Stubborn

Chapter Twenty Three

For a week straight, blogs and the media alike were blazing. Jay Z had just dropped a new song, "Lost One", and it was a smash hit. But, that wasn't entirely why the media was loving the track and reporting about it on several occasions. After putting together Jay Z and Beyonce leaving the basketball game early, them not being in the studio together for that week, and a whole verse in the song - they had concluded that the couple that never was, had split up.

Melanie wasn't fond of the idea of Shawn actually putting their business out to the world. After telling Shawn that she thought that the two should just be friends, he called her to ask her why. Melanie flat out told him that she wasn't ready and that she had a case that she needed to focus on. Many people would think that she was crazy for thinking this, but in Melanie's mind, it was all justified. She couldn't give her all to Shawn, knowing that she had to play a double life. She had to find out information regarding Jermaine and his daughter.

Sighing as she began getting dressed, Melanie could see her son's reflection in the mirror that she stood in. "Hey big boy," she said in a less than pleasing tone of voice. She was aware that her son could always pick up on her moods, but Melanie wasn't thinking at the moment.

"Mommy..." Julian said softly. She looked down to him, letting him know that he had her full attention right now. Melanie laughed once she saw that he wasn't wearing anything put his underwear.

"You pee-peed on yourself?" Melanie asked as she bent down. They were supposed to be on their way to the hospital to see Milena. Her mother had called her in the middle of the morning to let her know that she'd waken up. After crying her eyes out, Melanie figured that it was best to wait until Julian was well rested before she decided to go out there.

"You gotta take another bath. You gotta be clean for Lena," she said as she began running him a quick bath. Julian got in the tub, and Melanie cleaned him. It wouldn't be a child if he didn't constantly whine about not having toys in his bath. Usually, Melanie would allow it – but they didn't have time right now.

They both were dressed and ready to go. Melanie was one of those mothers that dressed her child to look their best. Her mother would always chastise her about dressing the boy in the best things, but Melanie didn't see the problem. Her son mostly adorned Ralph Lauren Polo. She figured that if she loved dressing nicely, why would she neglect her child? It was like her hair always being on  point and having a daughter walking around looking like Buckwheat from The Little Rascals.

As Melanie was walking around looking for her misplaced keys, there was a knock on the door. She frowned up and checked the time on her phone. There wasn't a single person that she was expecting. After looking through the peephole, she saw Jermaine standing on the opposing side of her door. She rolled her eyes before answering the door. "Uh...I wasn't expecting you.."

Jermaine let out a soft chuckle and shrugged his shoulders. "I missed lil man."

Melanie looked behind her and didn't see Julian standing behind her. She turned back to Jermaine and also noticed that Chanel wasn't with Jermaine. "Where's Chanel?"

"With Ashley," Jermaine said in a heartbeat. "You going somewhere?"

Melanie looked at him before nodding her head. "Yeah. Uh, Milly woke up this morning, so I'm going to see her."

"Oh. Can I take Julian then while you do that?"

"No," Melanie said almost too quickly. "Julian wants to see her. He hasn't seen her in a long time."

"Ah," Jermaine said taking the hint. When Milena was running the streets and doing drugs, Melanie made sure that her son wasn't around her. She loved her sister to death, but she loved her son even more.