A sleepy Samara was awoken by the sound of loud laughter ringing throughout the house. She jolted up and checked the time on her phone. It was only after nine a.m ., but she couldn't help but feel like she overslept when the house sounded so full and noisy. She looked over to her right and saw that Zay was no longer there. In his place was a set of Christmas themed pajamas. She assumed that they were for her and that Zay would have on a matching set. Not wanting to waste anymore time, she pulled the heavy comforter away from her body and made her way out of the bed. As she dragged herself into the adjoining bathroom suite she was surprised to see a red box on the sink with her initials embossed in the leather. After opening the lid, her eyes grazing over the printed gold Cartier logo, out fell a small handwritten note. It read: This was the closet thing I could find that was as beautiful outwardly as you are inwardly. I love you always—Isaiah. Merry Christmas. Samara smiled to herself and took out the beautiful diamond necklace that Zay had gifted her. He was spoiling her and much to her surprise she loved it.
Once she was done ogling over the necklace (and it was safely put away) Samara felt officially ready to begin her morning.
Now dressed in her cute pj's, Samara followed the loud voices into the kitchen where she was immediately greeted with a festive, but warm good morning.
"Merry Christmas everybody!" Samara said in a sing-song voice. Equally cheerful Merry Christmases came from around the room.
"You cute in those pj's girl!" Zen said from across the room. She, Demi, and Imani had on the same pair.
Samara smiled and did a little dance."Thank you girl! So are you!"
Imani shook her head and smiled at their rapport. "Sam," she interjected. "We hired a private chef for breakfast so whatever you're in the mood for Chef Driss will make it for you. He does have some food already spread out in the dining room, but ya know, if you want something specific he'll hook you up."
"Ugh. This is perfect. I'm so hungry. Thank you."
"Girl, you know how we do," Imani smiled. "There's also some coffee in that pot on the counter. Chef Driss made it. It's de-licious. I definitely encourage you to have some. It's the best coffee I've had in a while," Imani boasted.
"Oh? I think I will." Samara made her way over to the counter with the coffee and grabbed a mug out of the cabinet. Zay walked over to her while she was pouring herself a cup and kissed her on the cheek. "G'morning. How'd you sleep?"
"MmMm," Samara said leaning back. "What is that?" she asked.
"What?" Zay questioned with a smirk.
"The kiss on the cheek. When we start doing that?" she grinned. "I wanna real kiss."
Zay's face lit up with laughter. "A real kiss?"
"Don't play with me," Samara grinned. "You weren't there when I woke up. How else am I gonna say good morning, merry christmas, and thank you for the necklace?" she whispered.
Zay's eyes lit up. "Oh. The necklace," he smiled, "So, you found that, huh?"
"How could I not? It wasn't exactly inconspicuous on the bathroom sink," Samara grinned.
"I'm assuming you like it?"
"I love it," she beamed. "It's beautiful. Thank you so much."
"Anything for you. You know that."
"So," Samara said smiling up at him, "does that mean I can have my kiss now?"
"You can have whatever you want," Zay crooned, as he pulled her in for a slow kiss. Chatter started to erupt from around the room.
"Good morning," Samara muttered against his lips.
"Merry Christmas," he mumbled back.
"Thank you. Merry Christmas."
Zay gave Samara a quick peck on her lips before asking, "Satisfied?" with a knowing grin.
Samara looked up at him, her eyes holding his gaze. "Very."
"I love you," he crooned
"I love you, too." Samara stood on her toes to reach his lips again.
"Unh Uh! What's this?" Izzy said loudly. "I don't see no mistletoe over there!" he joked. The others in the room laughed.
"So," Demi pried. "Tell us! Y'all really together now?" she grinned.
Zay looked at Samara and said, "Yeah. We are."
"Finally!" Imani exclaimed. "Now me and Valencia can start planning this wedding," she teased. "It took y'all long enough." Everyone in the kitchen laughed. "Have you told your mom yet?" Imani asked Samara.
"Not yet. I'll call her in a little bit so y'all can start goin' over floral arrangements and wedding themes," she laughed.
"Girl, to tell you the truth we jus' gonna gab about how excited we are!" she laughed. "I'm only messing with y'all cuz I'm so excited.
"I know ma," Samara smiled.
"But imma still say welcome to the family even though we already love you like you're our own."
"Aw. Thank you. I love y'all."
"I know you do, Sam," she beamed as she stood to hug her.
"Wait! I wanna get in," Zen said rushing over to them." When she joined their embrace she said to Demi, "Dem, getcha butt over here too!" Demi laughed and went to join them in their group hug.
"I finally have all my daughters," Imani beamed when they let go of one another. "I love y'all so much."
"Don't you start ma," Demi said to Imani. "I'm pregnant. You know it don't take much," she said dabbing under her eyes. The four women laughed.
"A'right let's say grace so we can eat before the waterworks really get started," Imani teased.
..
After breakfast everyone was gathered in the family room to take the family Christmas photos. Laughter and merriment filled the large room as they smiled and posed in front of the camera. Everything was running smoothly until the doorbell rang. When Zayne opened the door he was immediately bombarded with a host of news reporters and Mr. and Mrs. Edwards pushing their way through the throng.
"This is a private family matter!" Lelah said to the reporters as she moved past them. "You all need to leave or we're calling the police!"
Zayne moved out of the way and let them in. "What is going on?" he asked, shutting the door behind them.
"We are so sorry that you had to find out this way," Lelah consoled.
Zayne looked at his family and then back at the Edwards' with a confused expression. "Find out what in what way?"
Lelah and her husband, Peyton, gave one another an awkward look. "Uh. About the baby."
"What baby?" Imani questioned.
"You didn't tell them?" Lelah said to Zay. She looked between Imani and Zayne. "We are so sorry. We thought you knew or that you at least saw it on the news."
"Isaiah Adams what is she talking about?" Imani retorted.
Zay put his head down and sighed. "Lovie has a five year old daughter named London."
"And you didn't think to tell us this?" Imani snapped. "You've been keeping this secret from us for five years!" She stood from her seat.
"No. She's been keeping this secret from me for five years. I just found out last night, but she said that London isn't mine."
Peyton and Lelah looked at each other in disbelief. "Well. No. That can't be. The results said that you're the father. There's a 99.999 percent chance that you're London's biological father. It says it right here." Lelah quickly went in her purse and pulled out a folded piece of paper. She handed it to Zay who took it reluctantly. He held the paper open, his parents standing over his shoulder reading the results along with him.
"This has to be a mistake. She never contacted me for DNA or anything. I don't know how she would have gotten these results. I'm only just learning about London yesterday."
Samara was fuming. She quickly stood from her seat and stormed off towards the kitchen. She couldn't believe that Lovie would lie like that and then get reporters involved to make Zay look like the bad guy. "Sam," Zen said coming up behind her. "I need you to relax."
"Do you see what they're saying about him online?" Samara said shoving her phone at Zen. "They're calling him a deadbeat and saying that this scandal could jeopardize him getting drafted in seven months."
"What! They can't do that! Let me see." Zen's eyes darted across the screen. "Oh, hell no! There's a quote from Lovie saying that he refused to be a part of the baby's life when he found out back in 2016! And she's lying saying that Zay said 'a baby would only slow down his career'. Even at eighteen Zay would never say something like that if the baby was his." Zen handed Samara back her phone. "I can't read anymore. It's making me mad."
"So you two knew about the possibility of Zay being this child's father and never said anything!" Imani shouted in the other room. Zen and Samara looked at each other and quickly headed back into the family room.
"Of course. They were dating at the time and Lovie wasn't a, you know," Lelah paused, "a fast girl. We didn't raise our daughters to be hot in the pants. Who else's baby could it have been?"
"Why didn't you call my husband or I when you found out? We could have dealt with this then."
"How? By paying for her to get an abortion like you paid for Zen's?"
"She did what!" Zayne questioned, his face riddled with confusion."
"Excuse me! You better watch your mouth!" Imani replied. "I don't know what you think you know, but you are wrong," she said moving in on Lelah. Zen thought she was gonna die from embarrassment. "How'd she even know about that?" she wondered. "Imma whoop Lovie's ass," she said silently to herself. "And my parents are gonna kill me. I was never planning on telling them."
"We would have never done that!" Imani continued, "and I resent the fact that you think we would. We would have helped with doctor expenses and been there every step of the way if we knew about this baby. We would not have let Lovie raise that child alone let alone propose abortion." Imani wiped the tears that were welling in her eyes and turned to leave. As she was making her exit Zen stood in her way. "We'll talk later," she sniveled and then she brushed past her. Zayne was quick to go after her.
Now that the room was standing in awkward silence Izzy said to the Edwards', "I think y'all've caused enough damage for today so y'all can see ya selves out." Izzy was stern as to assure them that their departure was not up for debate. The Edwards' excused themselves and quickly headed back towards the foyer. As they left, the rousing sound of the reporters could still be heard on the other side of the door.
As a friend and a girlfriend Samara didn't know who to console first. She had no idea about Zen's abortion and wanted to help calm her down, but Zay was just put into the middle of a media frenzy with this "scandal" hitting the news and he needed her too. Izzy, seeing her dilemma, intervened. "I'll handle this one, okay?" he whispered. "Can you check on my sister? Make sure she's okay?" Samara was super grateful for his quick response in that moment.
"Yeah. Of course. Thank you," she uttered before rushing off and pulling Zen out of the room. "Zenny, you okay?" she asked.
Zen leaned forward, placing her hands on her knees, and took deep breath's. "No, but thank you so much for pulling me out of there. I felt like I was suffocating."
"You don't have to thank me," Samara reassured. "Do you need some water?"
"How about a shot of tequila?"
"Nah, I'm gonna get you some water," Samara smiled. "Sit down. I'll be right back." Samara rushed into the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge, and rushed back to Zen. Zen graciously took the bottle from Samara and chugged it down.
"So. I guess I should address the elephant in the room," Zen started.
Samara shooed away her comment. "There's no elephant in the room. It's your story. You can talk about it when you're ready."
"It's been six years. I've been holding onto this secret long enough. Who better to share it with than my sister."
"Well, sister to sister," Samara smiled, "this is a judge free zone. Whatever you say here will stay here. Promise."
Zen reached out and grabbed Samara's hand with tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she sniveled. "So, um. I'll keep it short. I was a sophomore in high school and I was secretly dating Diem behind my brothers back...and my parents. He was my first and I was in love." Zen rolled her eyes at the thought. "We had sex once and I got pregnant. I told him and he freaked out. He was so scared, but told me that he'd take care of it. A few days later he gave me just enough money to discreetly terminate the pregnancy. Lovie was the only person I had told at the time. She offered to take me to the clinic and waited for me when it was all over. A few days went by and I thought that I was off scott free, until Zay saw my doctor papers sitting on my night stand. I thought I had put it away, but I must've forgot. Anyway, he confronted me about it and I told him everything. He was pissed about all of it, but swore to keep my secret. That's also why me and Diem are a little awkward around each other sometimes. We haven't talked about it since he gave me the money. I guess he figured that since my belly didn't get any bigger that I had gone through with it...the abortion."
"Wow. Have you and Lovie talked about it since then?"
"No. Never, but it looks like she's been telling other people. If her parents know then everyone knows." Zen groaned and put her head down.
"I'm telling you, if I see her it's on sight for that bitch," Samara replied.
Zen chuckled. "Ooh. Lovie brings out the fighter in you. Ain't you from McClean?" she teased.
"Yeah, but my mama and deddy not," Samara laughed. I fight like I'm from their hood."
Zen burst out laughing. "I hope so. All that mouth you got." The two of them laughed.
"Zay! Someone is here to see you!" Demi shouted from the foyer.
Samara perked up. "Who's that?" she whispered. "Do you think it's her?"
"I don't know," Zen shrugged. She stood from her seat and quickly walked to the doorway to try to listen for a familiar voice. Not hearing much, she walked down the hallway and peeked around the corner. She rolled her eyes when she saw the 5'7 troublemaker waiting for Zay in the family room. Zen sped back to the room and said in an exasperated tone, "It's her."
Samara hopped up and began to make her way down the hall, but as she headed to where Lovie was, Zay spotted her, hooked his arm in hers and guided her in the opposite direction.
"Sam, what are you doing?" he asked pulling her into an empty room.
"No, what are you doing? Let me go."
"I know you not 'bout to go in there and start some more shit with Lovie."
"No. I'm bout to set her ass straight. I'm not gon' let her keep fucking with you!"
"Did I ask you to do that?"
"You didn't have to. You're not just my boyfriend you're my best friend. I'm gonna always look out for you."
"And baby, I appreciate that so much, but I don't want you going in there and making shit worse."
Samara huffed and rolled her eyes. "Why are you protecting her?"
"I'm not protecting her. I'm protecting you. I don't want to see you do anything that is outside of your character. Both of y'all come from money, but it couldn't be more clearer to me that y'all are not cut from the same cloth. You are better than her, so be better than her."
"Zay, I told you what it was last night. On sight."
"I know, but you don't have to get on her level."
"I know I don't have to, but I want to."
"Mar, this is my battle. Let me fight it."
Samara looked at him unwilling to back down, but after staring at his pleading face for a few moments, gave in to his wishes. "Fine. Whatever. I will do my best not to say or do anything."
"Thank you," Zay sighed. He quickly kissed her forehead and then went to see what Lovie had to say for herself.
..
"Zay. Hi. Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"
"No. You didn't handle this matter privately, so whatever you got to say you can say it right here."
Lovie looked around the room at Izzy, Demi, Zen, and Samara and was hesitant to speak. "Um. Well," she started. Izzy nodded to Demi and the girls that they should head out. Demi agreed, but Zen and Samara were set on staying.
"Psst," Izzy whispered to the two of them. "Let's give them some privacy."
"No," Zen shot back. "I wanna hear what she gotta say."
"I do too," Samara said folding her arms.
"Come on y'all. For real. Don't be like that, a'right?" Izzy replied. "Do it for Zay."
"He didn't ask us to leave, so if I did I'd be doing it to make her comfortable," she said pointing at Lovie. "She crossed a line with me when she started fucking with family, so no!"
Izzy looked at Samara in hopes that he could reason with her next. "Lil sis. Please," he begged.
Samara thought about what Zay had said and let out a heavy sigh. She tapped Zen's arm. "Come on," she said sucking her teeth. "Let's go." They both relunctantly stood from their seats and followed Izzy and Demi back into the kitchen.
Now that the family room was empty Lovie had no problem speaking freely. "Zay, I am so sorry about all of this. I didn't mean for any of this to get out."
"So what did you mean for it to do then, huh?"
"Well, initially, yeah, I did want it out there. I was upset with you and I took it too far."
"You think!"
"Look. Just let me explain, okay."
"Yeah. Let's see how you gon' spin this around."
Lovie took a deep breath. "On Tuesday after that big argument we had I went and talked to someone. A reporter. I was so upset and I wanted to just put everything out there to get back at you, but after thinking about how wrong it was I went back to renege the story and begged them not to go through with it, but it was too late. The damage had already been done."
"Well why didn't you warn me last night? You could have at least gave me a heads up!"
"You walked away so fast I couldn't get another word in and when I tried calling you earlier I couldn't get through."
"Oh, so it's my fault!"
"No," she sulked. "I-I'm sorry. You gotta believe me. I really am."
"'I'm sorry' is not good enough! You wrote lies about me and got reporters at my house on fucking Christmas! You ruining the holidays for me and my family and not to mention your daughter whose birthday is today! After all these years you still don't care about nobody, but yourself! Grow up Lovie!"
"I'm so sorry," she cried. "Imma fix it. Imma go back and recant the whole story. Everything. I swear."
"My career could be jeopardized because of this! Not to mention my reputation and my family's! You say that you want me back and you miss me, but you continue to do shit that hurts me! Damn it, Lovie! And not only did you lie to the reporters, but you lied to your parents. Got me out here looking like a deadbeat! Why would you tell them that I'm London's dad when you know that I'm not?"
"I never told them that."
"So why did they roll up in here with the DNA report that says that I'm 99.9 percent London's dad? Explain that! It's clear that you kept the paternity of London's dad to yourself cuz they don't know shit!"
"They probably just assumed that you were. I-I never told them that I was with anyone else."
"Oh. So they don't have any other reason to believe anything different!" he said matter-of-factly. "You have literally done nothing to dispel the idea that I'm the father, which means that that is what you wanted them to believe. Just fuck my feelings and my life right?"
"I never intended for it to get this far and to be honest my parents like the idea of their family being perfect, so there are just some questions they're not going to ask, especially ones that they think they already know the answer to."
"And that worked out perfectly for you, because you got to have a baby by someone else and not deal with the aftermath of your parents finding out. I can't believe you just let them walk around for five years thinking whatever the hell they wanted to think?"
"The way I saw it back then was the less they knew the better."
"Why? So you could protect your good girl image? And what about your daughter? Doesn't she deserve to know who her real father is?"
"I reached out to her dad and his family when I found out. His parents wrote me a big check to keep quiet about the pregnancy and then another one after we confirmed that their son was London's father. They were worried that it would ruin their son's reputation. And their family's for that matter. So right now, London doesn't need to know."
Zay scoffed. "Ain't that some shit. You spent all that energy on me and you should've used all that energy to bully that dude into meeting his daughter. You gon' let that dude off the hook just to spite me. That's fucked up. Not to mention what happens if this news reaches his family. If they can pay you off twice they really got it like that. If they even think for a second that you lied about your child's paternity and you cashed out big off that lie they gon' come for yo' ass. My advice to you: fix the mess you created or lawyer up, and when you done figuring out how you gon' handle this delete my number and stay the hell away from me and my family." Zay turned to walk away. "You can see yourself out," he said over his shoulder, "I've heard enough."
Behind him Lovie said through teary eyes, "I'm gonna make things right. I promise."
In the kitchen Izzy, Demi, Zen, and Samara had overheard everything. They had been rooting Zay on while munching on snacks. When they saw him enter into the kitchen they all perked up.
"Aye. How'd it go?" Izzy asked.
"I know y'all was eavesdropping from in here," he said going into the fridge for a bottle of water.
"Are you okay?" Samara asked quietly from her seat.
Zay opened up his water and joined them at the table. "I am okay, actually. I said what I needed to say and I'm choosing to believe that she can't fuck this shit up any further. Plus, I think that she'll actually come clean about everything."
"You can also post something on your IG story to combat the news," Zen offered.
"If I post anything on my Instagram today it's gon' be Christmas related only."
"Bro you can post a pic of you and Sam saying 'this my only baby'," Izzy laughed. "You can make y'all Instagram official and address the lies at the same time."
Zay cracked a smile. "Shut up yo! I ain't doing that shit," he laughed.
"Well let me post it then. That'll really stir the pot," Samara laughed.
"Whatchu gon' post sis? 'I'm his only baby' then at him?" Everyone was hysterical at Zen's comment.
"Nah, cause then they'll start doing a deep dive into your life and you don't want them trynna drudge up shit on you. It can get messy real fast. I ain't gon put you in a position to be violated like that."
"Damn lookatchu being protective and shit. That's kinda hot," Samara laughed. "It ain't lost on me why she went through all that to get your attention. She a lil crazy, but I get it. You fine." Everybody laughed.
"Where was that energy earlier when you was ready to fight her," Zen laughed.
"It was still there. That's why I wasn't gon' let her off easy. I know what I got."
"Heard you sis!" Demi grinned as she reached over to give Samara a high five.
"Oh my goodness y'all! Look. Lovie just got on her Instagram live," Zen alerted. Everyone hopped up and looked over Zen's shoulder to watch the live. They were all a witness to Lovie admitting that everything that the articles and blogs had reported was a complete lie. She recanted her previous statements and said that Zay was not her daughters father. Everyone gasped when she released the name of the real father and the lengths that his parents went through to keep her quiet. That was the last thing Zay expected her to do, but he was glad she did it. Now he could move on from these chaotic past few days and focus on his family and Samara.
When the live ended Samara leaned over Zay's shoulder and said, "It's finally over! You happy now?" She kissed his cheek.
Zay smiled at her and said, "What is that?"
"What?" she asked confused.
"The kiss on the cheek. When we start doing that? I wanna real kiss," he said imitating her. When Samara burst out laughing Zay pulled her down into his lap and kissed her.
"This is ridiculous. Somebody please get the mistletoe," Izzy joked. Everyone in the room laughed.
"You ready to see the rest of your Christmas surprise?" Zay asked against Samara's lips.
"What? There's more?" Samara smiled.
"There's always more," he grinned. "You couldn't possibly think that one diamond necklace is all I got you. Come on," Zay said standing up.
"But, I haven't even gotten to give you your gifts yet."
"You will, but me first," he grinned. Zay pulled her out of the room. Samara felt giddy inside. She was so happy that despite the downward spiral the day took that everything was quickly beginning to look up again. With the chaos behind them, she could look forward and focus on Zay and their new relationship. As she watched him dart around the room pulling out gift bags and boxes, she silently prayed that her and Zay would be forever. His love was too good to let go and in her heart she knew that there wasn't another soul on earth who would love her as fiercely as Zay did. The gifts were wonderful, but it was his heart that she was attracted to. Who knew that the right guy for her was right under her nose the whole time.
Hey guys! This story is ALMOST at the end. Omg! I'm hoping to write at least one or two more chapters and then the epilogue. Yay! Definitely thinking about writing a book two for Samara and Zay (post college), because I really love them. They're my favs! Would y'all be down for a book two or have y'all had enough? 👀 Let me know!✌🏾
-xoxo
blackgirlwrites ❤️😉
