Drunk in Love 3: An Original Love Story (21 page)

“Hey,” Angel spoke, all wrapped up in her Just Cavalli Paisley rabbit fur-trimmed jacket.

“Hey,” Olivia bitterly spoke. She still didn’t like Angel since that night that they’d fought in the hospital over Zay.

“I see you’re pregnant.” Angel said trying to make small talk. “Congratulations. Zay must be a proud poppa since this is his first one.”

“Yeah, I’m twenty-eight weeks.” She said. “And, Zay is over the roof happy.”

Angel forced out a smile. “Wow, seven months now. You don’t have long to go.”

“No, I don’t and I can’t wait until it’s over.”

“I’m sure can’t.” Angel said, just as the woman came back with Olivia’s bags of food.

Olivia grabbed her bags, and then looked at Angel before exiting the seafood restaurant. “Have a good night,” she said then walked out.

Angel just looked at her and said, “Yeah, you too.”

****

Ten minutes later, Angel had made it back to her car as she unlocked the doors on her E-Class Mercedes Coupe. Once inside the car she let out a sigh of relief. She was more than glad that the encounter with Olivia was over. Nothing made her happier than for them to stay out of each other’s way. She then picked up her phone, while opening up her coat to get a little more comfortable before driving off.

The phone rang twice then the caller on the other end answered. “What’s up, babe?”

“Hey love,” Angel spoke. “I just want you to know that we’re on our way home,” she said rubbing her protruding belly. What Olivia didn’t get to see was that Angel too was pregnant, but definitely not by Zay. She was only seventeen weeks along and in her second trimester.

“Are you okay?” Her lover asked.

“Yes, I’m good. I’m in my second trimester now so I’m starting to feel better. I guess when you’ve lost a baby before it sticks with you, but the doctor said that at seventeen weeks everything is just perfect with our baby.”

“Well, get home so you can get off of your feet. We’ll eat and cuddle up afterwards.”

Angel loved to hear that they’d be cuddling up later, but before she hung up she said, “Babe, I love you. I know we’ve only been together for a few months, but you complete me.” She sincerely said.

“As do you for me,” Mark responded. “Be careful on the way home,” he said and with that, they ended their call. He never thought that Angel would’ve turned out to be the woman that got him back on the right track. She was smart, witty, definitely sexy, and he could totally be himself with her. In just that strange turn of events, he and Olivia had switched mates and it seemed to be working out for them both. He hadn’t heard much about her, but the truth was that he didn’t want to know what she was doing or what she had going on. He’d been working on himself and that definitely didn’t include her anymore.

He sighed looking down at his phone. It was Felisha messaging him. Even though he’d made it perfectly clear that he didn’t want to be with her, she still would message from time to time for him to speak with Lil Romeo. He hadn’t seen either of them since the day he left Augusta, GA but that was his way of trying to help her get over him and focus more on her business. In a sense, it seemed to be working, because she’d only call if she needed something.

Chapter 17

Two months later, at the Northside Hospital in Atlanta, Olivia lay in the hospital with a big smile on her face as she held her and Zay’s baby girl in her arms. She was beyond happy and thankful that their little bundle of joy had all ten fingers and toes, a cute button nose and rosy cheeks with the cutest pouty lips that were every bit of her.

Zay stood right by her side the entire time. He even helped her with her breathing and the pushing of the baby out. He didn’t do the pushing personally, but he had to admit that he was the best coach that she could’ve ever had to cheer her on. He leaned down to kiss two of his favorite girls in the world. He kissed Olivia softly on the lips and baby Chloe, softly on the top of her thick, straight head of hair that seemed to have just a bend on the end of it like a partial curl.

“Aww,” Zoe said as she and Dillon walked into the room. Dillon was carrying a vase of a dozen yellow roses with a string of pink, ‘It’s A Girl’ balloons tied around it. “Okay, now it’s my turn to hold her. Y’all can’t be hogging up all the time with her.”

Zay just laughed as Dillon walked over and gave his brother a handshake followed by a hug. “Congrats bro,” he said.

“Thanks bro,” Zay responded. “She is adorable. I know I’m being biased right now, but she is the prettiest baby I’ve ever seen.” He said as Dillon sat the vase with the balloons tied to it down on the nightstand beside the bed.

“No, you’re not being biased at all, because she is the prettiest baby we’ve all ever seen” Zoe chimed in while being handed her niece by Olivia.

“I’ll have to agree with that one,” Dillon said, and then he gave Olivia a warm hug. “Congrats, you did great.” He said with an elated smile.

“Thanks Dillon,” Olivia said with a smile back.

Dillon looked over at Zay. “Mom and Dad are coming. Mom said within the hour.”

“I kind of figured that. You know she’s not staying away from her grandbaby.” Zoe said, definitely loving her soon to be in-laws. Everybody there was happy and very happy.It was just a joyous occasion.

“I called mom earlier, Sis and she and dad should be up here in a few hours. We weren’t expecting this little one to come for another two weeks, but she was ready now.” Olivia laughed.

“Yeah, she was ready to make her debut in the real world.” Dillon said, looking at the food menu on Olivia’s table. “Will they be feeding you breakfast this morning?”

Zay grinned with a shake of the head. “Sit your hungry ass down somewhere.”

“I tell him all the time that he eats like a hog.” Zoe teased as she looked over at him. “Don’t I babe?”

“Like you can talk,” he responded. “I’m glad your food only goes to your ass though.” They laughed out loud.

Olivia looked over at her sister and nodded. “Yes Sis, that ass has spread.”

Zoe frowned a bit with a cocky smile. “Who says that it comes from eating?” she asked as she looked over at Dillon and winked her eye.

“You might be on to something, babe.” Dillon chimed in with a handsome smile.

Zay looked over at Olivia. She was beautiful with her hair pulled up in some box braids on the top of her head in a ponytail ball. She’d had a fit to get her hair done so she wouldn’t have to worry about it when it was time for her to give birth. Zay had a surprise for her, but he was trying to wait for his parents and her parents to get there. However, he couldn’t wait any longer as he pulled out a black leather box from Jacob the Jeweler.

Olivia grabbed her chest from the excitement of just seeing the box. Zay smiled at her and opened it up to reveal a six carat, Radiant Cut Diamond, mounted in a platinum split shank.

“Will you marry me?” He asked with an anxious smile on his face.

“YES! YES! YES!” she shouted out as the tears of the joy fell down her face. Zay immediately hugged her around the neck and kissed her softly on the lips. Zoe stood back holding baby Chloe as she dried her tears from witnessing such a sweet moment.

Dillon stood up to look at the ring. “Damn bro, you gonna have to stop outshining me now.” He teased as everybody laughed. “Congratulations, y’all belong together.” He said giving both of them a hug.

For them, the moment was perfect and together they’d already planned a blissful life together. Being Drunk In Love turned out to serve them right. Nothing or no one would ever steal their joy, because God would forever protect their family from evil.

****

Fifteen minutes away, at Piedmont Hospital, Angel lay in bed feeling at her lowest. She’d just come out of labor and delivery because of complications with her pregnancy. Unfortunately, her baby girl didn’t make it. She was only twenty-four weeks pregnant and couldn’t hold the baby any longer. She was underweight and her lungs hadn’t fully developed.

Angel was devastated as she lay there feeling somewhat responsible for not taking better care of her herself. She wasn’t stressed; at least she didn’t think that she’d been, but apparently something wasn’t right. It didn’t seem like it was in the cards for her to have children and this had set in a serious depression that had come over her quickly.

Mark was there with her as he kissed her on the forehead. He felt bad himself, because he’d gotten used to the fact of bringing a daughter in this world and having her know him as her father from the very beginning. Even though he missed Lil Romeo, being here for his daughter would’ve been so different than Lil Romeo’s upbringing. For one, she would’ve been calling him dad and not Mark. For two, he was actually in love with Angel, unlike the feelings he had for Felisha.

This couldn’t have happened at a worse time, because he didn’t know how this was going to affect him and Angel’s relationship. She sat that unsure of how things would be since this had happened, too. Mark only found it right to try and sooth her soul.

“Baby, I know we’ve prayed and we’ve talked about what happened, but just know that I’m going to be here for you. We can always try for another baby.”

Angel cried as the tears streamed down her face. She had fallen so in love with her baby. Her little diva already had a closet full of clothes and goodies. It was going to kill her to go home and see that stuff without her baby ever coming home with her.

“What if I can’t have babies?” She cried. “What if I’ve just been this horrible person that I can’t have kids?”

“Shhhh,” Mark said to quiet her. “Don’t think like that.”

“No, but it could be true.” Angel responded still crying. “I’ve not been the best person in the world, you know that.”

“Neither one of us have,” Mark said. “But, that has nothing to do with it. God just didn’t see fit for us to have a baby right now. That doesn’t mean that he never will.” He said, but in his heart just hearing Angel say that weighed heavily on his mind. What if this was a bit of KARMA coming back to bite him in the ass. Here he was willing to be a father to this baby girl, but his son was back in Augusta and hadn’t seen him in months. He’d turned out to be a man that even he didn’t recognize anymore and while running away from his problems, he found that he’d gained even more. “I’m gonna step out in the hallway for a moment. I need a breath of fresh air. Are you gonna be okay until I return?” he asked her.

“Yes,” Angel said softly. Mark kissed her on the lips then he exited the room. Angel tossed and turned in the bed, trying to get comfortable. This had to be the saddest moment in her life. As she lay there, her phone went off. She reached over on the nightstand and picked it up. It was a message from Shay, Zay’s second cousin. They’d always been cool and Shay always kept her posted on certain things going on with the family. She opened up the envelope to read the message.

Zay and Olivia had a healthy baby girl about three hours ago. Her name is Chloe. Shay

Angel’s heart dropped inside of her chest. On the day that she’d lost her baby, was the day that Olivia and Zay had had theirs. She couldn’t be happy at all about it, not that it made her happy anyway. But, this had to have made things even that much worse in her mind. She didn’t have the strength to message back or to even think about it. She was one million times beyond hurt and definitely grieving in her own way. The only thing that brought her back to reality was the irritating red light on Mark’s phone that was steadily blinking on and off, but it wasn’t making any sound whatsoever. This in itself told her that his phone was on silent. It could’ve been on silent for a number of reasons with them being in the hospital, because they didn’t keep secrets from each other. She knew everything about him, including Lil Romeo and how that all came about. She picked up his cell phone to see what the deal was.

Being that he had a touch screen phone, she pressed something on the screen while trying to open up the text message and instead it opened up a hidden, private vault. Her eyes widened as the private vault took her to a video in his phone. A video that definitely took her back to a time when she’d first met Mark. All this time, she’d put that video out of her mind. She didn’t even want to see it after Mark had explained what was on it. It just wasn’t that serious to her anymore once they’d started seeing each other strongly. Plus, he’d also told her that he’d deleted it, so she just let it go all together. However, here was a video that was titled, ‘Security Cam ft Olivia.’ Immediately, she had devious thoughts of ruining Zay and Olivia’s happily ever after, but as she pressed play on the phone nothing happened. The video icon was there, but nothing was playing on it.

“Damn,” she whispered. From there she went back to check out Mark’s call log. Within the past hour and a half, Felisha had been blowing him up. The desperate chick just couldn’t seem to let it go. She then went back to the envelope in the phone to read the three text messages that Felisha had sent. The first message was one that totally caught her off guard as she read it. The second message immediately brought tears to her eyes, and the third message almost made her drop Mark’s phone out of her trembling hands. No sooner than she could finish reading his messages from Felisha, Mark stepped back inside the room. He saw the devastating look on her face as she’d quickly dropped his phone beside her. Looking clueless as ever, the only thing he could ask was, “Is everything okay, babe?”

****

Meanwhile, at Doctor’s hospital in Augusta, GA, Felisha lay in bed with her mother by her side. She was disappointed and hurt that she’d been going through so much and Mark didn’t have a clue about any of it.

Mrs. Tolver looked over at her and sadly shook her head for her daughter. “I don’t know when you’re going to learn,” she said. “That man doesn’t love anyone, but himself.”

“I know a side of him that no one knows; a good side of him.” She said steady taking up for him.

“Lord, you are really gone child. That man hasn’t come here to see you or his son in months and somehow you still have sympathy in your heart for him. Does he care about you? No, he doesn’t. Otherwise, he would’ve been here with you right now holding your hand through this process.”