The Boy Next Door

Chapter 30

Ellie

~ April, 2023 ~

"What you got there, babe?" Mario asked. "Just the mail." I said, making my way into the kitchen. "Anything good?" My husband said. I went through the mail only to find nothing but bills, bills, and more bills. "Just bills." I said, throwing the mail on the counter. "Of course." Mario says.
Mario and I were chilling in the house today. It was a beautiful sunny Saturday afternoon. Melani was in the kitchen, eating some dinosaur chicken nuggets. I was also 4 months pregnant with our second child. It was still too soon to tell, but I really felt like I was having a boy this time. This pregnancy was way different than when I was pregnant with Melani.
"Hello?" I said into the phone. "Ellie, you home?" Valentina asked. "No. We're taking Melani to the park. Why wassup?" I say. "I got something in the mail and I was wondering if you got the same thing." My sister asked. "Well what did you get?" I asked. "An invitation to a family reunion on our mothers side." Val says.
I haven't talked to or seen my mothers side of the family since my grandmother died. That was almost 7 years ago. I remember it because my mother didn't even come to the funeral. She had been locked up.
"Hm. I'll have to check again when we get home." I said. "Are we going, though? Cause you know I'm not going unless you are." Valentina says. I laughed. "I mean, we can go. I've never had a problem with anybody on moms side of the family." I said.
"Look mommy!" Melani said, climbing the monkey bars. "Be careful, baby." I said. I watched from the park bench while Mario and Melani were on the playground. It was so hot today. I was dressed in a yellow sundress and my flip flops. My hair was up in a bun.
"Did you have fun today, Princess?" Mario asked Melani. She nodded and her curls shook with the movement of her head. "Yeah!" She says. Both Mario and I laughed. We were walking back to the car.
Melani played so hard at the park that as soon as she got in the car, she knocked out. "I knew she'd fall asleep." I said. "Facts. Babygirl went hard." Mario says, starting the car. I put my seatbelt on, carefully over my growing bump.

Tiffany

"Baby, you're sure this is a good idea?" Darian questioned. "I'm positive! I wanna make things right with my mother, Darian." I said. "And I support you 100%." My man tells me. "Thank you." I tell him.
After having a serious talk with Ana and Joel, I finally grew some balls and decided to mend the relationship with my mother. I haven't talked to her in so long, that I was actually nervous. Of course, everybody told me I was crazy for trying to reach out to her after how she treated me. I just wanted her to meet her grandchildren. DJ was almost 8 years old and he has never met her. Bella was almost 1 and still had time.
Anyway, I had Darian take me to the house my siblings said my mother lived in. Just in case things got bad, Ana agreed to watch the kids so that Darian could be with me for moral support. I was extremely nervous. My palms were so sweaty, and my heart was beating damn near out of my chest.
The house was beautiful. There were 3 cars parked out front. The front yard looked well groomed. Darian and I sat in the car for about 5 minutes. "How are you feeling?" He asked me. "I'm so nervous. My palms are sweating." I admit. Darian laughed at me.
I knocked on the door. Darian grabbed my hand and squeezed it. "It's gonna be okay, baby." He says in a whisper. The door opened and there stood an older handsome Hispanic man. I assumed this was my mothers husband. "Hello! Can I help you?" He says. I smiled. "Hi, does a Dolores Rosario live here?" I said. "Yes she does. You look very familiar." He tells me. "My name is Tiffany. This may sound crazy but Dolores is my mother." I say. The man smiled at me. "It doesn't sound crazy at all. We've been waiting for you. Let me go get your mother." He says.
I was so overwhelmed with happiness. This went way better than I thought it would. When I saw my mother for the first time in so long, we hugged for what felt like forever. I cried in her arms, not caring about ruining my lashes.
"I have grandchildren?" My mother says. I nodded my head and took my phone out of my purse. "Yes you do! My babies DJ and Isabella." I said, showing her Christmas pictures we took when Bella was only 6 months old. I could see my mother getting emotional. "Aww, how old is DJ?" My mother said. "He'll be 8 November." I tell her. Next thing I knew, she was crying. "He's so handsome. Look at those eyes!" She says. My sensitive ass was now crying right along with her.
"How did it go, babe?" Darian asked. Once my mother and I started talking, Darian saw that things were going well so he sat in the car. As soon as I put my seatbelt on, Darian started the car. I sighed. "I'm happy now." I tell him. "That's good! So everything is okay with you and your mom?" He says. "Everything is perfect. I'm so glad I did this." I said.

Tania

"Malcom before you hang up I need to tell you something!" I said. Malcom sighs. "Tania, what is it?" He asked. "I'm pregnant." I blurted out. "We haven't had sex in over a month. You have to be a sick person to lie about something like that."
I've done a lot of fucked up things and I was ready for any bad karma coming my way. However, I've been trying to become a better person. I wasn't lying about being pregnant. Malcom and I hooked up one last time a few weeks ago.
"Malcom, I'm not lying! Remember a few weeks ago when you came over to check on me? And one thing lead to another?" I said. "Fuck." Malcom says. "I know I've done a lot of fucked up things but I would never lie about being pregnant. That's a whole new low." I explained. "I'll be over there in 10 minutes." Malcom says to me. Before I could say anything else, the line went dead.
"You wanna tell me why you were banging on my damn door like you were the fucking police?!" I complained. Malcom walked inside. "Or you can just ignore what I just said." I sassed. "So, you're really pregnant?" He asked. "Yes, Malcom." I said.
This motherfucka really bought a pregnancy test and made me pee on it in front of him. All because he thought I was lying. This entire situation made me realize that I no longer wanted anything to do with him. I no longer loved him.
"So, when do you wanna get the procedure? I'll give you the money." Malcom says. I looked at him like he was nuts. "Procedure?" I said. He looked at me. "Yeah, an abortion. When you wanna do this so I can give you the money?" He says. "Malcom, I'm not getting an abortion." I hissed. "Why not? You tryna tell me you wanna keep it?" Malcom says, standing up. "Of course I'm keeping it. Are you well?!" I fumed.
Malcom knew better than anybody that I would never get an abortion. I was pro choice and I felt that a woman should have the right to do whatever the fuck she wanted with her body. So, the fact that he was here in my face telling me to get an abortion was beyond me. The damn nerve.
"Tania, you know I'm not tryna have anymore kids. Especially by..." "BY WHAT?!" I yelled. "I was gonna say by a woman who wasn't my wife." Malcom says. I laughed. "Then, you as a married man, shouldn't have even pursued me 3 years ago." I sassed.
In my defense, when Malcom and I met, he didn't mention that he was married until after our 6th date. At that point he and I had already been seeing each other for almost 2 months. Now, I know I  should've stopped talking to him the very moment he told me he was married. But I couldn't. I don't know why, but something just told me to stick around. And here right now, I've never regretted anything more in my life.
"So that's it. You really wanna keep this baby?" Malcom says. I folded my arms. "Yes, Malcom. What don't you understand?" I said. He laughed. "Well, don't expect me to stick around because I'm not." He says. "And that's absolutely fine." I say. "Don't come begging me for no money either." Malcom said. I walked him to the door. "That's also fine. Have a nice life and get the fuck out." I said nicely. Malcom left and I shut the door behind him. He had me fucked up.