Alani sat on the bed, and Morgan sat beside her before leaning over to place her head in her lap. Morgan tucked her hands between her thighs, bent her legs back, and cried. Alani’s strokes to her hair were little comfort to the torment she felt in her soul. Messiah hated her. She saw it in his eyes, could hear it in his tone. Even during their worst fight, she hadn’t heard this type of disdain in his voice. He wanted nothing to do with her. What she had done was unforgivable, and having him be a part of the twins but disconnected from her was killing her. She would never be okay with that, but she had no choice. It was the life she had chosen; now she had to be a big girl and live with the decisions she had made.

Morgan heard the front door slam, and she rushed to the window. The sight broke her down. Messiah was stuffing her kids into the back seat of Isa’s car.

“He’s taking them?” Morgan asked. She turned on her heels, rushing out of the room. “He can’t take them! Where is he taking them?” she shouted as she rushed down the stairs. Ethic caught her in his arms. “Ethic! He can’t take my kids! Why would you let him take them?! How could he take them and leave me!” she shouted hysterically. She broke down, panicking, crying as Ethic wrapped her in his arms. Alani stood at the top of the stairs with one hand over her mouth. Morgan unraveled right before their eyes. The secret was out, the fallout was monumental, and Morgan could feel the agony of it in her bones.

17

Messiah blew out a sharp breath as he paced his living room floor. “Fuck!” he exclaimed.

“That’s a bad word!” Messari shouted.

Messiah put both hands on top of his head as he stared down at the twins. They sat on the futon couch in his sparsely appointed apartment. He hadn’t slept there much, so he hadn’t found the need to furnish it properly. Now he wished he had.

The hurt in the center of his chest ached so badly that his eyes burned. He couldn’t stop them from prickling, and he kept squeezing the bridge of his nose to try to calm the emotion inside him. A tear slid down his nose, and he sniffed while thumbing the wetness away. He cleared his throat.

“Messari, I want Mommy,” Yara signed as she whimpered.