A/N

Let's check in on ATL.

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A Change is Gonna Come by Charles "Gator" Moore

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"I'm heading to my doctor's appointment now, Sheryl. I got to go. Praise God." Keisha loved going to church almost as much as she loved the Lord and the service was good.

"Sister Cathey. We are still trying to get that son of yours into the church. We see the nice car he put you in but can he come inside these four walls and thank the Lord for blessing him with that money?" Sister Sheryl stated, every-time they brought up her son they got on her nerves.

"Maybe his woman can get him here 'cause he shole don't listen to his mama." Keisha tried to inch her way toward the stairs of the church.

"Sister Keisha has a doctor's appointment. Pray all is well and let her go." Pastor Anthony came to her rescue, Sheryl was a member that scared away some of his congregation.

Silently thanking the pastor, Keisha got into her vehicle and pulled off towards Emory hospital. Tapping her fingers on her steering wheel to her gospel music on the way there she couldn't help but praise the Lord.

God had been so good to her, even though every trial and tribulation.

Thirty minutes later when she had finally made it to where she was going. She parked her car and walked to the front desk to check-in. Typically they didn't have appointments on Sunday but Keisha's case was much different. Dr. Ripley told her that he needed to see her back here

"Keisha Cathey for doctor Ripley." Keisha signed her name on the sheet and waited for the front desk clerk to look up to confirm her appointment.

"Yes ma'am! Right on time. I'll page your nurse right now." The young woman went and pressed a button to alert the nurse that her patient was ready to be brought back.

"It's so nice and quiet in here. Always very clean too and I love seeing black women in the face of the hospital too. You know Emory wasn't always so black-friendly." Keisha would save the girl from the boring details that she probably already knew about.

Ima didn't want to engage in that type of conversation around her white counterparts. They were quick to report anything and get the black people fired.

"Here I am Ima." Samaria smiled at her colleague at the front desk and Keisha shook her head once she realized who it was. She completely forgot Sam worked at Emory but how the hell could she forget that when she was coming over to help Lay from Emory? "Ms. K-Keisha? What you doing here?" Samaria asked hoping not to put two and two together.

"Can I come back now or is there a wait?" Keisha asked wanting to skip the looks of sadness and pity.

"You can come back now!" Samaria held her sniffles together and plastered a smile on her face before she guided Keisha back to Doctor Ripley's exam room so they could take her vitals. "Alright, I'm just going to get your vitals and then I will step out and grab the Dr. for you okay?" Samaria tried to keep her focus off of someone who helped her best friend during countless times of need.

"Samaria, you don't even know my diagnosis yet and here you are acting sad for me!" Keisha laughed lightly, being called in on the Dr. day off had to be bad but nobody knew what he was going to say but God so there was no need to fret.

"That's right. Okay, we are all done here. I'll go grab him." Samaria finished writing down the vitals, she had a high hope that Keisha's diagnosis was simple or something that could be repaired with a few treatments.

Keisha sat in the exam room waiting for them both to return. She felt her phone jingle in her purse and knew it had to be one of the kids that were calling or texting and hoped that Samaria hadn't blabbed off to Lay. If she did though, Keisha wouldn't hesitate to take Samaria's job. She wanted to tell the kids on her own timing.

A knock at the door took her from her thoughts and let the doctor know he could come into the room.

"Hi, Keisha, how are we doing?" Dr. Ripley asked spraying hand sanitizer on his hands. He had her exams tucked under his arm. Sam followed behind him and closed the door.

"Blessed and highly favored. I'm also ready to eat so if we can go ahead and get this show on the road." Keisha smiled watching the Drs. face fall. Samaria held hands with Keisha as they both prepared to hear what he had to say.

"I'll give it to you straight. Cancer has spread from your cervix to your liver and it looks like it's heading to your lungs. You currently are at stage three but heading quickly to stage four." Dr. Ripley loved having Keisha as a patient, she was kind, friendly, and always wore a smile. Not to mention she was one of his favorite rappers' mama.

"Okay. How long with chemo? Is that an option?" Keisha couldn't lie, she was scared and for the most part, besides God, she had to go through it alone. Until she wanted to tell people about what was going on with her. Samaria sensed her fear and even though Sam had tears running down her face, she squeezed Keisha's hand with reassurance.

"Chemotherapy is an option and there is a seventeen percent success rate with it. You are a woman of faith and I believe in you. Besides this cancer, you are completely healthy. Should you choose to do chemo and we start to see it work it could put you in remission. If we don't get any feedback or you choose not to do chemo, I say about nine months. Especially with how fast it's growing." Dr. Ripley handed Keisha a document.

"I'll start the chemo doc." She wanted to be around, especially now that Key started dating Chalynn. She wanted to see where this went.

"Okay, so you'll need somebody to bring you to and from. Chemo tires you and does cause side effects. We can start next Thursday if you'd like?" Dr. Ripley wrote a few things down on his notepad.

"I'll make sure she gets to and from." Samaria knew she wasn't ready to tell Chalynn and Key which was fine. Sam was just going to have to take care of her the way she took care of everybody else.

"Thank you, baby." Keisha rubbed Samaria's hand and smiled at her sweetly. Maybe this wouldn't be too bad.

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"Keisha! Oh, Ms. Keisha!" Keisha heard a voice as she pulled up to the front of her house. Something told her to pull through into the garage but it was too late now. She sighed heavily gripping her purse and turning to face whoever was calling her name.

She sighed even louder once she saw exactly who it was. Keisha had obviously been crying, for reasons that didn't need to be explained to the person who was calling her name.

"Yes, dear?" Keisha turned around completely and watched as a very pregnant Ella walked up to her with a smile on her face.

"Hi, Ms. Keisha. Have you heard from Key?" Ella asked, she had originally come over there on bullshit but Key didn't play about his mama. After the stunt, she pulled last time Key told her if she ever acted out towards his mama again she wouldn't get a chance to name her baby.

"He's on tour sweetheart. You should know that though. You stalk his every move." Now the middle-aged woman was annoyed. she understood what it was like to deal with a man like her son and possibly be pregnant by one but she had never acted that crazy. She wouldn't dare act like that towards somebody's mama.

"I-I saw that and I saw he posted a girl. It kinda looked like the girl from the interview he did. I-is that her?" Ella asked creeping closer. Keisha was just trying to get into her house and eat the roast that she had prepared early this morning.

"Maybe girl. I don't know." A small smile crept on her face as she heard he had posted Chalynn.

"Look, I know that we have had a bad past but I'm going to therapy. I'm getting help. I don't want my daughter to have a crazy ass mama and daddy for parents. One of us has to be sane." Ella joked lightheartedly causing Keisha to chuckle. If the baby was Key's then she was going to be around and they were going to have to get along.

"Okay, get yo pregnant ass in this house girl. I had a day and I'm ready to eat, you can stand out here if you want to." Keisha started walking into her home and turning off the alarm. You best believe Ella followed behind rather closely.

Keisha excused herself and went to her bedroom to quickly change her clothes and get herself together for dinner. A nice pot roast with homemade mashed potatoes was going to heal her soul inside out.

Ella took it upon herself to snoop around downstairs while Keisha was in her room. Her first stop was the room that Chalynn was staying in and she had a strange feeling that she was staying there. Ella didn't know how the hell they all knew each other but they did. She also didn't see what Key saw in Chalynn. Aubree and Ella and just about any other girl he dated had bodies on them. Chalynn was small and petite, especially now that she was recovering.

Chalynn was a little slobbish, her room was clean for the most part but she had clothes, socks, and bras spread out on the floor. Ella chuckled to herself thinking about how they wouldn't last, Key was a very clean person so he had to have a very clean partner.

"You just couldn't help but to be nosey huh?" Keisha chuckled coming back down the stairs in a moo-moo.

"I was looking for the bathroom." She lied knowing good and damn well the bathroom was a little bit before you made it to the guest room.

"You been here a thousand and one times. You lying. Come on and eat so you can get up outta here." Keisha put her hands on her hips and watched as Ella shut Chalynn's bedroom door and walked towards the kitchen.

Keisha washed her hands and fixed them both a medium sized bowl of mashed potatoes and the roast overtop of it.

"This looks and smells yummy." Ella stomach began to growl as she lifted her spoon to her mouth. Keisha slapped her hand on the island making Ella stop in her tracks. Both women bowed their heads and said grace.

"Now you may eat! So, you really believe this baby is Key's?" Keisha asked sprinkling a little hot sauce over her bowl.

"Yes ma'am I do. I know it."

"Then why don't you just prove it to everybody. Including him and take the DNA test? Just to get it out the way?" Keisha wiped her mouth and took a drink of her sweet tea.

"Cause then I feel like I'm going against myself. Key was really the only nigga I was with around the time I conceived. Soon as I told him he called me all types of hoes and left." She explained playing with her food.

"He's never going to take care of a baby that won't be DNA tested. You going about it the wrong way. If you need anything for that baby and it's his you got it. Isn't this what y'all be wanting? You know ids his right? Take the test." Keisha was tired of hearing about it. If the girl was so sure that the baby was Key's then she'd have no problem doing the blood test.

"You right .. ima do it." Ella finally sighed and pulled out her phone to text Key. When he touched back in Atlanta, she was going to prove once and for all that this was his baby. Even if she wasn't so sure about it herself.

A/N

Short and sweet.