"So you're sure he will be okay?" Naala asked Nurse Brooks. Today was the day that Naala was able to leave the hospital, but the only problem was that Saint wasn't leaving with her.

"I promise he'll be okay," Nurse Brooks smiled softly. The two had formed some kind of friendship over Naala's stay and Naala was happy to leave her son with her.

"Mommy doesn't want to leave you baby," Naala whispered against Saint's head, he was currently laying on her chest. Saint was progressing quite well according to the doctors and could possibly be home by the end of January. He only had his feeding tube connected to him and could now breastfeed.

"It's common for mothers not wanting to leave their babies, don't worry," The nurse said reassuringly,

"What if he forgets me," Naala replied, running her hands through his silky hair,

"He wouldn't be able to," The nurse said, "You're his mom,"

Saint began to wiggle and fuss on her chest, pushing his head towards her breast,

"I'm sorry, I'm sure you're busy," Naala said to the nurse, "He's hungry now," Naala said positioning him to breast feed,

"I'll be in the next room if you need anything," Nurse Brooks replied leaving the room to give Naala some privacy.

Naala pulled down her vest top and took out her nipple, "Okay my angel, let's try this again," Naala said out loud. Saint wasn't latching on very well and it was frustrating the both of them,

Naala struggled to get him to latch on and he began crying, "Come on Sainty, please" Naala whispered as he started fussing. They went through this every time he was hungry.

The door opened and in walked Dave. Naala simply ignored him, something she's been doing since he admitted to having sex with Millie after she kicked him out. They barely shared any words unless it was about the kids.

Saint continued to fuss and wiggle, "It's right here," Naala cooed, moving her nipple towards his mouth. She began to get very frustrated because he was crying out of hunger and she couldn't feed him.

"Maybe he's not hungry," Dave commented attempting to pick him up,

Naala moved him quickly and looked up, "I know my son, I know when he's hungry," She snapped,

"You've only known him for a week Naala, calm down. He's only get frustrated because you're not calm, he senses your energy." Dave said taking a step back,

"Don't try and teach me how to feed my son," Naala replied, "Here you go again, undermining my parenting,"

"I'm just trying to help," Dave said putting his hands up, he didn't come in there to argue with her.

Naala scoffed and concentrated on Saint who was calming down a bit, she moved his head slowly and he finally latched on. Naala let out a sigh of relief as he began to feed. She wasn't even go to pay Dave any mind, she was over the arguing.

"So you just gonna ignore me?" Dave said taking a seat.

"..."

"You mad childish," Dave said with a laugh, "You're acting like you've never made a mistake in life. I've said sorry so many times, I can't sleep, I can't eat without you. I pour my heart out and you don't even care. I'm gonna stop even trying to talk to you because you're not even giving me anything back,"

Naala looked up at him, "I have made mistakes, thousands of them but I own my shit. You want me to feel bad because I don't want to be with a cheater? For you to step out on me whilst I'm carrying your child has to be one of the hardest things I will ever go through. Each time you apologise, you turn around and say something hurtful."

"But I said sorry! I felt like when you got pregnant you became detached. What more do you want me to do? I bought you gifts and then you sent them back," Dave said loudly, cautious of disturbing Saint.

"How did I become detached? I was always emotionally available for you. I don't need gifts from you," Naala shrugged, "You can't buy my forgiveness, I fell for that once before,"

"You weren't Naala, let's not lie, and stop comparing me to that nigga," Dave said scrunching his face up,

"Y'all are exactly the same, the only thing you do different is that you don't beat on me every night, you just cheat instead. At least Darnell was open about the women he was fucking," Dave clenched his jaw at that comment,

"That's not fucking fair Naala, it was one time! I treated you like a fucking queen, if you wanted a chicken sandwich at 3am, who went out to get it? I did everything for you and you pushed me away,"

"I didn't ask you to do those things for me, you want the real reason I pushed you away? I was scared okay! I was scared that you were gonna leave like everyone else does, and that was exactly what you done because as soon as it got tough, you went and fucked another bitch," Naala spat,

"You could have spoken to me Naala, I was always there to listen. Stop bringing up the fact that I slept with Millie because you told me to leave. Now that I'm trying to make things right you're not even being understanding - you're getting a kick out of me chasing you,"

"So because I kicked you out that means you can fuck someone else? And I didn't ask you to chase me!" Naala snapped, "You chose to do that even after I told you that this was strictly a co - parenting relationship," She shrugged,

"I don't want nobody but you, you're the only one I want to mother my kids," Dave sighed,

"That's a shame," Naala shrugged, "Prove to me that I mean something to you more than just your baby mama, I don't want anymore money or gifts, just show me what I mean to you,"

Saint cooed drawing Naala's attention away from Dave, she lifted him up carefully and put him on her shoulder so she could wind him,

"Can I at least wind my son?" Dave grumbled, that conversation pissed him off,

"Don't say that like I don't let you touch him," Naala said rolling her eyes before handing him over,

"How many times have I held him?" Dave questioned, rubbing his hand on Saint's back,

"Who's fault is that?" Naala said tilting her head to the side, "Because it's sure as hell not mine,"

"Whatever Naala I ain't finna argue with you, what's happening on Christmas?" Dave asked. Christmas Day was in a few days and Naala planned on spending it at the hospital with her children,

"Sinai is gonna be with me," Naala replied, pulling out her phone,

"Nah, we never agreed to all that," Dave said shaking his head, "We going to my mom's, she already thinks we're coming."

"Take your other baby mama," Naala spoke rudely, "I'm staying here with my kids,"

"How you gon' make a 5 year old stay at a hospital for Christmas, and when I say you're selfish you get mad," Dave mumbled the last part,

"That's my business," Naala shrugged, "We won't be here all day, she'll have a good Christmas with me like every other year,"

"Love can you work with me? This co parenting shit is hard enough. Can we go to my mom's then we can all come down here to be with Saint?" Dave asked genuinely,

Naala sighed, she didn't have it in her to be the bitter baby mama, that wasn't her and she most definitely didn't have the energy to fight, "Two hours with your mom,"

"Two hours?" Dave said then sucked his teeth,

"Do you want us to go or not?" Naala questioned, "I'm doing it for Sinai, no one else," She said cutting her eyes at him,

"Cool, I'll come by on Christmas Eve and stay the night so I can watch her open her presents," Dave said rocking Saint to sleep,

"Nope," Naala shook her head, "We aren't there yet, you can come in the morning,"

"Naala this is my first Christmas with her, come on," Dave replied, "I won't even come near you if it makes you uncomfortable,"

Naala rolled her eyes, "I know you won't come near me," She replied rudely,

She went on instagram and sighed at Dave's post,

"Why did you post him?" Naala asked reading through the comments, "Now people know that I've had a baby,

"Why not?" Dave shrugged, "It would have come out anyway, and it's only his feet"

"Doesn't matter, now people are speculating about whether you cheated on me or not," Naala said rolling her eyes,

"Let them," Dave shrugged, "They know you're my only baby mama,"

"Are you dumb? Surely you haven't forgotten about your mistress? Sometimes I think you are on crack," Naala said looking at him weird,

"She's not my mistress and the baby is not mine," Dave said lowly,

"Wait," Naala chuckled, "Say that again?" She said cupping her hand behind her ear,

"It's not my baby," Dave repeated. Naala fell out into a fit of laughter,

"You can't make this shit up," She chuckled, "Hand me my son before I punch the shit out of you,"

Dave held Saint protectively because he knew she wouldn't hit him whilst he was carrying the baby.

"I'm serious Amir, put my son down," Naala said calmly, "I'm not going to touch you,"

"Our son," He muttered lowly, "You promise you not gon' touch me?" Dave asked slowly placing Saint back into his incubator,

"I promise, I'm not gonna touch you," Naala said with the straightest face possible,

As soon as Saint was back in the incubator, Naala reached out and slapped the hell out him. Dave's head snapped to the other side,

"You are so fucking stupid! You're telling me that you've been disrespecting me over a child that's not even yours. How did you figure it out?" Naala said angrily,

"You ain't have to hit me that hard," He grunted rubbing his cheek, "I did a DNA test,"

"You're lucky it was only a slap," Naala replied, "I could have told you that wasn't your baby for free, I am so happy this has happened to you, that's honestly made my day,"

"I thought you would be glad," Dave mumbled,

"Glad?" Naala chuckled humourlessly, "If anything it makes me hate you more, you pushed me to the side over a kid that wasn't even yours,"

"Don't say that," Dave said moving closer to her, "I love you Naala,"

"I hate you," She sneered,

"You don't mean that," Dave said standing directly in front of her,

"Back up," Naala replied tucking her lips in, her hormones were raging,

"You hate me?" Dave asked, wrapping his arms around her waist,

"I hate you," She repeated with tears welling up in her eyes, "Move Amir," She said trying to get his arms off her,

"I love you," He repeated leaning down to kiss her. He planted a soft kiss on her lips, Naala didn't kiss back.

"Stop," Naala whispered looking at him, "We can't keep doing this, it's not healthy."

"I miss you, I miss your smell, I miss the way you kiss me and hold me, I miss the sound of your laugh when you find something hilarious. I just miss you," Dave said softly, rubbing her back, "I'm sorry, I will say sorry for the rest of my life if I have to," He whispered, kissing her neck,

"I miss you too," Naala admitted, letting a few tears fall, "But you can't do this to me again," Naala felt weak, she felt like she had let him in once again.

"I know mama," Dave said hugging her,

"You hurt me so bad," Naala cried punching on his chest, "You did this to me," She whispered crying hard, "You did this," She repeated. No one knew how much it broke her, the thought of him cheating on her, made her sick to her stomach.

"I won't hurt you again, you're my air Naala, my heartbeat, life is empty without you. I can't function without you in my life - I need you." Dave muttered.

He lifted her chin up and wrapped his lips around hers, this time she kissed back. Their lips moved in sync, like they belonged together.

Their kiss was broken up by the NICU nurse coming back into the room, they stepped away from each other as if they had been caught.

"I apologise, I only came in to check in on the baby," The nurse smiled awkwardly. Naala looked away from Dave,

"That's okay, we were just saying bye," Naala replied. She leaned down to Saint's incubator and held onto his little hand. The nurse put her hand through with a stethoscope to test his breathing,

"Oh look at his little face," Naala smiled bringing out her phone and snapping a picture,

Dave leaned over her shoulder and smiled, "He's gon' be fine Love, let's leave them to do their job,"

Naala nodded, "I'll see you tomorrow baby," Naala said to him before standing up straight. It felt weird leaving the hospital without him but she knew he was in good hands.

Dave walked behind her, "Wait, let me take you home, please?"

"Mmm," She mumbled, she didn't know how to feel about him yet. Everything he said was sweet but she was still hurting.

"You want to get Sinai today?" Dave asked as they walked through the hospital hallway,

"Yes I've missed my baby, I need to cuddle one of my babies tonight," Naala pouted,

"Why don't you ever want to cuddle me?" Dave asked looking down at her,

"Don't," Naala muttered avoiding eye contact,

"You gon' let me come back home?" Dave said pulling her close to him,

"You're pushing it," Naala said softly removing his hand from her waist, "We've got a long way to go before you move back in,"

"I'll wait for you forever Love, I ain't going nowhere," Dave mumbled.

Naala nodded, "Actions speak louder than words. The first thing you are going to do is get your sister in check. She's been looking to get her ass beat and next time I see her it's on sight," She said seriously,

"You can't fight my sister," Dave said scrunching his face up,

"Who said so?" Naala questioned, "She wants to act like a grown woman so she can catch this grown ass woman beating,"

"I get that but please don't be on no shit at Christmas," Dave replied helping her grab her overnight bag,

"Out of respect for Mama Sonia, I won't but if she tries me, I can't promise anything," Naala said slipping her feet into her sneakers,

"You need help?" Dave asked as he saw her struggling to put her shoe on,

"Mmm," Naala groaned, "Everything is so sore,"

"Your pussy throbbing?" Dave smirked, he remembers when Naala went to the toilet straight after giving birth to Saint and she kept complaining about how sore she was down there,

"Shut up and put the shoe on," Naala said trying to mask her smile,

"I miss that smile," Dave said as he stood up, "Don't hide it from me,"

Naala rolled her eyes, "I've not had much to smile about apart from my son,"

"I mean it when I say I'm gonna work hard for this Naala," Dave said seriously,

"Show me," Naala shrugged, standing up.

~~

Dave pulled up to the house, both Naala and Sinai were asleep in the back. Sinai insisted that Naala sat at the back with her because she missed her.

"We're here," Dave said softly, rubbing Naala's leg,

Naala stirred in her sleep and popped her eyes open, "Already?" She asked looking outside,

"You've been asleep for long," Dave smiled. Naala was exhausted because she hadn't been able to sleep. It didn't feel right that her son wasn't in the room with her so she stayed up the whole night.

Naala cleared her throat and sat up, "Come one Nai," She said trying to lift Sinai up,

"Don't do that," Dave said quickly getting out and going to Sinai's side, "She's too heavy, I got her"

"I'm sure I could manage," Naala said getting out of the car with her purse. Dave lifted Sinai out of the car and grabbed both of their overnight bags.

Naala unlocked the front door and was taken aback as soon as she stepped in. The whole house was covered in Christmas decorations, something she had been putting off because it felt weird celebrating it without Dave.

"You did this?" She asked looking around at her home,

Dave nodded, "Mama helped but I know how much you love Christmas,"

"I love it," She replied, "This tree is amazing," She gasped.

Darnell would never let Naala decorate the house at Christmas so this meant a lot to her.

Naala was busy looking around at the decorations as Dave went to put Sinai in her room,

He came back out and saw Naala standing by the tree,

"You okay?" He asked,

"I'm fine, thanks for this," She smiled shyly,

"Ain't nothing," He shrugged, "I'm gonna head out," he had no intention of leaving but he wanted to see if Naala would stop him.

"Now?" Naala said turning to face him,

"Yeah, I don't want to overstep, we just co parenting right?" He replied looking her up down,

Naala stayed quiet, thinking really hard about what she was about to say,

"Don't go," Naala mumbled playing with the strings on her sweats,

"You sure?" Dave said raising a brow, he really thought she would let him go,

"I don't want you to go," Naala admitted walking towards him,

Dave pulled her into hug, she melted in his arms. "I'm not going anywhere," Dave said into her hair, kissing her head lightly.

Naala knew that she had let him in once again but this was what love was right?

"You want something to eat?" Naala asked pulling away from the hug,

"I can think of a few things I can eat," Dave smirked looking at her,

"Too soon,"Naala giggled as she walked to the kitchen,

"Your sister called me to congratulate us," Dave called out, Naala rolled her eyes,

"I really don't care," She responded opening the refrigerator. In her eyes, Azure was no longer her sister.

"She said you blocked her?" Dave said sitting on the island stool,

"I did," Naala shrugged, "She's not worth my energy nor my time,"

"Y'all fought or something?" He asked, leaning over to grab a cookie from the jar in the middle of the island.

"Azure doesn't understand where I'm coming from with our family," Naala said, "Chicken or Beef?" She said holding up the two packets of meat,

"Chicken," Dave pointed stuffing another cookie in his mouth, "What do you mean?" He asked, still chewing.