Free A Scandalous Philly Love Story (Part 1) by Charisee Irons Page A

appeals were denied.
    “Baby, I’m praying his ass never gets out. He was a sick bastard for preying on little girls, and I’m ashamed that I even let him near you. No telling how many other young girls fell victim to him.” My mother could see the pain in my eyes. She reached over, rubbing my hands and she changed the subject. We started talking about the venues and flowers that I ordered for the wedding. Just talking about the wedding, you could see a glow in my mother. I could tell my mom was truly happy and she was so blessed to have another chance at happiness. The last few months we were been getting better acquainted with one another and making up for lost time. I appreciated the fact I had my mother around now. I had longed for the affection of my mother for so long—too long. I thought all hope was lost and that the drugs had overpowered her life. As for the rest of my family, my sister, Deja, had given birth to beautiful baby girl, Aniyah Patrice Cooper. Everybody was so excited when Deja gave birth. Grannie told me, “You’re next, baby girl.” At that moment, I felt as if the spotlight was now on me, and I couldn’t wait to see my little man.
    Ant had just walked into the kitchen, bending down to kiss me.
    “Hey, babe, you’re home early,” he called out. He walked over, hugging my mom.
    “No, I’m just picking up some files out of the back office.” He came back towards me to rub my stomach. “Hey, lil man. It’s me your dad,” and the baby responded by stretching his arms and his legs. Ant had been in euphoric bliss since he learned of the baby.
    “See, babe, he knows my voice.” Me and my mom laughed, getting a kick out of Ant. He was a proud poppa, and I knew the baby was going to be spoiled rotten. The nly thing he hadn’t done yet was buy out the whole mall in preparation for the baby’s arrival, but some of his clients had given him plenty of gifts already. In his line of work, his clients were extremely rich. He received a couple of jerseys and and some money. This baby was raking in the dough, and he wasn’t even born yet! Ant walked to the back to retrieve his files and was headed towards the door. He yelled over his shoulder, “Love you, baby! See you later, Ms. Julia!” as he closed the door behind him.
    “Well, baby, I need to get going, so I can get started on my grandson’s room.” I walked her to the door, where we exchanged hugs and she left.
    I was on my way to the back office to do some work when my doorbell rang. I wobbled my way to door, even though I wasn’t expecting anyone. When I opened the door, there stood Marcy.
    “Hey, girl, where your ass been?” I questioned, as she walked in rubbing my stomach.
    “Hey, big momma, I see pregnancy is agreeing with you.”
    “Don’t go changing the subject, heffa. Where you been? We been trying to get in touch with your ass. Had it not been for texting, we wouldn’t have known if your ass was dead or alive.”
    “Oh, hush! Been hanging with my babies and searching for a job.”
    “Well, girl, you know that offer still stands to be my assistant. I’m going to need someone I can trust to take over while I’m out.”
    “Girl, that news in music to my ears! I was in numerous interviews. I was underqualified for the positions I was interviewing for. Thank you so much, Dawn, I’ve been a total wreck with this job search. Plus, I’ve doing some soul searching and had come to some serious conclusions. Dawn, I’ve been thinking of getting my babies back. It’s time I made some changes and become the mother that they need. Not the part-time parent that I’ve been for the past six years.”
    “Marcy, I’m truly proud of you. I know the girls will be so excited.”
    “They will be; I just haven’t said anything to them yet. I have some unfinished business  need to attend to before I can bring them home.”
    “You know, Cyn has been worried about you, too.” I couldn’t help but notice Marcy’s expression when I