Our Little Secret

One Hundred Sixteen

"Hey, guysss!" Nicki smiled, walking into the dance studio.

All of her dancers looked over and cheered immediately. Her smile grew wider as she hugged all of them. She felt at peace being back in the studio around her dancers.

"Oh my god, I missed you guys so so much!"

"Nic, where have you been?"

Nicki smiled, taking a seat on the floor. They all sat down with her and she moved her hair out of her face.

"I know I've been gone for like two months, but I've been spending some well needed time with my family. You guys know I have very small children, so I wanted to be around to take them to school, help them with homework, and just be the best Mommy ever," she smiled.

"That's so good," someone said.

Nicki nodded. "It felt great to be home with them. I also took a nice vacation with my husband. We're both back at work now, so we have to make more time for each other. Hm... I also have news."

"Uggghhhh! Again?!" They all groaned.

"Again what?" Nicki laughed.

The dancers looked at her. "Every time you have news, it's a pregnancy announcement."

"Chile... I'm not about to deal with y'all today. The news is that you all are going to performing in Beyoncé and Rihanna's joint tour. It's in May, so we have plenty of time for rehearsal."

They all cheered, making Nicki smile.

"Tour starts at the end of May, which is perfect for my college babies. I'm so proud of you guys," Nicki said, giving them a warm smile. "Also, I will try my hardest to work around your schedules. I know most of you have to study, so I'll make arrangements."

She continued talking to them about upcoming events before it was time for her to leave. As she was pulling out of the lot, her phone rang. She connected it to her car and answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi, may I speak to Mrs. Williams?" The lady on the other line asked.

Nicki flipped her phone over, looking at the caller ID. Seeing 'My Babies School', she put her eyes back on the road.

"This is she."

"Hi, Mrs. Williams. This is Rihmeek's teacher. I tried to contact his father, but he wasn't answering his cell."

Nicki frowned. "Is everything okay?"

"Oh, yes. Everything's fine. I just have a few questions for you. Are you available to talk?" She asked.

"Yes," Nicki nodded.

She stopped at a red light.

"We're currently doing a family tree project in class, where all of the students list their siblings, parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents. Rihmeek is feeling pretty left out because he doesn't know his grandparents names or his aunts and uncles. He said he doesn't want to do the project. Is there any way that you can provide the names of his family members?"

Nicki frowned a little. "Oh my goodness. Should I come up there? Is he okay?"

"He's a little bummed out."

"I'll be up there in a few minutes," Nicki said.

They hung up and she continued driving.

***

"What's wrong, baby boy?" Nicki asked, kneeling down to Rihmeek's height.

She has pulled him out into the hallway to check on him. Although she felt out of place in her large, white shirt and tight, yoga pants, she pushed her discomfort aside and checked on her son.