Keyshia

“Baby…are you sure you’re okay?” Jason asked for what seemed like the fiftieth time this morning.

I looked up at him from the white porcelain toilet and managed to croak out a sentence. “Yes…for the thousandth time…!”

“I’m just making sure. This is the fourth time you’ve gotten sick since we landed. You would tell me if something’s up, right?”

“Of course. That flight was hella long and I’m a little disoriented. Give me some time.”

He nodded with a worried expression before getting ready to step out of the bathroom. “Want me to run you some bathwater?”

“I can do it. Go ahead and get settled in.”

Jason bent down, gave my forehead an endearing kiss, and then exited the room.

I leaned against the toilet and sighed. I had a little idea to what was going on with my body but I let it stay right in the back of my mind. I really didn’t want to think about that word.

If it is in fact what I think it is…I’ll hold off on telling him until we get back home. This trip is all about him. Why would I ruin it by surprising him with something this huge?

An hour after taking a long hot bath, I guzzled down a liter of ginger ale and cuddled up with Jason. We were staying in what I guessed to be the most expensive hotel in Rio. Our room had a luxurious vibe to it. From the stainless steel kitchen appliances to the nearly perfect staff, I thought I was in heaven. They welcomed Jason with open arms. Not only because he contributed a hefty amount of revenue to their hotel, but they recognized him from being internationally famous.

The good thing about being here was that we could act like a couple and no one would question it. There were no paparazzi around and all of the citizens are overwhelmingly nice. From my point of view, I had no idea what Jason was doing. I was too busy throwing up. My guess is that he was performing “my job” by setting up meetings with the contractors and hiring a private investigator to locate his mother.

It sucked that I couldn’t express my immeasurable excitement for him. Every move that I made felt like it would trigger my already upset stomach, so I didn’t want to risk it.

“A doctor’s coming to check you out tomorrow” Jason whispered in my ear while his lips were pressed against the side of my neck. “I hate seeing you so miserable.”

“I’ll be fine. Just worry about your mom. You’ve waited forever to see her and I don’t want to ruin it.”

“You’re not ruining anything. You didn’t plan on getting sick. I’d rather stay here and take care of you than spend all day searching for my mom. And I know that sounds bad, but since I’ve been waiting so many years to see her…I don’t think a day will make any difference. “

I slowly turned my head and smiled up at him. “I love you.”

“Love you too. Now get some rest. I have a few phone calls to make.”

He placed a quick kiss on my lips and gingerly rolled out of the bed. Even if I wanted to stay up and be nosy, the medicine I took knocked me the hell out.

**********

The next morning, I woke up to a short tan man in a white lab coat staring down at me. Before I started to flip the fuck out, Jason emerged from behind him calmly sipping on a cup of coffee. “Good morning sleeping beauty. This is Doctor Ribeiro. He’ll be checking you out in a few.”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and blinked a few times to wake myself up. “Can I at least take a shower first?”

The doctor looked at Jason as if he didn’t understand what I was saying.

“Ela quer tomar um banho. Dar-lhe trinta minutos por favor.” 

I looked between the two of them in confusion. What a scene to wake up to. “Okay…I’ll be back.”

Jason followed me into the bathroom and shut the door behind us. “Are you feeling any better?”

“Yep.” I turned on the tub’s faucet and started to pull his t-shirt over my head.

He cocked his head to the side and stared at my body like he had never seen it before. “Great.” Moments passed before he spoke again. “I apologize for bringing him here so early, but I’ve got an urgent meeting in a few and I wanted to translate for a while.”

“Go to your meeting. I can find someone at the front desk to do it.”

Jason scrunched his eyebrows together. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I promise.”

“Alright. Let me know what’s going on. Call me.”

He softly kissed my forehead before leaving the bathroom. I stepped into the tub and sunk down into it.

Shortly after taking the bath, I slipped on some undergarments and a turquoise colored sundress. The little doctor was having a conversation on the phone while staring out the window. Right as he noticed me, he walked over and handed me a piece of paper.

It was a note in Jason’s handwriting.

“Babe, a translator should be on their way up to accompany you. I will be back within the next hour or so. He wants for you to go ahead and get comfortable on the bed. Don’t let his tools frighten you. He’s considered to be one of the best gynecologists in South America so let him do what he needs to do. I love you and I’ll see you later on.”

Directly after skimming my eyes over the letter, there was a soft knock on the door. The doctor took the initiative of answering it for me. A young woman who looked to be in her teens, with long curly hair and olive colored, skin walked over to me.

She began speaking with a thick Brazilian accent. “My name is Jackeline. Jason sent me up here to help translate. Is this okay with you?”

“Yeah. Make sure whatever happens in here never leaves this room. Okay? Not even Jason can know unless I tell him.”

“Yes. Of course.”

I smiled at the sight of her deep cheek dimples. She must have been nervous due to her antsy gestures.

“Alright. We should go ahead and get this over with” I suggested.

Jackeline nodded in agreement and quickly greeted the doctor. Minutes later, they were engaged in a full-blown conversation. I followed her directions by lying back on the bed and relaxing my body. Dr. Ribeiro pressed his chunky little fingers into my lower abdomen, causing me to yelp out in pain.

“Fuck! That hurt!” I screamed.

“Perguntar a ela sobre seus sintomas por favor.”

“He wants to know if you’ve been experiencing fatigue, sore breasts, vomiting, and/or a missed period.”

“So he’s basically asking me if I’m pregnant?”

“Ela quer saber se você acha que está grávida?”

“Sim. Muito óbvio. Diga-lhe para fazer o teste de gravidez. Ele é muito preciso.” The doctor handed Jackeline something wrapped in plastic.

“He says you should take this pregnancy test. For assurance, he also says that it’s very accurate.”

Without putting up much of a fight, I took the test out of her hands and slipped into the bathroom. As I peed onto the skinny stick, all I could think about was the future and what was in store for Jason and I.

Jason

“Everything’s looking great Mr. Jameson. President Rousseff has notified us and she thinks this will be an excellent boost for tourism. It will bring in a lot of capital and a wide variety of travelers. She’s thrilled.”

“Ah. Great. I wish I could put into words how amazing this is turning out. By this time, next year, everything will be together, and I will be opening the first hotel of my new franchise” I said, turning to one of the contractors I hired to get this thing together.  He was one of the many people who followed me to Brazil. A lot of my old employees were willing to relocate, which made things significantly easier and even more perfect.

“I’m proud of you, man. How’s your dad taking it?”

“I don’t really care, to be honest. He’ll see how much he’s missing out when-“

“Mr. Jameson?”

I looked up from the cherry wood desk in order to focus my attention on the dark-haired middle-aged man standing at the entrance of the conference room. I instantly recognized him as the private investigator I hired before we landed. His face was holding a giddy smile, letting me know that he had nothing but good news for me.

“Have you located her?”

“I’ve done more than located her.”

My heart began racing at the sound of his last sentence. My body started to heat up in anticipation of me having a long overdue meeting with the woman who gave birth to me.

“She’s here?” I barely whispered. Dammit, I’m already choking up.

Seconds later, a beautiful woman slowly emerged from behind him.

It didn’t take long for me to begin tearing up. All we could do was stare at each other. I couldn’t believe that my mother…my actual mother…was standing just six feet away from me.

As soon as she brought her hands to her mouth and busted out in tears, everyone evacuated the room to give us some alone time. I finally got out of the chair and rushed over to her.

“My baby” she wept. “I finally get to hold you in my arms. Finally. Such a handsome young man you’ve become.”

I brought her petite body into my arms and hugged her as if I were never going to let her go. “You speak English.”

Alessandra lifted her arm up and placed her hand on my right cheek. “I had to learn it. I knew you were going to find me one of these days.”

“ Eu te amo.” I hugged her tighter and lifted her into the air. “Sem palavras.”

“Também.”

For the next few minutes, we continued to embrace and bask in each other’s presence. I never wanted the moment to pass.

She was much prettier than any of the pictures my dad showed me. With her long wavy black hair, bronze colored skin, and steel grey eyes, she was stunning.

“I have someone I want you to meet.”

Keyshia

“I’m pregnant. No, we’re going to have a baby!” I threw my hands up in faux excitement, trying to go over how I was going to break the news to Jason. “There’s a bun in my oven…because you put it there…”

UGH.

How the hell am I supposed to tell him this? It was already hard enough thinking about the shit I was going to get for getting pregnant by him in the first place!

Oh gosh, I can already hear it. The racial remarks and constant degrading. Pregnancy is supposed to be nice and happy. But I’m definitely not looking forward to this. 

I felt overwhelmed with this information and I wish I didn’t have to tell him. Lord only knows how he’ll react.

There’s a freaking baby growing in my uterus…

“Is there any particular reason to why you’re staring into the mirror with your shirt up?”

I jumped around and quickly pulled my shirt down at the sound of Jason’s deep voice. “Hey! When did you get back? I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Just now.” He gave me a look full of skeptic before smiling and pulling me towards him. “I want you to meet my mom.”

“Your mom?!” I exclaimed, with huge eyes. “You found her?!!”

“Yep.” Jason nodded before tugging me along with him to the door. “Mama! Pode Entrar!”

I don’t know why I was nervous, but my heart felt like it was about to leap out my chest. First impressions were not my forte.

The petite little woman strolled into the room with a bright contagious smile planted on her face. As if it came by instinct to her, she grabbed me into a soft warm hug. I wrapped my arms around her and returned the welcoming gesture. When she looked back up at me to give my cheeks a few pecks, I noticed the resemblance between her and Jason.

The woman was absolutely, without a doubt, gorgeous. What on earth did she see in Jack “The Asshole” Jameson?

“I see my son is very happy with you, Keyshia. You’re so…linda. Beautiful. Pretty girl.”

“Thank you. He’s been talking about you nonstop! I’m so glad he’s finally got the chance to meet you.”

All of a sudden, I became nauseous. Not now!!!!!

Jason caught on to my expression and started to grow worried. The queasiness went away right as I took a step towards the bathroom. I think it had something to do with his mom’s perfume.

For the next hour or so, the three of us were engaged in a long chat; I learned that she had never gotten married or had any more children because she didn’t really want to move on. It was almost like she was forced to put her child up for adoption.

She must have really been in love with Jack for agreeing to give her child up…and then having to go twenty-three years without seeing said child. I can only imagine how emotionally overwhelmed she felt when she laid eyes on him again.

Alessandra told us that Jack sent her three pictures of Jason and that was when he was fourteen. Apparently, to him, those were the only pictures she needed to see. He told her through a letter that she shouldn’t need anymore since he was basically going to look like that for the rest of his life.

Seriously, the man could make a book on how to make people hate you. What bothered me was every time either me or Jason mentioned him, her eyes would light up with quickness. She probably didn’t think we’d notice, but we did. She was still in love with that son of a bitch.

Jason

After dropping my mother off at her house, Keyshia and I drove over to the nearest beach and decided to have a mini-date. I had my mind set on buying a new house for Alessandra and compensating for all of the years we had between us, but it looked as if my dad had somewhat taken care of her. He brought her a house, paid her bills, and gave her enough “support” to live comfortably; and then some.  I assumed he also gave her the money to keep her mouth shut about their relationship.

Since I didn’t come here to interrogate her about what was going on between her and Jack, I left all of that alone and tried to focus my attention on getting to know her better.

“What are you thinking about?” Keyshia softly asked, staring up at me. She was lying across my lap while snacking on a chunk of pineapple.

I looked down at her and smiled. “My mom. I still can’t believe I saw her today. It’s so surreal.”

“I’m glad you’re happy. You’ve been trying to make this happen for years. I feel so honored to be here.”

I gave her a chance to swallow the rest the fruit before I had her on her back. “I couldn’t imagine doing this with anyone else.”

“What? Making out in a public beach?” she joked.

“Of course” I whispered before swooping down and placing a soft kiss on her lips. Keyshia wrapped her arms around the back of my neck and pulled me closer to her. It didn’t take long for things to start heating up. I cunningly reached under her peach colored bikini top and groped her left breast, hoping to turn her on. I never knew why, but that was her hot spot; her left breast.

But this time she didn’t moan. She let out a loud yelp and winced in pain.

I jerked my arm back and remained hovering over her. “What happened? Did I do something wrong?”

“That hurt” Keyshia sighed. She gently pushed me off of her and sat straight up. I stared at her as she adjusted her top.

“Did the doctor tell you what’s wrong? You never talked to me about it.”

“Can we talk about this when we get back home?”

I reached out and rubbed my hands up and down her long legs. “No…I’d like to know now. Babe, I’m worried about you.”

“I can’t tell you right now.”

“We’re not leaving until you tell me…” I pressed.

Completely out of nowhere, Keyshia jumped up and started walking towards the way we came in with her arms crossed over her chest.  “Oh, so you’re holding me hostage now?”

“What the hell?” I shouted as I leaped up and ran after her.

I grabbed her arm and twirled her around to face me as soon as I was close enough. “What the fuck is going on with you?”

“Why am I here with you? Why didn’t you just leave me back in New York?! And don’t give me that bullshit ‘cover up” about having to take your assistant everywhere you go!”

“What? What are you talking about? You know I wanted you to meet my mother. All of sudden you have this bipolar attitude.”

She looked down at the grip I had on her and snatched away. “You’re going to be living here, right? You know, when everything’s built and finished?”

“Yes. We talked about this already. I know you haven’t made your decision on whether or not you want to move here yet, but-“

“I want to move here. I want to be with you, Jason. But I can’t help but think about where the hell this relationship is going. Moving to Brazil is a huge change. New York was my life and you’re asking me to leave it. Just like that.”

“It’s a huge change for me too, but you know I can’t be without you…”

“Jesus, will you stop saying sappy shit like that? It’s making it so hard not to fall deeper into this stupid thing! I need some room to be able to survive if this relationship ever ends.”

I looked deep into her brown orbs and crinkled my brows together in confusion. “Ends?”

“Yeah” she paused, bowing her head. Tears started rolling down her makeup-free face. “There are mornings where I wake up so happy that I don’t even know what to do with myself. These are the mornings where I know, deep down in my heart, that you love me. You love me so much. And you will literally do anything to make me happy. I see a future between us on these mornings. I see us having the perfect American dream: with the white picket fence and the two-story house. I wake up wanting to be in your arms and holding on to you; never letting you go.”

I found myself pulling her towards me one more time. This time, she gave in and allowed me to hug her while running my fingers through her hair. “What about the other mornings?”

“I see black. There’s this negative vibe. Nothing good ever comes out of these mornings. I wake up thinking every phone call I receive will either be you saying you no longer want me or you saying you can’t do this anymore.  It literally scares the shit out of me because it fucks my mind up so bad. Sometimes I find myself breaking out in tears because what if we ended...like, permanently?”

Kissing the top of her head, I said: “We’re not going to end, sweetheart. I promise.”

“And how are you so sure of that? Huh? Anything could happen. You’re too good for me. I don’t deserve you...” By this time, she was quietly sobbing into my chest.

“Marry me” I gulped, instantly mad at myself for blurting that out. Her head shot up and looked at me with a set of surprised eyes.

“W-what did you just say?”

“I was planning on doing one of those crazy proposals where you hire a shitload of people to go along with it, but I know you like to keep things simple so-“

“I think you just asked me to marry you…” she whispered in disbelief.

I chuckled at how cute she looked. “Yes. I asked you to marry me.”

“Holy shit…” Keyshia shook her head and started pacing. “Are you sure?”

“I’m more than sure. I can’t see my life without you and I refuse to let you go like I did that one time. I need you in my life. Don’t you understand? I’ve been trying to find the right time to ask you this…” Before continuing on with my sentence, I pulled out the ring I’d been carrying around and opened the little velvet box.

Her eyes looked like they were about to pop out of her head at the sight of the rather large engagement ring. She even looked like she was going to faint. “That’s for me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh God…”

“I can’t help but to think this is slowly turning into a no…so look at me.”

Keyshia stopped pacing and looked me in the eyes. I continued. “I have those mornings too, okay? But for me, I constantly think about how you’re the one who’s too good for me. You’re so perfect. The woman I’ve always dreamed of marrying is right here with me. Every day…every fucking day that went by after buying this ring was full of doubts. I honestly don’t know what I would do if you say no. I can’t relive those horrible months again. That was torture. And you’re right. I love you very much and I will do anything to make you happy.”

I brought my hand up and wiped away her tears. “Here’s our future, Keyshia. I’m offering it to you…” To make things more “official”, I bent down on one knee and delicately placed her hand into mines. “Say yes and we can have your American Dream. Let me have the honor of getting to wake up to your sweet, angelic face every morning.”

“Jason…” she sniffed.

“Say yes.”

“I’m pregnant.”