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After he untangled himself from me, he kissed my cheek. “Are you okay?”
I replied with a “Mmhm,” and turned over to go to sleep.
CHAPTER 17
JASON
Itraced Dawn’s face as she slept in my arms. I really wore her out. I love how she can feel my emotions and automatically knew something was wrong with me. I really thought if I made a legit name for myself, I wouldn’t have to worry about being part of the family business. I didn’t know Dad would be that adamant about me taking over. I thought he was okay with letting my cousin take over, but apparently he was not. One thing I do know, though, is if Dad doesn’t trust his own kin, then something is definitely wrong with my cousin.
I watched as Dawn slept and couldn’t help but think that if I chose this life, she would eventually leave me. I remember Mom wanting to leave Dad plenty of times, but she stayed for me and eventually they worked through their issues. I mean, they loved each other a lot, but she didn’t want to be part of that lifestyle, nor did she want me to be. She is the reason why I have friends now because if it was up to Dad, I would’ve been trained to take over and had no fun as a kid. She made sure I was able to act like and be a kid.
I remember the way some of his people treated us because I was the half Italian half Black kid in a family full of Italian people. I don’t want that treatment for Dawn. It messed up my self-esteem when I was little, and Dawn and Darius helped me more than they know.
We moved away from my family because of how they treated me and Mom. Dad would kill anyone who treated us badly if he knew about it, but his family hid their true colors around him. Once he found out, he threatened to kill them all, and they knew he would do it. He took over from Grandpa once he found out and showed them all what he was capable of. He killed my uncle, his brother, because of the racial slur he called me and Mom. My cousin was left with no parents, so we took him in. Dad was hesitant at first, but Mom told him it was the least he could do since he made him fatherless.
I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn’t notice Dawn squirming in my arms. I released her from my grip because she looked like she was sick. I ran after her to the bathroom, only to see her vomiting. I asked her if she was okay, and she said it was just some bad food she ate. I wanted to stay home with her to make sure she was fine, but she told me to go to work. I also wanted to stay because I realized I didn’t sleep last night because all I thought about was my family issues.
DAWN
I woke up to the sun shining and nausea rolling through me. I ran to the bathroom, feeling myself about to vomit. Jason came into the bathroom and held my hair as I emptied all the contents out of my stomach. I got up to brush my teeth and wash my face.
He asked with a look of concern, “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I probably just ate something that didn’t agree with me.”
“Well, if you need me to stay home with you, I can.”
I shook my head, telling him to go to work and I’ll be fine.
I got ready for work after Jason had left. I was running behind today and took my time getting ready. I put on a dark blue dress with some flats. As I walked to my car, I felt eyes burning into my back like someone was following me, but when I turned around, no one was there. So for some reason, not only am I vomiting now, I think I’m losing my mind. I need to call my doctor and set up an appointment.
On the way to work, I called my doctor to set up my appointment, which I was able to get for today. I would just have to take a late lunch, then go to the appointment. I arrived at work and as soon as I smelled the mixture of the perfumes and cologne, I ran into the bathroom to dry heave. I don’t know why the smells are getting to me now, but I hate them all. I walked out of the bathroom and met a dirty blond hair Mike, who looked at me worriedly with his brown eyes.
“Are you okay?”
I told him I was fine, but I had to take a late lunch for an appointment. He wanted to get more information from me, but I shut him down. I didn’t feel like talking right now. I went to my office and stayed there until my appointment.
The day seemed to drag on as I spent most of it in the bathroom heaving. I was finally able to get a little reprieve as I laid my head down on my cool desk. Jason was right, I should have stayed home. I almost dozed off until my phone pinged, showing another message from Jason asking how I was feeling. I looked at the clock and realized it was time to leave for my appointment.
At my appointment, I waited for the nurse to call me back. When she did, she asked some generic questions, then she started to ask me odd questions.
“Have you missed a period? When was your last period? When did you last have intercourse?”
I told her my period was irregular since I started the depo shot. It only came on probably once since I started the shot. She took her notes and told me to pee in a cup, then she drew some blood. I waited for what felt like forever, then the female doctor with a black pixie cut walked into the room.
She smiled at me. “Congratulations, Dawn, you are pregnant.”
I was stunned for a minute. “Are you serious right now?”
“Yes, I would never joke about something like this.”
I smiled and held my stomach. Happiness was all I could feel when she said I was pregnant.
“Would you like to see your baby?” she asked.
I nodded, and she told me to lie down. She put some cold gel on my belly and moved the wand around until we heard a heartbeat. I teared up hearing my baby for the first time. Then I realized that Jason missed this.
“Well, it looks like you’re about eight weeks along, and the heartbeat is strong, very strong. I am going to print out some ultrasound pictures for you and then schedule to see you next month.”
