*Hope this is okay for everyone thanku for the comments on the last chapter! ^_^*
Drake remained still in the seat of his car. He was parked up outside his parents house, running through all the various stories he could use to conceal his lie. He hated this. Lying to her, it didn't feel right. Sighing out loud he ran his hand over his face and groaned before making his way inside. The TV was still playing with Nicki asleep on the couch and SB was nowhere to be seen. Quietly turning the dvd off he sat the remote down and covered her with a blanket. By the time he stood up again Safaree was entering the room with a drink.
"Hey, I ain't even hear you back."
"Uh, yeah I figured she'd be sleepin'." There was an awkward silence as the two of them tried to think of something to say. "So, everythin' go okay with you both?"
"Yeah, we all good." He grabbed his keys and folded his lips. "You and her need to talk though."
"Who? Me and Nic?"
"Dude, she cried for most the time you was gone." SB could feel his temper rising but remembering Nicki's wishes for them to get along he managed to stop himself. "Look, just talk to her is all I'm sayin'. I'll see myself out." He nodded goodbye and left Drake with his thoughts. Honestly he felt like he was losing his grip on everything. Trying to support himself and Nicki as well as dealing with all the secrets was losing him and in turn he felt he was losing Nicki in the process. He needed to fix this, before it was too late. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't wash Deshaun's words about Nicki from his mind. It wasn't just his safety that was jeopardised now, it was Nicki's and their unborn baby girl's.
"Drake? When'd you get home?" She sat up and stretched as he moved over to her.
"Not too long ago, you okay?" Kissing her forehead he took a seat next to her, resting his hand on the blanket over her bump.
"Mm, just tired I guess."
"SB said you was upset, s'goin' on with you?" The question threw her off a little as he moved the hair away from her face.
"That boy never knows when to keep his mouth shut." She shook her head before continuing. "I don't know Aubrey, I just feel like...like you're not really here anymore. I mean, you are here obviously but not present. Y'know what I'm sayin'?"
"Actually I do. That's how I feel." He looked down too, holding her hand in his.
"Why? What's goin' on in here?" She pointed to his head and squeezed his hand tightly. "Talk to me."
"How'd you manage to throw this 'round on me?" He smiled a little before turning serious again. "But really though, I don't know. I just wanna get everythin' together and move away from this place."
"You-" She stopped suddenly and placed her palm on the side of her bump.
"What's wrong?" The speed in which he sat forward made her laugh.
"Nothin's wrong, she's just kicking." Pulling her shirt up she exposed her bump properly and smiled down at herself. "Wow, she's never been like this before! Look." He let his eyes wander to the small lump as it slowly disappeared only to become visible again when she kicked once more.
"That is so weird, she can hear us right?"
"I'm pretty sure she can. Talk to her Aubrey." Allowing her eyes to follow him he knelt down in front of her and lay his hands on either side of her abdomen. He began talking to their baby, seeing her kick as he spoke. After around ten minutes or so he looked up to see what Nicki was thinking but she was fast asleep. He made sure to carry her cautiously down to his room before placing her in their bed, at that moment as he stared down at her he really understood what was important in his life and he wasn't about to lose it because of some stupid mistake he made.
***
Touching up her makeup one last time Nicki scraped her hair up into a bun before putting her coat on. She'd been avoiding Drake all afternoon because he was having one of his days. She shook her head thinking about it. Surely with her being the pregnant one she was supposed to be the parter to be exerting more mood swings but it seemed as though Drake had taken on that role. Her anger only peaked when she reached the kitchen and found him sat at the table.
"Where you goin'?"
"Out."
'"Out where, Nicki?"
"Just out." She was angrily rummaging through her purse, trying to find some gum as she spoke.
"It's almost ten, I'ont think you should be goin' out alone."
"Oh my God. I've been locked up in this house for almost a week, Drake! A week! I need to get out!" She exhaled slowly and collected herself. "I'll call you when I get to SB's, let you know I got there." The volume of her voice was low as she spoke her last sentence. There wasn't much else he could say without pushing her away any further. Obviously he understood where she was coming from and why she was so angry but watching her from the window he couldn't help but start to feel anxious. The past few days he'd been receiving unsetting texts from Deshaun, all of which involved something to do with Nicki. Hence the reason he hadn't been letting her leave the house. Quickly kicking into panic mode he followed out of the house and jogged to catch up with her.
"Nicki? Nicki wait!"
"What?" She turned angrily on the spot.
"Look, I know I've been actin' real difficult lately but please just come back inside? It's gettin' late, you can go see SB tomorrow." He held onto her hand as she stared at him under the streetlight. Honestly she was tired and she didn't really want to be going out so late but she wanted to prove a point. That and she knew she was behaving foolishly to be going out alone at night being eight months pregnant.
"You can't hold me captive Drake!" He tried to interject but she cut him off again. "I know! I know you're just tryin' to look out for me, for us. But I feel like I'm suffocating." She moved closer to him, tightening the grip she had on his hand.
"I'm sorry, I'm just freakin' out I guess."
"You guess? Babe you won't even let me take the trash out!" She smiled with amusement as he blushed. "I'ont even wanna know what you're gonna be like when the baby's born!" She let out a light laugh, which slightly eased the tension as they began walking slowly back to the house. "You're gonna be a super protective Daddy."
"I hadn't even thoughta that." He paused, letting her through the gate first. "What's wrong with bein' protective?"
"Nothin' but what are you gon' be like when she gets a boyfriend or whatever?"
"Oh...She's not allowed a boyfriend."
"Seriously? But what if she had what we have? Would you deny her of havin' that?" Her eyes were full of intrigue as she looked up at him.
"Damn, thas a good question. He'd have to gain my approval and ask permission first."
"You gon' be doin' security checks on every goddamn boy she brings home." She entered the house, letting him close the door behind them. Continuing to talk about the topic at hand they went downstairs, showered and changed before moving back up to the lounge room. Their eyes fixed to the screen as they watched Nicki's favourite movie. He was quite surprised that she'd given in so easily and that's when he realised she obviously had no intention to leave and she knew he would follow her. His smile slowly diminished when he heard the trashcans tumbling in the backyard.
"Babe, did you hear that?"
"Yeah, it was prolly just Missy." He lied, referring to his pitbull in the yard. "I'll go feed her now." Moving out from under her he entered the kitchen and peered out of the window. His vision was hindered by the darkness and the light reflections but not hearing Missy barking he figured it was nothing. Nevertheless he couldn't help but act on edge about weird noises. Shrugging it off he opened the backdoor and grabbed Missy's food bowl and filled it before giving it back to her.
"What was it?" She asked concernedly as she chewed on a strawberry twizzler.
"The dog, she musta knocked the lid off the trash or somethin' I'onno." Sitting back down again, she moved forward to let him back under her.
"You missed my favourite part."
"Oh, damn." He laughed at her unimpressed face but he knew her favourite part would have been some soppy love line. His mind was pulled away from the funny moment as he felt his phone vibrating. Removing it from his pocket he clenched his jaw seeing it was a message from Deshaun asking why he looked so tense tonight. Quickly bringing his head up he looked to the window, it was no use though he wouldn't have been able to see anything.
"What's wrong?" Her worried voice stopped him from looking around frantically as he lay eyes on her concerned face.
"Nothin', it's nothin'."
"You sure? 'Cause you look like you just seen a ghost."
"No I'm fine, really. I'm kyna tired though." He forced a yawn out, making her do the same.
"Me too." She carried on eating her twizzlers and lay her head on his chest before he nudged her slightly.
"C'mon, I'm not lettin' you fall asleep on here again. We're goin' to bed." She sat up and got to her feet steadily, clutching the twizzler bag to herself.
"Fine, but I'm bringin' these with me. The baby wants them."
"No, you want them Onika. Don't be tryin' to blame our baby." Smirking through his words he tapped her ass and kissed her angry face. "Baby I'm kidding, now go to bed. I'll be down in a minute." As soon as she disappeared down the stairs he dropped the pretence that everything was fine. Scrambling to each and every window as he locked and drew the curtains, double checking them all before doing the same to the doors. This shit was getting too real for his liking. Heading downstairs he stripped off and sorted himself for bed before climbing in with her. He wasn't even surprised that she was asleep already and with the twizzler packet still clutched to her chest.
The next morning he'd been doing some serious thinking whilst she was still asleep. He needed for them to be out of the house pretty soon and moving into the apartment seemed like the only choice they had left. Deshaun had no idea about that place, so he knew for a fact it would be safer there. Well, safer from him but not all the other dangers. Letting the idea tick over in his mind he felt a small hand on his shoulder.
"What're you thinkin' about Aubrey? You've been awfully quiet these last few days, is everythin' okay?"
"Yeah Mom, everythin's fine." He paused and looked down as she took a seat opposite him at the table. "Actually, there is somethin' I need to talk to you about."
"Oh? And what might that be?"
"Well, it's abou-" He didn't get to finish his sentence before the phone rang on the wall behind them. "It's aight Ma I got it." Jumping up he silenced the phone as he quickly answered. "Hello?"
"Drizzy, just thought I'd let you know that you can't run away from this mess you've got yourself into." The sound of Deshaun's voice made his skin crawl, making sure his Mom had moved over to the sink he spoke again quietly.
"Look, I told you I'm tryin' to get your money. I just need some more time." He snapped through a gritted whisper, keeping his voice low.
"Yeah and I told you I want it now. You don't want me to have to start payin' you and your girl lil' visits do you?" He talked in a chillingly calm and kind tone. "Or I could even drop in and keep Nicki company whilst you're out gettin' my money? It's up to you."
"How the fuck d'you know her name?"
"I thought you of all people would know I got people everywhere. I don't miss a thing, Drizzy. I want my money."
"I'm gettin' it, just make sure you stay the fuck away from her and my family." He wiped at his mouth nervously. "And don't even think about callin' here again." Not giving him chance to respond he slammed the phone down and leant against the wall in state of pure fear. The situation was spiralling well out of his control.
"Aubrey dear? Who was on the phone?"
"Hm? Oh uhm, nobody it was just a wrong number." Fiddling with his keys momentarily he fixed a plan in his mind and moved back into the kitchen. "Look, I gotta head out for a minute. Don't wait up for me and I'll see y'all later." The sudden outburst of words only just registered with Sandi's ears as she heard the front door shut, not able to stop and question him she shook her head and continued to prepare something for Nicki and Dennis to eat when they surfaced from their beds.
***
"Thank you, that was so good." Nicki patted her stomach contently and started washing her plate in the sink. She felt bad that Sandi had cooked her breakfast, lunch and dinner but she made sure to show her appreciation.
"You don't have to thank me Nicki! As long as you're both eating what's good, my mind is at rest." She took a moment to admire her bump before looking back at her face. "Anyway, we're about to head off now but Aubrey shouldn't be too long. I thought he'd be back by now to be honest, are you okay being left alone?"
"Sure, we'll be fine." She answered whilst caressing her bump. "Go, have fun! You been runnin' 'round after us all day, you deserve a break."
"Well, my number is on the fridge so if anything happens just call me and I'll come straight back." She fumbled around with her purse before clipping Dennis on the back of the head as she walked past. "Would you turn that off?! We're going to be late." Nicki couldn't help but laugh as Dennis didn't even flinch before he stood and switched the TV off.
"This how you treat Drake?"
"No sir." She couldn't help but laugh as she spoke.
"Oh be quiet and go get in the car." Dennis did as he was told, leaving Nicki stood in the doorway as Sandi made her way out on to the steps. "You have your midwife's number don't you?"
"Yes, I have your number, I have Aubrey's number and I have my midwife's number." She laughed again. "Now go, you're gonna miss your reservation."
"Okay, okay be safe and don't be eating anything spicy." She called the last part out as she opened the passenger door and hopped in. They reversed out slowly as Nicki watched them disappear. Receiving this sort of maternal attention was really having a positive effect on her, she felt as though her own maternal instincts were being strengthened by Sandi's caring and loving nature. She wanted the best for her baby and she was sure that no matter what happened she would always try and give her the best life they possibly could.
***
"No, I need the keys tonight! Please?" Drake had been arranging to get things sorted for their apartment so that once they'd told his parents they could move in and hopefully escape the watchful eye of Deshaun. He kept panicking about not being home with Nicki but he knew his parents were still there, little did he know they'd gone out for a business dinner with some of Sandi's colleagues and Nicki was home alone.
*Sorry I took forever to post! I was gonna just give up and do it tomorrow but I decided to stick it out lol I hope this was okay for everyone and I apologise for any typos or if it seemed rushed :/ Thanks for reading ^_^ Also if you follow me on @CarleesBlogs could you please leave your @ names so I can note who my Dricki readers are and who my Onikafaree readers are? I keep getting confused with which followers read which fics lol*
