“Baby,” I murmured, my voice thick.
She tilted her head up, brushing curls out her eyes. “Yeah?”
“Do you ever think about how far we’ve come?”
She smiled, eyes shimmering like brown diamonds under starlight. “Every single day.”
I exhaled slowly, emotion crawling up my throat. “Silas would be proud of you.”
She swallowed hard, blinking fast. “And he’d be proud of you, too.”
I kissed her, deep and slow.
“We built something beautiful, my love,” I whispered. My hand pressed gently against her stomach. “And this? This right here? This is just the beginning.”
She let out a laugh that trembled. “Yeah, baby. It really is.”
And as I held her tighter, feelin’ our babies move between us like tiny stars finding their rhythm in the galaxy we created, I knew one thing for sure: Forever started here.
Shaniya + Jacory
I felt like Free Willy—massive,heavy, and constantly shifting to find even a sliver of comfort. My belly was stretched to the brink, skin taut and warm, like it was holding the whole world inside. Every little kick reminded me they were getting stronger, more real, and more ready. I waddled now—there was no other word for it—and even breathing felt like a chore some days. But beneath all the exhaustion, the swelling, the endless peeing, there was this wild, beautiful anticipation. I was so ready to meet them. But I was also so ready to not be pregnant anymore.
“Jacory,” I groaned, waddling across the room like a penguin in distress, one hand on my aching lower back, the other cradling the mountain that was my belly. “I swear to God, if these babies don’t come out soon, I’m ’bout to evict them my damn self.”
I looked like a walking watermelon. I was swollen, sweaty, and sick of everybody and everything. Jacory was sittin’ on the couch like it was a regular Tuesday, feet kicked up, remote in one hand, drink in the other, grinnin’ like he wasn’t partially responsible for this three-baby situation.
“You good, baby?” he asked, amusement thick in his voice, like my suffering was some kinda rom-com.
I shot him a death glare that could melt concrete. “Do I look good, nigga?”
Chase, chilling on the other side of the room like he didn’t have no sense, damn near choked on his drink as he burst out laughing.
“She on edge, bro.” He wheezed. “Don’t even engage. That’s a suicide mission.”
Daniale waltzed in with her smoothie, fresh lashes, and a full face like she wasn’t the chaos queen herself. “Nah, engage. I wanna see her drag his ass through this house like a damn mop.”
I pointed at her like I had time for nonsense. “You are supposed to be on my side, heifer.”
She sipped slow, unbothered. “I am. I just also enjoy violence.”
I was about to snatch everybody bald when?—
Pop.
A warm rush of liquid hit the floor like a water balloon exploded between my legs. I blinked, confused. Then I gasped.
Chase’s eyes got big like quarters. “Yo, sis, did your water just break?”
Jacory jumped up so fast he sent the coffee table skidding across the hardwood like a hockey puck. “Oh, shit! Baby, let’s go!”
He was moving like a man possessed, throwing on shoes and damn near leaping over furniture. By the time I got to the car, he was already buckled in, one hand white knuckling the steering wheel, the other holding mine like he could drive and pray at the same time.
“Baby, how you feeling?” His voice was shaky but steady, like he was tryna sound brave while internally combusting.
“I feel . . . weird.” I panted, shifting uncomfortably. “Like my uterus is beefing with me.”
Jacory floored it. We hit curves like we were in a Vin Diesel movie.