Page 18 of Kaya's King
“Collette, what are you doing?” Trident yells his question as the little water nymph makes a beeline heading straight toward Noah. He doesn’t miss a beat, reaching his hand out so she can latch onto it and guiding her toward the side of the pool. Despite her young age, she has no issues swimming around which is a testament to Trident’s patience with the youngest of his two seeing as his older daughter isn’t as eager to learn.
“I’ve got her, Mr. Trident,” Noah calls out, as if my brother can’t see what's happening before his eyes himself. “Do you think she’d want me to pull her around on a float?”
I start chuckling at the hesitant and forlorn look on Trident’s face when Gia calls out that it’s okay with her if he’s feeling up to it. “Brother, get a grip. They’re just babies right now,” I murmur, disdain laced in my admonishment.
“Babieswho will grow up,” he growls out, glaring at all of us who can’t help our laughter. He continues with his grumbling as he keeps a watch over his daughter and her interactions with Noah.
After another thirty minutes or so, I notice Noah seems to be lagging a bit. “Hey, little man, what say we get you out of here and dried off? You look like you’re losing steam and need to recharge.”
His slender shoulders droop as he wavers, not wanting to end the independence he gets from weightlessly floating in the water. Eventually, he gives in and nods his head in agreement. “I don’t like feeling like this, Mr. Specks,” he admits, sounding defeated. I’m sure he hates the idea of leaving the pool, especially since the other kids are still horseplaying, splashing each other and having a good time hanging out. However, I’ve been doing my own research on what he has, and I know rest is just as important for his body during the healing process.
“It’s not going to be for forever, Noah, remember?” I ask, reminding him that eventually he’ll regain his strength and stamina as I scoop him up then carry him up the steps to an empty lounge chair. Conscious of his pain, I grab his towel, hand it over to him so he can start drying the drops off his dampened skin. “Once you’re not dripping wet, I’ll carry you into y’all’s bathroom so you don’t slip and slide and can get dry clothes on, how’s that sound?”
“He’s going to need a bath to get the chlorine out of his hair,” Kaya comments, coming up and standing next to us. “I’ll go get it ready for you, okay, Noah?”
Kaya
I like seeing the relaxed side of these men; most of the time, they’re serious and almost taciturn, yet their women’s personalities are the exact opposite. I’ve spent the time alternating between watching Specks with Noah, and laughing my ass off at some of the stuff they’ve shared with me. The frenzied antics from the night before at the hospital especially have me realizing that if I let them, they’ll be some of the best people I could have at my side.
It seems that there was some chaos once they got to the hospital. Atlas ran in and forgot Patsy as well as his service dog, then he was disoriented and couldn’t figure out what the receptionist at the check-in desk was asking until he saw the two of them, Patsy with Koba standing sentry at her side so she had some stability, slowly shuffling their way into the corridor of the emergency room. By the time they got her up to the labor and delivery floor, the baby was crowning so she wasn’t able to get an epidural. Instead, she was whisked into a room, a gown tossed over her head, and unceremoniously put onto a gurney, her legs tossed into stirrups. Three short pushes later, their little girl came into the world kicking and screaming.
She joined us a few weeks early, but all indications are their little girl is hale and hearty. Her Apgar score was on point which pleased the doctor. Patsy’s over the moon as is Atlas, and despite both of their service dogs being trained to assist each of them, they’re taking on protection duty of the newest Warrior as well.
“So, when is everyone else due?” I question the old ladies, sipping the lemonade Granny made and brought out to all of us.
“About six or so more weeks, give or take,” CeeCee supplies, her answer dreamy. No woman alive can resist a newborn baby coming into the mix of their family. “Mmm, between Momma M, Mary, and now your granny, I may never lose my baby weight once I have him or her.”
“None of you know what you’re having?” I ask, wondering if the unknown is driving the men crazy. When I was given the option of knowing, I chose to find out the sex of my baby, but I know some women prefer to wait.
“Oh, we ladies know, but we’ve all been sworn to secrecy,” Hayley singsongs, grinning a mile wide. “Just gonna say this, the guys are gonna flip their shit and the earth is gonna quake.” She starts snickering and is soon joined by the other three women as they side-eye at their men who are acting like juveniles themselves, splashing, diving, and jumping into the pool.
I suspect I can figure out what they’re insinuating, but I’ll let them have their top secret for the time being. Mentally, I decide to talk to Granny to see if there’s anything meaningful we can create especially for the babies; I’m sure she’ll either have an idea or something already in progress of being made, knowing her. I’m about to ask another question in an effort to get to know them all better when Lilli says, “Now, we just have to be there for Patsy and the trial. It’s going to be hard for her.”
Murmurs of agreement can be heard while I’m left sitting in the dark, clueless to what they’re talking about. Seeing my confusion, CeeCee leans over and specifies, “Patsy was assaulted by a previous coworker. She finally reported him to the authorities, and he tried to attack her again, but Koba was thereto prevent a serious outcome. Anyhow, he was arrested and the trial’s finally coming up on the docket. That’s why she has her own service dog, because she now deals with PTSD episodes. It’s not as severe as Atlas’ is, but she’s had her moments where Ridley was the only thing that calmed her down.”
“I’ll never understand why anyone thinks they can do that,” I sigh. “I mean, I know women are predominantly the victims, but I’ve heard that men are assaulted as well. It makes me sick to know she endured something so vile and vicious.”
“We almost lost her,” CeeCee sobs, tears coming to her eyes, coating them in mist. “Momma M and I both knew something was wrong with her, but she shut us out, kept things to herself and didn’t say a word.”
“I’m glad she finally did and that she’ll get justice against the asshole. I bet her attacker freaked the hell out when he saw Koba,” I state, as amusement at the visual has me snickering beneath my breath.
“Girl! Koba let him know he fucked with the wrong person, that’s for sure. Then, one of her long-time coworkers may or may not have ‘helped’ that situation out a bit. And yes, we’re glad she’s going to get justice. God, I’m hungry. Do you think they’ve got lunch ready?” CeeCee rambles, her words rushing out in quick succession, causing me to giggle since she bounced from one topic to the next without catching her breath.
“I hope not yet because Noah will need a quick bath before I can put his braces back on so his skin doesn’t chafe.” Standing I move to where Specks has sat him down just in time to hear him tell Noah he’ll carry him to our bathroom.
“Alright, buddy, you got it from here?” Specks asks after lowering Noah into the tub. While he won’t be in for long, I went ahead and put some Epsom salts in to hopefully keep him from hurting too much. Maybe I should give him half of a painkiller since he was so active… sometimes, being a mom and knowing what to do is hard as hell. But I wouldn’t trade it for all the gold in Ft. Knox, that’s for sure.
“Yeah, Mr. Specks, I can get my suit off after Mommy washes my hair.”
Grinning, I quickly get that task done, remind him to scrub thoroughly behind his ears then slip out of the bathroom, leaving the door slightly cracked. “He’s something else,” Specks chuckles as I walk toward the couch he’s sitting on and plop down near him. He looks so at home, as though he’s always been around, that it’s difficult for me to remember it’s been such a short amount of time. Maybe that’s how I’m supposed to know this, whateverthisis, is right. Who knows?
“Those exercises you found appeared to be pretty easy,” I tell him as I sink further back into the sofa’s cushion. Part of me wishes I could just curl into his arms like I did the night before, but I don’t think we’re at that point quite yet.
“He didn’t seem to have any problems doing the exercises either,” he says, gently tugging my arm so I fall into his side. “Ah, that’s much better, don’t you think?” he teases, looking down at me once I’m curled close to him, my head nestled on hischest and his arm slung around my shoulder, lightly stroking his fingers up and down my arm.
“I uh wasn’t sure,” I stammer out, mesmerized by the smoldering look in his eyes.
“Well, I’m one-hundred-percent sure of where this is going,” he murmurs the confession, moving closer.