Page 101 of Dr. Bell

“I do. He’s just so damn tiny in your arms.”

“He’s safe, though,” he replied.

All this waiting for the baby to arrive to learn the sex, and I got a beautiful, healthy boy. Adir Bell, Jr. weighed nine pounds, three ounces, and stretched twenty-two inches long. The last trimester of my pregnancy went smoothly, and so did my delivery. At the last minute, I decided that I wanted Adir to deliver our baby. He was all for it. AJ was born at Dr. Bell & Associates, the very place where everything started for me and Adir. He was ready to start on baby number two. I wasn’t even going to deny him.

Many names came before Quilo’s. Despite being warned not to yell when our graduates name was called, we shouted. And we shouted loudly. Shit. We worked hard to get here. No one was going to deny us the celebration Quilo deserved.

After the ceremony, we gathered outside to wait for the boys. They appeared amongst the crowd of people and came straight to us. I embraced Quilo and held on for just a minute longer than necessary. I held on to him for me and for our mother. Stepping aside, I let everyone else congratulate him.

Adir took Quilo into his arms, hugged him as a father should, and kissed his cheek.

“I’m proud of you, baby,” he stated. “I love you.” I thought I held Quilo for a long time, but Adir beat me. Quilo clung to him, though.

Choked up, Quilo replied, “I love you, too, bruh. Thank you.”

Seeing Quilo’s tears caused my own. My cheeks were wet as hell, ruining my makeup. However, this moment sealed it for me. I would never deny Adir any part of me. I loved this man more than life.

ADIR

MRS:I’m not going to bed alone. I need you next to me.

Smirking at the text from my beautiful wife, I quickly replied back.

ME:Never, my baby. I’m leaving now.

“You’re working mighty late today.” Bianca came into my office just as I placed my phone down and started cleaning up my desk.

I chuckled. “Pretty’s gon’ kick my ass.”

Bianca shook her head in amusement. “Marriage looks so good on you, bro. Has been since she walked through this door.”

“Mm, hm. I’m waiting on you to get it together.”

She smacked her teeth. “If you plan on me marrying that crazy ass man you callfriend, think twice.”

I laughed at that. “And you think he’s gon’ let you waltz down the aisle to another muhfucka?”

Bianca’s face took on a serious expression.

“Exactly,” I mumbled as the alarm to the back entrance sounded. A quick glance at the monitor revealed an ambulance pulling in. A call hadn’t come through, so I stood and strapped myself just in case. I’d just told Pretty I was on my way home, and I meant that shit.

Exiting my office with Bianca in tow, I went to the hall to see what the hell was going on. Zel and Stacy opened the back door and ushered inside two EMTs hurriedly rolling a gurney with them. On the bed laid a young girl.

“I’ll get the room ready,” Bianca stated as she rushed off.

Turning on my heels, I was met by Antonias and Micah who both had their heat ready.

“Lock us down,” I ordered while going to the sink to scrub. One of the EMTs came up beside me as the other followed Antonias to the operating room.

“What you got for me?” I asked him. As calm as I was, seeing a kid lying on that table nearly caused my hands to shake.

“Sixteen-year-old female. GSW right shoulder.”

“Why is she here?” I questioned as I scrubbed my hands.

“Detective Gunner said to bring her here.”

That was odd.

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