Page 44 of Back in Blood

“Awww brother,” Bianca hugged me. “I’m so proud of you and so happy for you. And you must not be the only one that caught on to Robin’s dumb ass lying about having cancer. She took the Go Fund Me Down, and she deactivated all of her social media pages. That was after the lying hoe raised more than $15,000. That’s one scamming ass bitch.”

I shook my head. “I tried to tell you but fuck her.” I looked over and saw Jaylen talking to Lisa. They were both smiling. Most times, I felt guilty any time I had a moment of happiness because I felt like I was forgetting about Caprice or moving on without her. But I’d started therapy and one thing she told me was that I should never feel that way. I moved around my backyard talking to guests and watching the women play games. When I looked up and saw my father walking into the yard with his girlfriend and their son, I almost got agitated. But then I had to acknowledge the fact that my father looked good, and he was trying. That was all any of us could do. He looked hesitant to approach me but when he did, he smiled.

“Capri. Thanks for letting us come. This is your brother, Austin and his mother, Monica. We didn’t have time to go get the baby a gift.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out somefolded up bills. I wasn’t sure how much it was, but there was a hundred on top.

“You don’t have t”

“Yes, I do,” he cut me off. “I damn sure do.”

I nodded and placed the money in my pocket. I then introduced him, his girlfriend, and my brother to Lisa. My father and I needed to have a few conversations. Long and in depth conversations, but the baby shower wasn’t the time or the place. I was going to allow myself to be happy with no interferences. I had fixed Lisa a plate and took it over to her. She was staring at her phone screen.

“Everything good?”

She looked up at me. “I just saw Sin’s cousin share this on social media.” She passed me the phone, and my eyes quickly darted over the words. He’d been sentenced to twelve years in prison for killing my child.

I wasn’t sure how to feel. Was it justice? Even if he got one hundred years it wouldn’t bring her back. Twelve years. When he came home, he’d be in his early forties, and he’d still have time to live a half decent life, while he ended Caprice’s before it really even began.

“Twelve years, huh?” I passed the phone back to her. “Guess that’s better than nothing.”

She gave a slight nod and thanked me for the plate. If I kept thinking of the past, I’d never move forward in a productive and healthy way. I would think about Caprice every day, but anything else from my past wouldn’t get too much more of my time and emotions. I had to move forward. It was a must. With therapy and dedication, I was sure I could make it happen. Only time would tell.

EPILOGUE

Two years later…

It was Father’s Day, and Lisa took me to Turks and Caicos. We were spending five days on vacation with our son, Carter. Carter would be two in two months, and that little boy amazed me daily. Too often, I looked at him and saw Caprice. Even though he was a male, they favored in eerily similar ways even down to their personalities. Caprice used to love fruit. She would eat any fruit except peaches. She hated peaches. When we found out that Carter was allergic to peaches, I broke down and cried like a baby. I wasn’t sure what kind of weird ass coincidence that was, but it made me aware that my baby would always be with me in some way. That had to be a sign to let me know that my baby was still around.

I was helping Carter build a sandcastle. Lisa had gone inside the bungalow to use the bathroom. When she came back out, I wasn’t surprised to see a huge gift bag in her hand. She loved giving gifts, and I knew the trip wasn’t the only gift she got me. Even though I paid all the bills, Lisa wasn’t ready to give nursing up to become a stay at home mom. She still worked hard, and she did a great job of balancing mom life and her work life. I hadalready gone shopping and purchased her a ring. I had Gemini planning a surprise dinner where I would propose to her. It was definitely time.

“Happy Father’s Day,” Lisa sang as she passed me the bag with a smile on her face. My shorty was glowing. She looked genuinely happy, and the thick, curly ginger colored wig that she was rocking made my dick jump every time I looked at her. She was dressed in a money green sundress that complimented her tanned brown skin. Her face looked fuller, and I loved extra weight on her.

“Thank you.” She sat down beside me, and I leaned over and kissed her. Carter climbed in my lap because he was nosey like that. “You gon’ help me man?” I asked him as we looked inside of the bag.

The first thing I pulled out was a black box. Inside, was a necklace that had a round diamond encrusted charm on it and inside, was one of the last professional photos that Caprice took. Tears clouded my vision as I stared at the picture of my smiling baby for a few seconds. I swallowed down a lump and pulled out the next gift. I used the collar of my shirt to wipe the tears away then opened a pair of sneakers and a matching hoodie. The last gift was a medium-sized black box. I lifted the lid off, and my heart began to race as I saw a pregnancy test with an ultrasound picture and a piece of paper that saidit’s a girl.

I looked over at Lisa. “You know I have to go all in with the testing to make sure everything is okay, and I couldn’t wait until you knew to find out the sex.”

“When did you find out?” my gaze flitted towards her breasts. I knew they looked bigger. And her chubby ass cheeks.

“Two weeks ago, and it’s been torture trying to hide it. Congratulations, daddy, you knocked me up. Now we need a bigger house.”

“You can get that.” I pecked her on the lips three times. “You can get anything in this world you want.” I pecked her three more times until Carter grabbed my face.

He loved me for sure, but he was a mama’s boy to the core, and I didn’t mind. But I had my little princess coming, and I knew with every fiber of my being that she would be a daddy’s girl.

The end.

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