The Black Woman #Wattys2016

The middle.

Declan
         "I wonder if Alani will like these." Blake said and held up a bouquet of beautiful red roses. I smiled and nodded at him. "She'll love them. They're her favorites." Flynn walked in seconds later with a big ass teddy bear that was probably bigger than she was. "I thought she would need this in the hospital since it could get a little lonely." I raised an eyebrow at the both of them. "You two are making me look like a bad boyfriend right now. All I got her was her favorite candy." I held up a bag of sour patch kids with a frown. Dayja gave me a small hug. "She'll love your gift the most because it came from you. Now let's go give it to her. The doctors said she was awake this morning."

I grinned from ear to ear just thinking about being able to talk to my baby. "Let's go before visiting hours end." They all nodded and I grabbed the keys but was stopped by the phone ringing. "I wonder who that could be?" Blake asked and picked it up. "Hello?" His expression quickly changed and he looked at me with sad eyes. "Yes, he's right here." He handed me the phone and sat down on the chair blankly. Flynn quickly walked over to him to comfort him and I put the phone to my ear. "Yes, this is Declan." The doctor spoke quickly and frantically. "Mr. Kelly....she's gone. Alani is gone."

I clenched the phone in my hand with a frown. "How do you lose a hospital patient?! Please fucking explain that to me! How do you lose a patient in one of Seattle's best hospitals?!" The doctor told me to calm down and said something else about a bullshit investigation but I didn't want to hear it. I hung the phone up and felt everything in me boil. "She's gone." I told them and they all looked scared. "She was kidnapped and I bet my last dollar that Jason fucking took her. It's okay though because she'll be the last person he'll ever take again." I grabbed my keys and walked out the door, slamming it behind me. If Jason thought we had beef now, he hadn't seen nothing yet.
~~~
Alani
        "This is your bedroom. I know it's kinda big for one person but Jason and I assumed that you would want the baby to sleep in here with you so we made sure to get you a room with space enough for the two of you." Sarah said with a smile and showed me around. "It has a full bathroom and a big walk in closet for you. Jason even painted the walls black for you since you're into that whole thing."

I looked around at the room with a straight face. She sighed and sat on the edge of my bed. "Alani, I know this is hard for you right now but you'll get accustomed to it eventually. Jason and I aren't together if that's what you're thinking. He wants you and I can accept that. You're the better woman for him and what he wants. I'll back off from now on. Jason is all yours." I frowned and looked at her. "I don't want Jason, I want Declan. That's my boyfriend and that's my child's father. Jason can go fuck himself!" I yelled loud enough for Jason to hear. He walked in the room nonchalantly and shut it behind him. "Alani, I'm trying here. I don't know what else to do for you."

"Go jump off the roof. That would help me a whole hell of a lot." I said and sat down on the bed. "Alani you don't mean that. You're just still angry at me for what I did to you and I know you have every reason to be but-" I cut him off. "Shut up. You don't get to tell me what I have to feel about you or anything. You just stay out of my fucking way!" I pushed him aside and opened the door back. I slammed the door behind me and ran down the staircase. Za quickly followed behind me out the front door. "Jason instructed me to follow you wherever you go in case you're wondering why I'm following you."

I ignored him and continued to run down the sidewalk. He chased me all the way to the end of the street and leaned down to catch his breath. "Shit, how does a pregnant woman have so much energy?!" He wheezed and I watched him while laughing. "You're unhealthy and I'm healthy. It has nothing to do with me carrying a child."

We started walking down another street and Za tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, can I ask you a question?" I shrugged and continued to walk. He stepped up beside me and started talking. "Why won't you just give Jason one more chance? He's in love with you and wants to be with you..." I looked down at my feet. "Jason doesn't love me like he says he doesn't. Declan? Declan loves me and is in love with me. There's a big damn difference. He told me in the hospital that he wanted his family. He wanted us to work out. He even said he wanted to read those pregnancy magazines with me at night that all men hate."

Za shook his head. "Damn that's deep. I know Jason is my best friend and all but right now I'm team Declan." I smiled and looked across the street where an ice cream shop was. "I'm gonna go get some. Want some?" He nodded and we walked over to the shop. Blake had to be somewhere around here because there's two things he loves the most in this world: himself and ice cream. We walked in and that's where I saw him sitting in the corner by himself enjoying a bowl of chocolate ice cream.

We made eye contact but he didn't do anything. I guess he got the memo. He lifted a menu up in front of his face and grabbed his phone out of his pocket. I hadn't heard the woman behind the cash register until Za snapped his fingers in front of my face. "Hello? Lani? She asked what you wanted." The woman nodded and gave me a fake smile. "I'm sorry about my friend, she's just going through a lot right now."

"I want strawberry." I said and Za told her what he wanted also. Blake stood up from his seat and placed money on the table. He quickly walked past me with a grin on his face and walked out. Seconds later, Jason walked through the door looking pissed as hell. He cracked his knuckles and watched closely as Za paid for the ice cream and found us a table. Jason pulled his hood over his head and walked over to our table.

Za looked up and reached for something in his pocket but Justin grabbed him by the neck. "What part of keep her in the damn house don't you seem to understand?" Za lowered his hands slowly and Jason released him. I jumped out of my seat and tried to run towards the exit but Jason caught me mid-air. "Baby.." He whispered and held me tightly. "Why must you disobey me? Why would you go out by yourself?"

"I wanted ice cream."  My voice cracked as I looked at him. "We have ice cream at home, Alani." He chuckled and held my hands to his mouth. "Oh...well I wanted this kind." He rubbed my belly through my jacket and smiled. "I guess I can let this slide since you are with child and the baby is probably craving it."

Za sighed and watched us. "Alani, I'll get the ice cream. You two go back to the house." Jason and him shared a look and Jason pulled me behind him by my wrist. "Can you bring me more ice cream too?" I asked. He nodded and motioned for me to go. Jason pushed open the door and led me to his car. He opened the door and practically threw me in there. Then, he went over to his side and got in. "Why the fuck do you have to embarrass me like this? You can't even listen to one simple rule I gave you! All I asked was for you to stay in my sight and what the fuck do you do? Run away." He chuckled and started driving back to their house.

"I just want to go home..." I mumbled low enough to where I thought he wouldn't hear me. Jason snarled. "The fuck? I thought I told you this was your damn home now. We're moving soon anyways, just thought you should know. So whatever hope you have of Declan and Blake finding you is shot all to hell because they're not. Those two bird-brains couldn't even find out who killed their father."

That's when it hit me. I quickly reached down in my pocket for my phone and made sure that it was on the voice recording thing. "Wait, what?" I asked and Jason just smiled. "I fucking killed their dad, Alani, shit. Do I have to say it in Spanish? How about slower? I......killed.....his....father." I stopped the recording and put the phone under my leg, but not before sending it to Blake. He was the first name I got to. "You're such a dick"

"We'll see about that, baby girl." He pulled into the driveway and reached his hand out. I looked at it confused and then looked at him. "Give me your phone. You were fucking recording me. I'm not stupid, Alani." I sighed and gave him the phone. "The only way you can get this back is if you earn it." He smirked and got out the car, leaving me in there alone. If he wanted to play like this then fine. Two could play this game.