A few weeks later, Shayna and Drama came to visit. I hadn't seen them since playing Disappearing Acts on their wedding day. To make matters worse, I was actually supposed to be in the wedding but, of course, Collin's ass had pulled crazy the day of and I just...couldn't. Not with the fat lip that he handed me right before storming out of the apartment. I called Shayna right after he left and made up some half-ass excuse about Collin having a family emergency, but she knew the truth. She could hear it all through my voice. "Whatever," was all she'd said before slamming the phone down loudly in my ear. We talked a few weeks after they got back from their honeymoon, but she kept cutting me off every time I tried to re-explain my lie. By the time they came to visit Kenney, though, I figured that enough time had passed for her to cool down and accept my apology.

As soon as they walked through the door, I just blurted it out. "I'm sorry."

They all put the mini class reunion on hold just long enough to stare at me like I was announcing that my new thing was Clown College, and that I was starting in the fall. The silence would have gone on forever, I'm sure, if Shayna hadn't grabbed my belly with both hands and rubbed it vigorously. The baby loved it.

"Anyway mommy! Look at this tummy!"

Drama, always the one to wait and see how Shayna would react to something before he reacted, went straight back into his conversation with Kenney about how Marcel was the next one to "bite the dust" and that Kenney was about to get left behind if he didn't hop on that marriage train, "leaving without him - woot woot! - in T minus 5..."

They were such clowns when they got together. Kenney, only slightly annoyed, went into the fact that he didn't do leashes and "couldn't even button his collar all the way up."

Shayna and I decided to leave them to their man thing and went into the kitchen to talk about what a complete and total pain in the ass – literally, since the hemorrhoids had kicked in - pregnancy was. Shayna laughed until tears streamed down her face when I told her about Kenney and his reaction to my...sitting problem. He would just watch me, like he wanted to say something but didn't know how to approach the subject, until I finally had to break down and ask him to drive me to the drug store. He literally fell out on the floor when I told him that I had hemorrhoids. Then, after a stretch that lasted way too long of playing faint from laughter, he grabbed my belly and spoke into the "microphone" - which is what he had dubbed my belly button. "Dag baby. You didn't have to do mommy like that. So wrong," he wiped a tear, "so wrong..."

After leaving Collin and all of the things that came with him behind, I had to rely on Kenney way more than I wanted to. And the more pregnant I got, the more I needed him, which I hated. But at the same time I was forever grateful. I never could have done it without him. And I told Shayna that, too.

She just read between the lines and shook her head, like she had always done when I talked about my random crushes on Kenney and said "Tash, you gotta tell him." Then she nodded her head as if pulling an invisible string that she thought would make me nod in agreement with her. "You have to."

It worked. I nodded. But she and I both knew that if anything at all went wrong in the Natasha loves Kenney scenario, the results would be...devastating. With that in mind, I also decided to tell her about Collin and how I had spoken to him on the phone a few times, each time making it harder for me not to at least feel something. And because of that, I didn't want to lead Kenney on by telling him how I felt about him. Just in case...

She nodded understandingly, but I could tell she thought that Collin would be the exact opposite of what I should be doing by the way she nodded her head yes every time I talked about Kenney and shook her head no every time I talked about Collin. We chatted a little more about married life and the honeymoon, and eventually I even broke her down enough to at least tell me about the wedding, if not show me pictures. I had already seen them anyway, on Kenney's laptop since she had emailed them to everyone but me.

Eventually we decided that for old time's sake Shipwreck would be a good choice for the night, since it was now smoke-free and something that even the preggo chick could participate in. That was if I could still fit in the chairs and, more importantly, if I could sit down that long. I hadn't written anything in forever, but Shayna had written something for Drama - her very first piece - and thought that would be the perfect place to surprise him with it. I agreed. He didn't even know that she had started writing.

We walked out into the living room just in time to see Drama put a hand on Kenney's shoulder and tell him "Stay up, bruh." I had no idea that Kenney was down about anything, but I could tell by the way they both straightened up and stopped talking when we came into the room that it must have been something about me that they were discussing...or something about the baby. I wasn't sure which.

"Waddup lay-dies!" Drama called to us, flashing his Billy Dee and sounding just like MCA from Beastie Boys.

"We have decided," Shayna put an arm around me and looked at Kenney, "that tonight we're gonna party like it's 1999."

"Ok..." Kenney kind of looked aggravated, like he wasn't in the mood for foolery, but had to be hospitable and go along with whatever his out of town guests wanted to do.

Shayna and Drama had moved to New York shortly after graduation to jumpstart Shayna's modeling career, and once that had gotten into a consistent place, they decided to move to DC to jumpstart Drama's hip hop historian career. For a free agent, Drama had been doing very well for himself. Shayna, of course had had an agent since high school. Kenney was doing pretty well, too, with his architecture firm and freelance photography. I was the only one throwing my life away, but since I had moved in with Kenney I had been pulling writing gigs left and right.

It was like prosperity lived in Kenney's house, and baby and I had no choice but to fall in line. I guess he saw, and knew firsthand, what life could be. That's why he was so adamant about me doing my thing "while I could," as he put it. I peeped immediately that he was alluding to the fact that at any moment I could foolishly fly out from under his supportive and protective wing. But when he put his money where his mouth was, I knew he wasn't just blowing sunshine up my butt. That was all the motivation I needed to - like the rest of them – "go out and get it."

When we got to Shipwreck, Kenney immediately perked up. We hadn't told the boys where we were taking them, but we told them to wear something Vibe Magazine worthy. They went all out. We had the two finest dudes in that piece. And luckily we still looked young, so nobody could tell that we were at least three years older than everyone else.

I thought about my days of being the only one too young to get into the eighteen and up club without my school ID and chuckled. Kenney may have been thinking the same thing because he looked over at me and snickered, too. Ironically this time, I was worried that I was going to be the old lady giveaway, with my black 60's style maternity dress and one inch healed go-go boots. But Kenney had always had impeccable taste - even in maternity clothes - and everyone was looking at me more like I was the cutest thing ever than like I was the hugest thing ever. I was all belly anyway. As Kenney had said on numerous occasions, everything else wasss checkin' out.

As it had always been with us, everyone assumed that Kenney and I were together, which warranted him looks of also being the cutest thing ever, and you know he ate that up. He had always enjoyed being the apple of his adoring fans' eyes, and now we had brought him straight up in the middle of his element.

He and Drama both were in their element actually, and it was only a matter of time before Drama jumped up on stage, grabbed the mic and reclaimed his throne as King of the Sea - or Poseidon - as he had so often referred to himself in his early Shipwreck career.

I loved seeing them like this. We were all the eternally young type, but as time went on, we had gotten more into our...stuff, and all that came with it, and less into the things that made the assery of life totally worth it. Being able to write it out is what made it all worth-while for me. Writing for me was like...parachuting out of an airplane and realizing that life was actually more fun than scary when you looked back on it, and I made a mental note to do it more often. Especially after the baby was born. I wanted to document my journey with him and kicked myself for not doing it from day one.

For Kenney being in front of an adoring crowd made all the – extra - that life brought him worth it, and for Drama it was being...the shit, basically. For Shayna, of course, it was being recognized as the Queen and First Lady of the Sea in all of its vastness – please, please recognize who the cuff she was – that made it all worth-while.

Shayna and Drama were so perfect for each other, it didn't even make any sense.

Kenney needed this recharge, I could tell. I didn't realize how much he needed it until he started rubbing his hands together in fiendish anticipation. When it was finally his turn to go up, Drama went with him and Shayna and I shared a silent I know they're not about to do what I think they're about to do glance.

But, of course, they were.

We knew it as soon as the first note played and Kenney closed his eyes, threw back his head and sang, "The very first tiiime...that I saw your," Drama joined in "brown eyes..." Kenney, eyes still closed, belted "Your lips said helloooo and I," Drama, again with the harmony, "said hi..."

Shayna and I both, quiet as kept on my end, were immediately done. Finito. Head over heels in love. The only difference was that she had staked her claim from day one and I was still bullshittin' on mine. It was like Kenney and Drama had somehow gone backstage to put a show together, but there was no way. They hadn't left our sights since Shayna and Drama got to VA. But there they were, working the crowd like professionals...as usual. The cool thing was that, this time around, a few people actually recognized Shayna and Drama from their respective careers and stared at them like we were at the semi-VIP table.

But fame had not changed a damn thing.

Clearly.

I loved them all so much right then, and hated the time that I had let selfishly pass, wasted on Collin and my own stupid heart.

When the emcee - some corny dude who I guess felt the need to remind everyone whose show it was – regained control of his mic, he spent the next half hour imitating Lauryn Hill's "ha-ha-ha-ha-ha," all high pitched and getting on my nerves. Some girl made the mistake of biting "his" little trademark move, trying her hardest like everyone else to be noticed by the scout that was attempting to lay low in the audience that night...and, I guess, by Drama, big time hip hop historian. Of course, dude let her have her little moment and then grabbed his mic back and wasted thirty more minutes of our lives talking about, "Other people jockin' my style...ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, but haven't even been to the Nile...been blessed with the wisdom that allowed me to manifest the ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

Shayna, whose trademark was usually silence, suddenly covered her mouth and fake sneezed "Bullshit!" for no reason what-so-ever. And she did it loud enough for the scout, emcee, ol' girl, and anyone else who felt like hearing the truth to look over and either giggle under their breaths or gasp in shock.

The emcee kept going, but shot Shayna a heffa, you're up next so you might want to be easy glance. Then he declared boldly "I'm the crea-tah!" about his stolen hook.

"Lauryn Hill," Shayna sneezed again, louder this time.

The MC finally got the message and moved on to the next act, which was, in fact, Shayna. Drama looked over at her and giggled like a co-conspirator. But when her name was called, a smile slowly spread all the way up into Drama's eyes. His I'm so in love grin lit him up like the Empire State Building on Valentine's Day. You could literally see the cartoon hearts radiating out of his chest.

"What..." Clearly, he had no idea what he was really doing there.

Shayna grinned back at him and slowly made her way to the stage. Dude was about to take the beef to a whole new level, kicking off his introduction with, "A self-proclaimed virgin to the mic, yeah right..." but quickly shut his mouth when he caught a glimpse of Drama's stone cold "I will fuck you up" face and Kenney's "Yeah...he will..." half grin.

Shayna walked nervously to the front of the stage and graciously accepted the mic with an unreadable smile. "So, like my brutha said...this is my first time spittin'. My piece...it's called Let's Ride." She looked over at Drama and gave him a smile that dripped off of her lips and onto his soul like melted brown sugar. Suddenly realizing that she had everyone's undivided attention, she looked around and seemed, for a split second, like she was about to lose her nerve.

But only for a second.

"I can be your Bonnie/ You can be my Clyde/ Baby, let's ride!/ I'll take you to the moon/ You can take me to the sun/ Let's get together/ And put half on a son."

Drama started grinning. Kenney did, too, but more because he appreciated the fact that she had learned how to work the crowd from the best of the best...himself. He looked like he was watching his child star in her first school play, confident that he had been the one to teach her everything that she needed to know to make herself into a millionaire one day.

Silently, I wished my baby was his.

Shayna went on. "We'll teach him that he's/ The Golden Child, and/ Show him how it feels to be/ The Chosen One./ Let's take this world over/ Come ride on my four leaf clover..."

Her shaking slowly subsided as she began to focus more and more of her attention on the only one in the room that really mattered. "Nothing can touch us/ God's got our backs./ Between the two of us/ We have a weapon for every attack.../ When times get tough/ We'll keep pushing through./ Nothing can stop us/ It's just me and you."

She started out running all of her lines together. Then, gradually, she fell into her own groove. It only took a verse and a half to have every man in the room wishing that she was speaking exclusively to him. I think the fact that she made it clear exactly to who she was talking to only added to their desire.

"You can be my King./ And I.../ I will be your Queen." She lifted her hand regally, like she really was a queen - the undisputed queen, and there was not one in the audience that night who would have dared challenge her throne. "...The levels I can elevate you/ Are so far unseen./ Baby, let me upgrade you,/ Your life and your mind./ I get what I want./ That's why you're/ Already mine." She grinned directly into Drama's eyes. Without skipping a beat he nodded and grinned right back, further confirming that she was, in fact, Poseidon's uncontestable queen. "But don't get it twisted./ You can upgrade me, too.../ And I'm talking about the/ Quality of my spirit.../ Not just a new pair of shoes."

All of the men nodded in agreement, some of them silently giving their girlfriends the side eye. The funny thing was, even with that, the women weren't hating on Shayna at all. They actually looked like they were taking notes. Like whatever their man reacted the strongest to, they were going to add to their repertoire for a later date...a much later date, long enough for their guys to forget that they hadn't made it up themselves. Shayna, earth mother to the world, probably knew this and considered herself not only solidifying her position with Drama, but also teaching these youngins coming up how to do the same with their own man.

"You're like the moon,/ I'm like the sea./ Every time I see you/ Something rises deep/ Inside of me./ You must keep my heart/ Because I can't find the key..." Drama winked at her and patted his breast pocket, a move not lost on anyone, least of all Kenney and I as we simultaneously looked from him to her and started giggling. Who was she kidding? Drama was the one who had been on lock from day one and all four of us knew it. "The only thing I ask/ Is that you don't take/ Advantage of me."

Drama shook his head and whispered – most likely in his bedroom voice, as if she could hear him over the erotic murmurs of the crowd, "Never baby. Never."

Kenney and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes. Shayna and Drama would definitely be doing it in one of our beds that night, so roomies we would have to be. Knowing Kenney, though, he would probably give up his bed and instead of bunking with me, just sleep on the couch.

"I'll give you the world!/ Just be faithful to your girl./ My heart can't be untrue./ That's why I'm faithful/ To you." Drama gave her a cocky I know this nod. Shayna blushed and almost lost focus. "Other men can look..."

She intentionally tore her gaze away from her faithful and loving husband and looked dead into the host's eyes, the same dude who had oh so many jokes not ten minutes before, and made him grin and shy away on command. So much so, that he looked at Drama uncomfortably and moved from the side of the stage, where he had been standing, to an empty seat at one of the front row tables. Shayna looked back at Drama and they both shared a silent high five.

"...but none of them will ever/ Have me shook -/ The way you do." Now it was Drama's turn to flush, lean forwards and redirect his attention. I had to admit, the girl was good. "My intentions are true./ I'll never take advantage/ Of you." He smiled proudly like he had the only one in the world who would say and mean that. "I have faith in our dream,/ My love runs deeper/ Than it seems..."

She paused a second or two longer than necessary to make sure that Drama understood that. He did and nodded back. Clearly, there was an unspoken conversation going on there that was none of our business. I could only imagine what it was about. Shayna, having always been the exact opposite of me, was never one to show feelings or express emotions very well. I, on the other hand, wore it all on my sleeve. All of it. All but my love for Kenney, that is. I looked over at Kenney and wished that he could read my mind. He kind of smiled knowingly, like he had done just that. But who ever really knew what Kenney was thinking at any given time? He was the master of multi-purpose reactions.