"Aight. I deserved that." Israel used his tongue to rub the inside of his cheek after taking a painful slap from his mother-which barely hurt due to the tolerance he now had for face shots because of Jada.

"You damn right you do! You think you can show up to my house with a child out of nowhere?! Look how big she is Koda! What is wrong with you?!" She fussed, holding Isis in her left arm while balling up her right fist in case she wanted to swing again.

After having his daughter for almost three months, he figured it was now time to reveal to his parents that he had a child. He honestly couldn't go into detail on why he'd kept her a secret for so long in the first place, especially from his mom.

He guessed it was because he just acknowledged that he was actually a father and would be one for the rest of his life. Waking up to Isis everyday was still surreal for him, and he wanted to make sure he built a strong bond with his daughter before he allowed anyone else to-besides Bria and Santana, of course.

Although, for some reason, he didn't really feel bad for not telling his family about Isis right away.

For so long, he lived his life the way that they wanted him to. He was one of those kids that had parents that tried to live through their child without letting them have a life of their own. Sometimes, even now, he felt like he was still being controlled by them.

He didn't start living on his own accord until he met Bria and took the risk to become involved with her even though he knew he had a wife. That would never be something that he regretted.

"Ma don't kiss her face, please." He tried to be as respectful as possible but it was evident in his expression that he was bothered.

"I can't give my grandchild a kiss on her cheek? Does Jada have a problem with me?" She asked with confusion, walking towards her living room.

"Uh-I ain't wit' Jada no more.. She left as soon as she gave birth." He told her, holding off on telling her about Bria just yet. He had to break everything down slowly. Giving her too much at one time would probably give the woman a heart attack.

"Oh my goodness. I knew that girl was no good for you. I told you that when you first brought her to my house."

"You never said it in front of pops though. You was all for her in front of him." He sat down on the couch, dragging his hand down his face. He was so annoyed already.

"Do not start with me. You know how he is, Israel." Her harsh tone disappeared while he refrained from rolling his eyes.

Abuse practically ran in his family, which was probably why it took him so long to finally get away from Jada. It was all that he was used to.

His father wasn't physically abusive, but emotionally and mentally? Definitely. There was nobody who could manipulate and control other people like Israel's father, Kassan, could.

One of his most infamous tactics was using his money and power in the streets to get people to do what he wanted, and they would suffer drastic consequences if they didn't. Israel and his mother, Irene, knew that firsthand.

That's why Israel didn't really talk to his dad anymore. If it wasn't answering general questions about how the company was doing, they didn't speak at all. He attempted to stay in contact with his mother, but she was trapped in Kassan's warps and often acted just like him towards Israel.

Nowadays, he stayed to himself if it involved his biological family. He was building his own now, and didn't want them around to influence his household at all.

That was the whole reason he hadn't brought Bria to meet them. They probably wouldn't 'approve' of her anyway. Thankfully, he didn't give a damn about what anyone thought about his woman.

"Yeah, I do..speaking of, where he at?" He took a brief glance around the quiet house, only background TV noise able to be heard.

"I wouldn't know. Probably somewhere with your brother. Have you spoke to them?"

"Ko, yeah. I ain't spoke to pops in a minute though. He ah' email me here and there.. ion be responding most times." He shrugged, reaching over to grab his baby once she started to cry. She wasn't really a fan of people she didn't know, obviously.

"I don't blame you.." Irene momentarily paused, watching the way Isis immediately calmed down from her father's touch.

"You look so handsome and healthy honey. Who's her mommy?" She asked in a calm voice, her gaze softening as well as her eyes roamed over his physique.

"A woman named Bria. She take good care of us ma. I be ready to bring her to meet y'all, but I don't want you or pops to scare her away." He chuckled near the end even though he was more than serious.

"I can tell. I'm sorry sweetheart. I want to be mad at you for keeping Isis away, but I can't say I don't understand why you did it. You did what's right for your family-that alone is more than your father or I could ever do for ours." Her tone quieted even more, causing Israel to meet her hazel brown eyes.

"It ain't yo' fault ma. I never blamed you for nothin'." He stood up from the couch, walking to the one across from him to sit next to her.

He accidentally brushed against her side as he sat down, and she lowly hissed in response. An immediate frown replaced his expression at the reaction that he recognized from personal experience, and he lifted her shirt up to confirm his assumption.

Sure enough, there was a large purple bruise that went from her breast line to her waist, with light colored bruising surrounding the area. Her skin was bright, so the bruises were clearly visible. She couldn't hide those even if she wanted to.

Coincidentally, the sound of the security system alerted them that someone had just walked in, causing Israel to stand right back up from the couch.

"Israel please, he didn't mean t-,"

"Don't say shit to me 'cause you wouldn't have even told me if I wouldn't have sat right here. You not no fucking rag doll, yo! I told you if that nigga ever touched you, to tell me or Kordae-and you didn't. Look at your fucking face, man." He didn't even intend to cuss as much as he did, but finally noticed the makeup caked on her face.

His mom never wore makeup-she didn't even know how to use it. There was a bruise near her eye that appeared to be covered with concealer, and her chubby cheek was swollen more than usual. Israel was far from stupid.

Not even giving her a chance to response, he placed his daughter in her arms and then walked towards the foyer where he knew his father was.

He ignored Irene's calls behind him, and he shrugged her off when she tried pulling him back.

There was a lot of things he remained unfazed about, but his mother wasn't one of them. Regardless of how she treated him while with his father, he would never sit back and allow harm to be done unto her.

"Israel? What you doing here, boy? You ain't cal-," Kassan didn't even get to finish his greeting before Israel swung his right fist as hard as he could at his jaw.

He kept swinging, making sure to keep his head up once Kassan attempted to swing back. His father was 52 years old, but was a UFC fighter back in his day so it was a pretty fair fight. Eventually his age caught up to him, and as soon as he got tired, Israel gave him all that he had.

Israel ignored Irene's cries for him to stop, repeatedly throwing his right fist that contained his baguette rings into his father's face. Not even the blood that poured from Kassan's face could stop Israel, and he didn't stop until he heard Isis screaming from the commotion.

He breathed heavily as he finally pulled away from his father, seeing him curled up in a fetus position in a small pool of his own blood on the ground while in overwhelming pain.

"I'll be back to get you tonight. Have your shit packed ma. I'm not playing with you." His voice tiredly rasped as he grabbed Isis, ignoring the blood on his hands and clothes as he left out of the house, slamming the door behind him.

"Shhh. Daddy sorry. Don't cry fats." His tone immediately changed as he spoke to Isis, trying to calm her down as she continued crying.

He strapped her in her car seat in the back of his truck and grabbed her bottle out of the diaper bag, letting her latch on to it. Her cries quieted into small sniffles, and he kissed her forehead before walking around to the front seat.

Instead of going to see his grandma like he'd originally planned to do, he went the opposite direction towards Bria's house. She stayed half an hour away but he made it there in half that time.

Every time his emotions got the best of him, he ran straight to her. He never realized how safe he felt with her-as if she was the answer to all of his problems and the necessity to calm his worries.

"My Ice Spicyyy, look at m-oh my god. What happened?" Bria dropped the cup that she was about to put ice in, walking in his direction after seeing blood.

"It ain't hers or mine. We good." He watched her take Isis out of the car seat, removing her shorts so that she could unbutton her bloody onesie.

"I didn't ask that. I asked what happened? Who did you fight?" She frowned, also taking notice of the marks on his knuckles.

"My pops. I wasn't there for a full ten minutes and some shit happened. That's why I stay the fuck from around there." He let her pull him back to her bedroom where she laid an asleep Isis down, then dragged him to the bathroom to clean his hands.

"He hitting on my moms. Yo, that nigga always said he would never put his hands on her and he d-you should've seen them bruises B. Ain't no telling what she been going through and I ain't been talking to her-she been by herself, just taking that shit from a grown ass man." He vented to her, holding his hands under the warm water coming from the sink.

"I thought I was doing myself a favor by not talking to her 'cause she too influenced by that nigga, and by doing that, I been letting her get beat on. She don't got no outlet, you know? He took her away from her people 'cause that nigga a bitch, yo. I been told Ko that shit man." His fist went into the wall near the sink before he even realized it, and he gradually lost the feeling in his fingers from the impact.

Bria reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, feeling his unharmed hand immediately slide around her waist in response. He laid his face in her neck as soon as his eyes began to sting with tears, wrapping his other arm around her moments later.

Becoming aware of abuse couldn't have been easy for anyone, but Bria knew that this was especially a sensitive subject for him since he went through the exact same thing, and now he had witnessed the aftermath of what it did to his mom.

As much as he claimed to want to be away from her for his own mental health, Israel was a real momma's boy. He told Bria about the times it would just be her and him when he was younger because Kordae and Kassan were always ripping and running the streets together.

Up until his adulthood, his mother had been his best friend. Even recently, she tried to contact him here and there but he rarely responded. He was so upset with himself for not being there for her when it was now obvious that she needed someone.

"You didn't know pooh. Don't be so hard on yourself." Bria held him as close to her as he could get with her belly being in the middle of them.

"It wasn't you who raised a hand at her. Even if you would've called her back, or visited-evil gon' do as evil does. He would've did it anyway. Just be glad that now you know, and you can step in to help her." She wiped his face with the tip of her thumbs, drying underneath his bottom eyelids.

He said it a lot, but he really didn't know what he would do without her. There wasn't a single person who had ever validated his emotions and feelings the way that Bria did.

Even if she didn't know how to advise him, she would hold him until he felt better and he appreciated that more than she knew.

"I love you Bria." His tone was calm now as he watched her clean up his hands.

"I love you more. I want my wall fixed by tomorrow boo." She grabbed a few paper towels from the roll while a smile spread across Israel's face.

Bria stretched her arms out while leaning over the countertop, blowing out slow breaths as another contraction began. Her last one was twenty minutes ago, which made her feel like today would be the day she went into labor.

She wasn't as scared as she thought she would be, and was actually more than ready to push this baby out of her. The only task she had for tonight was to do everything she could think of to get her water to break.

Her head picked up at the sound of the front door closing, and she could hear both of her boyfriends voices as they walked in together.

After being informed on what happened, Santana accompanied Israel for support while he went to go pick up his mother and temporarily put her in Kordae's care until they could get her situated somewhere. Their father had connections everywhere, so Kordae was her best protection for now.

Bria would've went with him but she could barely walk from her bedroom to the kitchen without feeling like she would pass out, so Santana ended up taking her place. She loved how the two men were there for each other.

"Wassup fat mama? You good?" Santana approached her side, leaning his head down to greet her with a kiss.

"Mhm. How did it go?" She remained over the counter since this was the most comfortable position right now, laying her head on her folded arms.

"Ko said he got it from here, so I'm just waiting to see what he gon' do." Israel told her with a light shrug, giving her a kiss as well.

"That's good. Yo' daddy didn't cause any trouble while y'all was there, did he?"

"He at the hospital. This nigga broke a few bones in his face so he had to get surgery." Santana nodded his head towards Israel, relaying the information that Irene told them.

"Almost broke his own bones too." Bria chuckled, referring to his hand that was wrapped up with a cohesive elastic bandage. Luckily, it wasn't broken. Just a bit swollen.

"Shit." Bria quietly hissed, spreading her legs further apart as her contraction worsened, the pain now able to be felt between her legs as if she was dilating.

"What's going on B? You need somethin'?" Israel asked with a concerned frown.

"No, I'm fine. I think I'm going in labor, I'm just waiting on my water to b-," Bria cut herself off as a liquid coincidentally leaked down her leg, and she knew for sure it wasn't pee.

"Shit!" She cursed much louder this time as a wave of intolerable pain went through her lower half as she dilated further.

"C'mon B, let me pick you up so we can go." Santana tried to turn her around, but she remained where she was.

"I don't wanna go until my contractions are five minutes apart. That's what Kira said. I'm fine. It doesn't hurt that bad." She lied about the pain so he wouldn't be worried, hiding her face in her arms.

"How long ago was the last one?" Israel asked.

"Um, like, twenty minutes ago? So I still have a couple hours maybe. Israel go get my baby please." She picked her head up at the sound of Isis whining, leaning up from the counter.

"I don't want you to wait mama. What if somethin' happen? We need to already be up there-like, at least in the waiting room or somethin'." Obviously still worried, Santana circled her to see if anything was visibly wrong.

"I'll be fine stink. Remember when Journey was in labor and she went as soon as her water broke? She was laying in that hospital bed for six hours before it was time for her to push. I don't wanna be up there that long. I hate hospitals." She reached to hold his hand to help her walk, and he hesitantly nodded at her words while walking alongside her.

"Don't be scared like you the one that's pregnant. You look like you finna pass out." Bria smiled over at him, seeing that he was now sweating.

"Nah man..I'm scared as fuck. I ain't expect it so soon, I thought we still had a week to go." He used his forearm to wipe his forehead, trying not to be dramatic but he was really losing his mind.

"Nope. The time is now." She chuckled, blowing out a slow breath as her contraction finally ended. Surprisingly, she felt much better. She thought the entire duration of labor would be in pain, but she felt normal now.

"Hi mommy stinky naked baby." She looked down at a smiling Isis while Israel put a funky diaper in a plastic bag, shaking his head. His daughter pooped like a grown man.

Bria picked her up from the bed and then slowly waddled to the bathroom so that she could run them a bubble bath. She was really craving a hot epsom soak right now.

She sat down on the side of the tub, reaching over to turn the knob towards the left for hot water. Next, she grabbed her Dr.Teals bubble soap and added a few pumps to the faucet to help form the bubbles. And lastly, she poured some of the pure epsom salt soaking solution in the water.

"Boo? Why y'all in my face?" She frowned at Israel and Santana as they stood in the doorway staring at her. It just about slipped her mind that she was in labor.

"Do you really think a bubble bath is necessary right now? You finna give birth shorty." Israel watched her pull her shirt from over her head with a curious frown.

"Exactly. My son need to come out of some freshly bathed pussy-so yes, a bath is necessary." She said, and Santana face palmed himself at how unserious she was.

She stepped in the tub with Isis once she was naked, carefully sitting down in the water when it was high enough. Her son began to kick as soon as she sat Isis on top of her belly, making her smile. She was so ready to have him.

Anywho, Bria spent around half an hour in the tub before she got out to take an actual shower, and then she dressed in a moomoo sleeping dress since she'd be changing into a gown when she got to the hospital anyway.

She had Israel and Santana load the truck with snacks and the two labor bags she packed while she talked to Journey on the phone and simultaneously put Isis to sleep since it was around her bedtime anyway.

"Well don't complain when we get there talkin' 'bout y'all hungry." Bria rubbed the spot where her son had just kicked as she put the broom back in the hall closet.

"You are literally in labor and you tryna cook lamb chops yo. Like be serious for a minute." Santana frowned at her, and she laughed because she knew that he was becoming upset with her.

She'd just finished cleaning the front of her house while taking on two contractions at the same time, and had offered to make them an early dinner before they left so that they wouldn't be hungry at the hospital.

"Fineeee. Let's go have a baby I guess."

Do y'all really need a birthing scene? No. We do that literally every book y'all know how it go atp.