Page 18 of Rose
O - Oblivion
“To feel nothing is safer than feeling everything.”
“Hey, beautiful.”
That deep, smooth voice pulled a smile from her lips before her eyes even opened. The sun kissed her face, and the soft hush of ocean waves rose like music around her. But nothing compared to the sound of him.
William.
Standing above her, shirtless and grinning, with the kind of smile that made her fall in love all over again every time she saw it.
“Hey, husband,” she whispered, grinning as he leaned down and pressed a warm kiss to her lips. He dropped into the lawn chair beside her, and without hesitation, she climbed into his lap, her body melting into his like he was the only place she ever wanted to be.
“It’s beautiful, ain’t it?” William said, his voice low and reverent.
Ahzii glanced toward the endless stretch of sapphire water shimmering beneath the sun. They were in Thailand—paradise—but when she looked back at him, he wasn’t watching the view. His eyes were locked on her, soft and glowing with so much love it made her cheeks flush.
“I love you so much, you know that?” he murmured, hand lifting to cradle her cheek.
She nodded, her voice just as soft. “I love you too.”
He looked down at her stomach then, still flat, still firm... but he knew. Their baby was in there. And in that moment, it was like the entire world was right.
“My queen is having my princess,” he said, rubbing slow, gentle circles against her belly. “Damn, a nigga is blessed.”
Ahzii let out a soft laugh, her head falling against his chest. “You swear it’s a girl. The baby’s literally a bean right now—we don’t know the gender.”
William mugged her playfully. “Don’t disrespect my baby talking about a bean. She is a girl. And she’s gonna be beautiful like her mama.”
He kissed her stomach and Ahzii’s laughter bubbled up again, warm and unfiltered.
“And I hope she’s a he—since you so confident,” she teased, earning a deep chuckle from him.
“I ain’t never been wrong a day in my life,” he said, brushing his fingers through her curls. “When I walked into your shop that day, I knew you was my wife. Was I wrong?”
“Nope,” she answered, popping the p.
“I also said you was gonna be the mother of all my kids. Was I wrong about that too?”
His hand never left her stomach, rubbing slow, tender circles as she smiled and shook her head. “Nope.”
“Exactly. Your husband’s right about everything,” he smirked. “So what we naming our baby girl?”
Ahzii laughed again. He was relentless, and sweet, and hers. “If it’s a girl,” she stressed with a grin, “I want her middle name to be Miani like Kyre. Something tells me she’s gonna take after her godmom more than me.”
“Stop disrespecting me and my baby, Beautiful,” he said with a smirk. “That’s my last warning.”
She rolled her eyes, still grinning. “Okay, Mr. Confident. But if it’s a boy... would you want a Jr.?”
Before she could process what was happening, William scooped her into his arms with a grin that spelled trouble.
“You think I’m playing with you, huh?”
Ahzii squealed, kicking her legs as he took off running toward the ocean.
“ Will! I can ’ t swim! Stop!” she screamed, her voice bouncing off the breeze.
But he didn’t stop. He kept moving, each step taking them closer to the one place she avoided—deep water.
She loved the beach, sure. Loved the sun, the breeze, the sand between her toes.
But the ocean? That was a line she didn’t cross.
Her purple two-piece was for sunbathing and flicks, not swimming.
“What are we having, Beautiful?” he asked, voice low and teasing as the water crept closer.
“Baby, noooo!” she yelled, her voice breaking with laughter and panic. He stood in the shallows, cradling her in his arms just above the surface.
“Answer me or your ass going swimming today,” he warned, lowering her body little by little until the cold kissed the top of her foot.
“William!” she gasped, laughing through her panic. Her squeals were half terror, half joy, and all his favorite sound in the world. That laugh—so full of life it made his heart thump harder in his chest.
“Three seconds,” he said, eyes full of mischief. “Three... two...”
“You so damn goofy,” He giggled seeing her laughing tears.
“One—”
“Okay! Okay! We’re having a girl! A beautiful baby girl, now please bring me back to the shore!”
He smiled, leaned in, kissed her lips... and dropped her.
Ahzii hit the water with a splash, her natural curls soaked, her gasp drowned by the waves. She panicked, thrashing until strong arms scooped her up again. She clung to him—arms wrapped around his neck, legs locked around his waist like she was truly drowning.
“That wasn’t funny! I was drowning!” she yelled, punching his shoulder, but not letting go.
William was laughing so hard he could barely talk. “Beautiful, we’re closer to the shore than the deep end. You could’ve stood up if you weren’t too busy panicking.”
“You still wrong for that. Me and your daughter are mad at you,” she muttered, pretending to pout.
“Oh really?” he said, walking deeper into the water, holding her like she weighed nothing.
“Yup. So start kissing up.”
Their playful banter slowed as their eyes locked. Love wrapped around them tighter than her legs around his waist. The air shifted—soft, sacred.
“Baby, I know you said you were scared about being a mom... especially because of your past,” William said, his voice now low, serious. “But the way I’m holding you right now? I’ll hold you like this in every season of our life. You don’t have to do it alone. Ever.”
Ahzii’s eyes burned, her voice barely above a whisper. “Promise?”
William nodded, his thumb brushing a droplet from her cheek. “With my life. You’re an amazing wife, Beautiful. And you’re gonna be an even better mother. To all ten of our kids.”
She laughed, heart full. “Ten?”
“At least.”
“I love you so much, Will.”
“I love you more.”
And in the middle of the Thailand ocean, sun on their skin and love heavy in the air, William kissed her slow and deep—like forever wasn’t long enough.
“Ahzii? Ahzii? You good? Why are you crying?”
Taylor’s voice yanked her back to reality like a splash of cold water.
“Yeah… my bad.”
She wiped her tears, her fingers trembling as she adjusted the throw blanket covering her legs.
The soft fabric grounded her in the moment, and it hit her then—she wasn’t on a beach in Thailand wrapped in William’s arms. She was on Taylor’s couch, in a beautifully decorated living room of yellow, gray, and white.
But that memory… it was still warm on her skin.
Thailand. William. The beach. The kiss. The laughter. The baby.
That day had been one of the best days of her life. They were wrapped in sun and serenity, celebrating the little life they’d created in love. Her heart had been full. Her smile had been real. Her soul had felt safe.
She had been herself.
Now, those moments came like waves—soft at first, then suddenly crashing. She’d find herself drifting into them, living in them. Existing only in them. Because there, in those memories… her world was whole. Her family was alive. Her future felt untouched.
This—this was grief.
It wasn’t just sadness. It was the brutal act of digging herself into yesterday, clinging to the petals of who she used to be, just to bloom again in the shadow of a reality she never asked for.
And then wake up. Alone.
Because the woman she were when she felt loved? She didn’t survive.
Only the ghost remained .
After blowing up on Kyre and Sarai at Gold yesterday, Ahzii disappeared to the one place she knew Kyre wouldn’t think to look.
Guilt clung to her like smoke, but so did the grief—the kind that lingers in your bones long after the fire dies.
She hadn’t meant to lose it like that, not in front of Sarai, not at her restaurant.
But when she saw the flowers, felt the sentiment behind them—it hit too fast, too hard.
Because only one man had ever loved her like that.
William.
The only one who ever made romance feel sacred and terrifying all at once. That love burned her from the inside out—and somehow, she still craved it. No one had come close since. Not even Kiyan.
Which was why she called him and lit into him without mercy. But the moment he told her he was still out of town for endorsement deals and hadn’t sent her anything…
Confusion strangled her anger.
If Kiyan didn’t do it… then who did?
He was the only one she was dealing with, and even that was shallow, surface-level, void of emotion. They didn’t do intimacy. They didn’t do love.
But that gesture…
It had screamed love.
Soft, intimate, full of care—the kind that wrapped itself around her pain and dared to comfort it. Just thinking about it felt like betrayal. Like she was cheating on a ghost.
Her gaze locked on the blank TV screen in front of her, where her own hollow reflection stared back.
“You sure you okay?”
Taylor’s voice broke gently into the silence, concern lacing every word. She was curled up on the other couch beneath a throw blanket, her tone soft but edged with worry.
The sun poured into the living room through floor-to-ceiling windows, painting the day in a golden glow.
Ahzii didn’t remember talking much last night. She’d come in frantic. Taylor had made her food, told her to stay, and everything after that blurred—eating, a movie playing low in the background, and then blacking out on the couch.
“Yeah. What time is it?” Ahzii’s voice was flat again, stripped of the emotion she’d let slip just minutes ago.
“Just hit 9 a.m.” Taylor stood, concern deepening in her face. “I was about to ask if you wanted breakfast. I just woke up and saw you sitting there… staring at the screen, crying. You looked so far away. I wanted to hug you.”
She rambled when she was worried.