Page 59 of That Fire

All I heard was screaming and crying. “He’s gone, Royal. He’s goooone!”

I dropped the phone to the floor, then leaned against the bed as Aaliyah stared at me. I couldn’t stop the tears. While preparing to welcome my babies into this pitiful world, my brother had left, choosing not to give it a fight.

“Come on, baby. Push!” I said, somewhat softly.

I was doing my best to be supportive, but all I could think about was my brother. The family had all left here to go be there for my parents and Ashanni. Only Aaliyah’s parents and brothers were here, along with the Semiens. However, I knew at some point, they would go and be with my parents as well. They needed all the comfort they could get. I felt alienated in a way, but I knew holding my babies would give me all the peace I needed.

Bali yelled as tears fell down her cheeks, “Push, Liyah. The baby’s head is right there. Let’s see which one is gonna be the boss.”

I knew she was thinking about Crew as well. Noni was standing to the side, along with a nurse to take the babies to clean them up. Aaliyah squeezed my hand as she pushed, and a head popped out. The baby had a head full of hair. “One of the babies’ head is out, baby. This is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

“When you feel the next contraction, push.”

Within seconds, Aaliyah pushed, and the baby slid right on out of there. “Ooooh, we have Miss Rashaaaa! She is going to give Ravi hell!” Bali said and laughed.

I cut the cord, and Noni whisked her off to the scale. “We have one more baby. She’s so beautiful.”

Aaliyah nodded as tears fell down her cheeks. I kissed her cheek, and said, “I’m with you, baby. You got this.”

She nodded as Bali got back in position. “When you feel it, you know what to do.”

Aaliyah nodded, then pushed until Bali told her to stop. However, I noticed the baby’s heartrate was dropping. I closed my eyes, hoping Aaliyah didn’t notice. When she felt another contraction, she pushed again, and the baby completely slid out. The umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck. Bali quickly unwrapped it and tapped his chest. He sucked in a huge breath and started screaming.

I released the breath I was holding. There was no way I would have survived today if one of my babies had died. Once I cut the umbilical cord, the nurse whisked him away as well. Another lady came in to get Aaliyah all cleaned up.

“This can happen when the egg splits nearly two weeks after conception. They shared the placenta and the sac, which is probably why they were always fighting in there. You know his sister probably wrapped that cord around his whiny ass throat,” Bali said, then took off her gloves and the covering she had over her.

After tossing it in the trash, she came to me and hugged me tightly. “I’m so sorry, Royal. This shit is heartbreaking.”

I hugged her back and allowed tears to leave me once again. When I told Aaliyah, it was like her mind couldn’t comprehend what I was saying for a moment. It took me a moment to grasp what was said as well. Crew was gone, and I desperately wanted to be with my family, especially my parents. Once what I’d toldher sank in, she cried, but I believed her tears were mostly out of the pain she knew I was feeling.

I wanted to believe that Crew wasn’t holding any animosity towards any of us. The drugs had caused him to behave erratically. He knew we loved him. Just the last week or so, he couldn’t see past the drugs and his undiagnosed illness.

They brought the babies to Aaliyah, and Noni said, “So, big mama Rasha weighs six pounds and nine ounces and lil daddy Ravi weighs six pounds one ounce. They are both twenty-one inches long, so that Henderson height didn’t miss them.”

She gave Rasha to me and Ravi to Aaliyah. I held my baby girl close as her lil grown ass frowned and stared me right in my face. I chuckled through my tears. “She has the Henderson frown too.”

Everyone chuckled. Once the nurse finished cleaning Liyah up, they allowed everyone to come in. Mrs. Shana, Mrs. Harper, Mr. Red, and Mr. Legend came in to see our beautiful children. All of them offered their condolences as I nodded. I didn’t want to think about it right now. I could only imagine the way my mama probably wailed for him . . . the way Ashanni screamed on the phone . . . the way my dad probably came close to tearing up everything in that hospital.

That shit was taking me low, but the minute I stared into this beautiful angel’s brown eyes, all was okay in my world. I walked over to Aaliyah and switched babies with her. When I lifted Ravi, his little body arched. When I got him close to my body, he opened his eyes and stared at me with lifted eyebrows. He looked just like me . . . so did Rasha. Had we not already done a DNA test, there would be no need for one. They were Hendersons through and through.

This was the saddest happiest day of my life and a day I surely wouldn’t forget.God giveth and God taketh away.

I wish I knew why He allowed such a thing. Crew was only twenty-two years old. The family had just “buried” PJ a couple of months ago. To lose two members in our crew in such a short amount of time was devastating. I was pretty sure Kingsley, Kane, and Ryder J were having an even tougher time with that because they didn’t know that PJ was still alive.

Everyone was cooing over our babies. Aaliyah looked completely tapped out. I went to her and scooped up the princess from her, and said, “Rest, baby. We have the rest of our lives with these two.”

She gave me a soft smile as she blinked slowly. I could see Mrs. Shana in my peripheral taking pictures of us. She came closer and got a picture of the babies. “You need time to yourself too, Royal. Let me and PaPa Red hold them.”

I gave her a tight smile and handed Rasha to her first. “That’s Rasha, as you can probably tell by the pink blanket,” I said and chuckled.

They were identical. I was thankful that one was a boy and the other was a girl. It would probably take me forever to be able to tell them apart. This would be the fourth set of twins in the family, although Uncle Philly and Aunt Kema and Tyeis and Decaurey weren’t blood related.

Mrs. Shana chuckled, and said, “Look at Nana’s babies.”

When I gave Ravi to Mr. Red, he said, “And our future steer wrestler.”

I chuckled, then went to Aaliyah and kissed her head. She was already out, even with the lights on and people talking. When I stepped out of the room, Treasure, Cachet, Carter, Red, Kambel, and Epic were going inside. They guys and Treasure shook my hand, and Cachet and Kambel hugged me. Since no one offered their congratulations, I knew they were offering their condolences.