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. . .

She successfully made it through lunch, eating just enough to satisfy Maximus’ curiosity. The issue now was that she was sitting in the living room, unsure of what to say to her sister. Her best friend.

Staysha had done many things, and they always bounced back. This time just seemed like betrayal in a sense. This time, it was Eden on the receiving end of the hurt.

“You haven’t told him,” Staysha commented, breaking the thickness of their silence. “Why not?”

Eden shrugged. “A lot is happening at once. Trying to figure out my own shit.”

“Does our shit fit in that?”

Eden nodded. “Yeah. You’ve done a lot. I’ve always been right there. This time you hurt me. You’ve never hurt me before, Stay. And it feels...”

“Like hell,” Staysha shared. “I didn’t want to.

That’s not why I kept it from you. I remember your attacks.

I know how much you’ve sacrificed, and I honestly didn’t want to see you retreat.

No, it wasn’t right. I should’ve told you the second I knew.

But I just thought I could protect you like you protected me. ”

Eden looked at her, swiping the tears from her face. “In the light of everything that has happened, it just doesn’t feel right being angry with you. Not being able to call you because anger is blocking me. I don’t wanna end up like our momma and her sister.”

Staysha moved closer to Eden. “Me neither. I’ve been trying to figure out what to say to you for two weeks, and nothing seemed to be good enough. Sometimes, standing in your shadow doesn’t feel like I’m good enough.”

“Stop that,” Eden huffed, wiping her face. “We don’t do that. We don’t compare, we don’t covet. We don’t separate. I’ve missed you, Stay.”

Staysha pressed her forehead against Eden’s. “I’ve missed you, too. And I’m so sorry I hurt you. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t do it again. I can survive someone else hurting me. You? A part of me will die. I don’t want my heart hardened like Anzel, and I don’t want your light snatched like Mama. We gotta be better.”

“I won’t. I promise,” Staysha hummed, holding her sister tightly. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Staysha pulled away and swiped away Eden’s face free of the tears. “Now, are you going to tell him?”

“I have to, that’s given. I slipped out of the house earlier to go to the doctor, and he was trying to figure out what the hell was wrong with me. I do not like lying to that man.”

“What you lying to me about?” Maximus’ voice rumbled with sharp irritation.

Eden winced. “Damn it.”

“Stay, let’s uh give them a minute,” Keon muttered from behind Maximus.

They caught the tail end of the conversation between sisters. Happy they made up, but at a pause that Eden could keep anything from Max.

“I’ll call you,” Staysha hummed before skirting past Maximus.

Eden stood and grabbed her purse. “Can you sit down?”

“Nah, whatever you need to tell me, I can stand for. What you been keepin’ from me?”

She pulled in a deep breath and dug through her purse for the positive test, the results from the doctor’s office, and the sonogram. Handing it all over, she stood in silence, waiting for him to put it all together.

“Wait,” he grumbled, shuffling through the items.

“The nurse asked if I was a match to give you blood. And I got some drawn. They did a rapid panel and discovered I was pregnant. So Staysha gave the blood that was needed and I-”

“You’re pregnant. You carrying my baby,” he said, as if he were waiting for it to sink in.

“Six weeks when I found out. That period I thought I had was the result of you knocking me up on the balcony, maybe. I don’t know, we’ve had a lot of sex. I wasn’t trying to keep it from you, I just wanted to find a grand way of saying hey-”

“You’re having my baby,” he finalized, reaching out and pulling her into him.

“Max, your shoulder.”

“I’ll be fine. You’re having my baby,” he grumbled, pressing his lips against hers.

She could feel the wetness of his tears against her face. “I’m having your baby.”

“Ah shit,” he huffed, as she wiped his face. “I’ve never cried this much in my damn life, I swear.”

“It’s okay to cry. You happy?”

He nodded, holding her. “Hell yeah, I’m happy. I knew something was up with you. Up and down all night, not eating. That fake drinking you did today.”

“Yep, pregnant. I’m going to be moody and hungry and big,” she hummed, as he picked her up and moved her back to the couch. “Your shoulder, Max.”

“My shoulder will be fine. Are you going to cuss me out like you did at Rod’s?” Maximus laid down, placing his head in her lap. “I swear if I didn’t get shot, your ass would’ve been walking sideways for two weeks.”

Eden chuckled, placing her hands on his shoulders. “I didn’t even know I could cuss someone out like that. I didn’t even know I could get that mad.”

“I knew that shit was in you. I know who your grandmother was. You got that shit in you and I promise to never bring it out again.”

“Max, we’re going to be someone’s parents,” Eden said with a sigh. “I’m going to be someone’s momma.”

“A damn good momma.”

“You’re going to be an amazing father. Don’t doubt that.”

He kissed her bloated stomach. “We’re going to be good. We got this.”

“I think so.”

“Don’t hold nothing else back from me, aight. You had me thinking I had to put a hole through a muhfucka.”

“You got to control that crazy,” she giggled.

“You like that shit.”

“I do. Love it actually.”

“You know this means you ain’t going on tour with me. Opening show, closing show, that’s it. You’re going to have security with you wherever you go. Your ass is put up. Set and home.”

“Max,” Eden whined.

“Eden, you have watched me beat a nigga, heard about me beating a nigga, and have an idea of what I did to a nigga. I will not be back in prison because someone attempted to harm you and my child.

“Attempted because you know like I know that shit being executed ain’t fuckin’ happening. Know your man, baby. I’m always standing in front of you.”

“I know and I love you for that.”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For loving me. Giving me a family. For being my family. Ain’t nobody ever loved me like this.”

“Well, now I get to experience you for eighteen years at least.”

“At least? Oh, I’m getting more out of you than one. You see how big this house is?”

“You better stop, I’m going to think you want forever with me.”

“I want forever with you. Watch and see.”

“I’m watching you. It’s one of my favorite things to do.”

Maximus smirked. “Yeah, mine too. You got a prayer in that bag to heal my shoulder faster?”

“Healing. That’s the prayer. Complete healing. Not so you can get some.”

He groaned. “Something about being inside of your skin makes me feel better.”

“You’re literally living inside of me. But outside of that, maybe you should feel these emotions and not chase them away with weed or my pussy.”

“I think your pussy got magic in it or something. Makes me forget that shit is actually happening,” he stated, sitting up and groaning.

He slid his hand down his face. “I keep runnin’ it through my mind.

Like what kind of shit goes through someone's mind that makes them hate like that. How we come up in the same house, born to the same fucked up parents and turn out different?”

Eden repositioned herself on his lap. “You made a choice. That’s the difference.

You made a choice to be better. Being better doesn’t mean you’re perfect; it just means you’re actively choosing not to be like the people you were a product of.

He made his choice. His choice was going to land him in the dirt one way or the other.

But I can tell you this, and I want you to hear me.

It would have always been you or him. No one gets to take you from me. ”

Eden kissed his lips.

“Don’t talk that shit to me knowing good and well if I slip inside of you, I’m tearing something up.”

Eden giggled and pulled herself off his lap. “I’ve seen enough blood to last me until I have this baby. Let’s change the subject. New label, new horizons. What’s the plan?”

“Jay Lucci is planning to come back over for the video shoot. BGCs is a go for remodel. T-shirts are about to launch, and Keon signed the lease for the dispensary.”

“Things get easier when the storm passes.”

“Yeah, speaking of storms passing, filming is about to start, you ready?”

“Absolutely not.”

Maximus motioned her back closer. “Tell me why not. Wouldn’t have anything to do with doubt, would it?”

Eden nipped her lip. “Is that really important right now, especially with everything we have going on?”

“Everything you got going on is important, E. From growing my seed to your career. If you good, I’m good.”

She took a deep breath and nodded. “I think right now – after everything – I’m doubting what I bring to the table.

Even though I know I am the table and all of that.

The storm disturbed some things I let lie dormant for a long time.

It turned over a lot of stones, and now I really got to step out there. ”

“I hate to state the obvious, E. You been stepping out there. You been operating off of nothing but faith, and look how far you’ve made it. It’s time to jump out the window and land on your feet.”