𝖏𝖚𝖐𝖊 𝖏𝖆𝖒
❝ 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐁𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 ❞
𝟐𝟎𝟏𝟗

𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐆 the wooden gavel to call the attention of the courtroom, the jury rose to announce the verdict of the defendant and client of the renowned defense lawyer Amari Anderson, Michael Winston, for his drug charges. Being charged wrongfully for planted drugs in his vehicle by police officers, as well as their false accusations of his involvement in a drug ring simply because of his coincidental placing at the time of arrests.

With the Chicago Police Department pushing ahead with the trial against the abundance of evidence that proved Winston innocent beyond reasonable doubt, he was subjected to weeks of having to fight his case alongside his reliable lawyer.

The war paid off in the end as the two men hugged at an acquittal verdict. Amari comforted the stocky, black man as he soon began to sob in his arms. "Thank you so much, Mr. Anderson. God bless you, son." he shakily spoke.

Amari pulled away and squeezed his shoulders reassuringly. "It's the least I could do." he gently smiled. He shook his hand firmly, and they prepared to leave the courtroom. The successful lawyer hung back for a few minutes, as people filed out, sorting out his papers in his zipped folder.

It had been over a year since a case had drained him so much. It was mentally straining due to a majoirty of the evidence was fabricated in a racist attempt to paint his client as the black "El Chapo".

Frankly, Amari almost felt like he resonated with Michael Winston, not only that he was another innocent, black citizen dragged into crime, but because he reminded him of his uncle that always seemed to get tied into the same issues. Unfortunately, he didn't ever have a strong attorney on his side.

So, Amari was proud of himself. He did good.

He walked out into the foyer, where Michael was reconnecting with his family that came to support him and a scary amount of reporters were waiting impatiently by the entrance for any type of information that they could grasp onto.

His attention soon fell onto his fiancée, Vanessa, that strode over to him with excitement. They fell into each other's tight embrace. "You did it, baby." she squeezed him, before pulling back and giving him a kiss.

Vanessa Rhodes was someone that Amari never thought that he would see himself with, considering the fact that she was prosecutor for his firm's greatest rival. Her firm, Caplan & Gold LLP, had won many trials against his, and had a reputable name for themselves—Vanessa was the face of it, being the fiercest lawyer they had.

It truly felt like it was something out of a movie when the two lawyers first met, arguing against each other during a trial that Amari successfully won back in '17. Since then, the two got considerably close whenever they conveniently ran into each other.

Despite their opposing roles, and Anderson's rusty pull game that Rhodes found embarrassingly cute, they made it work; and he proposed a few months prior, in hopes to be wed in the early months of 2020.

"I can finally take a goddamn nap," he scoffed.

"Well, you've got a shitload of reporters to deal with first, then there's some people over there sayin' they were waiting for you." she informed him, she pointed in the direction of these so-called "some people" and Amari squinted at the sight of them, almost not believing it.

"That's... Ren?" he muttered, letting go of Vanessa and approaching her before he even thought to answer his fiancée questioning him, as he pulled her along.

"Oh, Mars!" Renee Walker turned and beamed at the sight of him. They hugged tightly before pulling away—Amari hadn't even noticed that Naomi Coleman was standing there as well. "You did so well in there!"

"Aye, yo, can I get my hug too, bruh?" Naomi scoffed, nudging Renee and wrapping her arms around him too. He chuckled and hugged them both again.

He pulled away finally and glanced back at Vanessa, who was standing there mildly confused. He grinned, taking her hand and pulling her into view, "Before y'all say anything else, you need to meet my beautiful fiancée, Nessa." At his bold announcement, the woman in question only shyly smiled, losing all types of confidence that she was known for.

"So you're Nessa? He never mentioned that he was with the Vanessa Rhodes. I'm jealous, you are gorgeous, girl!" Naomi squealed, giving her a hug as well. She instantly melted into Naomi's arms, as she chuckled.

"This is Naomi and Renee, old highschool friends." he clarified, holding her waist.

"Wow, so y'all were tight for all this time?" Vanessa questioned.

"It's been a long few decades, but we ain't just gonna forget about each other." Renee shrugged. "Anyway, you did great in there!" she continued, smiling proudly at Amari, Naomi nodded in agreement.

"As always." Vanessa smiled, kissing his cheek. "You should probably answer to those reporters, though, they don't seem to be letting up."

"Ah, shit." he pouted. "I'll catch up with y'all later." he winked, pecking his fiancée's lips and straightening his suit as he headed to the ravenous reporters outside the courthouse.

"Aw, Baby Mars has grown up so much," Naomi sighed, wiping a fake tear from her eye. "I'm glad he's really happy with you, he always talks so much about you in the groupchat."

Vanessa laughed, "Really?" Renee nodded.

"You two are set for early next year, right?" she quizzed, and Vanessa nodded. "Ooh, join the club, girl! You're gonna love the crew."

The three women conversed a little more until Vanessa received a work call and bid them goodbye. Renee and Naomi made their way out. The two had met up knowing that they'd both be in the city at the time to surprise Amari.

With Naomi cleaning up some loose ends with her salon—while Reggie was running errands with his mom—and Renee being back in Chicago for a corporate meeting with some investors, they were just able to make it to the courthouse in time to see Anderson close up his defense immaculately.

After so many years of not being in contact with him, Renee was glad that they were able to rekindle after Rollacity three years ago. Now living in Canada with Jeremiah, she tried her best to drop by to surprise the crew in their designated parts of the continent as often as she could. They really were going to be friends until the end.

As she walked down through Central, she began to feel slightly lightheaded, as a wave of nausea hit her. She quickly detoured to the closest fast-food restaurant, dashing straight for the restroom. Next thing she knew, she was emptying her lunch into the toilet.

She huffed heavily when she was done, glad that no one was in the bathroom with her to have to hear or witness that shitshow. She washed her hands and rinsed her mouth. She'd been feeling uneasy for the last few weeks but Jeremiah just assumed that she'd caught a stomach bug.

Renee had other speculations.

Once cleaned up, she went over to the closest Pharmacy to pick up a pregnancy test. She requested to use their restroom and then she plonked herself on the seat of the toilet, as she waited for the test results.

The Walkers were trying but they weren't in a rush for child, they were both comfortable with life as it was, wanting to just enjoy their marriage.

She didn't really want children. Her sister, Angie, had given birth to enough to keep the family name going. Renee was a businesswoman, that was her storyline, and a baby just didn't fit. Was a child really what she wanted right now...?

She glanced down at the stick, as the two faded lines became clearer.

She broke into a sob.

Her doubtful thoughts disintegrated instantaneously, only able to whisper her thanks to God for such a blessing.

🎆
𝖏𝖚𝖐𝖊 𝖏𝖆𝖒
❝ 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐖𝐎 𝐆𝐋𝐃𝐍 𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐄 ❞

𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼! 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗮𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲, 𝗺𝘆 𝗮𝗯𝘀𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗯𝘆! 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗻𝗮𝘁! 𝗴𝗼𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀!
𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆'𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸?
𝗶 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗲'𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘁!

𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘄𝗵𝗼, 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗼𝘁𝘀 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱!

𝗶'𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗼 𝗶'𝗺 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝗺𝗽 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗹𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗹 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸.
𝘄𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗺𝗲 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶 𝘀𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗷𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝘇𝗿𝘆𝗮𝗵'𝘀 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿!

𝗲𝘅𝗰𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝘀!
𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 & 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀!
~𝐠𝐥𝐝𝐧𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐬.