Page 35

Chapter Twenty-Six

Priest leaned back in his seat as J'Ru slid into the passenger seat of his vehicle. They slapped hands with each other before J'Ru too reclined his seat. The two weren't really seeing eye to eye with each other since J'Ru felt like Priest should be using all the resources known to man to hunt for Jazzy, while Priest simply felt like he needed to wait it out.

Jazzy did wild things under pressure. Priest knew if he and J'Ru kept pushing and bugging her, she would eventually snap, and things would become uglier than they already were.

The silence lasted between them until J'Ru realized they were coming up on the block Bueno! sat on."Stop at Bueno!, nigga," J'Ru requested.

"For what?" Priest asked. Bueno! would’ve been the last place Jazzy would be at the moment.

J'Ru smacked his lips. "‘Cause I'm hungry, nigga," he informed him, causing Priest to stop the car.

"Always fucking hungry," he murmured in annoyance. J'Ru overheard what was said and snapped his head in Priest's direction.

"And you always talking shit under yo hot-ass breath," he retorted. "Get your stupid ass out ‘cause I ain't giving you a piece of shit," he warned Priest before getting out of the vehicle and slamming the door shut.

Sitting in the car, Priest couldn't help but to laugh, reminiscing on the times they had to do their early morning trips to Bueno! due to their crazy shifts at Mansfield Landscaping. Those mornings were always filled with constant bickering due to Priest always holding J'Ru up by taking his slow, precious time with everything he did. Bueno! was a landmark for them. They had spent a shit load of cash at the place since they were bad-ass kids cushion-searching for change.

Fortunately, God had put J'Ru and Priest both in the position to own Bueno!. They vowed to keep everything running exactly the same. However, they had remodeled it to bring it up to code and upgrade all the appliances, and they made sure the checks the cashiers and the cooks were receiving were a lot heftier. J'Ru and Priest were serious when they said they would eventually buy the block when they were just two young and irresponsible fourteen-year-olds. They stuck to their word, and now, the block was theirs metaphorically and literally. Getting out of the car, Priest made sure to lock up the vehicle. He followed J'Ru inside the corner store. The scent of the hot grease from the cooking station and the overpowering aroma of fried foods comforted his nostrils.

"You crazy motherfucka! What the fuck you doing here?" Carlito, J'Ru's long-time friendly rival, pointed at him upon his entrance. His thick Hispanic accent was distinctive, which made him even funnier since he only stood at five-foot-three with a reckless mouth. Carlito was one gangsta-ass dude who all the niggas on the block looked out for. He was down for sure, and he always had something crazy coming out of his mouth.

J'Ru raised both of his middle fingers up at Carlito. "Aye! Fuck you, Carlito," J'Ru laughed.

"Priest!" Carlito pointed at Priest in excitement. "The important one." He dubbed J'Ru as the less important.

Priest and J'Ru both laughed, having gotten used to Carlito saying stupid shit. "He gone beat the brakes off of your short ass one day," Priest warned Carlito.

Carlito stuck his middle finger up at Priest as the three laughed in unison. "Come get your short ass behind the grill and make me a chopped cheese," J'Ru told Carlito as he grabbed a bottle of soda from the fridge.

"What about you?" Carlito asked while eyeing Priest, checking to see whether he wanted something as well.

"Same thing on a roll, and hold the fucking ketchup, Carlito. Heavy handed ass," Priest chuckled as he went ahead and grabbed a water from the fridge. Scanning the store, his eyes landed on a bag of Chester’s Hot Fries, which caused him to chuckle at the thought of Britain. He made his way over to the aisle and grabbed two bags to add to his purchase.

"You don't even eat those." J'Ru pointed out while looking at the bags of chips he would usually get a side-eye from Priest for indulging in.

"They not for me," he informed J'Ru.

J'Ru smirked. "Such a fucking simp," he clowned Priest with a chuckle. It didn't take much thinking for J'Ru to conclude that Priest was buying the chips for Britain.

Priest couldn't help but to laugh a bit. As much as he wasn't trying to make shit obvious, J'Ru could see right through all of it. He was sure if Kaymen was present, he would be able to see through him as well.

"Man, shut the fuck up," Priest said to J'Ru as he bypassed the swinging door to the cash register which was barricaded by thick bullet proof glass and a wall of a variety of candy bars.

Priest punched a few keys into the register before going into his pocket and placing a twenty in the drawer to cover both his and J'Ru's bill. "You're a stand-up guy. Y'know that?" J'Ru pointed at Priest, commending him. "I was getting ready to just walk out of this motherfucka." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Stealing from yourself," Priest shamed J'Ru with a shake of his head and a chuckle.

Carelessly, J'Ru shrugged once more. "Grab me a tee while you back there." He pointed to the wall of stocked plain tees.

Priest turned on his heels to grab the requested tee for J'Ru. "Black v-neck?" He raised a brow at J'Ru.

J'Ru screwed his face up in disgust. A v-neck was the last thing he would ever wear, especially a black one. "Have some fucking class," he said to Priest, who was overtaken with laughter while grabbing the white crew neck in his size.

Finished behind the counter, Priest exited through the door. He handed J'Ru the tee as he carried his items in his hands. "Yo, Carlito. Where Mrs. Cox? She usually be here around this time," Priest asked. Mrs. Cox was the sweetness in Bueno!. She always made the visit to the bodega a memorable one with her hearty laughter, words of encouragement, and soothing voice. Priest hadn't stopped by in a while due to everything he had going on with his life.

Behind the grill finishing up both of the men's sandwiches, Carlito shrugged. "She's been sick. I told her to get that shit outta here. I can't be fucking sick." He shook his head with his face screwed up.

Priest chuckled. "I hope Mr. Cox roll in here and beat the fuck outta you for talking to her like that." J'Ru pointed at Carlito.

The three men laughed, aware that Mr. Cox didn't have one violent bone in his body. J'Ru and Priest thanked Carlito for the sandwiches before exiting Bueno!. Getting in the vehicle, Priest sat Britain's chips in the back seat before opening his sandwich on his lap to multitask between driving and eating.

They were set on searching for Jazzy, though Priest knew it wouldn't be too hard. Jazzy only had a few people to run to. "Might as well slide through Taylor's crib. Her and Jazzy can't stay away from each other for too long," J’Ru suggested.

Taylor was Jazzy's best friend who Priest really didn't want her mingling with. Taylor wasn't really a bad person, but whenever she and Jazzy linked up, Jazzy ended up jumping off the deep end. Priest was sure Taylor played a slight role in Jazzy's decision to drop out simply because Taylor didn't want her leaving in the first place. Priest wasn't blaming Taylor completely, nor was it causing him to dislike her. He just wished she took more of a backseat when it came to decisions Jazzy needed to make pertaining to her own life.

"We going to Taylor's for you or for Jazzy?" Priest smirked. Taylor was older than Jazzy by three years, which was why Jazzy took Taylor's word as bond, no matter what it was. J'Ru had his fair share of dealing with Taylor. The two made it crystal clear that it was just sex, nothing more, nothing less.

J'Ru waved Priest off. "I haven't kicked it with that girl in that way since last year," he informed Priest as he took a bite of his food.

"Tryna be a better man?" Priest chuckled.

J'Ru groaned dramatically. "Just stop fucking talking, PJ! Please!" Priest couldn’t help but find amusement in teasing J'Ru. He always got super defensive.

On the drive to Taylor's apartment, Priest and J'Ru enjoyed some music while they ate. Arriving at the building, Priest parked his vehicle before he and J'Ru hopped out. "Do your thing, man." Priest smirked at J'Ru while gesturing to the buzzer, motioning for him to press the button to get Taylor to buzz them up.

J'Ru cut his eyes at Priest before pressing the right buttons to ring Taylor's condo. "Let me up," J'Ru spoke into the buzzer after Taylor responded.

"Who you with?" Taylor's sweet voice sounded through the buzzer.

J'Ru smacked his lips. "I ain't with nobody. Let me up. You tripping."

Opting out of responding to him, Taylor buzzed him in, granting them access to the building. Going up the stairs to the second floor, J'Ru and Priest turned into the lengthy corridor, locating Taylor's apartment. Priest pressed himself against the wall to ensure that Taylor wouldn't be able to see him through the peephole, wanting her to assume J'Ru was alone.

J'Ru knocked on the door and waited for Taylor to open it. Once the locks sounded off, the door was yanked open by Taylor who was full of attitude. "You disappear for a while and think you're just welcomed back? Nigga, bye!" She held her hand up to J’Ru’s face dismissively.

Taylor was gorgeous. Slim waist, busty breasts, and an alluring ass. She danced at a popping strip club that plugged her in with tons of industry folks who welcomed her because she was a beauty who made her own money. She stood at only five-foot-five with an attitude much taller than she would ever be. Her golden honey skin sparkled from the amount of glitter that glistened her skin during her working hours at the club. She had a distinctive face which made her even more gorgeous. After hearing it for so long because she was mixed, Taylor hated being described as exotic. She preferred to be noted as sultry, and one of a kind, not exotic.

"If you ain't want me here, you wouldn't have buzzed me up. Fuck outta here." He tossed her hand out of his face, pushing past her to enter the condo. "And I brought a guest," J'Ru said as Priest came into view, causing Taylor to roll her eyes. She had her arms folded against her chest, eyeing Priest and J'Ru up and down.

"Nigga, you said you were by yourself," Taylor scoffed.

J'Ru shrugged as he made his way to her pantry in hopes of finding some snacks. "Yeah, I lied."

"Look, I know you know where Jazzlyn's at," Priest sighed as he shut the door behind him.

Taylor rolled her eyes as she tooted her nose in the air. "I don't know what you're talking about," she denied.

"Save all of us the headache. Where is she?" Priest questioned her once more before he began searching through her condo.

"Priest, what the fuck do you think you're doing?!" Taylor shouted after him, not liking the fact that he was just ransacking her place without her consent. Priest continued to ignore her as he pulled back the sliding door to her closet in the hallway. Lo and behold, Jazzy stood inside of the closet with a mean mug on her face.

"Get your stupid ass out here," Priest ordered Jazzy.

Jazzy groaned. "Why are you even here?" She stepped out of the closet with a cold glare etched on her face.

"You don't know where home is?" Priest’s dark eyes peered down at Jazzy.

Jazzy scoffed. "Home is where the heart is, and you don't have one," she snapped indignantly.

Priest kissed his teeth. "That was real fucking clever. Now, go pack your shit," Priest ordered her.

"No!" Both Taylor and Jazzy exclaimed with a roll of their necks.

"Taylor, stay out of this," Priest advised her before returning his focus back to Jazzy. "Go get your stuff. We'll talk when we get home."

Jazzy’s eyes seared into his. She wanted so badly to be stubborn, but she couldn't. Priest just held so much authority, and she didn't want to overstep it more than she already had, especially since she had just gotten rejected by another boutique she applied to work at. "Ooo, I just don't like you at times," Jazzy growled as she stomped toward her belongings in the closet.

"Yeah, I don't like your stupid ass either at times," he scoffed. "And next time you pull some shit like this, be smarter. Hidden in plain sight isn't always gonna work." He hit her upside the head.

Jazzy blew out a heavy breath of anger as she stomped her way out of the apartment with Priest and J'Ru right behind her. "Well, bye to y'all too!" Taylor scoffed, calling down the corridorafter them.

"Bye, Tay!" Priest waved behind him. Making their way down the steps and out of the building, Priest opened the door for Jazzy to slide into the passenger seat as J'Ru climbed into the back seat.

"I don't even know why you guys bothered to search for me. I'm not changing my mind," Jazzy enlightened them with her arms folded across her chest while Priest took his seat behind the wheel.

"Yeah, yeah. I don't really care," Priest shrugged. "Figure out a plan B, and you might not have to go back to school."

"If y’all stupid dumbasses gave me a chance to talk before blowing everything out of proportion, you two would know that I have a plan B." Jazzy angled herself to look out of the window and not at her brother.

From the back seat, J'Ru chuckled. "What's the plan, Jazzy-Fae?"

Jazzy rolled her eyes. "Doesn't really matter now. I don't need any fake love," she mumbled.

Priest chuckled, finding Jazzy's little attitude amusing. "If you say so."

On the drive to the penthouse, there was a tension-filled silence, mostly on Jazzy's part. From the parking garage of the penthouse, Jazzy, J'Ru and Priest made their way up. As the thick steel door glided open, Jazzy attempted to race out of the elevator to lock herself in her bedroom so she wouldn't have to talk to either of the men.

"Not so fast." Priest snatched her up before sitting her down in the couch.

"I really don't want to talk to either of you. I'm just gonna pack a new bag and head to Taylor's," Jazzy informed them as she attempted to stand up, only for Priest and J'Ru to push her back down.

"Check this out," J'Ru began. "As a collective," he motioned his finger between him and Priest. "PJ and I decided that it's cool if you don't go back to Paris," J'Ru informed her, causing her eyes to immediately beam with some brightness.

"But," Priest quickly brought her down to earth. "You got a month to grind and show us you're on something or we’re shipping your ass right back," he warned her.

Jazzy smacked her lips. "You're not shipping me nowhere," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes.

"I'll have your ass on the first thing smoking tonight if you keep the attitude up," Priest warned her with a scolding look.

Jazzy shifted her eyes between J'Ru and Priest. She was extremely grateful to have the two in her life, but sometimes they could just get on her last nerve. "Are we done here?" Jazzy asked.

J'Ru chuckled. Jazzy's attitude amused him most of the time. She knew all the right ways to tick Priest off, which made it even more comical for J'Ru. "Yeah, we done," he concluded. "What's next for you, little one?"

Jazzy sighed as she got up from the couch. "I guess I'm taking Taylor up on her offer." She shrugged her shoulders. A month definitely was a lot shorter than she thought Priest would give her, but she obviously wasn't going to tell him that. She wanted him to think she was confident and wasn't worried about a thing.

J'Ru and Priest's brows both rose as they eyed Jazzy. "What offer?" they asked in unison with an ample amount of hostility in their tones.

"I'm gonna make some pieces for the girls backstage at the club. I know how to work a sewing machine pretty well, so I might as well put it to use." She shrugged.

Jazzy definitely wasn't thrilled to be diving into the club scene with Taylor, but it was a good opportunity for right now. The dancers were always within arm’s reach of money-making niggas, and with that came a ton of superficial bitches who wouldn't mind getting pieces custom made by Jazzy. Fashion school had taught her enough technique, and Priest had taught her enough about hustling. She was going to secure a bag by any means necessary.

Priest smirked, kind of liking the way Jazzy used her resources wisely. "I fuck with it." He nodded his head in approval. "I'll have security with you whenever you're out there," he assured her.

"Whatever helps you sleep better at night," Jazzy shrugged before she turned on her heels and began wading toward her bedroom.

Priest turned to J'Ru. "You happy now?" Priest raised a brow, wondering if J'Ru was at ease now that Jazzy was home. J'Ru flipped him the middle finger, extracting a chuckle out of Priest.

Priest felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. Only a few people called him since everyone knew he preferred to text over holding a conversation over the phone. Britain's name flashed across the screen, causing a light smile to display on his face.

"Hey, you good?" Priest greeted her.

Priest could hear Britain sniffling back the tears, which caused the faint smile on his face to diminish. "Can you just come over when you can?" she asked, trying her best to keep her composure.

"I'm on my way," he told her with no hesitation.

"Thank you," she said before ending the call.

Priest dropped his phone into his pocket before grabbing his keys. "Yo, I gotta head out. You need me to take you back to your place?" Priest asked J'Ru as he pressed the button for the elevator.

J'Ru shook his head. "I'll get car service to take me back. Handle whatever you gotta handle, bro," J'Ru sent him off.

Priest nodded to J'Ru before stepping into the elevator to be taken down to the parking garage. The elevator ride was short, and once he got down to the ground level, he found his vehicle with ease. Priest arrived at Britain's apartment in a matter of minutes. Her car was parked crookedly in her parking space, which let him know she was in some sort of distress. Britain was a perfectionist, especially when it came to things like parking her car.

Priest was glad he had grabbed her some comfort food prior to her call. With the chips in hand, Priest made his way to the door. He skipped out on knocking and used the spare key instead. The apartment was dark, and in the distance, Priest could hear the television on in the bedroom.

"Gioia!" he called out for her as he slipped out of his sneakers.

"I'm in bed!" she called out weakly.

Priest sighed as he navigated to her bedroom. He stood at the threshold of the door eyeing her as she lay in the center of the bed with a fun-sized bag of candy to the right of her and a collection of empty wrappers in a small pile to her left. "Rough day?" he asked while handing her the chips to add to her spread of comfort food.

Britain glanced from the television and nodded her head slowly before thanking him. She watched him as he stripped out of his hoodie and his crisp white tee. He remained in his sweats as he made his way over to the bed. He thanked Britain as she cleared a side for him.

"What went down?" He knew Britain wasn't really in the mood to be bothered with the ladies, so he had advised her to sit the fitting out. He had never really dealt with an upset Britain, but from what he could see, she liked to bottle her anger up until she exploded.

"Priest," she sighed. "If I was a fighter, I would've been laying bitches out left and right," she said in a somber, yet reminiscent tone as she tossed her fists up in the air one after the other.

Priest pressed his lips together, trying his best not to laugh, but he failed. "Yo, it was that bad?" he asked.

Britain nodded as she took a bite of the small fun-sized Snickers. She held the other half up to his lips, and he ate it. "Yeah, it was that bad. I went in there trying to play nice, but that plastic cum bucket kept coming for me, so I snapped," she shrugged.

"Gioia—"

"Don't interrupt." She held her finger up to his lips.

Priest chuckled before nodding, prompting her to continue. "So, I go in, and I sit in the back ‘cause I don't want to be bothered. After like ten minutes, they finally notice me. I talk to Jadey briefly and tell her I'm not staying. By then, I'm sure she noticed I have an attitude. I go try on the dress, which is absolutely stunning on me, I may add. If bitches could never was a person, it would’ve been me." She cockily dusted her shoulder off. "Anyway, I go get dressed in my clothes, come back out so I can leave, and here goes I got more silicone than I got body Caroline piping up about me leaving, although I already talked about it with Jadey," Britain scoffed as she rolled her eyes at the thought of Caroline.

"She is shaped like Wendy Williams, though. I ain't even gonna lie." Priest shook his head, causing Britain to agree with him.

"Exactly! She's clearly investing in the wrong parts of her body." She screwed her face up in disgust. "After she said one little thing, I just went off. What Caroline told you was something only Jadey knew, so my anger toward Jadey was warranted as well."

"I'm proud of you, standing up for yourself." Priest lifted his hand initiating a high five. Britain granted him one, causing them both to laugh.

"There's another thing, though." She looked up at him with her sweet eyes that were only filled with innocence.

Priest let out a groan. "What's up?"

"I may have went on a tangent and called you my man," Britain sheepishly revealed.

Priest chuckled as he secured his arms around her tightly. "That's what I am, right?"

Britain gazed up at him with an ear-to-ear grin on her face. "I mean, if you wanna be," she shrugged.

Priest laughed. "I don't say I love you to randoms,Gioia," he clarified.

Britain grabbed ahold of his face, bringing his lips to hers. "You're the best." She smiled up at him.

He nodded his head with an arrogant chuckle."Nothing I haven't heard before."

Britain rolled her eyes at how cocky he could be at times. It was in a good way, though. He found amusement in gassing himself up whenever he could.

"Shut up." She hit his chest lightly as she got out of bed.

Priest smirked as he eyed her. In the comfort of her own home, Britain almost always stripped from her clothing and remained in her bra and panties. Priest enjoyed the sight, especially now that she had a higher level of confidence exuding from her.

"Why are you staring so hard?" Britain smirked as she looked over her shoulder at him.

"You're happier," he pointed out with a grin.

Britain's cheekbones rose as she blushed at the notice of her newfound happiness. "Oh, so you noticed?"

Priest nodded his head. "I love it," he admitted, causing Britain to make her way back over and plant a sloppy kiss on his lips, pulling laughter out of him. Priest held her in his arms as she laid her head on his chest.

"Can I be open with you right now?" Britain craned her eyes up at him, her orbs glimmering with hope because she had finally built up the courage to vent. She had gone years without speaking on the matter. It pained her far too much to ever open up about it. She liked to think about the matter as if it were just one bad day that she quickly forgot about.

"Yeah, I'm here," he assured her as the pad of his tender thumb graced her lower back, rubbing small circles against her skin soothingly.

"One second," she breathed as she got up from his embrace. Priest eyed her as she shuffled through her bedroom in search of something. He watched as she retrieved the small backpack she carried around often when they were getting to know each other. Britain retrieved her journal before returning to the bed.

Priest sat up, allowing space for Britain to sit between his legs and rest her back against his built chest. He soothingly ran his tender hands down both of her arms in hope of alleviating any fear and nerves from her heart.

"I got this journal two years ago." She cleared her throat as she began flipping toward the end of the journal. "When I got it, I was at an extremely low point in my life. No job, I was in an extremely toxic relationship with my ex, and I was severely depressed," she expressed with a heavy sigh.

"I only had intentions of filling it up with endless poems and staining the pages with tears as I cried myself to sleep night after night. I started from the back. I just felt like it was the right thing to do, especially since I wanted to put my sadness behind me," she shrugged.

Priest watched as she flipped through endless pages that contained story after story from people she'd met. Priest even managed to catch his story amongst the continuous flipping. Once she got to the end, she stopped and allowed Priest’s eyes to scan the page. Her penmanship was so neat and beautiful. Her fleeting emotions were captured in cursive, yet emphasized by the multiple stains of tears that wrinkled speckled spots onto the page.

"I cried a lot. I still do," she admitted as she gazed down at the page.

"Why don't you tell me?" Priest asked as he rested his head on her shoulder.

Britain shrugged. "I don't know. What man would like to hear that the woman he loves is still crying over the damages from another man?"

"One who’s willing to help you heal and become stronger. I don't want to strip you of your backbone. I want to strengthen it." His low voice graced her ears, causing a sudden warmness to fill her body. He kissed her cheek, causing a small smile to grace her face.

"I wrote this while I was sitting right there." She extended her arm, pointing at the left corner of her bedroom. "My boyfriend at the time had just pulled another disappearing act after I told him I was pregnant." Britain shook her head.

"Disappearing act?" Priest asked in need of more context.

Britain nodded in confirmation. "Yeah. Whenever I did something he didn't like, he'd disappear for a few days, even weeks at a time," she explained. Cameron always made her believe his disappearances were warranted by her actions and weren't just some malicious acts he pulled. "Me being pregnant definitely wasn't something he liked or even appreciated. He just left, and from that moment on, I just knew I would be doing everything on my own. I didn't tell many people that I was pregnant. I was far too embarrassed to. The only people who knew were my family and Jadey because I needed some sort of support during that kind of life changing experience. Jadey and my mom went to all my appointments, threw me an extremely intimate baby shower, and did everything they were supposed to be doing," she explained.

"My pregnancy was hard. Since I was so depressed, it was almost as if my body was fighting to stay healthy and carry out the pregnancy. I lost a lot of weight, barely even ate, and my stress levels were always high until I reached the end of my second trimester. The turnaround was abrupt and sudden, but I was so grateful for it. I started to gain weight. I was happier and just in complete bliss that I would be mothering a baby girl. Toward the end of my pregnancy, I went shopping for the baby with Jadey, and I just so happened to run into him and his now wife," Britain chuckled out bitterly, trying her best to keep her composure even now.

"The first thing he said to me was, “congratulations on the pregnancy, Brit,” as if he didn't play a part in creating the baby in the first place. I couldn't even look at him. I just kept my eyes on the woman he was with. She looked so happy to be with him, and it was evident that he was treating her right. It hurt me, but there was nothing I could do. Even if I aired him out, he still wouldn't be with me or be there for my daughter, so I just let it go. I thanked him and just went about my day," Britain shrugged. "I didn't realize how much that interaction killed me until I got home. I cried for hours upon hours. Woke up the next morning just to cry half of the day away. I was hurt that I couldn't give my daughter what my mom gave me. She was a strong and doting mother, even before my stepdad came into the picture, and for some reason, I knew I couldn't be the woman she was for me.

"My due date was nearing. I remember it being a dark Thursday night in April. It was storming outside, and for the life of me, I couldn't get comfortable enough in bed to sleep through the night. I was taking little cat naps. The pain in my back was excruciating, and I was experiencing pains in my stomach, but Google assured me they were just Braxton-Hicks, so I thought nothing of it until I woke up from one of my many cat naps screaming in pain. I wasn't sure how it had escalated to that point, but it did. I remember sitting up and just breathing in and out, trying my best to cope with the pain until the rain cleared. I prayed and prayed that I wasn't gonna give birth right at that moment. My mom was all the way in Connecticut with my stepdad for work, and Jadey had a conference in Boston and was set to return the following day. I was alone, had no idea what to do, and petrified since I still had fifteen days to go. I finally found the strength to get up and out of the bed. Almost instantly, my water broke," Britain breathed. Her tone was airy and emotionless as she detailed the heavy details of that night.

Priest secured his arms around her tighter. She needed the comfort and reassurance of him being there for her. "There were so many other things I could have done, but I was panicking. I was afraid and so wrapped up in the thought of bringing this child into this world alone that I just froze. I remember trying to walk to the bathroom and not being able to close my legs fully. I finally mustered up the courage to reach my hand down there, and she was beginning to come out. I prayed and I prayed that no matter what was about to happen, things would work out in my favor.

“The pain was excruciating. Tears clogged my vision as I laid myself in the bathtub with my legs propped open. I pushed, and pushed, and pushed until she was finally out. Looking down, I remember holding her in my hands after she was out, and I realized that her feet were pointed outward, and her head was pointed inward." Britain took in a sharp breath as tears of pain cascaded down her face. She quickly wiped her tears before they got the chance to travel down and make contact with the journal that was opened before her.

"She came out feet first. Her little body was all blue and purple. I just wanted to revive her. I rotated her in my hands and saw that her umbilical cord was wrapped tightly around her neck. I unwrapped it and held her in my arms, trying to perform CPR in hopes of getting her to breathe until I got us to the hospital. We were in that bathtub for what felt like an eternity. I just wanted her to take at least a gasp of air so I could have some hope. She didn't," Britain cried out hysterically. Her body shook violently as the crude details of losing her baby girl replayed in mind vividly.

"I lost my baby before I could even hold her in my arms. I never got the chance to see her beautiful eyes, hear her cry… nothing," Britain sobbed.

Priest immediately turned her over to allow her to cry into his chest. He had absolutely no words. Priest knew it would be selfish and ignorant to even think about assuring Britain that everything would be okay. The pain of losing a child was something even the strongest people couldn't fathom. Britain had lost a part of her, a part of the light in her life. Priest couldn't help but to be amazed at how well she managed to keep herself together. No matter how weak Britain may have felt, she would always be one of the strongest in Priest's eyes. To go through all of that alone and still be standing tall and exuding nothing but happiness into the world, that was one tough thing to do.

As Britain sobbed and cried her eyes out, Priest simply kept consoling her. Words of encouragement definitely weren’t needed since he knew she had heard enough of that. She just needed to be held and reassured that she never had to be alone again. For the first time in a while, Britain cried herself to sleep. It was painful sight for Priest to see, but he knew she needed the time to just let all of her emotions run wild to cope the right way.