Page 15 of Royce (Atkins Family Saga #1)

Eight

Klarity

T here were people who were innocently put behind bars, and then there were people who deserved to be there.

Whatever they said he did, he did it! There was no way in hell he thought popping up at my house was anything other than crazy.

If I was being honest, this was terrifying as fuck.

I was pregnant with a toddler a few feet away and unable to defend us. This wasn’t what we needed right now.

“Who the hell in here is your family? And stop calling me My Baby. My name is Kl?—”

“Klarity. Klarity Atkins to be exact. You don’t think I know the name of my wife. I heard we having a baby girl. Essence is a beautiful name for her by the way,” he said cutting me off and stepping inside.

The mention of my daughter had my hand flying to my stomach.

I rubbed it slowly wondering just how the hell he knew that information.

I glanced over to CJ, who was asleep a few feet to my right.

I couldn’t hide my fear if I wanted to. I didn’t know him, and I had no idea what he was here to do.

I was sure he could see it all over my face.

“Monroe, not Atkins. You know my name, but I haven’t a clue as to who you are,” I countered.

“All you got to do is ask, My Baby, and I’ll tell you anything you want to know.”

“You’re showing up to my house unannounced and walking inside uninvited. The least you can do is volunteer that. Don’t you think?”

He smiled and God why did he do that. His grill sat on the bottom row and that perfectly aligned set of whites sat at the top. I was sure he how lethal that damn smile of his was. “Royce Atkins.”

Him clarifying who he was did nothing for me. The few steps I took back were repeated once again. Telling him to get out just wouldn’t form into a sentence, yet I didn’t want him near me. Plus, the way he spoke to me was with so much confidence. He believed every word he spoke.

“Look, I don’t know what you want with me, but I would greatly appreciate it if you left me and my kids alone… please. There’s nothing of value here. Just go.”

I knew of his height from the jailhouse but now that he was in front of me, I underestimated it completely.

I was nothing but a dwarf compared to this giant of a man.

Breaking my neck just to hold eye contact was too much.

I was sure he could smell how terrified I was at this point. That devilish smirk gave me no comfort.

“We consider things of value differently,” he replied.

With each step I took backward, he took forward.

Now that my back was up against the wall, there was nowhere for me to run.

He was closing me in as he pressed both of his hands on the wall behind me.

Hovering over me, the only thing I could do was look up into his handsome face.

His features were more defined now that he was out and cleaned himself up.

The smell of his cologne was loud but so damn mesmerizing. It could’ve been that his chest was directly in my face, or it was just that damn loud. Nevertheless, I didn’t get this manly scent from any other man I’d been around, not even Cojak.

“You didn’t hear me say I came to check on my family or are you deliberately having selective memory?” he asked trailing the back of his hand down the side of my face.

That physical touch… it was too much for me to handle.

Too much to the point my water broke all over his expensive shoes.

Discomfort traveled through my body directly after.

He was in Gucci from head to toe and the only thing I could afford from there was the receipt paper. I couldn’t replace anything on him.

“ Ahhhh ,” I groaned cuffing my stomach.

He showed worry and concern immediately. “What’s wrong, My Baby? Why you doing all that yelling and shit?”

This isn’t supposed to happen right now. Why did you have to come now, Essence?

“The baby’s coming,” I moaned as I grabbed a hold to his shirt.

“What I’m supposed to do? This my first time being a father and shit. Ain’t you supposed to have some bags or something? Where everything at?” he inquired.

Father to who? Is he crazy or something?

“In my bedroom by the closet. Her diaper bag and car seat are right beside it,” I instructed.

I waddled over to the couch where CJ had knocked out for his nap and shook him lightly.

“CJ, wake up for Mommy. Come on big boy, wake up for me, please.” Another contraction came where I had to be still for a minute. These contractions were hitting hard.

“Let him sleep for a minute. I’ll come back in and get him. Let me get y’all to the car first,” he said placing everything down by the door.

Nodding, I allowed him to help me up and escort us to his car.

First of all, it was very cheesy. I understood his name being Royce but that didn’t mean he had to roll around in one.

I was placed in the front seat in nothing but my damn gown.

At least he was showing he cared because if it was Cojak, I feared he wouldn’t have been here to even give a fuck.

He carried CJ and my bag in one arm and the car seat and diaper bag in another.

He was a man and there wasn’t shit I could take away from that.

Suddenly, another contraction hit, and I was screaming out in pain.

Something felt off this time around. It hurt more than it did with CJ.

I was shedding tears but at the same time trying to keep my cool.

However, it was beginning to get hard to do so.

“Roooyyyce,” I called out for him as soon as he opened the back door. We needed to go and fast.

“I’m moving as fast as I can, My Baby. Bear with a nigga,” he answered.

“It hurts. It hurts,” I cried.

“Fuck!” he shouted then slammed the door. He scurried around to the driver’s side and hopped in. He looked over at me gently cuffing my face. We made eye contact and for a brief moment, he wasn’t so scary. “I got you, aight?”

I nodded and he wiped away my tears before powering the car up and throwing it in reverse. He breezed through traffic breaking laws left and right. CJ was so excited about it, he woke up out his sleep and started yelling “Faster, faster.” He was enjoying himself while I was in excruciating pain.

He pressed a few buttons on his dashboard and a call was made. An elder woman’s voice came through the speakers cussing him out without hesitation.

“You said half an hour, Junior. It’s been longer than that and the family is ready to eat. Where are you?” she fussed.

“Taking my wife to the ER, Ma. She getting ready to have our daughter,” he voiced pulling into the ER parking lot.

“This is my daughter, not yours, not ours,” I corrected him.

“What?” she screamed.

“And stop lying to your mother, Roy… Aaaahhh !” A contraction hit as I was in the middle of correcting him.

“I can’t stay on the phone, Ma. I got to get her in here before she have my shawty in this car. I’ll hit you back later.” He disconnected the call and swerved in front of the entrance. “Aye, I need some help out here. My wife in labor!” he yelled.

Wife? I understood getting helped immediately, but he didn’t have to lie.

I was in labor; they would move for me anyway.

Just like that, the many doctors surrounded us, and I was escorted upstairs in a wheelchair with crazy ass behind me.

He held CJ in his arms refusing to let him go or leave my side for that matter.

I was placed in a room, changed, and admitted quicker than I ever been for any hospital visit.

“Where’s Chief Riggs?” he asked one of the nurses.

Who the hell is this man to ask for the chief? You had to be somebody to skip to the top of the chain of command.

“We’ll give him a call once we get her comfortable, Mr.…”

“Atkins. Royce Atkins. Thank you,” he answered.

I remained quiet and let him do the talking. They moved faster for him and actually listened. I was well aware of how they shut Black women down and tried to overlook our pain until it became a matter of life or death. He was my voice since I couldn’t be.

Tugging on his shirt, I spoke in a quivering tone. “It still hurts.”

“You did this shit before with him, right? Ain’t this what you go through?”

“It didn’t hurt this much,” I whispered.

“Aye, she in too much pain over here. Check her and my daughter out to see what the hell going on,” he ordered. The bass in his voice screamed boss ass nigga.

The nurse nodded and stepped over to my bedside with the ultrasound monitor.

The cool gel was applied to my stomach and the wand seconds after.

Silent tears fell and Royce gently wiped them from my eyes.

The pain was unbearable but his softness toward me was making it seem less sufferable.

And still, my son sat in his arms just as content as he would be if it was Cojak.

Hell, if I was being honest, he was more comfortable with Royce than his own father.

“Royce, call my cousin please? She won’t let me hear the end of it if she isn’t here.”

He dug in his pocket and handed over his phone. I quickly dialed Seri’s number and handed it back over to him. “What’s her name?” he inquired as he put the phone on speaker.

“The baby’s breech?” the nurse asked interrupting with an alerting tone. She had to be new or something because all the other nurses knew that already.

“Yeah. She has been for a while now. Is something wrong?” I asked in a concerning tone.

“What the hell that mean?” Royce followed up with a question of his own. He couldn’t help but step closer to the nurse demanding an answer. She looked scared for her fuckin’ life.