Diamond Revelation (11 page)

“I'm on my way.”

Marko took everyone in the limo to Cedars, where the nurse took Niki into an examination room almost immediately.

“Her name is Kendall Nicole Ross and she has sickle cell disease,” Germain informed the doctor. Germain held Niki the entire time the doctor examined her while Topaz just watched and wrung her hands. She felt so helpless.

They gave Niki an IV with medication for pain, and she fell asleep in Germain's arms. Topaz kissed Niki, and then Germain kissed her ever so gently.

“She looks like a little angel,” Germain said.

She was still resting in his arms when Kyle, Sean, and Jade arrived.

“Where's Nina?” Topaz demanded.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Kyle replied. “Thanks for taking care of my baby girl, you guys. I'll take her now, Doc.” Kyle took Niki from Germain, and she opened her eyes.

“Daddy. I missed you.” Niki smiled at Kyle.

“I missed you, too, baby girl. You know you're my little road dog.” Kyle put up a good fight against the tears while Germain was about to take Topaz and slip out of the door.

“Daddy, where's Uncle G?” Niki asked.

“I'm here, pretty girl. Right here.” Germain fought against the tears that wanted to flow.

Topaz swallowed hard and quickly brushed away a tear when she heard him call Niki by the name that was exclusively for Topaz. She was such a precious, sweet little girl.

“Thank you for taking such good care of me, Uncle G.” Niki reached out to hug him. “I love you.”

“Me too,” Germain mumbled, unable to talk, crying silently as he hugged the little girl who had quietly stolen his heart.

N
ina, alone in the dark, lay curled up in the middle of the California king-sized bed, listening to her BlackBerry ring. It rang until Nina finally answered. “Hello.” She rolled on her back and removed the pink satin sleep mask covering her eyes.

“Nina, hi. It's Rosalyn Lawrence. How are you?”

Nina reached into her Louis Vuitton bag and pulled out a Tiffany cigarette case filled with perfectly rolled blunts. She lit one with the matching platinum lighter and inhaled.

“Nina, are you there?”

Nina held the smoke inside her lungs as long as she could and exhaled. “Yeah, I'm here. What do you want?”

“Nina, you don't sound like yourself. Are you okay?”

“I'm fine, Rosalyn. What do you want?” Nina didn't care if she sounded rude or irritated. She was in a foul mood and ready to inflict it on the first person who came her way.

“I was calling about Niki. I'm sorry to hear she wasn't feeling well. I could tell your husband was upset when he phoned Dr. Nichols, who is in Washington, DC, meeting with the Centers for Disease Control.”

Nina had no idea that Niki had been sick or that Kyle tried to call Dr. Nichols. She hadn't returned anyone's calls for the last week. When Kyle refused to come to Maui with her after that embarrassing showcase, she came alone and spent the entire time in bed in an oceanfront suite at the Ritz Carlton.

“I've already spoken to my husband, and Niki's fine,” Nina lied as she frantically scrolled through past calls. They were all there; numerous calls from Topaz and Kyle. She thought he was calling to make up with her, and he called to tell her that their daughter was sick.
Oh my God. I'm a terrible mother.

“Nina, are you there?” Now Dr. Lawrence was irritated.

“I really appreciate you calling, Dr. Lawrence.” Nina was just seconds away from disconnecting the call.

“Nina, you haven't heard one damn thing I said.”

“Excuse you?” Nina began.

“Excuse you,” Dr. Lawrence cut in. “I've been trying to tell you that according to the paperwork you and Kyle filled out when you gave blood, there is no way that you and Kyle can be Nicole's biological parents.”

Nina was silent as she tried to collect her thoughts. She was too faded to think clearly, yet alone respond to the doctor's gross accusation.

“Then the paperwork must be wrong,” Nina replied coolly.

“No, the paperwork is correct, because the blood types given on the paperwork match the blood that came out of you and your husband's veins.”

Nina was silent as her brain raced, trying to figure out how an error of this magnitude had been made.

“There's only one thing that is incorrect. You and Kyle cannot be, nor will you ever be, Niki's biological parents. It is humanly impossible. Now you have a nice day, Mrs. Ross.” Dr. Lawrence hung up before Nina could say another word.

Nina finished the blunt she was smoking, then got out of bed and pulled open the heavy drapes to reveal a magnificent day. The sky was bluer than usual, and there wasn't a cloud anywhere. The palm trees were vibrantly green; and the Pacific was a royal blue, swirling mass against the white powder sand beaches. Everything was kicked up a notch in Maui.

Nina thought about taking a book and spending the day at the beach in a cabana but decided instead to visit the spa for her favorite shea butter and warm honey wrap followed by a tropical body polish. She always made a trip to the spa whenever she was in Maui. She couldn't wait to get there because she was long overdue for a day of pampering.

 

Kyle bounced the basketball across the floor as he walked up to the door and knocked. He stuck his head inside the guest room located downstairs by the kitchen. Sky looked up and smiled. “Hey, Mr. Ross.”

“Sky, Mr. Ross is my dad. You can call me Kyle.” He smiled, and Sky couldn't help thinking how handsome he was.

“Okay, Kyle.”

“Cool. I know I'm getting older, but I'm not that old yet.”

Sky giggled and Kyle laughed.

“My baby girl's upstairs resting. Rosa, her nanny, is here, but I know Niki's going to want to hang out with you. Do you mind?”

“Mr. Ross, I'm sorry, Kyle. I don't mind watching Niki. I'm gonna be here anyway.”

“You're here to regroup and get yourself together, not be a babysitter. Don't think you have to watch Niki.”

“She's so sweet. I don't mind, really,” Sky said, and smiled.

“Cool. I'm going into the city to shoot hoops with my brother and probably grab some dinner. I'll be back later on tonight. There's cash in the cookie jar and a ton of menus if you guys want to order some takeout. If you decide to use the pool or go to the beach, don't let Niki get in any water.”

“Okay. Have you talked to Nina?” Sky closed her suitcase and stood up.

“Yeah. She's chilling for a few days in Maui.” Kyle hated lying, but he was tired of the questions about his personal life. He hadn't spoken to Nina since she left for Hawaii. He was still angry because she chose to go to Maui without him. He had called the Ritz Carlton after she hadn't returned his calls when Niki was ill, just to be sure she was there, but hung up after the call rang through to her room.

“Oh, cool.”

“Catch ya later, Miss Sky.” Kyle was out the door in a flash and unlocking his Escalade parked in the driveway. Sky relaxed when she heard him drive away, happy to have the house all to herself.

Sky had been so busy preparing for the showcase, she didn't have time to look for a new place since Victor had kicked her and Sabre out. Victor had phoned Sky on the down low and told her that she could hang out at his place as long as she needed, but Sky didn't trust Sabre or Victor after she found the knife stuck in the mattress. Who knew what type of kinky sex game the two of them had been playing, and she didn't want to get in the middle of their craziness.

Sky was surprised when her Sidekick rang, indicating she had a message. She was even more surprised when she checked it and saw the message was from Sabre.

“Long time no talk to,” Sabre answered when Sky returned the call.

“I know you were at my showcase when I bombed, Sabre, so if you're calling to rub it in my face, don't bother. I know I sucked.”

“I'm not calling you about the showcase. You're my girl. I just wanted us to hang out or go shopping.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Okay. I'm in Malibu. What do you want to do?”

“Malibu? What are
you
doing in Malibu?”

“I'm staying with Nina and Kyle. I'm supposed to be looking for an apartment, but I haven't had time.”

“I've been busy too. I just got back from a promotional tour. It was bananas. I've got free time today. I could come to Malibu and we can look at places out there. You know we always said we were gonna buy a house in Malibu.”

“We sure did, didn't we?” Sky smiled as she recalled the childhood dream. “Okay,” she agreed excitedly. “See you when you get here.”

Niki and Sky were eating a Thai barbecued chicken pizza from the California Pizza Kitchen when Sabre rang the doorbell. Sky went to answer it, and Niki followed her.

“Hey, Sky.” Sabre walked in wearing the cutest pair of cargo pants with heels and a cowboy hat.

“Sabre.” Niki ran toward her with her arms extended.

“Hi, Niki.” Sabre bent down and hugged Niki. “How are you?”

Niki took Sabre by the hand. “Did you come to visit me and Sky?”

“I sure did.” Strangely, Sabre was not uncomfortable holding Niki's hand. “What are you guys doing?”

“Eating pizza. You want some?” Niki offered politely.

“Girl, look at you.” Sky stopped the procession back into the family room. “You got boobs.”

“I sure did.” Sabre grinned proudly and pulled up her top, revealing a perfect pair of C cups. “Wanna feel 'em?”

“Sabre,” Sky whispered through gritted teeth, “not in front of Niki.”

“Whatever.” Sabre looked blank as she pulled down her top. “Dr. Gradney did them for me.”

“We can talk about that later, Sabre.” Sky watched Niki climb back on the sofa and continue eating pizza.

“Are you ready to go?” Sabre sat down and tapped her foot impatiently.

“I don't want to leave Niki by herself,” Sky began.

“What, are you babysitting? You should have told me that before I drove all the way out here.”

“Are you free tomorrow?” Sky pulled another slice of pizza out of the pie and bit into it.

“Yeah.” Sabre grabbed the last slice of pizza.

“Spend the night and we can get started early. Kyle will be here, so Niki won't be alone.” Sky cleaned up all of the dishes and carried them into the kitchen.

“So what are we going to do now? I didn't come out here to be bored.” Sabre licked the last bit of cheese from her fingers. “You got any more pizza? I'm hungry.”

“No. That was Niki's pizza. We can order some takeout. There's a bunch of menus.”

“Whatever.” Sabre flipped through the channels on the big screen. “I wanted to go look at houses.”

“We can still look at houses. Let's go look on the Internet,” Sky suggested.

“Okay.” Sabre perked up immediately. “That's cool. Come on, Miss Niki.”

Sky led them upstairs to Nina and Kyle's office where the computers were located.

“Look at all those books.” Sabre walked over to bookcases lined with all types of books. “I love to read.”

Sky watched as Niki signed onto Nina's computer while Sabre made herself comfortable on the overstuffed pillows in front of the bookcases. “You love to read?”

“Hell, yeah.” Sky took a book on African art off the shelf and flipped through it. She felt like a kid in a candy store. “This is like being at the motherfuckin' library.”

Sky flinched at Sabre's choice of words and looked at Niki, trying to determine if the little girl noticed Sabre's foul language. Sky looked at Sabre and immediately regretted that she invited her over. She closed her eyes, shook her head, and took a deep breath before she did a search on the Internet and found available houses and condominiums in the area. Sky pulled up house after house, most of which she knew were too expensive for Sabre to rent or buy. She glanced over at Sabre, who was still engrossed in a book. Niki went to her room to watch cartoons.

Sabre flipped through the pages and paused to read another entry.

“That fucking bitch,” Sabre whispered, seething with anger. She flipped to yet another entry.

Sabre snapped the journal closed. She was still fuming.
Topaz is such a bitch. Just like my fuckin' mother and every other mother whose kids have been placed in foster care because the mommas are on drugs or running around after some stupid-ass man. Everybody thinks Topaz is so fucking sweet and so fucking perfect. I wonder what people would think if they knew she gave up her baby so she could keep her man…fucking bitch.

 

Sabre glanced up at Sky, who was still working on the computer. With the journal in her hand, she crept downstairs and stashed it in her bag. After drinking a glass of water she went back upstairs where she paused in the doorway of Niki's room. The child was hugging her teddy bear and watching TV.
I knew there was some reason why I always loved this little girl. We're kindred spirits.

Sabre picked Niki up, sat her in her lap, and kissed her on the cheek. “I love you, Niki.”

“I love you, too, Sabre.” Niki smiled at her with huge golden eyes.

Sabre felt her heart grow a little larger as she sat there holding Niki. She had never told anyone in her entire life except Grandma Marisol that she loved them. “Is this your baby?” Sabre held up a pink teddy bear that had seen better days.

“Un-huh,” Niki nodded, and took the bear from Sabre.

“What's her name?”

“Teddy.”

A genuine smile found its way onto Sabre's face. “My baby's name is Bear.”

Sky found them watching DVDs. “Hey, girl. I found all these fabulous houses on the Internet.” Sky held up a stack of paper with housing information.

“I won't be able to go house hunting tomorrow. Mimi, my publicist, called with an emergency appointment, so I'm going back to the city tonight.” Sabre took the printouts from Sky and stuffed them in her bag on top of Nina's journal. “I'll look at these later.”