Page 25 of That Fire

“Yep. Y’all come on.” As she walked, she turned to me and said, “Your blood pressure and weight look good, Aaliyah. How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay. Just swelling feet. I assume that’s part of it though, right?”

“Could be, but I’ll check them to be sure nothing else is going on. You ready to find out what you’re having?”

“Beyond ready. I need to add decorations to the nursery, so I need to know what colors.”

Bali smiled at me and led us into a room. “Go ahead and get on the table. I’ll be right back to check you out and do your ultrasound.”

“Okay.”

“Let me help you,” Royal said.

He came to me and lifted me to the table. I was so grateful for that. It seemed my belly was growing by the day. It made it hardfor me to maneuver like I wanted to. A couple of months ago I would have easily hopped up here without assistance.

Royal went and sat in the chair, and I could tell he was extremely bothered. Crew was wrong for that shit. He acted like he was the older brother sometimes. It seemed he was jealous of Royal for some reason. He was only like twenty-two years old and still in college. He couldn’t compare himself to Royal.

“Royal.”

He looked up at me and smiled, then stood to come to my side. After kissing my head, he asked, “What’s up, baby?”

“Your sexy ass.”

I put my hands on his face and pulled him to me. I kissed his lips then slid my tongue to his, trying to get his mood out of the dumps. He slid his hands to my hips and gripped the extra goodness there as he released a soft moan into my mouth.

When the door opened, he pulled away from me as Bali stood there frowning. “And that’s why the fuck y’all in this office. You can’t contain yourself until you get home? Nasty asses.”

I giggled as she pushed in the ultrasound machine. She went to my chart and looked over a few things. “Aaliyah, all your stats look really good. The babies’ health looks amazing from what we saw through the amniocentesis, serum screening, and CVS. We are going to check their size and positioning through the ultrasound and your amniotic fluid. They already took blood for routine testing and for the paternity test. Royal, we just need a sample from you. We’ll get that after the ultrasound.”

We both nodded as she came to me and checked my thyroids, ears, and all that other shit, before having me lay down to check my belly and feet. “They aren’t swollen today, Liyah. You probably did too much.”

“Probably,” I said as I stared at Royal.

Bali looked at him too and rolled her eyes. “Is anything bothering you? Do you have any questions?”

“Will I be delivering them both naturally, or will I have to have a C-section?”

“So far, everything is looking great for a vaginal delivery. We will monitor that as we go. After your next appointment in two weeks, we will start seeing you every week.”

I nodded as she adjusted the machine, then looked up at Royal. “You see I’m trying to get set up. Get yo’ ass out the way, fool. Go to the other side. I swear, men are dummies. No common sense at all.”

I giggled as Royal frowned, then slowly shook his head. He walked around to the other side of me and grabbed my hand and kissed it. “Bali better be glad she pregnant. Doctor or not, I would have snatched her up and tickled her ass to death.”

Bali was frowning when he said ‘snatch her ass up’ but when he finished the sentence, she had a slight smirk on her lips. She grabbed the gel, so I lifted my shirt and tucked it under my bra and slid my maternity pants down. She squirted some on my stomach. I loved that she warmed her gel slightly. It wasn’t too liquidy, but it wasn’t cold either.

Royal was staring at me as she did so, then looked at the screen with a huge smile on his face. I was waiting to see if he would look confused, but that expression never graced his face. When they came into view, he said, “Look at my babies. That one looks chill as fuck.”

I giggled. The baby looked to be laid back against what was probably my bladder. The other one’s hands were up.

Bali circled something and said, “The one that’s chill as fuck is your daughter.”

Royal smiled even bigger. So far we had a girl. He kissed my hand and continued staring at the screen to see what Bali would reveal next.

“This one is your whiny ass son.”

I chuckled. I swore, this heifer had no couth. Royal kissed my hand again and said to Bali, “Watch yourself, girl. You pregnant. Yo’ child might come out a lil terror. What are you having anyway?”

Before she could answer, we heard a commotion up front. “I swear, these muthafuckas act like this isn’t a fucking medical clinic.”