Almost Christmas

The Bitch Is Back

1 week later***

"Hey Uncle Ra, how's Darla doing?" Micha sat down on the couch besides him. "She's been exhausted but she's better than what she was" he said. "Good, we were all worried about her" he looked at his Uncle who gave him a smirk. "Thanks man, I appreciate it" they did their signature handshake. Until they can get the farm back, Darla, Ralph Angel, Blue, and Ebony are staying with Hollywood and Violet. Blue came walking in the living room to them. "Pop, is mom and Ebony still sleep?" He gave his son a smile. "I'm sure they are buddy. But I'll check and see. Give your cousin some company" he stood up and headed to the bedroom. He slowly opened the door seeing his wife's back facing him. He shut the door quietly before walking over to Ebony. He saw how she was sleeping peacefully. He picked her up and held her for a few minutes before putting her back down. "I love you princess" he walked over to the bed, kicking his shoes off. He got in bed moving closer to Darla. He wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her shoulder. "You awake baby?" She had her hands between her head and her pillow. "No..." he raised an eyebrow. "So you're sleep talkin' now?" He looked over her shoulder to see her face. "Blue's wondering about you. We all are" he said. "You good?" She was silent. "Darla?" He was concerned for her. "I just want to be left alone Ralph Angel" she shrugged her shoulder to indicate for him to move. "You sure about that? I don't think you being alone right now is a good thing" she looked over her shoulder at him. "If I wanted you hear then I wouldn't ask you to leave, now leave" she demanded. "A-Aight" he removed his hands from her abdomen. He got out of bed and slowly walked to the door. He looked over his shoulder seeing she already turned her head back. He sighed before opening the door.

Darla's POV

Truth be told, I'm not good. It's like every since I gave birth to Ebony and went into a coma, I've been so depressed. It's like I have this perfect life. An amazing husband. A second family. A beautiful son and daughter. I should be happy, right? So why am I not? It's so frustrating... When he got up I felt my heart break. I know that hurt him. For me to tell him to leave me alone when he's just trying to be so supportive. A fear tears left my eyes when I heard the door close.

"How is she baby?" Violet walked up to her nephew. "Honestly, I don't know. She's not really talking much. And wants to be left alone" he said. "Give her time. She's probably still a little shook up from the coma" she told her nephew. "Maybe, I just hope it doesn't change anything between us" he sighed. "It won't baby. No matter what's going on with her. She'll always love you" he slowly nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

***The Mall w/ Spencer & Jordan***

"Bro how many gifts are you gonna get her. My sister isn't that important" Jordan joked. "She's important to me. What you need to worry about is what you're getting Simone. You haven't even gotten her anything yet" Jordan chuckled. "Okay you got me. Well it's because I don't know what to get her. She has everything including me" Spencer rolled his eyes. "You tell her that and I bet you'll be sleeping on that couch tonight" Spencer pulled out his wallet as he was buying Olivia a diamond necklace. "The couch is quite comfy" Spencer chuckled at his friends humorous comment. "Dawg you're stupid" he shook his head. "Seriously thought I don't know what to get her" he said. "I'll help you figure something out" he told Jordan. After leaving the store they ran into an old friend. "Spencer fine ass James. I never thought I run into you again" Rochelle told him. "Long time no see. Give me some love girl" he hugged her. They hugged for longer than Jordan liked which caused him to clear his throat. They pulled away from the hug. "Jordan, nice to see you" she said without taking her eyes off of Spencer. "You look amazing as always" she gave him a flirtatious smile. "You don't look bad yourself" he complimented her back. "I'm going to use the restroom" Jordan interrupted. He walked off pulling his phone out to text Simone. Meanwhile, Simone was shopping with Olivia at the outlet mall. Both of their hands were full with bags of gifts. "I swear my wrists are going numb. These bags are cutting off my circulation" Olivia told her sister in-law. "You and me both. I just hope Jordan will love his gifts" she pulled her phone out when it vibrated in her back pocket. "Speaking of" she began to read her message he sent her in his head. You wouldn't believe who me and Spencer ran into... Rochelle Mosley. Her and Spencer are a little friendly for my liking. I felt like I was third wheeling so I pretended to go to the restroom because I felt awkward "Oh hell no" Simone didn't mean to say that out loud. "What?" Olivia looked over at her who was staring down at the message. "Simone?" She looked up "huh?" Olivia chuckled in confusion. "You said oh hell no. What did he send you? Or do I want to know?" Simone didn't want to hide things from her sister in law so she held up her phone for her to read the message. "Oh.. nice" Olivia folded her arms. "I'm sure it isn't nothing. Spencer loves you" she said. "Of course he does" she felt jealous. She didn't trust Rochelle knowing how close she got to him after him and Layla broke up back in high school. She didn't waste no time. "Don't worry about it" Olivia shrugged "I'm not" she lied. "Doesn't seen that way. C'mon, Spencer would never cheat on you. He's in love with you. If anybody he'd cheat on you with would be Kia and that wouldn't happen. Don't let Rochelle get to you. Besides, Jordan would kick his ass" she said. "Yeah...." She looked down as they continued to walk.

****Aunt Violet's house***

Ralph Angel was seated on the couch with Hollywood, Micha, Charlie, Violet, and Nova. "I'm going to bed, see y'all later" he couldn't interact with them because all he could think about is Darla. He was worried about her. "You good baby?" His Aunt Violet asked. "Yeah.. yeah I'm good" he mumbled. "Don't seem like it. Everything good between you and Darla?" He couldn't really answer because he didn't know. He just gave them a shrug. "How about you go and check up on her" Violet told him. "She wants to be left alone" he said. "You know she doesn't really mean it. She's just going through a tough time right now. She'll always need you" Charlie told her brother. "Guess you're right. Well.. I'll see y'all later" he stood up. "Hold Darla a little close for us little brother" Charlie told her brother. "Will do" he said. "Night Ra" Hollywood said. "Night" he said before heading to the room. She was sniffing a lot which made him realize that she's in bed crying. He kicked his shoes off and took off his shirt looking down at his wife who's back was facing him. He slowly got in bed and came close to her. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Thanks for coming..." her voice cracked knowing she needed to talk to him. "No need to thank me baby. I missed you" she wiped a tear as she continued to sniffled. "I need you to be real with me about your emotions so that I can help you through it" he said. "I'm depressed I guess. I hate feeling like this. But I keep thinking about everything. From the assault. From my recent relapse. Losing the farm. Giving birth to Ebony. Being in a coma. It's too much...." She admitted. "You're not alone. I've been a little off myself. I just have a better way of pretending like I'm good" she slowly turned over so that she could face him. She placed her hand against his cheek, slowly caressing it. "It's been a crazy year for the both of us. We need a break" a tear slowly fell from her eyes. "Yeah we been through a lot. We just need shit to pause so that we can be truly happy" he said. "I don't think we're on the same page Ralph Angel. When Blue goes back to Washington to live with his grandparents so that he could go to school, I am going with him. Ebony can stay with you..." she saw the confusion in his face. "What? Darla..." she sat up against the headboard, looking down at her hands that were in her lap. He sat up as well looking at her as he waited for her to explain. "I need a break Ralph Angel. Losing the farm because you decided to steal instead of accepting money from relatives and even myself who has money saved up from college funds. Plus almost losing my life to birth, I just need a break" he felt his heart break. "Darla... no..." he took her hand from her lap. "We need each other. I know I did something dumb but I promise you, we will get that farm back" she was looking down as tears were falling. "What happened to you standing by my side no matter what. Baby, we've been through hell and back. We can't just give up now. Let me be there for you, please" he begged. "Before I woke up in the hospital.. you were going to steal again. After all you put us through in the past month. Losing our home, the farm, because of your stubbornness. We have to stay with Violet and Hollywood because of it" she slowly slipped her hand away from him. "I can't do this. I need a break from you" she tucked her lips in looking down. "Don't do this to me Darla. Please don't do this to me" tears fell from his eyes. "Please go...."

TO BE CONTINUED