making me jump a little.

She continued screaming his name, I tuck in my lips covering my ears. She had one loud ass mouth and it was slightly annoying. She finally stopped yelling once a tall, dark skin boy came out of nowhere. We both caught each other's attention and I kept my lips tucked in.

"Lou, say hi your aunt. Doesn't she look younger than usual?" the woman asked him, Lou stared at me not answering. I started to feel slightly uncomfortable as he continued staring at me which made me glance away.

"Yeah, she looks very young." he finally answered her question.

"That's what I said. Anyway, would you like some coffee?" she asked me, getting up and not waiting for an answer. She walked out the living room leaving Lou and I. Looking back at him, I seen Lou still staring at me.

"Umm, I'm not sure what's going on, but-"

"She has dementia." he cut me off. "Can't really remember the little things, but know a face." he said and I slowly nodded my head.

"Well, I never met her before and I'm not quite sure how she knows my name." I told him, he didn't say anything and instead let out a small sigh.

"We'll be back, Mrs. Nash!" he said, walking to me and grabbing my hand, pulling me up. I didn't even bother to try to get out his grip because he was holding me tight, but not too much to where it was hurting. We walked out the house and down the stairs to my car.

"Don't leave." He told me sternly, taking his phone out his pocket and went on it.

"What the hell-" I stopped when he put his finger up, putting the phone to his ear.

"Yo, Ant..." I hear him say before he walk away. I toss up my hands, shaking my head. I came to make a delivery, not play stupid games.

As I continued waiting around, I started to feel uneasy like something was about to happen. I leaned on the hood of my car, staring at Lou who was still on the phone. Every now and then he would look back at me then look away. I knew for sure he was talking about me to Anthony which made my feeling even worse.

What the hell was going on?

Finally finished, Lou walked back over to me and I could see he wanted to say something just by his face. You ever notice the face someone make when they're keeping a secret in? That's the face he was making right now.

"So, why'd you call Anthony?" I asked with stern in my voice, so he know I was serious.

He bite his lip nervously, "Because I needed to talk to him that's all." He answered, refusing to look at me. And I knew he could hold eye contact cause he was doing it not too long ago.

So, he for sure was lying.

"Oh really?" I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. I was getting that feeling all over again as I talked to him.

Something definitely was up.

"Look, he wants us to come down to this restaurant on Chester Street. That's where he's having lunch and he needs to-" I didn't even let him finish before I leaned off my car and got inside.

I wasted no time putting the key in the ignition and starting it up then pulled off quickly. I already knew where to find Anthony at since he went to the same restaurant always during his lunch. It wasn't even a restaurant, more like a diner where people go to use the free wifi. Regardless, I knew where I was going and I was out.

Finally arriving at the restaurant, I parked my car and took the key out. Getting out the car, I seen Anthony sitting at his usual table through the window. I hurried inside the diner and over to him, he look up from his laptop at me.

"Lia..." he said my name in a surprised tone.

"Anthony." I replied sarcastically, sitting in the seat across from him. He shut his laptop and look directly at me.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked, titling my head at him. He didn't answer and instead look past me just as Lou walked over.

"I really can't stand you." He said to me, sitting beside me. I roll my eyes at him then look back at Anthony.

"Okay, so I make a delivery to a woman house who opens the door and calls me by my name. Mind you not my nickname, my actual name that I don't tell people at all. Then she proceed to say that I look young and say that my nephew was here. The last time I checked, I don't have any siblings so I can't have a nephew, Anthony. So, please tell me what the hell is going on." I told him, looking from him and Lou.

The two of them didn't reply and just stare at me. The silence was eating me alive and was starting to piss me off.

"Anthony, are you going to answer me?" I asked, my voice getting louder the more pissed off I got.

"Lia, it's complicated." Lou told me, I look at him confused as always.

"How do you even know my name?" I asked, he opened his mouth to speak but closed it.

I put my attention back on Anthony, "Anthony, how does he know my name?" I asked him, he hung his head still not answering.

"I swear to you not, if y'all don't answer me I will make one hell of a scene in this diner and y'all don't want that." I warned them both, 100% serious.

I obviously was being left out of something very important and I hate that. Especially, when it concerns me. What the hell weren't they telling me?

"Anthony, just tell her man." Lou finally spoke, Anthony let out a sigh opening his laptop.

"Tell me what?" I asked.

He didn't answer and instead handed me a paper. I look at him then Lou then back at the paper. Staring at it, I seen it was his birth certificate. I'm not sure why I needed to see this until I look at his birthday; November 16. The same birthday as mine. Still looking over it, I seen it said twin and that he was the first. I roll my eyes looking up from the paper.

"Okay, so you show me your birth certificate, that's nice." I remarked and he sigh, sliding his laptop in front of me. I look at the screen seeing a video was up and I seen my mom. The video was already on a time stamp and I just pressed play.

"I give you permission to have her. You can fulfill your sexual fantasies on her as long as you keep our secret."

"My wife died while giving birth...that's what she'll know. And I can have my way with her?"

"Yes...you can have your way with her Nelson. Just wait until she's old enough."

"I'll do it whenever I want cause she's my daughter. She's gonna see just how much daddy loves her."

After that the video ended and I just stare at the screen of my mom. I sat there for a minute until I noticed there were more videos. I clicked on the one above and it started playing.

"Lia, I don't think-"

"Shut up." I told Anthony and he did as told, shutting up. I fast forward the video a little and watch what was on the screen in front of me. Watching the little girl that look about sixteen being raped reminded me of my self at that age. So, my dad willingly raped young girls?

I wasn't the only one.

Not bothering to watch the whole thing, I paused it then slammed the laptop shut.

"So, lemme get this straight..." I paused chuckling a little before I went off.

"I spent my entire life thinking my mom died while giving birth to me only to find out that's a lie. And she didn't only give birth to me, but she gave birth to you which makes you my twin brother. Then after all that, she made a video with my father and willingly gave me up to him. Actually, in her words, she gave him permission to fulfill his sexual fantasies on me as long as he kept her secret which was she passed away. She even went ahead and told him to wait until I was older. Because it seems like my dad loves raping teenage girls."

"And just to get away from that, it seems like you knew about this the whole entire time. So, I ask you Anthony, we're you in this whole thing?" I aggressively asked and he shook his head.

"No, I wasn't in on this. Lia, I didn't know any of this at all." He answered, in a defense tone.

"So, where you'd get the videos? It couldn't have been laying around somewhere and you just so happened to find it. So, you must've been had it."

"Lia, no. Uncle George gave it to me when he came to my house and attempt to threaten me."

"Oh okay and Uncle George must be your father." I turned my attention to Lou who was sitting there quietly. "So, you must've been in this shit too. You just so happened to be at that woman's house the same time I came by."

"Look, I wasn't involved in anything, I didn't even know you existed until Anthony said something. Your mad at the wrong ones Lia cause we have nothing to do with it." He told me and I nodded my head.

"You know what I actually agree with you, so lemme direct my energy to someone who was involved. Call you mom, Anthony." I demanded giving him an intense look.

I was beyond pissed.

"Lia-"

"CALL YOUR FUCKING MOM!" I shouted loud enough, that people turned around to face us. I knew I scared Anthony cause he hurriedly pulled out his phone and went on it. I leaned back in the seat trying to calm myself, but it didn't work.

I had to remember I was pregnant and didn't want anything to happen. I'll be damned if I end up having a miscarriage over some bullshit. I shut my eyes, talking deep breaths while my leg shook aggressively under the table.

"Hello." my eyes opened quickly and it met with Anthony's. Just by his face, I knew his mom was on the phone. I sat up quickly and grabbed the phone from him seeing our mom in the camera. He face dropped once she seen me.

"Surprised right? I bet you are. So, you died while giving birth huh? You made my dad lie to me? And I'm sure you had to know about his sexual fantasies since you gave him permission to do just that to me. So, how does it feel to face you daughter, the one you gave away to a whole rapist? Maybe this can help with your feelings on the situation, he raped me five times."

"Yup, and punched, slapped, kicked and even threatened me on several occasions. You wanna know something else, I almost killed myself several times because of him and me wanting to be with my precious mom. But, now that I know the truth, fuck you, fuck my dad and fuck the two of y'all." I pointed at Anthony and Lou then tossed Anthony phone.

I shoved Lou out the seat and got up, storming out the diner. I got in the car and started it up while I heard Anthony and Lou calling my name. I ignored them since I was too pissed off at this point. I pulled off fast and made my way home. I was so mad, I had to do something about it fast before I end up passing out.

Because of my speeding and taking the back road, I ended up home faster than I thought. Instead of going in the house, I opened the garage door and dropped all my stuff on the floor. I went over to the boxes that were stacked up in the corner, the box filled with my mom stuff was the first one I seen. I grabbed it and dumped out everything which were mainly pictures of her that my dad had kept. The glass already broke by it hitting the ground, but that wasn't enough for me.

Next to the boxes was a bat, I picked it up and started smashing all her stuff. There was no point in keeping it. Fuck all of them really, I didn't need family.

Was disappointed yet again.

||𝐎𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬||

Going straight to voicemail again, I hung up the phone. I look at the screen seeing the six calls I had made to Lia. I was alone sitting in this hospital and needed company, so I wanted her over. I knew she was out working, but I still wanted my baby. I swipe out the app then went to our messages.

𝐖𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐲💍

𝐦𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐮 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬
𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤

After pressing the send button, I stare at the screen waiting for a reply. I know I had just sent it, but a nigga needed a reply back like yesterday. Hearing a knock on the door, it soon opened and my dad walked in.

"Wassup." I greeted him, locking my phone and putting it beside me.

"Wassup. I see you didn't eat your food." He remarked, I look at the tray with food on it. Sorry, but hospital food was terrible and I wasn't eating that shit at all.

"Yeah, no. It's disgusting and taste like plastic. I rather eat dog food instead of this." I told him, knowing I was being dramatic. It was terrible though, no flavor like a whole bunch of white people just tossed whatever together.

"Your being dramatic, but it does look disgusting so imma be quiet." He said and I chuckled, leaning back on the bed. I yawned, feeling tired more than ever.

"You'd think you'll be well rested with how long you been in that coma." my dad joked and I smack my lips.

"You got jokes I see. Last time I checked, I'm not forty something but look like I'm about to die any day now." I remarked making him laugh.

"I'll give you that one. Just know you won't be young forever so appreciate it." he said, sitting on the bed.

I nodded my head agreeing, "Yeah, imma take advantage of being young. But, thanks for being here though. My doctor told me you and Lia were the only ones that were here and I appreciate that." I thanked him.

"No problem, I couldn't possibly just have my son here by himself regardless if your in a coma or not. Being here with Lia really showed me that there's no one in this world that loves you more than her and I mean that. When I tell you it was like a part of her was gone while you was in your coma, that woman was hurting badly. That right there, if it didn't already, should tell you where the two of y'all stand with one another. Lia is your soulmate, Onest."

I smile to myself, "Yeah, I really am in love with her pops."

"I can tell just by the way y'all interact with each other. You know most married couples don't act the way y'all do. Maybe cause they're much older and y'all are young, but still they don't."

"Yeah, but I have a serious question." I said, the tone in my voice changing. My dad look at me with a concern look on his face.

"And what's that?"

"In your honest opinion do you think we'll last forever?" I asked, thinking back to that weird ass dream with Victoria as my wife. That was horrible and I didn't want that to ever happen at all. Victoria wasn't Lia and I would never love her the way I love Lia.

I was just wondering.

"Well, if it's true love then you don't need to worry about whether it'll last or not because you'll already know your answer. And it's not wrong to question it sometimes because your not the only person that's in a relationship tat does that. It's apart of life really Onest, and that's the truth. You in love with her and you know she's in love with you and that's all that matters."

"You don't see many young people actually in love with their partner and willing to have a family with them, shit even marry them. Y'all have something people think they have with their spouse. That's all that matters, O." he lectured, I nodded my head feeling confident about our relationship.

Lia was my soulmate, my wife, my lover, my best friend. I love her more than anything on Earth, so I refuse to let her go. And to think I was going to just die so I could be with the other Lia at the beach. Even though, that did sound nice, I couldn't leave my baby.

"Now, don't get pissed off, but I need to talk to you about your mom." He changed the subject and my mood instantly changed.

"What she do now?" I asked, he sigh shaking his head.

"A lot."

I wipe my mouth as I cleaned my stuff up. Chick-Fil-A was the upmost best restaurant in the USA and no one can tell me otherwise. If you don't eat Chick-Fil-A then your mom is a bum, respectfully. I damn sure wasn't eating that hospital food cause it was disgusting as hell.

"Damn, you was hungry." Lia remarked and I smack my lips, wiping my mouth again.

"Says the one that ate two spicy chicken sandwiches and a large fry, but I'm the hungry one." I sarcastically said and she smack my arm.

"Don't do me like that." she roll her eyes, grabbing our trash then got off the bed. I watched her as she walked over to the trash and I noticed her body look a little different, her stomach was poking out a little. Now, I can assume it's because she's bloated, but then again her stomach look like that before she ate.

"I have to talk to you real quick." she said, walking back over to the bed. She climbed on it and positioned herself in front of me.

I leaned back, "You okay?" I asked her, she nodded her head.

"A little, but I need to tell you a few things. For starters, I'm pregnant." she blurted out and I nodded my head.

"I kinda figured that."

"Do I look fat or something?" I asked, frowning a little.

"No, you don't look fat. Your stomach is poking out a little and you literally just ate two chicken sandwiches by the way, so I assumed." I answered. "How far long?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure, I was waiting for you so I could make an appointment. I want you there, so I can make it whenever." She said and I nodded my head.

"I'm fine with whatever. Is that all?" I asked since it look like she had more to tell me.

She sigh, "Yes, I'm going to therapy because I feel as though I need it. I thought I was over everything, but I'm not and she's helping me. After New Years, I'll be going every Monday, Wednesday and Friday." she told me and I smile hearing the news.

"Your serious?" I asked and she nodded her head. "That's amazing baby, I'm happy your getting the help you need. How much is it so you don't have to come out of pocket. I know therapy expensive as fuck, so I don't mind-"

"Onest, please God no." she cut me off. "I don't need you to pay for it."

"Yeah, but I want to."

"I know, but I don't want you too. That's another thing I need to tell you, I'm tired of being treated like a little girl. It's not just you, but everyone in general, I'm sick and tired of it." she told me, sounding very serious.

"I hate the fact that people keep treating me like a child. Keeping secrets from me, lying to me and everything in between. I know your my husband and I love you so freaking much, but I don't want nor need you to pay for anything. I want to do things for myself like I always did."

"Yeah, but as a husband and man, it's my job to take care of you."

"No, it's your job to take care of him." she pointed at Isaiah who was sitting in the chair, watching something on his iPad.

I sigh looking back at her, "Babe, I don't mind taking care of the both of y'all. That's my job, I agreed to do that along with loving you when I married you."

"I get that, but sometimes I would love to do things on my own."

"I-"

"Please, babe." she begged, grabbing my hand. She placed it on her stomach and I sigh lowly again.

"Aight, but whenever you need anything just let me know. Okay?"

She leaned forward and peck my lips, "Okay. Now, I want another chicken sandwich."

"You a fat ass."

"Yo mama."

4,318 words, y'all think that's too long?

1) thoughts on this chapter?

2) how y'all feel about Lia, Lou, Anthony and their mom? y'all think Lia did too much?

3) thoughts on Onest and Daquan convo? thoughts on Onest and Lia convo?