Page 46 of On You 2

“No, teaching her how to threaten people properly.”

I shook my head, laughing while she kept rambling about spoiled rich baby behavior.

I sat there, listening to Dess talk, imagining what life would look like once the baby got here. That’s what I needed to focus on, because worrying about Amir wasn't good for my health. That or my baby’s to be honest. I can’t believe his ass has went ghost like this.

I stayed at Dess’s house about two hours and around 10:00 am I decided it was time for me to go home and take a nap.

After traveling across the city, I walked into my house, surprisingly finding my mom and dad back home.

“Darling, your dad was just wondering where you were. Were you out with Amir preparing for the baby?”

“Nah, I was with Dess for a minute this morning. Amir has been busy.”

I made an excuse for him as I kissed my father, who had a warm cup of tea in his hand, rocking in his chair, and reading a magazine that he got sent here from back home.

“I see you two are home early this morning.”

“Yeah, everything is running smoothly so he and I decided to come home and get some rest before we go back later and collect our earnings from the laundry mat machines. Do you want me to make you anything to eat in the meantime?”

“No, I’m okay. I got fruit and stuff to eat this morning. I’ll probably just do that in bed and rest since I don’t have to go to my office today.”

“Sounds like a plan darling.” My father smiled at me.

I went downstairs and decided to take a shower, so that I could stretch out in my bed comfortably. Once I was done with my mid-morning shower, I laid in the bed, staring up at the ceiling while my phone rested against my chest. I picked it up and called Amir, but it just rang a few times before it went to voicemail.

Amir: You good? I just woke up. I’ll call you back in a few, sorry, I been busy.

I'm fine Amir. But call me whenever you get a chance. If me and the baby is still important to you.

I rolled my eyes before tossing my phone beside me on the mattress. If I weren’t fuckin okay, he wouldn’t have known it. Being patient was really starting to wear off of me.

I pushed myself up from the bed slowly, and I walked over to my mirror. I picked up my brush from the dresser and dragged it slowly through my hair before pausing when a few long strands wrapped around the bristles, showing me the hair loss was never-ending.

“Man,” I muttered under my breath.

“At least I know our kid will have plenty of hair because of Amir, even if all of mine falls out. Ain’t that right, baby?”

My free hand rested over my stomach while I talked to a baby that hadn’t even formed limbs just yet.

After setting the brush down, I grabbed my prayer beads from the nightstand and wrapped them around my fingers before lowering my head slightly.

“Allah, please protect my child. Protect Amir, too. Remove whatever darkness follows us around and let us have peace as we welcome our child into the world.”

The prayer came out barely above a whisper, but once I finished speaking, a strange calm washed over me. I stood there quietly, rubbing the beads between my fingers, breathing slowly, and enjoying the peace in my room.

That feeling, however, didn’t last long when a loud thud and yell came from upstairs, taking my mind completely out of the zone I’d drifted in.

“Stop!” my mother screamed.

My eyes instantly lifted toward the ceiling before another loud thud shook the house hard enough to make me jump. At first, I thought maybe my parents were arguing, but once furniture started scraping violently across the floor upstairs, and heavy footsteps stomped throughout the house, fear immediately crept into my chest. Somebody was fighting, and it sounded like for their lives.

I turned toward my bedroom door and realized it wasn’t locked, so I nervously crept toward it, trying not to make noise against the hardwood floor. I could hear my father yelling now, but his words sounded muffled beneath the sound of whoever was shoving things around upstairs. Every step I took toward the door made my heartbeat pound harder inside my chest until it felt like my entire body was shaking.

I reached for the lock with trembling fingers, but before I could even twist it, the bedroom door exploded inward so hard it slammed against the wall behind it.

“No! Please!’

Three masked men rushed inside the room.