It was a Thursday afternoon in Woodcrest. Riley had the day off, so he was outside playing basketball with Justin and Lela. Cindy was in the living room with Jazmine, holding her baby Chanel. Cindy had been home from the hospital for a couple of weeks now. The Freeman-Dubois household had a lot of adjusting to do with the new baby. Justin loved being a big brother so far. He loved to hold his baby sister and did not hesitate to help his mommy with Chanel. Cindy was proud of her little man for being such a great helper.
Jazmine was on her laptop scrolling through some old baby pictures of Lela. With having Chanel around for the past two weeks, her baby fever worsened. "Look at how tiny Lela was." Jazmine awed. It was a picture of Lela's first Halloween, and she was dressed as a pumpkin. "She was only five months old at the time."
"Yeah, I remember that. We got so many judgmental looks that night since we were teen moms going trick or treating." Cindy reminisced.
Jazmine went to say something but was distracted by the Facebook notification on her phone. There was a friend request from "Diamond Quincy". Jazmine knew her. This was the same Diamond that Caesar dated from Junior to Senior year. Though Jazmine was good friends with her before they started dating. Diamond was in color guard with Jazmine back in high school. She had just transferred from New York to Woodcrest, so she did not have any friends. Jazmine was kind enough to welcome her to her friend group. Diamond and Caesar hit it off right away. They were both from New York, so they shared that in common. Eventually, they started dating. After she broke up with Caesar and moved to California with her family, she dropped off the face of the Earth. All her social media accounts were deleted, and she never answered her phone if anyone called.
"Cindy, look who just sent me a friend request." Jazmine pointed at her computer screen.
"Diamond!? Girl, accept that shit! Ain't nobody heard from her in ages!"
Jazmine accepted the friend request. She went over to Diamond's page to do some stalking. The first thing Jazmine noticed was her profile picture. Diamond was posing with a little boy with the Snapchat dog filter. The caption read. "Me and my baby boy, Jamari!"
"Looks like she also had a kid," Jazmine observed.
"Damn, pregnancy got her too?" Cindy asked.
"You say that like pregnancy is a disease or something." Jazmine joked. She continued to scroll down her page. There weren't any pictures of anyone that could be Jamari's father, like a boyfriend or an ex. Jazmine assumed that she was no longer with the father. Her laptop made another notification sound. Her screen read. "New message from Diamond Quincy."
"Hey, girl! How have you been? "
"Omg Hi! I am doing well! Just about to graduate from university. How have you been?" Jazmine typed.
"I am doing great, just graduated early with a degree in Childhood education."
"That's awesome! Are you still in California?"
"No, I actually moved back to Woodcrest a couple of weeks ago…that is part of the reason why I reached out to you. I saw that you and Caesar are dating now…"
Well, things were starting to become awkward. "Yes, we are."
"The little girl in your profile picture, is she yours and Caesar's kid?"
"Lela is mine, but Caesar is not related to her biologically. Her real father is actually my ex, Huey."
"Oh, so she isn't Caesar's? That's a relief."
"What does that supposed to mean?" Jazmine asked out loud.
"Shit girl, I don't know," Cindy commented. She had been reading over Jazmine's shoulder the whole time.
"That may have come out offensively. Let me explain…the boy in my profile picture is Jamari. He is my son, and Caesar is his father…"
"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Jazmine and Cindy exclaimed at the same time. Jazmine rarely used "heavy" swear words, unless she was angry or in shock. At this moment, she was probably both. Diamond's text played over in Jazmine's mind. "Caesar" and "Biological father" stuck out the most. Her heart rate started to increase from the amount of anxiety going through her body.
"You see, I found out I was pregnant a few weeks after Caesar and I broke up. I kind of hooked up with someone right afterward. I assumed my one-night stand was the father. However, we recently took a DNA test and found out Jamari was not his. If it was not his, then it is definitely Caesar's."
"Oh, I see…" Jazmine typed.
"Really bitch? That's all you're gonna say?" Cindy asked.
"I don't know what to say in a situation like this!" Jazmine blurted. "I'm still in shock by this whole thing!" She huffed and proceeded to type on her keyboard.
"I take it that Caesar has no idea?"
"No, he doesn't. I was wondering if you could help get Caesar and me together so I can tell him? If I asked to meet him somewhere, I doubt he would show up…"
"Yeah, I can help. What do you need me to do?"
"I am currently staying at Woodcrest motel until I can find an apartment. Can you bring him here around 5 p.m?"
"I can do that."
"Great! See you at 5!"
Jazmine quickly slammed her laptop down. What had she gotten herself into? Of course, when the drama around here starts to settle down, ANOTHER issue just pops back up. Jazmine had so many questions. Why did Diamond wait three years to decide to do a DNA test? Or what is Caesar being not really the father but Diamond was using it as an excuse to get back with him No, that was a stupid idea. Jazmine knew Diamond well enough that she would never stoop that low.
"Jeez Jazmine, it's like you're on an episode of Maury or Jerry Springer." Cindy snickered. Jazmine rolled her eyes and went to go open the door after hearing a knock. When Jazmine opened the door, Huey was standing outside.
"Huey, what are you doing here?" Jazmine asked.
"Riley and I are supposed to take the kids to visit Granddad in the nursing home today, remember?"
"Crap! I totally forgot about that!" Jazmine facepalmed. "Sorry, I'll go get Lela ready." She went into the backyard and instructed Lela to come inside and get her shoes on. While Lela was getting ready, Jazmine went back and sat on the couch. Huey had already taken a seat next to her.
Huey glanced over to Jazmine. She looked pale as a ghost, her hands were fidgeting, and she was biting her lip. All three signs screamed that she was hiding something. Ever since he's known Jazmine, the girl had been terrible with keeping secrets. That intrigued him to start questioning her. "Alright Jaz, what big secret are you hiding?"
"Me? Holding a secret? Nah!" Jazmine laughed nervously. "Even if I was, it isn't my secret to tell."
"So, there's no huge secret that you're hiding? Or a surprise birthday party planned?"
"No, but Caesar is going to be surprised when he finds out he has a kid," Jazmine muttered. She quickly covered her mouth when she realized what she had just said.
"Caesar has what!?" Huey staggered.
"Oops." Jazmine winced, her hand still covering her mouth.
"Good job, Jazzy," Cindy said sarcastically, giving her a thumbs up.
"What the hell do you mean Caesar has a kid!?" Huey shouted. His face then froze. "You're pregnant?"
"God no!" Jazmine rebuked, hitting him with a pillow. "Why would you think that!?"
"You said he has a kid…and OW!" Huey rubbed his shoulder.
"Okay, calm down, let me explain." Cindy chimed in. "Remember Diamond Quincy?"
"He got her pregnant?" Huey caught on quickly. "She was probably the only girl Caesar was actually serious about. Actually, she was the only one of his girlfriends that I found tolerable. So I guess it's a good thing that he procreated with her instead of his other idiot girlfriends."
Jazmine grabbed the same pillow and hit Huey again, except twice as hard.
"OW!" Huey clenched his shoulder. "I didn't mean you!"
"ANYWAY!" Cindy spoke up, trying to stay on topic. "Diamond hit up Jazmine on Facebook and told her. They have a son name Jamari. He looks around Lela's age."
"So she never bothered to tell Caesar about his son?" Huey asked.
"She thought someone else was the dad," Jazmine answered. "Now, she wants me to drag Caesar to the motel they're meeting at. "She then groaned and slumped on the couch. Diamond was Caesar's, first love. What if Caesar went through the same thing Huey went through? He finds out he has a kid, and suddenly he wants to play family. Then he starts confessing that he is still in love with you and all that bullshit.
"No way." Jazmine thought. Caesar and Huey were alike, but they weren't that alike.
Riley walked with Lela and Justin. "Hey, hater." He greeted his brother. Riley looked around at the three people in the living room. "Shit, did someone die?"
"I'll explain on the way." Huey sighed, getting up from the couch. Riley shrugged, picking up Chanel from Cindy.
"You ready to go in a car ride with Daddy?" Riley talked to her in his baby talking voice. Cindy handed Riley her "mommy" bag, which included bottles, pacifiers, extra clothes, blankets, and diapers.
"Baby, I'm a man…I can't be wearin this bag!" Riley reluctantly said, trying to hand her back the bag.
"Boy, cut the toxic masculinity and take the damn bag." Cindy rolled her eyes, shoving the bag back into his arms. Riley opened his mouth to argue with her, but Huey put his hand on his shoulder as to say "Don't bother." "Thanks, babe." Riley sighed. The two brothers gathered the children and headed off.
Jazmine pulled out her phone. "Guess I should call Caesar." She took a deep breath and started calling her boyfriend.
"Put it on speaker!" Cindy whispered yelled. Jazmine rolled her eyes and pressed the speakerphone.
"Hey princess." Caesar greeted.
"Hey, babe," Jazmine answered nervously. "Uh, you busy this evening?"
"Nope, why what's up?"
"Can you meet me at the Woodcrest hotel around 5?"
"Why yes, I can," Caesar replied flirtatiously.
"Great, see you then. Bye!" Jazmine quickly hung up her phone. Cindy at next to her best friend.
"You okay girl?" She asked.
I hope so." Jazmine leaned on her.
"Caesar has a kid too!? What the hell!? God damn, aren't they supposed to teach you this shit in school!?"
"Granddad, America has the worst sex education system," Huey stated.
"Yeah, all our school did was just tell us not to do it…. like we was going to listen or something." Riley snickered.
"Well maybe if you listened to your teachers, I wouldn't be a great-granddaddy!" Robert snapped at Riley.
"Mane, you should consider yourself lucky! Least you had the chance to meet your great-grandkids." Riley argued.
"I know, and I love my great-grandkids," Robert replied and proceeded to kiss baby Chanel on her forehead. "But the point is that I won't supposed to meet them! You two were supposed to be in your thirties and married when you had kids, and I was supposed to be in the grave!"
"Look, you didn't help much with teaching us about sex either. "Huey said. "You just showed us some porn and said "That's how good it is. Any questions?"
"I don't remember you asking any questions!"
"We were 10 and 12! It was traumatizing!"
"Well damn, it worked for ya'lls daddy! Shit!"
"Granddad, times are different. Teenagers are becoming more interested in sex these days." Huey explained. "Besides, sex is a natural desire all humans have. Instead of telling teenagers not to do it, they need to be taught about the consequences of having sex early. Like STDS or teen pregnancy. Or if they decide to it, tell them how to get condoms and access to birth control."
"So, you're going to explain all that to Lela?" Granddad questioned.
"Hell no!"
"See! Parents just don't want to have that talk with their kids!" Granddad shivered. "Makes me uncomfortable!"
"Alright Alright!" Huey threw his hands up. "It would pain me, but I would have that conversation with Lela when she is a lot older. Then I would tell her to make sure she really liked whoever she decides to have sex with. Oh, and make sure she realizes what consent is. That is probably one of the most important things to teach your kids."
"Shit, I was just gonna tell Justin not to fuck up as I did, then kill any guy that looked in Chanel's direction." Riley nervously chuckled. "But I guess McHaters method would be more effective."
"Can we just change the subject please?" Granddad shivered. "Riley, how's your little cutie doing?"
"She's doing great. Bossy as all hell, but I like that in a woman." He laughed.
"Good to hear, and Huey, when the hell you gonna get other cutie pie back?"
"Granddad, I told you what happened with Zhara-"
"Not crazy cutie-pie! The other one!"
"…What are you talking about?"
"Look, you had been crushing on that girl since the day we moved to Woodcrest. I always thought she was good for yo depressing ass. Plus, I know you still love her."
"Granddad, I destroyed my relationship with Jazmine the day I walked out on her and Lela. She's made it clear that she cannot be with me after what I did." Huey groaned. "Plus, she's with Caesar now. They're both…happy together. I can't just ruin that. "
"C'mon boy. You can't just let Jazmine go! Not a whole lot of girls like her out there!"
"I Know, granddad. But there are a lot better guys than me out there for her. She deserves better than me…and I'm glad she found him." Huey finished and glanced over to his daughter. She was playing blocks with Justin. "I have another girl in my life I need to worry about. Right now, she's my number one priority. "
"Boy, there ain't no shame in dating! Shit, I used to bring women home all the time!" Robert reminisced.
"Yeah, that's why I am choosing not to date right now…"
"Boy, what the hell do you mean!?"
"Let's see…. Prostitute, Killer wolf bitch, one of the Kardashian sisters, fucking Siri for crying out loud…am I missing anyone?"
"Ebony Brown," Riley mentioned.
"I actually liked Ebony. She was nice, kinda wish she stayed around."
"Oh hush up boys! I get it…not my fault that I attract the crazies." Robert mumbled.
"Yep, it's the woman that's the problem…totally." Huey sighed.
Jazmine was finally at the Woodcrest motel. She sat outside Diamond's motel room for five minutes, waiting for Caesar to show up. She would have gone in and talked to Diamond beforehand, but she just did not have the courage to talk to face her in person. Her anxiety was through the roof. Once Caesar got here, she would end up having a full-blown panic attack.
Jazmine jumped up when she heard the door open behind her. She turned around to see…her. Diamond Quincy. She was pretty before, but damn that girl hit a glow up. Diamond was a dark-skinned lady with long, wavy black hair. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of dark brown. The makeup she was wearing was stunning as well. Her glittery sliver eyeshadow just made her eyes stand out more.
"Jazmine!" Diamond jumped back, slightly surprised. "I didn't know you were here…"
"Yeah…I'm kind of nervous," Jazmine admitted. Diamond sighed, taking a seat next to her.
"I feel you…I haven't seen Caesar in years. Now I gotta drop this huge bomb on him," Diamond scoffed.
"Diamond, I'm sorry if this is too straight forward." Jazmine turned to look at her. "Do you still have feelings for Caesar? I'm sorry, I just need to know."
"Oh." Diamond was caught off guard. She didn't expect that to be the first thing Jazmine say to her in years. "Jazmine, what Caesar and I have is in the past. I assume you two are happy together so, you don't gotta worry about me trying to take him back."
"Alright, that's a relief." Jazmine sighed. "Sorry, I kind of have abandonment issues. Thank Huey for that."
"Yeah, I heard what happened between you and Huey…you know how fast gossip goes around in Woodcrest." Diamond explained. "Some lady was talking about it when I was at the park with Jamari an hour ago."
"Gotta love small towns." Jazmine huffed.
"Got that right, sis. Anyway, you look good girl." Diamond complimented. "Saw pictures of your little girl on Facebook. She's a spinning image of you."
"Thank you." Jazmine started playing with one of her curls. "Don't you think it is kinda crazy that you, Cindy, and I had kids around the same time?"
"I know right! Next thing you know; Hiro is gonna show up with a kid." Diamond joked. "Can you imagine HIM being a daddy?"
"God no!" Jazmine laughed. "I still talk to him from time to time. No mention of him getting a girl pregnant."
"Yeah…you know, I missed you and the others." Diamond smiled.
"I missed you too…and I'm actually happy you're back." Jazmine looked to see Caesar's car going into the parking lot. "There he is. How about you go inside, and I'll send him in." She instructed. Diamond got up and went back to her motel room. Jazmine waited until he got out of his car and approached her.
"Hey, baby," Caesar said, opening his arms. Jazmine got up and hugged him tightly.
"Hey, hun," Jazmine replied, kissing his cheek. "You should, um, go inside."
"Slow down." Caesar chuckled. "Babe, if you wanted to hook up, we didn't need to come here." He started placing kisses down her neck. "You know I live alone."
"Caesar~" Jazmine started to moan but pulled away. "That isn't why I brought you here. Please, just step inside." Jazmine stepped away. Caesar confused opened the door. He took a step inside the room. All he saw was a woman standing, looking outside the window. When she turned to face him, he felt his world shatter…
"Hi, Caesar."
"Hi, Caesar."
Caesar felt like a heavy boulder dropped on him. The girl with who he used to be in love was standing right in front of him. Diamond JoAnn Quincy. Jazmine had introduced them in high school as an attempt to get them together. Caesar did not think it would work. After all, he still had a thing for Jazmine. But for him and Diamond just had this connection. He ended up falling in love with her. His feelings for Jazmine had just disappeared. Then with her military family, she ended up having to move across the country. Now she was back, right in front of her.
"Diamond…it's good to see you again," Caesar said awkwardly. "Um…how have you been?"
"I've been good…actually, I came wanted to see you." Diamond said. She turned to the room that was connected to hers. "Come here, Jamari!" She called. A small boy ran into the room. His hair was in dreads. "Caesar…" She took a deep breath. "This is Jamari." She then turned to her son. "Jamari, honey, this is your daddy…"
"I-I'm sorry…whatdidyousayyy?" Caesar wheezed out. Suddenly, he started seeing stars. The next thing he knew; he was on the ground.