4 Weeks Later...

De'Mario's POV

I had a dream last night that I got shot in the face. Even though I woke up after the gun went of , I could still feel that hole burning in the middle of my forehead. I've never been so scared of dying. Not only because I know the person who shot could actually do it one day, but the fact that I felt that shit in my head. I've had a headache all day, whoever face I saw will definitely be in my watch list. If only I knew what they looked like, I just felt a familiar vibe I've only felt once in my life. Maybe because I've only met them once.. damn, I need to stop thinking about this shit.

I know you wondering what is going on between Naomi and I. To answer your question, nothing. I mean I'm aware she wants more out of us than I do, but I'm cool with her just being someone I can talk to. If you thought I fucked her, you thought hella wrong. In fact, I'm highly disappointed that you would think I'd fuck another chick who was close to Shawny. I learned my lesson with that a long ass time ago. Niggas can't do no more drama... speaking of drama.

Shawny: "All you mothafuckas act like y'all don't know who I am. Well, you better move the fuck outta my way before it be some shit."

Guard: "Aye shortie, you bet-"

Shawny: "Shut the fuck up." She said as she did whatever it was that made him shut up. All I hear is her heels clanking down the hallway to my office. "Y'all gone learn who I am today. How you doing, Fitz?"

Fitz: "Alright and you?" He replied.

Shawny: "I'd be doing better if you opened the door for me." She responded. Fitz unlocked the door and in she walked in with papers in her hand. "De'Mario Smith, you have been served." She smiled while giving me an envelope.

Me: "What's This?" I asked as I stared at her.

Shawny: "Open it." She shrugged.

Me: "No, tell me." I set the envelope down.

Shawny: "Open the fucking envelope, De'Mario. I don't have time for your games." She said. I shook my head and laughed to myself. Shawny really done lost her damn mind but imma open this envelope.

Me: "Divorce papers.." I said staring at the papers.

Shawny: "Yeah, im going to need you to sign these so we can take this-"

Me: "Shawny, where the fuck have you been for the past month?" I cut her off.

Shawny: "My name is De'Shawn. Don't worry about what I've been doing because that's none of your business. Now, sign the papers so we can get this over with. I'm not trying to be here longer than I already am." She argued.

Me: "Fine, what you do is your business. But don't think you just bout hop back into my kids life." I chuckled.

Shawny: "Those are my kids too, I gave birth to them."

Me: "So.. you think that gives you every right to see them whenever you want? You can come and go as you please, right?" She looked at me.

Shawny: "Yes because those are my kids." She nodded.

Me: "Stop right there. If I pulled to shit you've done since you've been back to those kids then you would've went and took my ass to court. I'd prolly be on child support."

Shawny: "What do you think I want out of this divorce?" She sucked her teeth.

Me: "The fuck is really wrong with you?" I frowned as I stood up. "You really gone try to take my kids away from me?"

Shawny: "They need their mother-"

Me: "No, their mother needs to act like their mother and be their mother. You don't have to take them away from me to do that." I explained.

Shawny: "I'm getting the divorce, my kids are coming home with me, and we're moving back to Michigan." She responded.

Me: "Wow, I really don't know who you are anymore." I shook my head. "Talk to Maria and tell her everything you just told me. If she's cool with it, I'll give you that divorce. But you're not taking my kids. That I will fight you for."

Shawny: "You know I can't talk to Maria about-"

Me: "Oh, Maria will be heartbroken. She just might hate you. But I'm sure you thought about that, so you obviously don't care how she'll feel about it." I shrugged.

Shawny: "D-"

Me: "I'm done with this conversation, get out my office De'Shawn." I dismissed her. Every time I think my life is good, shit like this happens.

Shawny: "I'm not, w-"

Me: "Now I'm not gone say it again," I stopped her. "Either you get out voluntarily, or I'll have them carry you out."

Shawny: "You ain't gone do sh-"

Me: "Try me if you want to. Today just might be the day I show you what it's like to be an Ex-Wife." I smirked.

I must admit, the things I want to Shawny never come out like I planned them in my head. Sometimes the point I intended to make never make its way to her. Communication with her is damn near impossible. With her being so damn unpredictable, it don't make talking to her any better.

Fuck! I guess "Outta sight, outta mind" was my coping mechanism this time. Every since Shawny left my office, I can't stop thinking about her. Good thing I didn't bring Naomi to Mama Nic's house with me, I can't even pay attention to Ray talking to me. I keep blacking out, all I'm worried about Shawny.

Me: "She wants to take my kids." I blurted out. Nicole looked up from the carrot she was cutting and set down her knife.

Nicole: "You've spoken to her? Is my baby okay?" She asked in surprise.

Me: "If you're asking has she lost her damn mind, then yeah." I nodded.

Ray: "Aye, watch what you say about my daughter." He demanded.

Me: "She walked into the warehouse earlier like she was a Madam. She gave me divorce papers and told me she wants the kids so they can all go live back in Michigan." I explained.

Ray: "Michigan where?" He frowned.

Me: "Take a wild guess.." I looked at him.

Nicole: "How will she be able to get custody of Maria?" She asked.

Me: "Oh, that's the good part." I chuckled sarcastically. "She doesn't plan on taking Maria. Maria wasn't part of this ridiculous plan that she conjured up."

Ray: "Bullshit." He commented.

Me: "I bullshit you not. I even told her I'm not getting a divorce if she doesn't tell Maria wassup." I replied.

Nicole: "Why would she do that?" She questioned.

Me: "I'm convinced she's trying to punish me for whatever evils I've done caused on her. She know damn well I don't have nothing to live for if she take my kids away from me." I shrugged.

Ray: "Nobody is going nowhere. You two need to have a serious talk. Fuck THE shenanigans."

Nicole: "Okay, everyone settle down. But he's right." She agreed. Not even a minute later, someone was knocking at the door.

Maria: "I'll get it," she mumbled as she walked from around the corner.

Shawny: "Hey, Baby!" She cheered as she pulled Maria into a tight hug.

Me: "Speaking of the devil.."

Nicole: "Cut it out." She smacked my hand with a spatula.

Shawny: "Hi momma, hi- Oh, you're here." Her smile faded away.

Me: "I thought you would've guessed that when you seen my Daughter." I shrugged and walked out the kitchen.

Nicole: "Uh, uhh.. it ain't gone be none of that up in here." She shouted.

Me: "Shawny, I suggest you take this opportunity to handle your business now before I do it for you." I smirked.

Maria: "Its okay, Dad.." she walked by the kitchen. "I heard what you said in the kitchen a minute ago."

Shawny: "So much for letting me tell her." She smacked her lips.

Me: "You weren't going to anyway." I shrugged. Maria began to tear up as she mugged Shawny. She didn't move or make a sound. Shawny reacted in a way I didn't expect, it actually caught me off guard. I think it's safe to say we all were.

Shawny: "You're pregnant." She examined Maria. "How long?"

Maria: "A month." She mumbled as tears fell out of her eyes and her shoulders dropped.

Me: "Wait. What the fuck did you just say?" I frowned.

Shawny: "She's pregnant." She teared up. "This is your fault." She looked at me.

Me: "My fau- You still not gone take responsibility for shit?!" I asked.

Nicole: "Aye, you two. This I not the time for that."

Shawny: "Everything I taught didn't fucking matter, obviously. Otherwise she wouldn't be pregnant!"

Ray: "Y'all stop-"

Me: "Five years can undo anything you taught her. If you were here when she needed you the most, maybe she would be!"

Maria: "I am ashamed of being pregnant, I don't think that what I did is wrong. I can handle my own." She cried.

Shawny: "I am beyond disappointed in you. I expected a lot more out of you and now that shit just got thrown down the drain. The apple doesn't fall too far from the tree I see." She insulted.

Me: "She's a reflection of you and you know it." I responded.

Shawny: "Well then she should've reflected my talents, not my mistakes. Where's Terrence anyway?" She asked. Maria ran to the back as she cried, Mama Nic went after her.

Ray: "You two should be ashamed of yourself. Sit the fuck down and talk this shit out.." he demanded. He walked back to comfort Maria while Shawny and I sat down at the dinner table. We sat in silence for about 5 minutes. Shawny seemed to have went into a blackout because she's just staring into space.

Me: "Are we gonna talk or no?" I broke the ice.

Shawny: "I'm a horrible mother, I completely failed at raising her. I don't know why I even tried. I should've left you in the beginning. None of this shit would have never happened. No tears and no fucking regrets. I let you ruin my life and I ruined the kids." She answered.

Me: "Damn, I didn't know you felt like that. I wish you would've told me." I sighed.

Shawny: "Would you have stopped trying and left me alone?" She asked.

Me: "Yes, if that's what you really wanted. I only respond to your reactions. My intentions were never to make you miserable." I admitted.

Shawny: "Then how did you unintentionally do so?"

Me: "Because you allowed me to. I didn't know that's what I was doing. Every time I tried to do right by you, shit got worse. It was inevitable."

Shawny: "I was convinced you'd be the death of me one day." Tears fell from her eyes.

Me: "I know for a fact that loving you will be the death of me. But I can't let my kids watch me fucking die. I gotta do right by them even though the love of my life faithfully rejects me." I looked at her.

Shawny: "If you loved me, you wouldn't have done the things you've done.."

Me: "I'm not going to regret something, apologize numerous of times, beg for forgiveness over someone I did not love. Or do you not fucking know me?!" I shouted, startling her.

Shawny: "I can't just let you get away with hurting me. I can't just keep running back to you and letting you back in my life."

Me: "Ain't nobody asking you too! I not sitting here telling you I didn't hurt you. I'm not saying that I don't think I'm wrong. I didn't even think about tell you to get over it and move on. I have apologized over and over tf again. I tried to show you that I am ready to love you the way you deserve. I can't keep kissing your fucking feet whine my kids are watching. I look miserable my damn self."

Shawny: "What did you expect to happen?"

Me: "Look, I don't care what you do with that. I just want you to know that whatever hate you have towards me, is all your business. You hate yourself because I don't have anything towards you. I just want my kids. I'll give you the divorce and all." I shrugged.

Shawny: "Why is This so easy for you?" She asked.

Me: "De'Shawn, nothing about loving a woman who's fed up with your shit is easy. Nothing about raising kids that reminds you of that woman is easy. Nothing about letting that woman go is fucking easy. I'm miserable, but I'm grateful. I love my kids too much. I got over that chapter with you and you made your choice." I looked at her.

Shawny: "Do you want to know what's funny?" She asked a

Me: "What's that?"

Shawny: "I used to be you. That's exactly how I felt." She smirked. "I guess Karma's a fat bitch."

Me: "Well, since you consider this a game. You win." I faked a smiled. "I quit or whatever ever I gotta do for you to just stop making me suffer more than my regret is doing for me."

Shawny: "You can't handle it can you?" She said with a laugh. "You don't like the feeling."

Me: "You find this shit entertaining I see." I glared at her. "You don't love me."

Shawny: "Real funny. Play victim." She laughed.

Me: "Remember when you had that little incident with Rico?" I asked.

Shawny: "You said that yo-"

Me: "It doesn't matter what we tell each other, obviously. It still hurt that you would do that and your were perfectly sober. You knew what you were doing. But that's not the point. How did you feel after did that?" I asked.

Shawny: "Like shit, even after you told me it was okay, I still thought everything I did couldn't make up for it." She admitted.

Me: "I loved you too much to let that affect our relationship. I would never bring that up again because you knew it was wrong and you learned from it. But that feel is torture from the inside. Now imagine that feeling ten times as bad and on top of that I left you and don't want shit else to do with you. Not to mention I keep bringing up what you did to remind you that I'm going to make you suffer for it every fucking night. I'm going take everything you ever fucking loved from you and leave you with nothing at all." I explained. "Now does that look like I love you?"

Shawny: "No.." She looked down.

Me: "My point exactly. I apologize for everything I've done to you. I don't ever want to see anything but a smile on your face. But these games you're playing is making me question a lot of things about you."

Shawny: "I just don't know what to do anymore, everything has gone too far already." She shook her head. "My Maria is pregnant and I don't even know how to comfort her."

Me: "Look, how about we talk about this some other time. I'm sure she needs us right now." I said as I stood up.

Shawny: "Okay," she nodded and stood up. "I'm gonna kill Terrence when I find him."

Me: "I wish I could hold you to that, but made a promise to keep him alive." I sighed. Who would've thought a young nigga like me would've been a grandpops so early?