It's been about a week since we received the pictures, and my parents have both decided to stay with me until the time being. I was happy because I was going to need the extra help packing up the house anyway. Even though we're being stalked or whatever, I am not about to let a deluded bitch stop my life. We were initially scheduled to move into the house around April, but the weather got a little wonky, so we're pushing for the end of May.

My daddy may have said I couldn't be a trainer, but that's not going to stop me. He bought a private gym not too far from my house, and today is the first day of training. Since boxing doesn't require me to make any physical contact, I'm going to be the trainer for that. This is going to be fun because I'm about to work everybody.

Cameron and I were currently in the Range on our way to the gym. My parents left before we did because they had to clean and set up. Most of the equipment was there. I'm glad I packed some more clothes because baby this Texas heat has started cooking, and god damn it's only May. "Baby, I thought we had to pick up Essence?"

He shook his head and turned left as the GPS announced. "No, she said she was going to meet us there."

I hissed as stink moved around in my stomach—right against my bladder. Ugh, oh my god. "Baby, I have to pee!"

He glanced at me quickly and looked back at the road. "Right now?"

I mugged the side of his head. Fuck he mean right now? "Yes nigga now! Amari I swear if I pee on myself, it's going to be me and you."

He increased his speed, and no later than four minutes later, we were pulling up to the gym. Once he parked, I threw my seatbelt off and hopped out as carefully as I could. I waddled to the entrance and pushed the door open, sprinting to the restroom. I busted through the stall and pulled my tights down. Whew! I let out a sigh of relief as I released my bladder. I doubled wiped, fixed my clothes, and walked out of the stall. I washed my hands before leaving the restroom.

My daddy got this thang up and running quick. There was a boxing ring in the middle of the floor. Four to five bags were hanging, and on the other side you had the floor mats for the MMA training. And it was the usual gym equipment up front..

I bobbed my head to Meek Mill's Dreams and Nightmares and mumbled the lyrics as I walked around the gym. "Hol upwait a minute, y'all thought I was finished? When I bought that Aston Martin, y'all thought it was rented? Flexin' on these niggas, I'm like Popeye on his spinach."

I walked towards the back and shook my head. Zai was laid out on a palette watching the TV that was mounted on the wall above, and Sorayá was just crawling all over him. He was laying there so unbothered. I just know SoSo is going to give him hell when they get older. "Sorayá, get off him!

She looked up at me and stood up, walking into my legs. She held her arms out and I shook my head. So damn spoiled. I bent down and scooped her up, and she was sitting on my belly, literally. "Where mama?"

SoSo pointed to the back and laid her head on my shoulder, playing with my necklaces. "Lay."

I smiled and looked down. She can't say my first name, so we decided on Lay from my middle name, Alaya. "Yes?"

"Cam?" I shook my head. Girl always wants my damn man.

"Sorayáaaaaaa." I laughed as she popped her head up and started looking around. Cameron was saying her name in a singing tone. She saw him and started wiggling in my arms, trying to get down. I placed her on her feet and she took off running as fast as her little legs could take her. She's very advanced and not your typical one-year-old.

A big smile broke out across my face as he scooped her up and attacked her face with raspberries. Aww, my baby is going to be a wonderful father. Cameron pulled out his wallet and gave her a fifty-dollar bill. I know you lying. Let me tell my mama to get her damn baby.

About an hour later, everybody had arrived and the training started. My daddy and Cameron tried to talk me out of being a trainer, but I told them I had it. I wasn't making any physical contact, so I should be fine. We were starting off with the basics anyway. I was standing in front of everybody, eating a Cajun turkey wrap as they stretched. I swallowed my bite. "Touch your toes, Bari!"

"Got damnit, Bri! It hurt!" He screamed out, and I shook my head.

"Damn shame. You don't play football for two years now, you acting like you out of shape."

He smacked his lips. "Hell because I am."

I closed my container and clapped. "Alright! Y'all ready for this last stretch? You guys are about to rotate your core and stretch your stomach."

"That shit sounds like it's about to hurt!" I laughed at Jabari as he looked at me with a frown on his face. Cameron smacked his back and they started passing licks. Damn kids.

"I need everybody on the floor. Lie face down and bring your hands close to your shoulders. Keep your hips on the ground, look forward, and rise up by straightening your arms. Then slowly bend one arm and rotate that shoulder towards the ground. Hold it for a minute." I counted in my head and shook my head as everybody was shaking.

"Break! Now here comes the fun part, put ya gloves on and meet me at the bags." I grabbed my stomach as stink started kicking. Whew! Mama is sorry baby, I won't eat no more spicy food. I'm ready for my baby shower, like oh my god what am I having? We went to the doctor early this week, and I gave the envelope to my mama. I think the shower will be the weekend after Kayden's graduation or before. I'm not sure.

"I smoke too much weed for this shit!" I bust out laughing as my daddy threw the jump rope and fell onto the floor, breathing hard.

"Old ass." Za'Keria wrapped her ropes around her neck and grabbed her water bottle before taking a seat on the floor.

"Girl, stop playing with me." Daddy bucked at her and snatched her water bottle, giving himself a waterfall.

"Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee! One, two, three, four. Whew!"

Jabari has some loose screws, I swear.He had his gloves on and was bouncing around on his feet, throwing fake punches. Before he could even blink, he was face first into the floor. Cam stuck his foot under and tripped him. Lord! These two act like fucking kids.

"Cameron, I'm about to beat your ass."

Jabari hopped up and started chasing Cam around the gym. I shook my head, because with those two fooling around, I wouldn't get the basics done today. I looked at the rest, which included Trey, Ess, Nova, and Kayden. "Y'all ready?"

They nodded. "Alright. Each of you go to the bags. I'm about to demonstrate, and I need y'all to follow my lead."

I stood by a bag and got into my stance. Left foot up and right back. I put a little space between my legs and put my fists up. I started a countdown from five in my head, and once I made it to one, I threw a quick left hook and followed with a right. I did it again and started from the right to the left.

"Y'all got it? It's always left, right, and then you switch up and go right to left." I shook my head and walked off because I was out of breath. Gah, damn! That was a lot of work.

"Muffin! Your phone is ringing!"

"Answer it, ma!" I grabbed my food tray and walked to the back. I'm about to lay my fat ass down. I can't wait to have this baby! Walking into the room, I saw that my mama was still on the phone and she had a look on her face that I couldn't read.

"Okay, she will be over there in a few." Mama removed my phone from her ear and sighed before looking at me.

"That was Drea, muffin, you need to get to the store."

My heart dropped, and I rushed out of the room hollering for the main men in my life. "Daddy! Amari!"

I closed my eyes and started counting to 10. I need to control my breathing before I pass out. I rubbed my stomach and started walking in circles. Swear if it's not one thing, it's another.

"Baby, what's wrong?" I opened my eyes to Cameron and my daddy in front of me.

"Something happened at the store, and it's bad. Drea just called my phone." A frown formed on his face. I looked at my daddy and he was looking the same way.

"Come on, muffin."

I followed behind my daddy out of the door and we made our way to his Jaguar. Cam opened the backdoor for me and helped me in. Once Cam was in the passenger seat, my daddy pulled out and sped downtown. I wish he would slow down because I swear I'm about to throw up. I rubbed my stomach because stink was kicking like crazy. I'm too far along in my pregnancy to be dealing with bullshit man.

Ready to move into our new house. It's out the way and away from people. I still haven't seen it but baby said it's out the way.

About twenty minutes later we was pulling up in front of my store. It was police everywhere and I seen Shonti with the EMTs. What the fuck happened here? Cam opened my door and helped me out. I pulled the yellow tape up and walked through. A police officer reached out to touch me, my daddy and Cam pushed me behind them.

My daddy mugged the officer. "She's the owner of the store."

The officer held his hand up and walked away. "Sorry about that, Mr. Jones."

I looked at all the broken glass and shook my head. All this damage. Broken jewelry and all. I'm about to cry because, what the fuck man? I saw Drea talking to another officer. She saw me and sprinted my way.

"Brielle I'm sorry! I tried to follow protocol and everything, but it happened too fast!"

I grabbed her hands and looked at her face. She was crying and on the verge of hyperventilating. "Breathe Drea. Take control."

Once she regained control of her breathing, I gave her the go-ahead to explain everything.

"Shonti and I were in the back eating lunch. We heard the door, but the security monitor notified us first because of the motion censors you have in place. It was like a small group, so we put our lunch up and walked to the front. I instantly got bad vibes, and I was always taught to trust my instinct. I plastered on a fake smile and the guy approached the glass I was behind and asked about a Cuban link. As I was assisting him, I heard Shonti arguing with one of the girls."

I shook my head. A damn diversion. "What happened after that?"

"I told the guy to hold on and walked where my sister was to try and see what was going on. The girl said she had a custom order to pick up. Shonti looked at the list and her name wasn't on there. Then she said her name again, and there was some familiarity with it. I looked at the list of people that were not allowed. Jayla Anderson was at the top of the list, and I looked at the picture to make sure it was her. I told her that she had to leave the premises, and that's when she broke the glass. I reached to press the button that makes the displays disappear, but the guy pulled out his gun. I froze. Bri, I didn't know what to do! I didn't know what to do! He shot my sister because she hit one of the girls in the face."

She was crying hysterically, and I just pulled her into my embrace. I rubbed her back as she cried.

"Baby?" I called out to Cameron.

"Wassup mama?" He looked at me with a deep frown on his face.

"Can you and my daddy go look at the security footage? Make a copy and give it to the pigs." Drea pulled away from my embrace and wiped her face.

"Come on, let's go see your sister." I grabbed her hand and we walked outside. Drea released my hand and ran to the ambulance. I pouted because Shonti's hand, shoulder, and abdomen were wrapped. Jayla and K'Mya have to fucking die. I'm so sick of this shit man. I let Drea be with her sister and walked back inside.

"Baby, empty the safe and lock up. We can come clean up tomorrow. I just wanna go home. Please tell Drea and Shonti that the store will be closed until further notice. And yes, they'll still receive pay. " I walked back out and went to my father's truck—sliding into the back seat. I laid my head against the window and rubbed my stomach.

"Hi stink! Are you up?" I smiled and shook my head once I felt movement.

"Mommy can't wait to meet you! You have a wonderful family with a whole lot of aunties and uncles. You have two god-daddies. They don't know yet, but they are going to find out soon. I already know they're going to be fighting over you."

Whew! Somebody is excited. I grabbed my stomach and rubbed over the spot that was being kicked.

It had been a couple hours since we made it back to the house. I took a shower, and now I was just laying in the bed. I wanted to pack the kitchen, but after my shower I had no energy to do so. Cameron was behind me against the headboard, and I was in between his legs as he rubbed my stomach.

I thought about our first encounter and shook my head. He was a smooth talker, and I fell right into the trap. "Baby."

I felt him look down at me. "Wassup mama?"

I grabbed his left hand and played with his rose gold wedding band. Yep, we were married. We eloped on Valentine's Day. I did not want to wait damn near two years to say I do, so we came up with the idea of going to the courthouse instead of just having a big wedding and reception when I'm off probation. "You remember when we first met?"

"Yes, we were in the mall parking lot and you bumped into me, causing your phone to drop. I picked it up and you were mugging me. You had on a pair of high-waisted jeans, a floral long-sleeve shirt, and your hair was curly."

I smacked my lips. "You just gave me very much stalker vibes. I really got those vibes when you said my name. Because I have never seen you a day in my life."

"Girl, you were the talk of the campus. I knew of you because everybody spoke highly of you. Your business, your grades, and let's not forget, you were featured on the school's website because of your research in the biology department. You stayed off campus, so you didn't know the things that were being said about you." He rubbed and gripped my thighs with every word he spoke.

"Oh wow. I forgot about the research. Ooo, I swear I didn't want to take that picture. Hell, I didn't even want to do the research." I shook my head. My bio professor and advisor talked me into it. I had to present in Atlanta, among others, and my nerves did not like that. It was a good experience, though. I got a three-thousand-dollar stipend and a laptop, which I gave away because I didn't need it.

Cameron stuck his face in my neck and I was just a giggling fit because his beard was tickling me. He kissed my neck. "You want to know something?"

I nodded my head.

"I knew you were going to be mine from that day forward." He kissed my cheek.

I smiled and rubbed my finger across his band. I said I wasn't going to design our official rings until we got closer to the wedding. "And now, almost two years later, we're married with our first baby on the way."

He rubbed my stomach. "Ooo, I love that."

"I want some ice cream and an apple pie."

He moved from behind me and slid out of the bed. He fixed his briefs and slipped some shorts on. Cam looked at me and winked. I still blush at the little things he does, like the first time we met.

"You better hope Jabari hasn't eaten them all." Cam slipped on his feet into his house shoes.

I frowned and scooted to the headboard. "And I'm going to beat his ass because I only made 20. They're mini apple pies for a reason. Big hungry ass!"

Cameron laughed. "I'll be right back, baby."

I shook my head and grabbed the remote, turning to Netflix. I flipped through, searching for something to watch. Nothing was on there, so I exited and went to the HGTV channel. I rolled my eyes at the thought of everything I had to do tomorrow. I made a list and it was a little lengthy, but since I'm pregnant, I'm going to be barking orders.

"Baby, we got a guest."

I looked at the door and shook my damn head. Cameron was walking into the room with my baby sister attached to his hip. Sorayá and I are going to fight. He walked to the bed and handed me my stuff before climbing into the bed with SoSo. She was laying on his chest with her thumb in her mouth. Damn shame.

I stuck my spoon into the apple pie and spooned some ice cream before sticking it into my mouth. My pregnant ass just been eating everything.

That's how I spent the rest of my night. Eating up everything and watching TV with my husband and my spoiled ass baby sister.

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