CHAPTER 89:
The next day, AJ, Roman and Alia had since arrived in Jersey City. It was now around 5pm when they began to make the drive to her parent's house in Union City. "Nervous?" asked Roman. "Precisely" said AJ. "I wonder if they'll like her." "They will" said Roman. "They have to, she's their first grandchild." "Yeah but that doesn't mean anything" said AJ. After that, the two became quiet and 15 minutes later they pulled up to the blue and white house again where her sister Erica stood outside waiting for them. She ran towards the car in excitement.
"April! Joe! You're here!" she shouted. "Yes we are" AJ said as she stepped outside of the car. Erica gave her a tight hug. "Ooh look you're getting your muscles back" she said. "They never really left me" said AJ. "I still worked out when I was pregnant and stuff." "No matter" said Erica as she walked over to Roman who was removing Alia out of the car seat and placing her into a carrier. "Oh she's beautiful!" said Erica. "She's gotten so much bigger since I've last seen her."
"Come on, we should get her out of this cold" said Roman. "Yes of course let's go" said Erica as she led the group into the house. "Mom! Dad! Robert! They're here!" shouted Erica. With that, Mr. Mendez entered into the room. "April, Joe" he said as gave them a hug. "Hello sir" said Roman. "Oh look at her" said Mr. Mendez. "She's just so precious". "Would you like to hold her dad?" asked AJ. "Of course sweetheart" said Mr. Mendez. AJ took the carrier from Roman and careful began to remove Alia from it to hand her to her father.
"She has your eyes Joe" said Mr. Mendez. "But everything else is all April." "Uh….thanks?" said Roman. "Relax son, it was just a complement and I don't give too many of those around here" said Mr. Mendez. "She looks even better in person that she does in the magazine." Mrs. Mendez and Robert entered. "Hello April" she said as she gave her a hug. "Joe?" "Hello Mrs. Mendez" said Roman. "I'd just like to say, congratulations" said Mrs. Mendez. "Thank you" said Roman. "Dinner will be done in an hour" said Robert. "I'm surprised that you guys were even able to make it in."
"What do you mean?" asked AJ as she took a seat down on a couch. "Because the weatherman said that there's gonna be a really bad blizzard tomorrow night" said Robert. "No…we didn't know that was happening" said AJ. "We live all the way down in Florida." "Do you think we'll still be able to make out our flight back home on Saturday?" asked Roman. "Because I'm live in San Antonio next Monday for a "RAW" show." "I dunno to be quite frank" said Robert. "Yeah" said Mrs. Mendez as Mr. Mendez carefully placed Alia in her arms. "They're saying it's going to be a bad one." Mrs. Mendez began to say something in Spanish as she held Alia. "What did she say?" asked Roman.
AJ smiled. "She said that Alia is very pretty and that she has the face of her mother but the eyes of her father." "Oh?" Roman said confused. "Don't worry, she said it in a very nice tone" said AJ. Mrs. Mendez began to sing a lullaby to Alia in Spanish in order to get her to fall asleep. "Right now she's singing the same lullaby she used to sing to me and my siblings when we were younger" said AJ. "It sounds really nice" said Roman. "Even though I can't understand." "You're going to need to learn Spanish now" said Mr. Mendez. "It is a very good language to learn and you must learn it now that you're married to my daughter." "I'll try to work on that sir" said Roman. "You can call me dad" said Mr. Mendez. "If you like."
"You mean padre" said AJ. "Because that's what "father" means in Spanish." The family began to laugh softly, being careful not to disturb Alia. "So you were saying that a really bad blizzard is actually coming tomorrow?" asked Roman. "Yes I'm afraid so" said Robert. "They've been talking about it a lot lately" said Erica.
"Well…let's just turn on the news then" said AJ. "Because we were planning on going shopping in Manhattan tomorrow." "Turn to channel 7" said Mrs. Mendez. Robert quickly changed to the news channel.
"Yes indeed we're going to be having one heck of storm tomorrow night" said meteorologist Amy Freeze. "But those of you need not to worry as the first signs of snowfall won't begin until after 8pm, so you'll need to stock up on whatever you need-the essentials. We are expecting anywhere between 16 to 20 inches of snow with temperatures lowing into the teens and possibly the single digits so the entire tri-state area is currently under a severe winter storm warning beginning from midnight tonight until approximately 7am Wednesday, February 11th and Governor Christie is expected to declare a state of emergency from these conditions…"
"Oh my God" said AJ. "We were in such a hurry that we didn't even bother to check the weather or anything." "I'll call Stephanie tonight to let her know" said Roman. "April, Joe…" said Mrs. Mendez. "Yes mom?" asked AJ. "I…we'd, like to say that we're terribly sorry for the way that your father and I have been treating you guys" said Mrs. Mendez. "It's just that, you're our baby just like Alia is your baby and your father and I do realize that you are an adult now and you're fully capable of making your own decisions…the right decisions."
"You really mean that?" asked AJ. "Your mother isn't kidding April" said Mr. Mendez. "Thank you" AJ said tearfully as her parents gave her a hug. "And Joe, I'm sorry too" said Mr. Mendez. "Thank you sir" said Roman. "You can call me dad" said Mr. Mendez. Roman smiled. "Now going back to you guys going shopping?" asked Mrs. Mendez. "Yes" said AJ. "Leati and I were planning on heading out into Manhattan tomorrow morning to do a little shopping." "But you can't take a 3-month-old out in this type of weather" said Mrs. Mendez. "It's 29 degrees outside. We can watch her for you…if you want." "Of course" said AJ. "We'd really appreciate that" said Roman. AJ's parents smiled. "It'll be our pleasure" said Mrs. Mendez. "Now I can spend the next few days getting to know our granddaughter and her father." With that the family continued sitting around talking. Unfortunately they had no idea of what was going to happen next.
Meanwhile back in San Diego, Nikki entered back inside the house after walking around the neighborhood. "Still no contractions yet?" Bryan asked as he read a copy of the San Diego Tribune. "Nope, nothing yet" said Nikki as she took a seat on the sofa in front of him. "And I feel ready bad because I know that the two of you wanted to make it back up to Washington to have a nice Valentine's Day weekend together."
"Nonsense Nicole" Bryan said as he put down his newspaper. "You're getting ready to give us a niece in a few days, I'm pretty sure that Brianna and I can get up to my place at any time. You need us right now." "Thanks" said Nikki. "So how is she making you feel lately?" Bryan asked. "Oh well she's kicking a lot less than she used to not to mention my boobs and back are hella sore oh and I had a dream that I was dancing like Beyoncé did in that video "Partition" for John, you know minus the pregnancy part of course". Bryan just sat back looking at Nikki with an uncomfortable expression.
"Um…c-can I get you a glass of water or something?" Bryan asked as he tried to change the subject. "Yes I would like that very much" said Nikki. Bryan got up to pour Nikki her glass. "Here you go" he said as he walked back over to hand her a cup. "Thank you so much" said Nikki. "I needed this. This little girl is making me hella thirsty lately." "You're welcome" said Bryan as he took his seat. "I'm sorry if I made you feel a little bit uncomfortable just now, it's just how I'm really feeling and what I really dreamed of. I mean seriously, Joy is making me dream the craziest of things you know?" said Nikki. "No actually I don't know" said Bryan. "I cannot relate to that I'm sorry." "It's ok Bryan" said Nikki. Josie jumped off from the side Bryan was on and got next to Nikki.
"Looks like someone else wants to keep you company" said Bryan. "Yeah what is it with dogs and pregnancy?" asked Nikki. "It's like they know something's up or something." "Perhaps" said Bryan. "They know a lot." "She's pretty smart" said Nikki as she began to rub Josie's belly, causing her to move her leg. "Aww why do doggies always like this?" she asked. "I have no idea because I am not a dog" said Bryan. "Ok Bryan" said Nikki as she began drinking from her glass. Bryan laughed while watching Josie kick her legs. Nikki sat her glass down onto the table next to her. "No but seriously, she's been glued to me a lot lately" she said.
"She's just being friendly that's all" said Bryan. "Can you believe that she's going to be 2 soon?" asked Nikki. "Can you believe that you're going to a mother in a few days?" asked Bryan. "No I cannot" said Nikki. "And to seriously think I almost didn't have her." "I can't wait to meet her" said Bryan. "And so can Brie." "Everyone is dying to meet her" said Nikki. "My fans, my family-our family, me…"
"What about John and Joe?" asked Bryan. Nikki became quiet. "Well you know the story behind that one" she said. Bryan nodded. "Well remember that we're all still here for you." He stood up and stretched. "I'm going to take a nap. Brie should be coming back in at any moment from the gym." "Ima go take a shower" said Nikki. "I am all sweaty with no Joy-no pun intended." She got up and went into the back, hoping that she wouldn't have to wait too much longer for her baby to come as her patience was beginning to increasingly run out.