Messiah was frantic. He had never been this unnerved. The crying hadn’t stopped. Messari followed him everywhere asking a million questions, and he just couldn’t think straight. He tried to hold Yara, but it only intensified her anguish, and Messiah was beginning to wonder if something was seriously wrong.

“Hey, you want this? I’ll give you this if you stop crying,” he signed, offering her his phone. He wasn’t above bribery. He would do anything to stop this incessant crying. Yara snatched the phone and threw it, and Messiah grimaced.

“Her want Mommy!” Messari said as he ran around the futon.

Messiah was in over his head and didn’t know what to do. The one thing he refused to do was answer Morgan’s phone calls or reach out to her for help.

“Mommy had time with y’all for two years. It’s my turn. I got to catch up,” Messiah said.

“How come?” Messari asked.

“Because I’m your daddy, boy,” Messiah said, his words coming out so whimsically, because he was still in shock.

“My daddy?” Messari asked, his mouth dropping open in an O of surprise.

“Your daddy,” Messiah confirmed. “I know, kid. It’s news to me too.”

A knock at the door brought Messiah instant relief as he stood and hurried over to answer. He looked out the peephole before pulling open the door.

Bleu stood in front of him. She frowned as she looked around him to locate the source of the cries. “Messiah, why are Morgan’s babies here?” she asked, confused. “What did you do?”

“More like what did she do?” he answered. “They’re my kids, B. They’re mine, and they don’t fuck with me, and I can’t get Yara to stop crying. I got kids.”

The news was like a punch to the gut. Bleu placed a hand on her stomach. Her mouth fell open, but nothing came out. She was speechless. Her eyes prickled. “Wow.” Bleu couldn’t offer much more than that. It felt like he had pulled the rug from beneath her.

“Can you help me, B? I don’t really know what I’m doing here, and she’s screaming like something is wrong,” Messiah said.

Bleu’s eyes were pools of sadness as she stepped inside.

“Messari, come here, man,” Messiah urged.

Bleu looked at the twins. She had seen them before in pictures. Never had she put the pieces together.

“This is daddy’s best friend. Her name is Bleu,” Messiah introduced. He picked Yara up. She had been crying so long she was exhausted, wiping her eyes with tiny balled fists as she blubbered.

“Hi, Messari,” Bleu whispered as she lowered onto her knees. “Nice to meet you.”

Messari scurried to Messiah and climbed between the space between his arm and his body, then behind his back.

“And this is…”

“Yara,” Messiah introduced. “She’s deaf, B,” he said. “My daughter’s deaf.”