Page 84 of A Trial of the Heart
Before today, Rashad nor I knew if the babies were fraternal or identical or even the sex. We decided to wait until the birth. Hearing the announcement of them both had truly been worth the wait.
My eyes had been closed, but when she said that, I opened them, looking toward her. Tears stained her beautiful face.
“You did it, friend.” Her voice cracked.
“I did it, friend.” I now had tears of my own. I looked to my mother as she cried and sniffled. “I did it, Mommy.” I felt like a little girl.
Leaning in, my mother kissed my forehead. Her tears fell on my face.
Finally, I looked to Rashad. His face held a proud expression.
“You did it, baby.” He spoke before I could utter the words to him. “Thank you,” he added softly before I felt his soft lips pressed against my forehead.
The pain had been one that felt like it would take me out, but now that they were both here, the pain didn’t matter. I had done it.
Chapter
Forty-One
Rashad:
With each twin cradled in the crock of my arm, I slowly rocked in the rocking chair in the corner of Shiloh’s hospital room. We’d been parents for only four hours, and it had already been my proudest moment. Shiloh and I ended up with a little girl that we named K’nai. She was born at five pounds and two ounces and a ball of fire. Our son Kai, who already seemed laid back, was born a full minute after his sister, weighing five pounds and ten ounces. The twins were fraternal but had it not been for the bow hat the hospital provided, they couldn’t be told apart.
The light knocks on the door caused me to pull my eyes from the twins toward the door. It was slowly pushed open, and my parents came into view.
“Hi…” My mother drawled with a wide smile plastered on her face. “Oh sorry.” She spoke a little lower after noticing Shiloh sleeping. Shiloh had been in and out of sleep since giving birth. She had been out of sleep more since the hospital was the worst place to get sleep in.
My mother quickly washed her hands before walking my way gushing the entire time. I didn’t realize how selfish I already waswith my children until my mother reached out to hold them. She was my mother and had raised my brother and I, so I knew they were in good hands, but naturally, I wanted to already protect them from any and everyone.
“May I?” she asked. Her hands were still outstretched.
Standing, I placed Kai carefully in her arms. Once he was tucked nicely, I handed off K’nai to her as well.
“Oh my goodness.” She beamed with tears in her eyes. “My baby has a baby,” she cried.
I was a grown man and had been on my own since my junior year in college. However, no matter how old I became, to my mother, I would always be the little boy she sent off to kindergarten kicking and screaming.
Shifting my gaze from my mother to my father, I smiled slightly. My mother was vocal about how she felt, but like most times, my father hadn’t uttered a word. He didn’t have to say it, but the slight smile, glossed eyes mixed with a twinkle, and his stance let me know he was damn proud to be a grandfather. “What you think, Pops?” I had to ask just to hear his approval.
Pops nodded slightly before he looked from me to the babies. The smile he had spread a little wider but not too much. It still could go unnoticed if you blinked.
Once again nodding, this time more prominent, He looked my way. “You two did good. I’ve always been proud of you, but this…” His words trailed off as his eyes shifted to a sleeping Shiloh before they were quickly back to me.
“You love her?” It was posed as a question, but I knew him enough to know he wasn’t looking for an answer, so I stood and waited for him to speak again. “Don’t just let her be the mother of your children. She is something special to you. Show her, and I mean more than y’all creations she’s carried and birthed for you.”
I knew what he was saying, so I nodded in understanding.
“Got it.” I chuckled slightly.
Hell, I knew one day I wanted to get married. I actually wanted to do the marriage thing a few years before any babies came, but things had a way of aligning as they saw fit. Looking from my pops to Shiloh, I perused her sleeping features. She looked so at peace. I’d already confessed my love for her, but now that I’d seen her bring life into this world in the most natural way, it intensified anything I felt for her. Like my pops said, she deserved to be more than just a girlfriend and baby’s mother.
Chapter
Forty-Two
Shiloh:
Rashad kneaded my pedicured feet with the right amount of pressure as they rested in his lap. We were at his place relaxing on his couch as reruns of an old nineties show played on his huge, wall-mounted TV. Rashad had forgiven me months ago, and I was still in disbelief. My actions weren’t the best, and it may have seemed selfish in the manner I had handled it, but it wasn’t that way at all. I didn’t speak up when needed, but I knew my conscious wouldn’t have allowed Rashad to go down. The logic may not have made sense to many, but I understood it.
