"Goodnight Adira," Kenzo spoke as we stood in front of my building. We were both stuffed from the delicious chicken sandwich and sweet potato chips.

"Goodnight, I had a great time."

"Me too." He stared standing directly in front of me, grabbing my hands.

He pulled me closer to him, placing his hands on the center of my back. He searched my eyes for any sense of uncertainty. I had none. He slowly leaned in and lightly kissed me; both of us closed eyes at the touch of our lips.

Our eyes met again before his hands came in contact with my face on both sides, to better guide the kiss. He tilted my head to the side, bringing me back into his lips.

A small moan escaped my mouth into his. He then hungrily sucked on my bottom lip, taking away the little strength I had left.

I lived in the moment taking in every ounce of this. He kept trying to get closer to me as if he could. His touch was so warm and gentle. I almost forgot we were standing outside of my building.

We finally broke away breathlessly, his hands still holding my face. His eyes remained closed.

He slowly opened them and smiled, "goodnight."

"Night."

He released his hands from my face, releasing a sigh of despair. I leaned in and slowly kissed him once more. He did the same after me, which ended in both of us laughing.

"Alright for real, goodnight." He tucked his lips, licking them as he continued laughing.

"Ok." I giggled. "Bye, and have a safe trip to Texas. Don't forget to win."

"I will, just for you." He smiled at me, touching his lips.

I turned and walked away, heading to the front entrance. After getting inside I waved him and Ben off, they stood waiting by the car waving back.

"Have a good night, Ms. Thompson." The night guard for the building said to me as I walked over to the elevator.

"Goodnight Melvin." I waved him off.

Getting off the elevator, my phone vibrated, I roughly sighed. Nelson was texting me almost the entire time I was with Kenzo at the bar. I pulled out my phone, thinking it was him.

I smiled; it wasn't Nelson. It was Kenzo.

: Did you make it in your condo yet? I'm sorry to keep you out this late. I wanted to see you before I left.

Yes, I'm in, text me when you make it home. It was worth it. I had fun.

I scrolled down my notifications to Nelson's messages and touched one.

I shouldn't have opened it. He's begging for the gender and apologizing still for him and his mother talking about me.

What is an apology going to do for me? They said what they said. I'll never be with him again or have any real friendship. Too many lines crossed.

I decided to put this gender thing to rest. It's not worth withholding anymore.

It's a girl, now please leave me alone. I will keep you posted on the baby and the appointments. I'm done with you. We will never have anything other than our child together. No friendship or anything, don't call me anymore. I'm so exhausted and stressed over this entire situation. I have a life and so do you, BUT NOT TOGETHER... So, I want to ask you if you could please stop with your hateful post on social media, slandering me. Just because you don't tag me or put my name in it doesn't mean I don't know who you're talking about, people still tag me in your comment section.

cool, got it. Thanks for telling me and again I'm sorry.

I took a much needed deep breath and got myself ready for bed. I didn't even bother showering again. I just changed out my clothes, washed my face, and brushed my teeth. Then hopped in bed.

I began drifting off to sleep after tossing and shifting. I'm at a point where my sleep is getting a little uncomfortable. My baby bump is starting to form, but I haven't had anyone randomly notice yet.

My phone vibrated.

: I'm home, get some sleep. I'll talk to you later today after I land.

Ok, glad you made it safe, goodnight.

Goodnight.

I know I need to tell him about my life, and what I have going on. I don't know how he'll take it. It's sad, though because I've been having a great time with him.

The run-in at Darbys, the health food store which lead to him contacting me. Our long phone conversations. Him shutting a restaurant down to hang out with me. Then him inviting me to his game and hanging out after at the bar. I don't even want to get started on that kiss we shared tonight.

****

The sun made its way up before I did. It felt great to sleep in.

I had to work late tonight and wouldn't be off until tomorrow morning. My student clinical trials at the doctor's office weren't until noon, so I planned to lay up until then.

I love having clinical's there more than the hospital. Most of the Doctors let the students perform the basic level task and interact with the patients. That's hard to do at a busy hospital. We try to stay out of the way and take in everything we can. Plus it's a change of scenery from being in the hospital all day, with work and school usually there.

Staying in this bed until the very last minute means everything to me. I only got up to eat and freshen up.

Charlottes making dinner tonight. Both of us were working the same shift, later.

My phone buzzed.

Good Morning. Just touched down in Houston.

I'm still in bed lol, good morning to you too. I'm glad you made it safe.

That's understandable, go ahead and get some rest. I know you have school and work. I'll check on you later. When I get back next week, I want to see you.

I thought for a second. His return will be perfect for me to tell him. I can't keep this from him any longer, especially after that kiss. I can't be worried about what he'll do or say. My daughter and I are a package deal. I will not be embarrassed or ashamed of my situation. I'm moving forward with or without a man. Kenzo will just feel, however he feels. We had a good time while it lasted.

Ok, maybe you can come over to my place. I'll make dinner. I'll try to keep it healthy. I know it's imperative for you.

Wow, you're gonna' cook for me?

yes, lol.

Sweet! Count me in. I'll talk to you later.

I smiled, placing my phone back on my nightstand. I went back to sleep and didn't get up until my alarm went off.

I got myself ready for class, sent my family a message in our group text. That's something we do every day. Especially on busy days, we'll check-in.

My brother has been talking about retiring. He loves basketball, but he hates playing so far away. He's looking into other options, something basketball-related.

I'd love that because we try to support him and make trips, but we haven't in the last year he's played. I know he wished we could be there more but with our schedules, we can't.

That's my twin; of course, I feel sometimes lost without him. I've even cried a few times over the years. Just imagine how he feels when he's over in Milan by himself.

****

The doctors' office was slow today, didn't have too many back to back appointments. So we had time in-between to ask questions and help with the paperwork. At this point, the patient info and all the forms are familiar to me. It helps to be a nurse and working so closely with doctors. It makes my clinical for school more accessible. I made use of my time and created some flashcards for later. I want to be prepared and confident for the exams.

I'll be cutting it close with my due date and graduation. The even crazier thing is the playoff will start around my due date as well. So baby girl will be making her entry during a busy time.

My professors and everyone are aware of my situation. I'm confident, even though a lot of students and professors doubt me. A lot of them are saying I need to postpone school. I will not. While I recover from having my baby, I'll take some time for the board exam and will be ready for my residency.

After being in the clinic, I went home and showered. Shortly after that, I went across the hall to Charlottes. She was finishing up dinner. We had a few hours before we had to be at the hospital.

"Char I need to tell you something. You can't freak out." I said to her as we sat down for dinner. We said the grace.

"Just tell me. —Does it have anything to do with your baby daddy? If so then hold off until after we eat." She held up her hand.

"No, this is nowhere near about him. This is some new stuff." She sat back with her eyes wide, giving me her undivided attention. I laughed.

"So yesterday at the game, we had those really good seats. —I told you I would explain later."

She nodded, picking up her fork, taking a bite of her shrimp.

"Well, my friend gave me the tickets. We've been going on dates and talking on the phone."

"Wait this is someone that's not Nelson right?" She furrowed her brows, trying to be precise.

"This is not Nelson. I will never be with that man again. This is my new friend. A friend I shared a kiss with last night after the game. —I went back out after I got you back here."

"Di, you know you don't need to go out with some strange ass dude that late without letting me know. Something could've happened to you."

"He's not some strange man. We've been hanging out and talking to each other."

"Why did he give you those tickets, and not just take you with him to the game? Why did you meet up after the game instead of him going to the game? Oh and why am I just hearing about this friend? Where is he from? Does he know you're with child? Adira what the hell you got going on?" She rambled.

"Are you done?" I asked sarcastically. She looked at me very serious, waiting for me to answer her.

"He wasn't seated next to us at the game because he was playing in the game."

"Huh?" She squinted in disbelief. "Who?"

"Kenzo Martin." I sheepishly smiled at her.

She stared at me, trying to find the joke and slowly started laughing by herself. Her laugh grew louder and lightly banged on the table. She couldn't stop laughing for anything. "Sis', did you hype up a story to say Kenzo Martin. Oh you're good, you had me going." She continued laughing.

My phone started ringing. I remembered Kenzo said he would FaceTime me before work.

"Charlotte I'm not joking. Now calmed down so I can answer his call." As soon as I said that she hopped up to see my phone, her mouth formed an oh she couldn't say anything. She was stuck. I went on to answer it.

He stared into the camera, and so did I. "Hey you."

"Hey Mr. Martin, hows everything going?"

"I told you about that Mr. Martin stuff. —I miss you, sweet girl."

Charlotte couldn't take it anymore she screamed.

"Oh my goodness, Char. Are you ok?" I giggled at her. She scared me.

"What's going on? What's that screaming noise?" Kenzo questioned concerned.

"That's my best friend I told you about Charlotte. I just told her I've been talking to you." I looked up at her. She stood over me, watching my phone.

"Damn, Adira you could've warmed her up to the idea first, you didn't have to do her like this." He smiled.

"I was talking to her before you Facteimed. She thought I was joking." I got up to hug her. "Char I didn't mean to startle you like that, I'm sorry."

"That's Kenzo on the phone." She whispered to me. I nodded my head.

"Adira baby let me talk to Charlotte real quick. I'll show you how it was supposed to go."

I handed her the phone.

"Hi." She said, still lost for words, with her little voice.

"Hi, I'm Kenzo Martin. I've heard so much about you. Adira talks about you all the time. I've been pursuing your friend secretly. Trying to keep the media from getting involved. We've been going on dates privately. I like her. That's the story —now drop the mic. Boom." He chuckled.

I sucked my teeth. "Oh whatever, that's basically what I said."

"Seeing is believing Adira, I thought you knew you better than that." He smiled at me as I looked at the screen, now standing up beside Char.

"Anyway baby I gotta' go. I just wanted to check on you before you go to work. Text me when you get off in the morning. I probably won't have much time. I have a charity event and an interview for a magazine with the team today. I also need to get myself focused on the game tomorrow night."

Baby? Is that a thing for us now? Now I'm panicking on how he's going to take the news. I should've told him from the beginning.

"Ok, have a good day today. I'll probably shoot you a text later tonight if I get time."

"Alright, and it was nice meeting you Charlotte, well unofficially." He waved.

"You too, now bye. My best friend has some explaining to do." She squinted her eyes at both of us. We laughed at the act.

"Bye, handsome." We shared a look for a moment then ended it.

We went back to our seats, finishing up dinner. Luckily it was still warm.

"I can't believe this. My best friend is talking to Kenzo. How did you guys manage to escape the media? You know how famous this dude is. How did you meet him? Where? When did you find time to?"

I went on to fill her in answering all of her questions. I think the shock factor was still in effect. It hasn't settled in with her, but I need her to come back down so I can get some advice.

"Now I need your opinion."

"Go ahead."

"He doesn't know I'm pregnant." I glanced at her from my plate.

"He doesn't know yet? I'm glad I didn't say anything while he was on the phone." She exhaled full of relief.

"I know right, and he doesn't know anything about that part of my life. I didn't lie to him. I'm withholding the truth. I need to tell him when he returns next week. He's starting to like me and same with me, we kissed. He just called me baby. I'm worried about how he'll take it. I need to let him know I'm not involved with my child's father. —What man in his position would take on all of my drama?"

"Tell him straight up. If he has a problem then oh well. Famous or not he can catch these hands too.— Have a conversation, get his full attention, and have him listen. He needs to hear you out. Whatever he has to say after, you'll have to accept. I understand both of you caught feelings, but it's better that you tell him now before things get serious."

"Right."

We finished eating and talked a little more. I ended up crashing at her place before we had to get ready for work.

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