"Sorry I missed your call. I'm probably not gonna call you back so just text me. Bye."

"Come on Darnell."

Naree let out a sigh. This was the tenth time she tried calling Darnell and she still wasn't picking up her phone. No matter what Darnell had going on she would always pick up for Naree and vice versa.

It was now Wednesday and Naree hadn't heard from Darnell since she left the shop on Saturday. 'Something has to be wrong with her.'

Naree pulled into Darnell's driveway, turning her car off."Her car is here."

Before she got out she tried calling Darnell's phone one more time hoping she would pick up, but to no avail it went to voicemail.

Naree got out heading to the front door. She knocked and knocked until she became even more worried. Negative thoughts started swarming her brain until she couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed the spare key that sat under a random flowerpot next to the front door.

Unlocking the door, Naree stepped into the dark house. She looked around feeling a cold sad feeling take over her. The house was nothing like Darnell kept it. Usually it would be so warm and inviting with something sweet that Darnell was cooking lingering throughout the house.

"Darnell!" Naree yelled out hoping she would indicate where she was.

After looking around down stairs, she went upstairs looking through all the guest rooms until she made it to Darnell's.

Naree knocked before cracking the door open. From the door she could see Darnell laying back in the bed with a carton of praline ice cream in her lap and a remote in her hand flipping through channels.

"Darnell you didn't hear me calling you?" Naree stood by the door, irritated that Darnell was sitting in her bed purposely ignoring her.

Darnell continued surfing through the channel guide, not sparing Naree a glance.

"So you gonna act like I'm not standing here talking to your ass Darnell?" Naree walked up to the bed snatching the remote from Darnell's hand. She looked into her face and noticed her red puffy eyes and dried tear stains.

Naree looked at her friend and gasped. "Darnell what's wrong?" She talked in a soft tone, getting into the bed with her.

Darnell rolled her eyes blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. At this point she didn't care if they did or didn't.

"Nothing."

"You can't say nothing when I've been calling you and you haven't answered. I haven't heard from you since Saturday."

"My phone died." Darnell said with no emotion.

Naree couldn't understand why Darnell was acting as if her actions were acceptable. She looked at her friend and was confused.

Darnell was never the person to be down or emotionless. She was the life of the party, nobody could take the smile she had off her face and she was always the person to put one on everyone else's.

"Come on Darnell. You can tell me whatever it is. It's gonna be okay."

Darnell scoffed and rolled her eyes as more tears began to fall. She let out a long sigh before opening her mouth.

In a low whisper she finally mumbled; "I'm pregnant."

"Huh Darnell. I can't hear you."

"I said I'm pregnant Naree! I'm fucking pregnant and I don't know what the fuck I'm gonna do!"

"Are you sure Darnell?"

"Yes Naree I'm sure. I went to the doctor and he told me I was pregnant. I saw the baby for myself."

After sitting in the car for a hour crying after her appointment, Darnell went to CVS and bought pregnancy tests hoping what the doctor said and the baby was a figment of her imagination. When she got home she took all five of the tests and of coarse they where all positive.

Naree didn't know what to say. She sat back watching tears fall from Darnell's eyes. At this point Naree wanted to hug her friend, but she knew she couldn't. She had to be strong for Darnell. Both of them crying wasn't going to solve anything.

"Darnell as your best friend I can't sit up here and tell you everything is going to be okay because we don't know what's going to happen, but what I am gonna tell you is that sitting up in your room eating ice cream ain't gonna fix a damn thing.

You got somebody that's gonna be depending on you for everything and you being depressed about something you can't change ain't harming nobody but you and your baby. This baby didn't ask to be here and as it's mother you have to be strong and deal with this as a grown ass woman."

Darnell couldn't be mad at what Naree was saying. She knew everything she was saying was right and she needed to get up and get her shit together.

"I'm gonna be here for you Darnell no matter what. I love you. Your my sister, my best friend. You can lean on me whenever you need somebody."

Darnell whipped her tears and smiled for the first time in five days. She got up and hugged Naree.

"I got you and aunties baby." Naree said in a whiny voice rubbing on Darnell's flat stomach

Darnell pushed her hand away. "Oh God don't start."

"Alright back to business, how did Don take it when you told him?"

Darnell's smile she had faded into a frown. Naree watched as Darnell played with her nails trying to avoid her gaze.

"I haven't told him."

"And why the fuck not Darnell. That's as much of his baby as it's yours. You need to tell him and I mean fucking asap."

Naree knew how Darnell was. She would procrastinate on anything she really didn't have a desire to do. Messing around with Darnell, Don wouldn't know she was pregnant until she was having the baby.

"I know. I'm just scared."

"Of what?"

"These past couple of days I've been thinking about how Don would take it. He's a great father to Kaydence, but when he tells me all the things he wants to do, I feel like I would be getting in his way. We've been spending so much time together and I know I've grown deeper feelings for him passed being friends. If he's anything less than accepting about the situation then I'm gonna to be heart broken."

Darnell sighed. She knew this being just friends shit would come back and bite her in the ass one day.

"Darnell all I can say is you can't expect him to be happy when you wasn't even happy. Your main focus should be about y'all being parents for this baby. All that other shit don't matter right now. You gotta put your feelings to the side in order to be a great mother, even if y'all are together or not."

"I hear you Dr. Phil."

"You better. Now get your stank ass up and go wash so you can go tell your baby daddy the good news."

Darnell cringed at the words "baby daddy" she always envisioned having a baby with her husband not a "friend" she was having casual sex with. She rolled her eyes getting out of the bed. "Yeah yeah yeah."

Naree got up while Darnell got herself together and cleaned up her room. She threw away the empty ice cream carton, lit some candles, and changed her sheets. When she was done Darnell was dressed and ready to face her future head on.

-

Don was sitting in his office getting last minute paper work filled out. He was finally opening up Club Champs Miami and construction was preparing to start the following week.

All through out the day Darnell was on his mind. He hadn't heard from her since Saturday. He tried calling her and when she didn't pick up he figured she just didn't want to talk.

Don's pride wouldn't allow him to think any further than that. He was never the one to chase after a woman. He thought him and Darnell had something good going on, so when she wasn't calling him back or replying to his texts he accepted it and moved on with no questions asked.

He did notice that when he took Kay to daycare she wasn't there. All the substitute teacher told him was; she was filling in until Darnell returned.

After hours of going over paper work and floor plans, the only thing Don wanted to do was relax. Pulling a blunt out, he lit it and took in a long drag allowing the smoke to fill his lungs and calm him.

Half way through the blunt his phone went off indicating he had a text. He pulled the phone from his pocket and looked at the screen. It was a text from Layla wanting to slide through.

'Fuck it why not.' Don thought. He sent her text telling her to come by the club and to have the security send her up to his office.

20 minutes later there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." Don yelled.

Layla came in with a long trench coat and 6 inch heels.

"Hola papi." She tried saying in her best sultry voice.

"Wassup mami."

Don didn't want to do this back and forth thing with her. All he wanted honesty was a good nut. Don hurried and cut to the chase.

"So what you trying to do?"

"I can show you better than I can tell you." Layla opened up her coat revealing her naked body underneath. She dropped the lone clothing to the floor walking towards Don.

She fell to her knees in front of him and Don got comfortable letting her get to work.

-

Darnell pulled into Club Champs and parked. She looked over the parking lot and spotted Don's car in his regular parking spot. Darnell instantly became nervous. She could feel the butterflies in her stomach. Darnell took in a deep breath saying a prayer to God wishing for this conversation to go okay.

She jumped out and locked her car doors. Walking up to the door she was met with Calvin; Don's security. They met the morning after the New Years party, before Don took her home.

"Hey Calvin. Is Don in his office?"

Calvin was in the middle of a conversation with one of his baby moms that was threatening him about putting him on child support.

Not really paying attention to what Darnell was saying, he shook his head. "Yeah he up there."

As Darnell made her way to Don's office, she walked into somebody coming down the hallway. She looked up at the woman.

"My bad. I wasn't paying attention." She was busy texting Naree, who was giving her encouraging words.

The woman gave her a stank look and continued her way down the hall. Darnell sighed. "Stupid bitch"

Darnel finally made it to the door and took a minute before knocking. She took in a deep breath.

"Yeah."

Darnell walked in and made eye contact with Don sitting behind his desk.

"Hey Don." She said nervously.

Don was surprised seeing Darnell standing in the middle of his office. It was definitely a shocker since he hadn't heard from her but she could pop up on him.

"What you doing here?" Don said plainly.

Darnell's eyebrows frowned together."I came because I needed to talk to you."

"Aight"

"Um I'm.."

Darnell looked down at her feet not being able to look Don in his eyes. Readjusting her stance, a shiny paper hit her eye underneath her foot. When she moved her foot, she felt her heart skip a beat.

"Your what Darnell. I don't have all day for this shit. Either you gonna say what you have to say or you not." Don said irritated with Darnell's procrastination.

Darnell bent over picking up the empty gold wrapper, holding it up so Don could see what had her attention. It instantly clicked for Darnell. 'The girl in the hallway.'

"The girl that just left your office.... You fucked her?"

Don looked up at her. "You want the truth?"

"I hate liars."

"Aight yeah I fucked her."

Darnell let out a low laugh. "And to think I was coming over here to tell you that I have feelings for your bitch ass."

"Darnell what the fuck are you talking about. You came in my club popping up on me when I haven't heard from your ass in a fucking week. It shouldn't matter who I fuck. We're not together."

The words Don was speaking hurt Darnell to her core, but she wouldn't let Don know that. She kept a emotionless face as she looked into Don's dark eyes.

"I'm not even going to waste my precious time on your pathetic ass." Darnell reached into her purse and grabbed one of pregnancy test she took and threw it at Don. "I'm pregnant asshole."

Before Don could say anything Darnell was already out of the office door, heading down the stairs. She couldn't believe Don thought so low of her to think it would be okay to go and fuck another bitch. For all she knew he was probably fucking other bitches while he was with her.

Darnell made it to her car and sped out in the road. She could feel the tears brewing, but she didn't let them fall. She promised herself right then and there that she would embrace this blessing and focus on her and her baby.

'Fuck Don'