"I'm nothing without you and I can't leave you alone"

~LOVE IN THE DARK (Jessie)

°~°~°

Aiden had heard everything his mother and Ken were talking about that morning, and the conversation played throughout his mind constantly. Even as his father stayed in the front seat of the car, the sound of his mother crying because of him haunted him. He was the reason this was happening, why his mother’s happiness was being tampered with… again. It was always him and always will be him.

Aiden hated that, and that led to an unhealthy hatred towards the very man that aided in his creation. The little boy’s jaw ticked as he glared at his father with the most deadly pair of eyes, “why are you back?”

Giovanni didn’t answer, the man kept his eyes on the road and drove.

“She was finally happy. She didn’t cry herself to sleep, she wouldn’t be constantly praying for you to change or to be happy. She laughed, we went out more, we had more fun. She was happier when you were in a hospital bed, better when it was like you never existed. Why are you back? You never wanted me and you never treated her right. Why are you fucking back!?” Aiden screamed with a harsh, childish kick to the back of the driver’s seat.

There was nothing for him to say, he didn’t know what to say. Giovanni never established the disciplinary role in their little family. He mostly had strength for Bernice, but even so it had its limits seeing she had a temper that edged for violence after a few screams. Now he knew Aiden had the temperament as well.

“I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!” the eight-year-old screeched, expressing his true age despite all that fast growing knowledge in his head. The maturity he had remained limited, especially with his anger, “fucking die! You and aunt Viola! I hate you all! I hate everyone who hurts mamma!”

The car stopped and Aiden flew out the car. They were at home now and as Giovanni watched his son bulldoze up the path of mansion gate, he couldn’t help but feel like shit.

“Don’t let him in!” Aiden commanded the gatekeeper and proceeded to the mansion.

He didn’t care to look if his father drove off or not. What Aiden cared about was his father being gone for good and he knew just how to make sure of it. On his march towards the large building, he pulled out his phone and went straight for a number he barely used. As it rang, he slowed his steps towards the house and when the person finally answered, he spoke, “grandmamma?”

“Watch na, watch na, watch na!” his grandmother yelled in a knowing tone, her Trinidadian accent thick with each sounded word, “I know is ya dutty fada! What he do na?”

“Mamma and him are breaking up, she found someone else and she’s happy, but he’s not signing the divorce papers. She’s almost due and she wants it over with. Help, please?”

His grandmother was silent as she took a deep breath, “I na play, Aidey. Ya sure bout what ya askin’ me?”

“I hate him. Please.”

“Fine. Give me lil time. I goin’ call ya cousin from in Jamaica. When I call ya back make sure you have access to Bernie phone, yea?”

“Yes, grandmamma. Thank you. I love you.”

“Mhm. I love you too, although you na call me in ages.”

Aiden smiled shyly at that and picked up back on his pace to the house, “I promise I will call you more often, grandmamma.”

“You betta!”

***

Days passed and Aiden still had his father picking him up from school a second time. He didn’t swap one word with the man, even when he tried light conversation.

Aiden would allow him

self to be consumed in his tablet throughout the whole drive with his headphones on, blocking out the sounds of his father. Who he got such attitude from? An odd mix of his mother and grandmother. Mostly the latter.

One evening while his mother and Ken fell asleep in the couch, in each other’s arms, he finally go the foretold call from his grandmother. When he answered, he was instructed to get his mother’s phone and send a simple text, stating a meet up at a given location.

Familiar with his mother’s passcode, he entered it with ease and did as told, but as soon as he sent the text he deleted it, then waited.

He deleted that message too.

“I feel like a rolling calf.” Bernice complained as she and Ken strolled along the path running through the backyard’s garden later that night.

The small pout on her lips had Ken laugh and shake his head, “you’re cute when you complain.”

“I’m not complaining. I’m stating the obvious. Mi just a walk and roll suh. Christ.”

Sighing, Ken laced his fingers into hers and gently twirled her to a stop with her back going against his chest, “you’re beautiful either way to me, believe it or not.”

“Everything feels too good to be true right now.” Bernice whispered as Ken’s chin rested on her shoulder and his arms wrapped themselves around her massive belly, “I think something is going to spoil all of this… that’s what always happens.”

Placing a sweet kiss to Bernice’s cheek, Ken slowly rubbed her belly, “let’s not let the pessimist out, okay? Happy thoughts.”

“Happy thoughts like what? Oh!” Bernice’s eyes twinkled as she turned her head to look at him, “can we build a scenario again?”

In thought, Ken gave her a small kiss, “no sex though.” He told her, earning a hard suck of the teeth from Bernice, “fine.”

“You’re divorced and you stop doing so much work.” He started, “I’ll be taking a few steps further into the translating job I started some time ago and will be starting a business on the side.”

Bernice bit her lip at that, placing her hands over his, “I’m helping, of course. Aiden will get approved to get into middle school, Aiven will be healthy and happy. I can see all four of us having family trips and as Aiven gets older he’ll want a little sister or brother, maybe both. Remember I said I wanted a big family?”

“I remember, baby.” He whispered and kissed the side of her neck, “I told you, as long as you want and need me, you can use me as you please.”

Bernice smiled bright, “so, you can have children?”

“Probably.” He sighed, “never tried, never cared to check. I always thought that I’d never have a family of my own.”

Sneaking a kiss to his lips, Bernice gave him the sweetest pair of eyes that complimented her positive grin, “happy thoughts, remember. What names would you want for a girl and a boy?”

“I don’t know. Never thought on it.” He admitted as his eyes gazed at her full lips with a tinge of hunger, “what names have you been wanting?”

“Khaleesi for a girl, Kennedy for a boy.” She told him in a soft voice as she leaned her lips to graze his, “can you just kiss me already, like really kiss me.”

Sighing, Ken latched unto her lip and sucked, “I low-key hate how patient I am at times.”

“Me too.” Niecy mumbled and snuck her tongue pass his lips. As their kiss got more heated, her thighs clenched as she moaned.

Getting into the rhythm, Ken gentle held her face with a hand and made his own invasion of her mouth. Niecy could feel him getting hard against her backside and just as she sent to reach her hand behind, the urge to pee took her, causing her to pull away and pout, “mi waa peepee.”

“Let’s get inside then. You’re suppose to be cold.”

***

Giovanni didn’t know what to expect that night. He was just excite d he would finally get to see Bernice again. The grown man was as hopeful as a child for dessert whilst he drove.

The moment he parked up behind the empty looking bar, a bar he and Bernice connected at years ago, he got out his car and leaned up against it with his arms folded as he patiently waited.

He constantly checked his watch when he felt his feet gradually began to hurt. Sighing, he pulled out his phone about to call her, the sudden caging of two cars stopped him though.

Before he could make any reaction two men stopped out, one from each car and they calmly made their way over to him. Fear already striking, Giovanni gulped, but that wasn’t what made his knees buckled beneath him as the emotion attempted to cripple him. It was when two of the men spoke and he picked up the accent, then finally picked up the faces.

“Wi neva tell yuh wi woulda find yuh if yuh fuck up?” the Jamaican one said.

The Trinidadian laughed, his gold capped tooth reflecting the headlights, “true. But him na seem fi have much sense.”

“You’re Niecy’s cousins… you were at our wedding.” Giovanni recalled nervously.

Both the men that talked were clearly twins, but by the accents they more than likely grew I’m separate countries. The Trinidadian being of a lighter complexion comparing to the mocha skinned Jamaican.

The men were slender skyscrapers with a decent amount of muscles to make them not look weak and though Giovanni was on the thicker side, he wasn’t as tall, nor was he a known fighter. The man only lifted weights to look good in his pictures and he was pretty sure he couldn’t take on two experienced men who obviously had a dangerous lifestyle.

“Let me talk to my wife.” He blurted out, hoping he could talk her out of setting her cousins on him.

Both men laughed, knowing she knew nothing about Giovanni’s predicament. The lighter skinned one nudged his chin towards the phone in his hand, “do ya ting.”

“Thank you.”

The Trinidadian laughed as he looked to his brother who was grinning himself, “watch na, Fonzos.”

***

As Niecy relieved her bladder, Ken sat on the bed with their phones in hand as he waited for her. In the past month, Bernice had to do scheduled walks and a bit of exercising that was advised for a smooth as possible deliver, hopefully better than the first she had.

She told him about her mental block that almost had her not being able to dilate wide enough to let Aiden pass through. She assured Ken that wouldn’t be the case this time round, but that didn’t stop him from all the efforts. It would be believed that unborn Aiven was his child the way he listened attentively in the doctor appointments he had been to.

Ken maintained as much as he could, from cleaning, to cooking, to getting Aiden to school every morning with Bae being nice enough to drop him off. He did all he could to reduce stress for Niecy, something he wished was the case for his mother when she was pregnant. He was never sure what caused it, but when in labour, she didn’t make it. He liked to think if he could’ve done more then she would’ve still been around.

Maybe projecting those fears on Niecy wasn’t the best thing, but he couldn't help the feeling. What he could help was Niecy and he would do it to the best of his ability.

Niecy’s phone buzzed in his hand, pulling him from his excessive thinking and on seeing the caller ID, he answered as he had done times before, “yea?”

“C—Can I speak with N—Niecy, please?” Giovanni’s broken voice came from the other end.

Eyebrow arched, Ken made a double take at the screen—the number wasn’t saved, “your number’s deleted, dude. I doubt she wants to hear from you.”

“For fuck’s sake! Please!” he begged, the desperation undeniable.

Ken being naturally uncaring wasn’t taking how serious this could be and sucked his teeth about to hang up, but on hearing a second plea, he paused.

“At least ask her! Please! I—I’m begging. M—My life depends on it.”

Eyes rolling, Ken pushed himself off the bed and went to the bathroom door with a faint knock, “baby girl, Gio’s calling!”

“Mi nuh want talk to him! And mi a dodo. Lowe mi!”

Ken snorted at that, “okay, baby. Tell me when you’re done.”

“Yesssssssss, Daddy Ken!” she shouted back.

Shaking his head with a laugh, Ken reverted his attention to Gio, “good luck with whatever.”

“Tell her I’m sorry I hurt her, I truly am. Tell her she doesn’t need to do this. I was stupid and she didn’t deser—”

Ken hung up.

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