Take It Back [ On Hold ]

Prepare Yourself Pt.1

JAGOTYOBACK THANKS FOR THE IDEA FRIEND ILY❤️❤️❤️❤️

✨Please excuse any typos or grammar mistakes✨

May 17th, 1988

Dorinda POV

Karen: I'm just saying he asked about you again!

Dorinda: I know, I'm just busy right now trying to make sure we've got everything we need for this trip, Kare.

Karen: So busy that you can't come to see the man who took a knife wound to the intestines for you?

Dorinda rolled her eyes and let out a loud sigh.

Karen: If it's such an inconvenience for you, just don't come.

Dorinda: Jesus Karen, it's not an inconvenience; I've just been busy. When Jr. wakes up from his nap, I'll swing by there to see him.

Karen: No, it's okay; you don't have to.

Karen said it with an attitude.

Dorinda: Karen, just tell him I'll be up there this afternoon, okay?

Karen: Mhm... okay, Dorinda, we shall see!

Dorinda: Whatever, bye, girl.

And without saying a word, Karen hung up.

Dorinda: He just won't quit, huh?

Doe whispered to herself. Since Drew woke up from his surgery, he'd been asking Dorinda to come and see him, but she didn't want to. For over a year now, she's done her best to have as little contact as possible with her son's father. Things with Greg were finally getting back on track, and Nikki was happier in these last two weeks than she'd been in the last five months. Even Jr. seemed more joyful with his parents being together and under one roof. And she didn't want anyone else, not even John Drew Sheard, to mess that up for her family. But still, she missed him terribly. Doe got up, took a shower, and stood in her closet, deciding what to wear.

Dorinda: Why did I even buy this ugly thing?

She held up a hideous, bright orange sundress and immediately put it back on the hanger. After about 10 more minutes of rummaging through the closet, she finally found something relatively cute to put on, showered, got dressed, and patiently waited for Jr. to wake up from his nap. The longer he slept, the better; maybe he'd nap long enough for visiting hours to be over. But he didn't; within the hour, he was wide awake and ready to get out of his crib.

Greg Jr: Mama!

He yelled from his bedroom.

Dorinda: I'm coming, baby boy.

Dorinda entered her son's bedroom to see him cuddle up with his favorite stuffed animal (a green dinosaur he'd named Rexy). When Jr. saw his mother, he began clapping his hands and smiling harder and harder the closer she got to him.

Greg Jr: Mama!

Dorinda: Hi, my love, Are you done with your nap?

After getting her son bathed, dressed, and strapped in his car seat, Doe sat in her Mercedes feeling more anxious than she'd been in years.

Dorinda: Jr?

Doe said, turning to face her son. His eyes shot up from the book he was "reading" to meet his mother.

Dorinda: Should we go and see Drew?

Jr. frowned but nodded his head at the same time.

Dorinda: Yes or no?

Doe hoped for a different answer this time, but just like before, Jr. frowned and nodded his head at the same time.

Dorinda: I didn't know what that means, baby, Lord what am I saying, I'm sitting here asking a one-year-old what I should do.

Doe said, laughing to herself. She put the car in drive and slowly but surely made her way toward Henry Ford Hospital. As she was driving down the highway, she could see the hospital just off in the distance, and Doe's body began to fill with anxiety. She pulled into the parking lot, paid for parking, and made her way down the elevator to the main entrance of the building.

Valet: Mhm, hey, beautiful lady, how are you doing this fine afternoon?

Dorinda: I'm fine.

Valet: What are numbers?

Dorinda: Huh?

Valet: Your license plate numbers, baby girl.

Dorinda: Oh, uh, JB1776

Valet: Alright, and how long do you plan on staying up there for?

Dorinda: Not long

Valet: So about an hour?

Dorinda: NO! No, that's way too long—just like 15-20 minutes at most.

Valet: Ah, I see you. You must be here to visit your baby daddy, huh?

Dorinda: Excuse me!

Dorinda's heart was beating so fast that she thought she was having a heart attack. Who was this Nigga? Did he know Drew from somewhere? Was Drew telling people about their affair and the paternity of Jr.?