Flashback
"Milani what would you do if I died today?" Caesar asked his girlfriend as the two of them laid down underneath the cherry blossom tree. Milani shifted and stared at her boyfriend, who peered back at her with a toothy smirk. "I'd be heartbroken and would most likely break down a lot why are you asking?" She replied, puzzled on why he was asking her this question. "Late night Brittany was watching a film and the main love interest died, I wanted to know how you'd feel if I did." The moonlight shun on the two lovebirds. Milani inched closer towards Caesar and laid her head on his chest. "Don't die on me and you won't have to find out," she suggested planting a kiss on his lips. "I fucking love you Milani kekoa," her boyfriend whispered tightening his grasp on her.
Present
Milani paced around, awaiting for a doctor to explain to her that everything would be okay, that Caesar was fine and would not die. It had been an hour since they rushed Caesar into surgery after the doctors could finally resuscitate him. For the most part Milani would pray to god for a miracle and sob her eyes out. "Mommy is uncle Caesar okay?" Alana asked her mother with tears in her eyes. Wiping her face, Milani kneeled down in front of her two children drawing them closer to her. "He's going to be fine, okay, Caesar is remarkably strong," the mother announced to her children, desperately struggling to trust in her own words. "Oh, my god where's my baby!" Milani turned around noting that Caesar's whole family came storming in. "He's in surgery right now," Milani told them with a heavy heart.
Caesar's mother clung onto her husband, silently weeping for her child. "What happened?" Mason questioned gripping onto his little sister. "I'm not certain if this is the true reason behind it and I don't want to suggest anything wrong but I noticed white power in his car. It was in the shape of two small lines and under his nose when I found him. I don't know for sure but I assume it's cocaine," Milani answered. Everyone became mute after hearing Milani state she discovered cocaine in Caesar's car. "How dare you imply that Milani? My brother is not a junkie nor is he on any drugs. What do you know about what he's going through? You haven't been around him for five whole years," Brittany retaliated towards the woman in front of her.
"Caesar Michaels?" A woman with a clipboard asked. Caesar's mother rushed up to the nurse ambushing her with questions. "Is my son okay? He's out of surgery right? Please tell me my baby is okay," her voice cracked at the end of her sentence, desperately trying to keep herself together. "Mr. Michaels is fine, he's out of surgery and he's currently resting in room 3102." Loud sighs of relief occupied the room. "Thank you," Mason told the nurse as he hugged his sister tightly.
Milani sat down on the edge of a leather chair and stared at Caesar's family. She hugged her children closer towards her, grateful that the father of her children was fine and that she hadn't lost him too. Looking back at this situation Milani noticed how much she hadn't appreciated Caesar for the past week, yes she would say thank you when he helped out. But she never sincerely praised him for his hard work, and when he tried to kiss her today she made it look like she was so disgusted by him. When in reality she wanted to kiss him and was so disgusted by herself that she shoved him aside. "Mommy can we go see uncle Caesar?" Romeo asked his mother.
Milani glanced up at Mason and for the first time in a while she noticed how red his eyes were and how much he was trembling. He looked back at Milani and nodded, offering her a shaky smile. "Go with Uncle Mason and Auntie Jasmine, I'm going to talk to Caesar's parents real quick." Romeo and Alana nodded at their mother's request and walked away with Mason, Jasmine and Brittany. "Pardon me, Brenda, William," she called them in a shaky voice. Her ex in-laws turned towards Milani. "Oh sweetheart, how can I thank you enough for saving my son," William blurted out while he held his wife. A forced smile made its way across Milani's face.
Knowing deep down inside, Milani had to tell them that Caesar was the father of her children. It was only right to tell the grandparents of her children that they were in fact grandparents of two more children. Was it because she was afraid, or was she simply anxious of what they would think of her for keeping that a secret for so long. "Um... well I know this isn't the right place to tell you this, but it's about Caesar and I," the three of them walked towards Caesars room, tuning into what Milani had to say. "What about you and my son?" Brenda asked in an uncertain tone. They reached Caesars hospital room and strolled inside. Something inside told Milani to pause before she could tell them, it seemed selfish telling them Caesar was her children's father without Caesar's approval.
"Oh, um never mind I'll speak to you later, now is not the time." Sighed Milani.
A few hours passed and not one person left the hospital room, everyone lingered by Caesar's side waiting until he'd wake up. A doctor came into the room to address what happened and Milani's suspicions were in fact correct. The doctor indicated that Caesar had overdosed on cocaine and that his body was extremely weak at the moment. Milani didn't want to be right about Caesar overdosing but she was, and it pained her inside. Hours went by and she couldn't get the reason of his overdose out of her mind. Eventually she got up and turned to everybody. "Does anyone want some coffee? I'm going to the cafeteria for some," Milani asked everyone in the room. "I'll have black coffee please," Mason responded. "Just a water bottle for me please," Brenda asked. "I'll have what Mason is having," William replied yawning. Noting everyone's request, Milani exited out of the room.
The air surrounded Milani as she walked to the cafeteria and purchased the drinks that everybody ordered. She wasn't hungry, but she knew it was dangerous going hours without eating so she bought everyone lunch to eat as well. Checking her phone Milani murmured at the text messages from Chris. 'Babe I called you like ten times pick up the phone.' Milani scuffed deleting the text and then went through her voicemails. She opened one from Chris and listened, "Milani, about early I was drunk and Nikki was there, it just happened." Milani frowned, words couldn't express how insulted she was that Chris assumed he could spare cheating on her with his ex just because she was there.
Broken and hurt, Milani turned off her phone and walked into the hospital room. "Okay, two black coffees, three water bottle, and food. By the way Brittany I got you water even though you didn't ask for it." Milani laid the tray down and walked over to her children who were sitting on the bed. That's when she noticed that Caesar was up and sitting. He looked at her then lowered his head almost as if he was ashamed of her point of view on his situation. Every muscle in Milani's lips quivered, her face became red, and her eyes began to water. She drove to the side of his bed and collapsed on the ground. "Moron, what were you thinking? Do you have any idea how much I worried about you? I thought you were dead!" Milani shrieked, clutching firmly on the blankets. Caesar stared at her and chuckled faintly, patting her head. "I'm fine, all thanks to you." He mentioned rubbing her hair. "Don't you ever scare me like that again!" The woman clinging on him exclaimed as she held him tighter.
The sound of someone clearing their throat broke the moment that they were having. "Um what's going on with you two?" Brittany asked, surprised at the sight in front of her. Milani exchanged a glance with Caesar then back at her children wondering if he was ready to tell everyone. As soon as Caesar caught on he nodded his head agreeing mentally with his exwife. "Everyone, these are my children Romeo and Alana, which you guys perhaps already know since they're here with us," Milani drew a breath of fresh air and squeezed Caesar's hand. With his other arm caesar held Romeo and Milani held Alana.
"Five and a half years ago when Caesar and I divorced it broke me, I spent weeks hurting myself mentally wondering what I did to deserve this treatment. But then a few months later I started getting sick a lot, turns out I was pregnant." Looking down at her children Milani smiled. "I wanted to tell Caesar sooner when I was pregnant but he ended up not believing me, so I figured why should I keep trying?" Caesar watched Milani's face drop as she told her story. Brenda walked over to Milani and embraced her. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this alone," she cooed shooting her son a glare. "I wasn't alone, I had Jasmine and her family who took me in as their own, I also had a boyfriend at the time." Sighed Milani at her last sentence. "Mommy so uncle Caesar isn't our uncle but our daddy?" Alana questioned, still confused about what was going on. "Yeah, I'm your daddy," Caesar answered gleefully, his voice projecting how thrilled he was saying those words to her.
"Ahh daddy! Romeo always said daddy didn't love us but momma always said you did but you were sick and couldn't see us." Alana jumped out of Milani's embrace and into Caesar's arms. Romeo looked at his mother then back at his father, not saying a word. It was almost as if Romeo wasn't fazed about the big secret and knew all along. It's scary how much Romeo acts like me, Milani thought to herself. "Can I hold my grandkids?" Brenda asked her son, seeing that his hands were full holding them both. Caesar nodded, "Good luck, they're getting pretty heavy." Everyone smiled and got to know Romeo and Alana the whole day.
After a few hours most of Caesar's family left or went home to get sleep, while Milani and Mason remained behind with Caesar. It was 2am and Milani hadn't fallen asleep the whole day, "You know I was worried about you right? You overdosed outside my house, what were you thinking?" Caesar sighed, massaging his hands through her hair. "I've just been going through shit for a few years, a couple of months ago some business associate of mine introduced me to cocaine. It wasn't supposed to be permanent but I couldn't stop, I'm sorry for making you worry." Milani laid on his chest, listening to every single breath he took, "Mhm I forgive you, just please don't do that shit again."
Caesar stroked Milani's cheek
Yawning Milani began to feel lightheaded from all the tiredness. "I'm going to rest for a while," she said closing her eyes. "Alright goodnight," replied Caesar. Soon after shutting her eyes, Milani fell into a deep slumber.