BET: Black Love Series

"Is this gonna be in black and white?" Nicki asked while stroking her hair and pulling both sides to the front.

"Yes." A man spoke up before adjusting the ring light that was off to the side to Nicki's left.

"I look nice for nothing." Safaree said looking down at his outfit. Nicki looked over at him and smiled.

"You look good, baby."

"You too." He said looking up at her meeting her eyes. Nicki adjusted in her stool before crossing her legs. She leaned back and rested her hands on the arms of the chair while looking ahead at everyone setting up the lighting and cameras. Safaree did the same and sat back in his chair. "Yo, I should've got a haircut." He said while looking over at Nicki as he scrunched his face up while he ran his hands over his face and chin.

"You look fine, Safaree." Nicki said as she playfully rolled her eyes. She looked over at Stephen Hill coming into view while holding a stack of papers.

"You guys ready?" Stephen asked while pointing between the both of them.

"Yeah." Safaree said while Nicki nodded in agreement. Stephen stepped back more getting completely out of frame while the last few people scrambled getting in place.

"So we're gonna kind of go in order here. Walk us through your life. The journey." he looked down at his list of questions. "First question." The director Mike said from behind the camera. "How did you two meet?"

"We were in a group." Nicki spoke up.

"Yeah. Called Hoodstars. It was a rap group. We did a little bit of reggae too."

"All the guys.. the guys were already in the group. But you know," Nicki playfully shrugged. "They wasn't popping enough so that's when I came in." Nicki said before laughing.

"You could say that. 'Cause yo.. honestly. After we put her in." Safaree shook his head. "We was booking shows crazy. I remember the first day she came to meet us and everything." He licked his lips. "She was in a mood. She was arguing with her boyfriend at the time."

"And the last thing I wanted was to be around a bunch of guys." Nicki chimed in. "But Safaree could tell something. He was the only one that gave me space. Not that they were all in my face. But I just wanted to be left alone in my little corner to write by myself."

"I remember when it was time to write. She would have on her shades. Have a blanket and put her hood on. And just go sit in the corner. Nobody could talk to her. Nothing. She didn't even want anybody near her. Like we would have to go sit on the other side of the studio." Safaree shook his head as Nicki laughed. "She still the same way too."

"What was your first impression of each other?"

"I don't remember. You know what's the first thing I remember about Safaree though? We would be in the studio late and he was always calling to check up on his mom and his sisters. I thought that was very sweet."

"Nicki was mean."

Nicki dramatically dropped her jaw and gasped. "No I wasn't!"

"Yeah. She was. I remember when I walked into the studio one time. I'm walking around, dapping everybody up, boom boom boom. I leaned into hug her and she like." He cocked his head and grabbed his neck. "Grabbed my neck and said not right now." Nicki's laugh roared out and Safaree began laughing. "It's funny now but after that I never tried to hug her again."

"Wait." Nicki said in between her laughs. "I did not grab you by your neck like that."

"Yes you did."

"No, wait. I was trying to push him back on his chest but Safaree is so freaking tall. So when he bent down.." Nicki giggled again covering her mouth quickly before placing her hands back into her lap. "My hand that was meant for his chest just happened to grab his neck."

So it wasn't love at first sight?

"Not at all."

"Like I said. She had a boyfriend at the time. They was arguing everyday so.. she wasn't really paying attention to me. But I thought she was beautiful."

"You're so sweet, baby." Nicki said looking over at him before puckering her lips and closing her eyes giving him an air kiss.

"I did. She was. She is. She was just different from any other girl I had met back in the day. She wasn't like those girls in a relationship who act clingy or helpless. Not even just that but her attitude was just different. She was kinda cocky but it wasn't like..ugly. She was just confident. But she was also funny. Like me and her could crack jokes and just go back and forth. Nicki's real sarcastic. But I am, too. We just clicked. Well, to me. Not for Nicki." He gave a look and glanced over at Nicki before looking back at the camera.

"I don't even remember much about being in that group."

"Yo, Nicki has the brain of a 90 year old woman. It's insane." He looked over at her again and she shrugged.

When did you know there was something about the other? This question is mainly for Nicki. 

Everyone in the room laughed and she playfully rolled her eyes while adjusting in her seat.

"Well... Safaree and I had became friends outside of the group because he actually knew one of my best friends. So we hung out a lot. But for me, I knew the moment I was comfortable enough to open up to him about what was going on at home. I mean I talk about it openly now. But when I was younger I hated talking about it. I talked about it to him and- we all know Safaree is such a light hearted person. But he gave me some of the best advice. Even better than my girl friends. That's what we bonded over. Both of us coming from a broken family and just trying not to let it break us as well. Now when I knew I truly liked Safaree?" she laughed lightly. "It was Valentine's Day. Me and the guy I was with previously were still going through our issues. I called Safaree. I was just telling him that I was sad and stuff. He came over about an hour and a half later. He brought some movies and just listened to me cry for hours." Nicki laughed. "He just really cheered me up and was like you don't deserve that. I think I looked at him like the heart eye emoji after that. What about you, babe?"

"I remember for me, we was in the studio writing.. freestyling. I was like.. S C to the A, double F to the B, double O to the G, I to the-"

"EEEEEEEzay! Believe me, bitches can't see me!" Nicki joined in.

"I was like yooooooooooo! I'm in love! And then after Valentine's Day and she was officially done with her boyfriend I was like man. I gotta get her. I told Nicki we were just gonna chill out and go see a movie but I had this whole day planned for her. I took her to her favorite spot to eat. I bought her little gifts. I just wanted to make her feel good."

"He did. That's the thing about Safaree. He knew how to cheer me up. He didn't do anything extravagant and over the top because he knew I wouldn't like that. I love the simple things. I love teddy bears. I love flowers. I love cute little things like that. But Safaree was so scared to kiss me."

"I didn't wanna push her or anything like that. She had just got out of something so I was hesitant."

"I just kissed him. I always thought Safaree had really nice lips. I like his nose too." Nicki reached out and tapped Safaree on the nose with her index finger. "After that we spent everyday together for the next 12 years."

Tell us about when you proposed.

"Which time?" Nicki and Safaree said in unison before laughing.

Let's just go in order.

"Safaree and I had just moved to Atlanta. We were both working and stuff. When I wasn't doing shows he had a job. Financially we were good. But we had a savings account. Safaree had been talking about this bike for months."

"It was all apart of the plan." He spoke up. Nicki looked over at him.

"One day I had went to the bank to put some money in our savings and stuff... they told me the balance and I was like..." Nicki looked back towards the camera and cocked her head to the side. She twisted her lips before speaking again. "Half of what was in there was gone and I instantly got mad." Nicki said before laughing.

"She came home.. just.. going crazy on me. She walked in the door. Slamming everything down. When I tell you I could hear her tiny feet coming back to the bedroom. She swung the door open and just went... in!" He shook his head.

"I remember I just walked in and I said, 'Where the fuck is it? Where is it, Safaree? It wasn't in the driveway, where is it?!' and he's laying there on the bed looking so confused and the more he sitting there he's gradually pissing me off."

"Yo.. she was going crazy. And I'm thinkin' maybe she knows but I'm like nah. She's mad. She mentioned the driveway and I was like yeah. It worked. But see. I didn't wanna propose that day. I didn't have it all planned out yet. But I had to come clean cause she was walking around the bed about to smack me!"

"I was. I was so mad. Safaree hopped off the bed so quick. He kept saying let me explain! Yo Nicki chill out, let me explain! Annnnnd.."

"I just went into the dresser and pulled out the ring."

"He was like look! Here! He walked around the bed and bent down on one knee and opened the box. I just started balling, you guys. Cause I really wasn't expecting it. I just dropped on the floor with him and I said yes."

"It wasn't romantic at all. Nicki ruined it for real. I did it all over again later though."

When was that?

"After Nicki got signed. But I waited a while."

"2010."

"Yeah. Nicki was getting ready to start working on the album. We all planned this big dinner for her. Just so she could chill out before she locked herself in the dungeon. We had her family come out and everything and that's when I did it. I put together this video. What's it called? Milestone movie. Yeah, that. Showing her how far she's come and we really did everything we ever talked about and I wanted her to know like yo... I love you. I'm proud of you. I'ma be there for you every step of the way."

Now for the not so happy part... walk us through the breakup. 

Nicki's attitude quickly changed as she twisted her lips nervously and looked down.

"I don't know man." Safaree said before taking a deep sigh. "I blame myself. I know Nicki does, too. But I've realized my mistakes enough to that.." Safaree licked his lips before continuing. "That could've been avoided. But I felt like I was right and so did she. I don't know. I don't really know where to start."

Is there anything you don't want to get into?

"We can talk about it all. Nicki?" He looked over at her. "You okay with that?"

"I said I was gonna be honest." Nicki said lowly while resting her elbow on the arm of the chair and resting her face in her hand.

I'm assuming it was cheating?

"It was everything. I stepped out first. It's so stupid but I let people get in my head. I started hanging out with guys in the industry and I would just let them fill me up with dumb shit. They was telling me yooo, like she don't respect you.You see how she doing you? Go get your revenge, bro. Just crazy stuff like that. It's my own fault. Listening to that. But I was believing it. I was dealing something in myself that I wasn't happy. I took it out on Nicki. We was going through our problems. I wasn't getting what I wanted at the time and I was acting out."

What did you want?

"A baby." Nicki spoke up.

"I wanted to get our life started. I proposed 10 years ago, I felt like I was wasting time in this relationship. If I didn't get what I wanted I was 'bout to be out."

How do you feel about that?

"He had a right to feel that way. At the time nothing was more important than my career. Everything in my life took a backseat. But don't come at me like it's gotta be this way or that way. Don't threaten me with your presence. And that's when everything just..." Nicki's hands made a motion of an explosion. "Blew up. From that very argument."

"I was hanging with this one dude a lot. We would be at strip clubs, parties, and it would just be women everywhere. I was just enjoying the attention cause that's another reason. In my mind, I was gaining my control back. It's so dumb. And then I just kept doing it. Once you get attention like that after feeling ignored, it's like a drug. Little did I know, the guy I was hitting up all these places with was tryna get at Nicki. So you know... he told her and then... they happened."

"In my mind, I'm thinking if Safaree sees me with this person he'll stop what he's doing. He'll come to me and just talk to me. I'm thinking, fight fire with fire. But I got caught up. Neither of us should've ever trusted him. Me or Safaree. He accomplished his goal and that was to split us up and I told Safaree that I felt so fucking dumb. And he did, too. I've never been easily influenced so what changed me? I was just hurt and stupid. I regret every moment since the first time I ever kissed that man. It should've never gotten that far. Ever since then my life was a living hell."

"We just kept going back and forth. We would be good. No cheating. Like nothing ever happened and then one argument always set us back. And we kept that up for the last year or so. One day I came home and she was on the phone with him and I just started packing."

"And I was so mad because..." Nicki screwed up her face and pointed her finger between her and Safareee. "I stayed with you while you were out having your fun and doing what you wanted to. But when I do the same thing you wanna leave? I flipped." Nicki said waving him off.

"As I'm going down the stairs to get out the door Nicki walks passed me on the steps. I see the bat in her hands and I left my suitcase on the steps. I never seen Nicki's tiny feet move so fast. I really couldn't keep up with her. I walk outside and there's just glass everywhere."

"I actually got cut from all of it but I was so mad I didn't even care. I stayed with you through the hard time you put me through, I was embarrassed! I felt so stupid because I still loved him. I didn't want to leave him. I was so hurt. And the moment I gave him what he gave me he left."

"I had to get away. It was doing more harm than good. I never meant for any of it to get that bad but it did. I didn't know how to fix it. If I wasn't making her happy I had to let her go. It killed me but that's what I thought was best at the time." he shrugged and licked his lips. "That's the last time I saw her. Then she was on to the next."

"I wanted Safaree to feel every single emotion I felt when he left me. It really broke me. I'm such an affectionate person but I've never been into PDA. But when I got into that relationship, I did all of it. Because I knew he would see it. I wanted him to be just as hurt as I was."

Did it work?

"For the most part. I don't know if I was hurt or embarrassed. I always felt like it should've been me. But after so long I got numb to it. I knew it was gonna be a new picture or video of them. I had to deal with it. It was my fault."

Okay. Moving on to happier times... tell us how you got back together.

"I had been single for months now and I was thinking really hard about what I wanted for myself. I really, really needed that time to myself. I had never been single since I was 15. It was actually  refreshing for me to just." Nicki took a deep breath. "Just breathe for a minute and be like, okay, this is what I want for myself. I knew who I wanted. He's always the one I wanted. I'm thinking how do we get back into this the right way. We can't just jump back into this the same way. It'll never work."

"I had a girlfriend at the time. And that was really like." he licked his lips. "The first time I was really in love since Nicki. Everything about her was different. She wasn't stuck up. She wasn't all about money. We had a lot of things in common. She was like the first... regular girl. It was really.. just hard for me to break up with her. I felt like for the first time I was in an equal relationship. I was with somebody who was into me as much as I was into them."

Nicki, you look uncomfortable with him talking about this.

She tightened her lips and nodded. Safaree looked over at her and they shared a look and held it before he spoke up.

"I've talked to her about it."

"He speaks so highly of her." Nicki said adjusting in her seat and leaning on the opposite arm rest. "It made me intimidated. Who is this woman who did everything right for him? I didn't like it."

"But you felt the same way about who you were with."

"I never told you that."

"You didn't have to."

"This is why I don't like this topic." Nicki said waving her hand in the air. "It always ends up in an argument and I never want to argue with him again. He's very valid in his feelings. But it really broke my heart," Nicki paused for a moment and sighed while resting both hands on her heart. "To hear him tell me he finally felt like someone loved him as much as he loved them." she dropped her hands and crossed one leg over the other while propping her elbow up on her leg and resting her chin on her first. She looked at the ground before speaking again. "I would never want him to feel like our love wasn't equal." Nicki leaned off her fist dropping her arm in her lap and giving a forced smile while leaning back in her seat before her face got serious again. She messed with her hair. "I've always been madly in love with Safaree. I would never want him to feel like that. Because I know what that feels like."

"I felt bad telling her that but I didn't want to come into it lying. I had to let her know what took me so long reaching out. Nicki is my soulmate. No matter what I could never stop thinking about her. I was just confused at the time."

"I was thinking that he was never going to call. I was too scared to. We were so angry for so long. So much had happened over the time we were apart and I hated it. So much damage had been done I didn't really know if I was something he still even wanted."

"What's crazy is we always kept in contact."

"Always."

"We was just arguing. I'll never forget when she emailed me and she said something to me like.."

"I know what you're about to say."

"I always mention it now. I don't know if it's a quote she found off Google or what. She said to me in the email, imagine falling so deep in love with someone that you end up hating them for it. I hate you. I'll never forget that. It's so crazy to me cause that shit is real. Me and Nicki not the type to argue online and stuff like that. Being airing out each other's business. But yo, we was so angry we was just doing anything."

"It's embarrassing."

"It is. I hate that it's out there forever. But we've moved passed it all. Anyways, so. I told the girl I was with at the time what was up. I didn't wanna just drop her cause Nicki was single again but I had to be honest too. I don't think it was fair to be with her and Nicki always be a thought in the back of my head like what if."

How did she take it?

"She didn't say much but what can you say? I think every girl I dated after her knew there was still something there. After I broke it off with her I just took a week to myself to figure everything out. Then I called Nicki up and we just talked on the phone for hours. About everything. I told her it couldn't go back to the way it was. I can't just go back to being your flunky. I gotta have my freedom to do what I want and for her to just let me know when I'm doing too much. And she said the same."

"I agreed with him because I felt like that was one of the reasons he wasn't happy. If he wants to go produce music for the friends he's made over our break or host events that's fine with me. As long as me and him were good, everything else was secondary. I didn't care, I just missed us."

What was it like seeing each other again after the break up?

"We hadn't seen each other for almost two and a half years." Nicki said. "I had butterflies as if I didn't spend half of my life with this man."

"I was just ready to see her."

"Honestly, we hugged each other for like, 2 and a half minutes."

"We was just standing there at the door. Nicki was crying. She's always crying."

"I was so happy. It was such a surreal moment. We were talking on the phone but I was like nothing is gonna be real for me until I see him again. As soon as I opened the door and saw him standing there I just cried." Nicki said while shaking her head and laughing lightly before giving a shrug. "I just missed him. And you missed me, too!" Nicki said pointing a finger in his face while playfully rolling her eyes and neck.

"I did. I just kept squeezing her little body and telling her I missed her."

"We spent that whole day attached at the hip."

"We was up under each other like crazy. Just following each other everywhere."

"Inseparable."

What's different this time around?

"Everything." Nicki said with a smile spreading across her face. "Everything. I couldn't be more happy and in love with this man."

"Give me some." Safaree leaned over and met Nicki's lips for a kiss. "Love you."

"I love you." she said back before pulling apart. "Everything is different. We really cherish each other. I have this new thing between us. We don't go to bed or leave each other being mad or without saying I love you. And I think that's so important."

"Before we would be mad, sleeping in separate rooms. We wouldn't even speak to each other until she had an event to go to. Looking back, that's crazy to me. We was living in the same house and wasn't talking to each other."

"We would end up in the kitchen or the hall together and I wouldn't say anything to him. But it was easier for me to at least know he was there. Even if we were fighting. I liked that I could still climb in bed with him and he would just hold me. That's one thing I missed when we were apart."

"I talk to her more. I tell her any little thing or any big thing that's bothering me. I used to just let stuff build up and then just do something crazy."

"Like covering his tattoos of me."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"When we lay in bed sometimes I still just stare at his chest until I see my face again. It looks like my face was never here!" Nicki said as she raised up Safaree's arm that had a forearm half sleeve of roses. She let go of his arm and he dropped it back down on the arm rest.

"I had to get rid of it. I couldn't keep it. It was killing me to look at her face everyday and not be able to talk to her. But now that we're back together I wish I would've never covered it. It was dope. I liked it."

"And this is why we talk. Communication is so important. It's so cliche but it really is the truth. And this time around, I feel like we're different people. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah. I've just matured a lot in the last couple years. I'm more secure with myself that I don't let things bother me or get me angry. I'm willing to work things out."

"That's why I felt it was so important for us to do this. Our story isn't glamorous or perfect by far but I think it says a lot when two people can go through what we went through and come back 100 times harder and 100 times stronger. If you really love someone you'll always make you way back to each other. If that's what you really want, you'll make it happen and you'll figure out ways to make it work. That's why this time around I've learned to be a lot less selfish and a lot more selfless. I feel like in the end God will reward me with every blessing I've ever asked for when you give that energy out."

"You got one of them." Safaree said staring her down. She looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Hmmm?"

"One of the blessings." He smirked and his eyes trailed down to her stomach. "Tell em."

"Oh! This tiny bundle of joy?" Nicki placed a hand on her stomach. "I'm going to be a mommy!"

Sparks Will Fly

"Here, here." Nicki opened her hand and he grabbed it. "Your daddy will sleep all day if you let him." She looked down at the big goofy smile on his face that he always had for moments like this. She smiled at his smile and she held a finger up to her mouth before she dropped it and continued headed toward their bedroom. They walked down the hall and Nicki continuously looked back and forth from her son and their door that became closer and closer in view. She stepped into the room and released Safaree Jr.'s hand. He looked up at her and she nodded her head yes and he immediately ran up to their bed. He grabbed at the covers and pulled himself up. Nicki eyes directed up to Safaree's movement before they fell back on Dos who began jumping up and down on the bed as if it was Christmas morning.

"Daddy!" He said before he dropped down in the bed. He crawled over to Safaree and began shaking his arm like his mother would do to him. "Daddy!" Safaree groaned and his eyes opened slightly before closing again. Nicki leaned off of the doorway and began walking over to the bed. "Daddy, you have to get up or-" he looked over at his momma quickly before looking back down at his dad. "Or you won't get your gifts!" He huffed at Safaree not moving and looked at his momma. He shrugged and Nicki laughed at his face. She looked down at Safaree and rolled her eyes.

"Babe." Nicki said as her hand slid up Safaree's arm. He began stirring around. "You gotta get up, Safaree. We've done all this nice stuff for you and you're sleeping." He opened his eyes and Dos hopped up with his eyes bugged. Safaree sat up in the bed and Nicki folded her arms across her chest.

"You're up! You're up! Come on!" He moved his hands in a fast motion and then pointed towards the door. Safaree ran his hand over his face before yawning one last time. Dos pouted at Safaree still sitting there and looked over at his mom. She shrugged her shoulders with a laugh and looked between the two of them. Safaree reached out grabbing his son pulling him into his lap. He placed kisses all over his sons face while he was laughing. Nicki climbed into the bed and crawled over to them.

"I can't get any love?" Nicki sat back on her feet and pouted.

"Ahhh, come on cry baby." Safaree reached his arm out to Nicki and she crawled closer to him.

"Yeah! Cry baby!" Dos said copying his dad before he fell out in laughs. Nicki reached out tickling him and Safaree tightened his arm that was holding his back making sure he didn't fall too far back. Nicki stopped and grabbed at one his tiny hands and he looked up at her.

"You'll remember that." Nicki said giving him a playful serious nod before smiling. Her eyes directed to Safaree and she let go of Dos' hand before reaching up and grabbing Safaree's face.

"Happy birthday, baby." She said before pulling him into a kiss.

"Happy birthday!"

"Let's lay in bed all day. What you think about that?" Safaree said looking down at his son. "We can watch The Incredibles."

"But Mommy said there's people coming?"

"I'm glad it wasn't a surprise." Nicki said sarcastically. "How about we watch movies tonight and we celebrate today?" Nicki said looking over at Safaree. "I worked really hard on making today special for you, babe. It'll be fun." She placed her hand on his shoulder and stared at him.

"You don't like parties?" Dos asked while reaching for his small toy car that he left in his parents bed. Safaree held onto him as he reached for it. "I like parties. You get cake and presents."

"I used to. Me and your mama used to throw parties all the time. I like just hanging with you guys too."

"You hang with us everyday, babe. Come on." Nicki said with a pout. She knew he wasn't too excited about this birthday because of everything that was going on but she really wanted him to make the most of this birthday.

"Alright, alright. Let's do it. I want the cake." Safaree said before he smirked and looked over at Nicki. He wiggled his eyebrows and she hit him on the chest.

"Cut it out." Nicki said pointed her finger in his face.

"So how big are you now?" Dos asked him while he looked down at his car. Nicki and Safaree smiled at him asking how big instead of how old.

"40." Nicki spoke up before leaning over to kiss him again. "My handsome old man."

"One for every year?" Safaree said before leaning over to kiss her again.

"Maybe later." She winked before leaning back with a laugh causing him to miss her lips.

"That's big! Mommy, how big are you?"

Safaree laughed and Nicki twitched her lip. Safaree threw his little boy up in the air and caught him.

"Alright, come on." He said standing up. "Before your mama end up smacking us." He cradled Dos as he walked towards his bathroom to brush and get ready for the day. He looked back at Nicki before bending down and whispering in his ear. "She's 39."

"Safaree!" Nicki yelled out. Safaree and Dos laughed as Safaree picked up his pace running off into the bathroom. Nicki climbed off the bed and began fixing it up while Safaree got ready.

____________________________________________

"C'mon, lil man." Safaree said before he picked him up.

"I told you about that." Nicki said following behind them. She made a funny face at her son causing him to laugh.

"Hey!" Safaree said as he slightly turned to look back at her quickly before turning back around heading for the kitchen. "You gotta let me be me. This gon' always be my little man. Ain't that right?" He looked down at him.

"Yeah!" he said excitedly and Safaree held out his fist.

"My man." they bumped fists and Safaree smiled wide at his laugh. He walked into the kitchen and saw the big breakfast that was sitting at the table. Nicki caught his eye as she walked around him and put her hands on the back of the chair that Safaree always sat at when they would eat. He leaned down putting Dos down and held onto him making sure he had his balance. "Go take a seat, lil man."

"Okay!" he walked around and climbed up in his chair that Nicki and Safaree had gotten specially made so that he could feel like a big kid and sit at the table with them.

"You the best, baby." He bent down and kissed Nicki's lips. She put her hand on his back as he broke the kiss. He sat down in the seat and Nicki bent down kissing him on the cheek once more before taking her seat next to him.

"I helped!" Dos spoke out before Safaree could get his next word out.

"Oh yeah? What you do?" Safaree said before he grabbed a piece of bacon off of his plate and bit into it.

"Mommy said you like strawberries." He said before he grabbed a handful of cheerios and shoved them in his mouth. Nicki laughed at the fact that he picked up Safaree's habit of eating dry cereal because he didn't like it with milk.

"I do. And you gave me five of them. You did good, man."

"Thanks, Daddy. Are you gonna read my card?"

"Yeah. Should I read yours or Mommy's first?"

"Mine!" He shouted sitting up in his chair. Nicki cleared her throat looking over at him and he sat back in his seat. "Sorry." He said before he picked up his cheerios and put more into his mouth.

"I'll open them after we eat and I'll open yours first. That alright with you?"

"Yeah."

He said before reaching for his cup. Nicki looked between her son and her husband and smiled at the fact that they made they same faces. Nothing could break the concentration of a Samuels man when a plate was in front of them. Nicki picked up her fork and began to cut the side of her pancake.

"I think you should read his card first. Save the best card for last."

"Nuh uhn!" he said putting his cup down. "Mine has a picture,"

"Did you draw it yourself?" Safaree asked him.

"Yep. I used my crayons from school."

"Mine has a picture too." Nicki said before placing the pancake in her mouth.

"You didn't draw it."

"I still have a picture. And I have a better gift."

"I have a good gift, too! Daddy, you'll like my gift."

"I'll like anything you guys get me." He said before tossing a strawberry in his mouth. "What are we doing first?"

"We're gonna see cars!" Dos yelled out in excitement. Nicki laughed at the fact that her son couldn't hold water.

"Yeeeeeeaaah!" Safaree said rubbing his hands together.

"I know you haven't had time in a while. You've been working really hard on opening your sunglasses store. I know you wanna expand your collection out there."

"Good idea, baby." He said as he leaned over with his lips puckered. She met him for a kiss and they both snapped their heads in Dos' direction when he yelled out.

"Hey! It was my idea too!" He said with a pout as he folded his arms.

"You're right, baby." Nicki reached over to him holding her arms out. He leaned forward and she picked him up placing him into her lap. "How about we go get Daddy's first gift?"

"Okay." He hopped off Nicki's lap and she stood up too.

"You stay here." Nicki pointed a finger at Safaree and walked off following behind her son. Safaree shrugged and continued eating while he still had time for it knowing how anxious his son was. He grabbed his glass of orange juice and took a sip. He looked at the cards that were propped up on the table and smiled. He could tell Dos probably asked Nicki for a bigger piece of poster board once he seen how big Nicki's card was. He turned around at the sudden sound of noise.. Safaree dropped the fork to the plate and stood up,

"Yoooooooo!" Safaree said while looking at Nicki rolling in a custom painted black and gold motorcycle with Dos sitting on top with a helmet in his hands.

"It's an icon!" Dos said while a smile and extended the helmet out to his dad while sitting on the motorcycle. "Here daddy, this is yours." Safaree reached out for the helmet and took it. He cupped it between his arm and his side and held his hand out. "Give me some love man." Dos gave him a high five and Safaree bent down kissing him on the forehead.

"Do you like it?" Nicki asked while putting the kickstand down. She picked Dos up taking him off of the bike and put him on the ground.

"I love it." Safaree said leaning over dropping his helmet in his chair before turning his attention back to the bike. "This is crazy. I'ma have to get back to stunting with this thing." Safaree said looking over the Icon Sheene motorcycle. He looked at the seat that was black with Uno engraved in the seat in cursive gold letters. He chuckled at it before bending down to look at the footrest that had SLS engraved on it to. "The detail on this is craaaaaazy."

"Can you take me on a ride on it?" Dos walked around and stood next to Safaree. "I can get mommy to get me a helmet, too."

Safaree stood up and picked up Dos. "Of course. Whose gift is this?" Safaree asked looking between Dos and Nicki.

"It was all your mini me." Nicki said nodding her head towards Dos and stepping around the bike and standing next to them.

"But Mommy helped me pay for it. I had 7 dollars saved up but it wasn't enough and she paid for the rest."

Safaree chuckled and Nicki leaned into his back.

"He tried." Nicki said with a slight laugh.

"This is the best gift ever. I'll take you on as many rides as you want. Give me a hug." Nicki leaned off of Safaree's shoulder and allowed Dos to wrap his arms around Safaree's neck and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Love you, Daddy. Can you put me down now?"

"Love you more. Here." He put him down and watched him run around the table and back into his seat. He turned around wrapped his arms around Nicki and she wrapped her arm around him too.

"You foot the bill?"

"He really thought he was helping. He made me take that money from him and watched me give it to them. You couldn't tell him that he didn't pay for majority of that bike." Nicki licked her lips. "I'm glad you like it. He really did help with everything. We walked in and out of all the bikes he picked that one. He walked right up to it and kept it tapping it." Nicki laughed and looked over at her son who was focused on finishing his cheerios before looking back up at Safaree. "It was time to pick the color scheme and he said, "You know? Like you and Daddy's cover?" He was so set on that Safaree. I told him your favorite color is red but he insisted. "No, this color is better." She said mocking his voice. "Only thing I had an input on were the little details. But he told me, Faree, "You gotta put number one! Uno! Cause I'm Dos!" They laughed. "We love you, babe."

"I love you guys, I love you." He said before he kissed her forehead before kissing her lips. "Let's finish breakfast." he said before turning around pulling her body in front of his and walking over to the table with his arms still wrapped around her.

_________________________________________________

Safaree hopped out of the truck and walked around as quick as possible to help Nicki out of the car. He caught her hand as she already opened the door and stepped out. She tossed her purse on her shoulder before pulling the back of her shirt down. Safaree opened the back door and took off Dos' seat belt. He picked up, and pulled him out of the car putting him down next to Nicki. He reached up grabbing his moms hand and moved back when he seen Safaree about to shut the door. He nodded his head and they began walking.

"Are you excited, Daddy?"

"Yeah."

"I like cars. Are they gonna look like the ones in my movie?"

"Some of them." Safaree said as he placed his keys and his phone in his pocket. He put his hand on Nicki's back as they approached a step. He reached out for the door letting them step in first before walking in behind them.

"Cooooooool!" Dos said letting go of Nicki's hand and running over to the 1962 Ferrari 330. It was a candy apple red with a white circle that had a black 6 sitting in the center of it on the lower part of the hood.

"Safaree Lloyd Samuels, Jr."

He looked up at his mom with big puppy eyes knowing why he was being called by his full name.

"Don't run off like that. You know better." Nicki said walking closer to him. She looked down at him and they shared a look.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, man." Safaree said stepping around Nicki and placing a hand on his head before playfully shaking it. "Just chill out." He said before letting go of his head and stepping around the car getting a good look at it.

"This is a racing car." Nicki said as more of a statement than a question.

"How you know? What gave it away?" Safaree said making his way back to the front of the hood where Nicki and Dos were to stare at the engine.

"Why did something have to give it away, Safaree? I know my cars."

"No you don't. You can't even tell the Range Rover and the Escalade apart."

"Whatever." Nicki laughed. "It might've been the number that's plastered all over the car." She said while playfully rolling her eyes.

"What does this do?" Dos asked while he placed both of his tiny hands on the edge of the open hood and looked at the engine.

"This runs the car. One of the most beautiful things I've ever seen." Safaree said looking down at the engine and licking his lips.

"I've never understood the fascination with this." Nicki said looking down at the engine not at all excited while folding her arms across her chest. "You guys say this is beautiful but it's nothing but pipes, babe."

"It's a guy thing. You wouldn't understand." Safaree said stepping forward to get a closer look.

"Can we sit in it?" Dos looked up at his mom.

"N-"

"Go on, buddy." A man said walking up to them. Nicki and Safaree turned around. "Let him in. He can handle it." He said stuffing one hand in his pocket while extending his other hand out to them. "David."

"Nicki."

"Safaree."
'
"Which one of you is more into cars, you or this little guy? What's your name?"

"Dos."

"No, babe. Tell him your real name."

"Safaree. I'm a junior."

"I think I like Dos." David said with a smile. "Hop in.

Dos pushed off the car and ran around to the side where David was holding the drivers seat door opened for him. He hopped in and sat down.

"Don't touch anything." Nicki said walking around the car to get a better view of him sitting inside. She stood next to Safaree who stood next to David. They watched as Dos looked at the inside of the car so fascinated not even having a thing to say. Which was unusual for their son. Nicki pulled her phone and stepped back adjusting the view for the picture she was about to take. She stepped back just enough to get Safaree in the shot who was looking in the car at Dos. She quickly snapped the picture when he leaned forward putting his hands on the steering wheel and stepping forward again with the guys while typing up her instagram caption.

Like father, like son. Happy birthday, babe.

She closed the app and tossed her phone back into her purse while listening in on Safaree and David's conversation.

"How much is this going for?" Safaree asked him while occasionally glancing at his son in the car who now made it to the backseat.

"This beauty was sold to us for 8.4 million. We fixed her up, got it a new engine, shined it up and we're selling it for about 9.3."

"That's not bad. I thought it would be around 12. This the one used in all the big races back in the day?"

"Same one. It's been dinged a couple times. It's not perfect. There's some wear and tear on the inside. But other than that. It runs like a beauty."

"I might need to come back when it's not a show day and take it for a spin."

"Whatever you want. Hey, you want to see a real nice one? Come over here. I'll show you something. Bring the little guy." He said as he pointed into the car at Dos now flipping back over into the front seat.

"Okay, that's enough of that." Nicki said stepping closer to the car. She reached out for his hand.

"But.."

"Come on. David's gonna show Daddy another car." he grabbed at her hand and climbed out of the car. "Shut the door. But gently, okay?" he nodded before gently closing the door and grabbing at Nicki's hand again before following behind his dad and David with his mother. They walked through the different cars and motorcycles and David led them all the way to the back. He led them to a glass shut off show room in the back and Safaree's eyes immediately lit up.

"Yooooo." Safaree stepped up to the car and ran his hand along the side of the shiny black 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa.

"This could only fit me and Daddy."

"What about me?" Nicki said looking down at him. Safaree looked back between the both of them and chuckled.

"I don't know." he shrugged before letting her hand go and walking off to follow being Safaree. Nicki dramatically dropped her jaw and shook her head. David cracked a smile at Nicki before looking back over at Safaree admiring the car with little Safaree on his heels.

"This is the one that was used in Miami Vice." David spoke up. "Made the demand for this car go all the way up."

"I saw that episode." he said before licking his lips and stopping in front of the car staring down at it. "Only 22 were made."

"You've done your research."

"I seen it and was like.. I have to have it. One day it's gonna be in my collection." He said before licking his lips. "It's hard to find these. Most of them have been sold already. If I knew they had one in Malibu I would've been all over it."

"It's pretty." Nicki said speaking up.

"Pretty? This is beautiful." Safaree said shaking his head. "How much?"

"12.1"

Safaree let out a noise before giving a light chuckle and turning to look at Nicki.

"Nicki would never let me spend that much on a car."

"You're absolutely right." Nicki said laughing. She watched as Safaree shook his head again before turning back to look at the car. She let him stare at it for a moment before speaking again. "It's yours." Safaree snapped his head in her direction and gave her a serious look.

"Quit playing."

"I'm not playing." Nicki said with a smile. "It's yours. Tell him." Nicki said while looking over at David.

"She called about this car about a month ago. When I told her we had it in stock she paid for it immediately. Didn't even ask for the price."

"Yo, you serious?"

Nicki nodded. "Tell him, Dos."

"This is the gift mommy got you. I like mine but I like mommy's too. Me and you can go race!"

"How'd you know?" He said stepping over to Nicki and standing right in front of her.

"I was in the kitchen cooking and I could hear you going on and on about this car. You recorded the episode. I watched it back... made some phone calls... and voila!" Nicki said while holding her hands out. She turned him around back to him facing the car and placed her hands on his side while she looked around him smiling at the car.

"It's yours."
---

Nicki turned on the microphone and put it up to her mouth.

"Testing! Testing!" Nicki said with a wide smile. "Okay, it's working. I just want to thank each and every one of you soooooooo much for coming out here for Safaree's birthday. Whether you live here or we had to pay to fly you guys out here." The outside filled with laughter. "You know who you are." Nicki said cutting her eyes at Safaree's best friend Rex. "Thank you guys so much for being here to celebrate one of the most amazing, caring, and heartwarming people I know. He's been my greatest support system and an even greater father." Nicki said looking over at Safaree who was sitting to the side in a chair with Dos sitting in his lap eating a piece of cotton candy. "I hope you realize everyday how much we love you and how much you hold our little family together." Nicki said getting teary eyed. "I have been so blessed to be able to have my soulmate walk through this journey called life with me for 21 years. No matter what you bring happiness into my life and to everyone around you. You've been working so hard on your businesses this year you haven't even had much time to sleep. But I want everyone to know how hard you work and how much you strive to be a better you than you were yesterday. By the way, Safaree did not want this party." Nicki said turning to look at everybody. "So you guys coming out here forced him to be here and thank you guys." Nicki looked over at Safaree again. "My baby looks happy. So thank you. And lastly." Nicki took a breath. "Your positive energy is infectious. Your obnoxious laugh is contagious, and I couldn't ask for a better partner in life than you, babe." Nicki said be she puckered her lips blowing him an air kiss. "We love you!" Nicki said placing the mic down and walking over to him as the outside filled with "love you's." Safaree stood up letting Dos slide his body and stand up as well. He bent down giving Nicki's lips for a kiss.

"Thank you so much." Safaree wrapped both of his arms around her neck and kissed all over her face. "How did I end up with the best wife in the world?" Safaree said in her ear. Nicki's smile grew and she ran her hands up his back.

"I could ask the same about my husband." Nicki said as she rested her chin on Safaree's shoulder.

"Hey! What about me?!" Dos said as he tugged at Safaree's pants. They broke apart and laughed. Safaree sat back down and picked him up sitting him on his lap.

"I got the best mini me in the world." Safaree kissed him on the cheek and Dos smiled a cocky smile like his mother often would when Safaree would express his love for her. "Everything I do, I do for you." He kissed him again before hugging him tight causing him to laugh.

"Okay, okay!" He said trying to wiggle out of his grasp. Nicki looked down at them with a smile. "I can't breathe, Daddy!" He said dramatically before Safaree loosened his grip. Safaree sat him up in his lap and stared down at him.

"I want a speech from you next time. Can you do that?"

"Oh Lord." Nicki spoke up.

"Yeah! I will write one for your next birthday." He said completely losing focus of Safaree and grabbing some more of his cotton candy off the table. "And I'll have my own mic like mommy's. But I want mine blue." He said before putting some cotton candy in his mouth. "Can you make it for me? I don't want sparkles." He said as he looked up at his mother. Nicki laughed at him referring to her diamond studded pink microphone.

"Yes, I will get you one, baby."

"Family picture?" Grizz walked up through the crowd asking while holding the camera.

"Yes! Here. You sit on my lap and I'll sit on Daddy's lap."

"Do I have to put down my cotton candy?"

Nicki ignored his question lifting up and taking his previous spot on Safaree's lap before placing Dos in her lap.

"Everybody ready?" Grizz asked. Nicki nodded.

"Smile, babe." Nicki said and Dos put the cotton candy down from his mouth long enough to hold a smile.

"Got it."

"Okay, one more." Nicki said turning to look at Safaree. "Kiss me." He obeyed her demand and Grizz snapped a photo. "Just one more I promise." Nicki said knowing how impatient her boys got when she wanted to do a full photo shoot. "Kisses for the baby." Nicki said and bent kissing on her son. She held a kiss long enough for Grizz to snap it. "I love you guys so much." Nicki said looking between Safaree and Dos.

__________________________________________________________

"Come here." Nicki said grabbing Safaree's wrist.

"Where's-"

"Iesha has him." She said never turning around while still pulling him through the crowd. They smiled and exchanged words while making their way through everybody while Nicki continued to pull him. She brought them over to the side of their house nearest to their bedroom and leaned against the house.

"Why we all the way over here?"

"I just wanna be alone for a minute. Come here." Nicki said pulling him closer. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her chin on his chest to look up at him. "Are you enjoying today?"

"Yeah. This one of the best birthdays ever. You did good, baby. I feel loved. I gotta make it up to you. Anything you want."

"Anything?"

"Anything. You got something in my mind?"

"I'm sure I'll think of something."

They stared at each other for a moment and shared a comfortable silence. Safaree bent down and kissed her. Nicki stopped him when he went to kiss her again.

"I think I like your birthdays. You kiss me a lot."

"You love it?"

"I do." Nicki tightened her arms around him. "Reminds me of when we first got together. You were obsessed with me."

"I still am." He kissed her lips. "Was then." He kissed her again moving his lips to her cheek. "I am now." He kissed her on the shoulder. "Always will be, baby."

"I'll never stop being obsessed with you. Never ever ever." Nicki placed her hands on the back of his head.

"Foreva eva?"

"Foreva eva!" She yelled back before they both laughed. She gently pulled his head down signaling for a hug and he did just that as he wrapped his arms around her while moving them side to side and still kissing her face. "I wanna go on a trip, babe."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Somewhere nice. On the water."

"Nah." Safaree shook his head.

"Why not?"

"If the titanic can sink.. anything can. I like my life."

"Well you just ruined that for me. Jerk."

"Yo, let's go skiing. I wanna take my lil man."

"You know how much I hate being cold."

"So what. How me and my son gonna explore the world and try new things if we gotta stay in places that's hot?"

"You guys can't experience things without me. I don't wanna miss my baby doing anything for the first time without me there."

"Then it's settled. We're going."

"'I'm not making any promises."

"You would just be sitting in the cabin with the heat on a thousand degrees." They both laughed.

"You probably right, too." Nicki licked her lips and looked at the sky before turning her attention back to Safaree. "Are we really gonna go?"

"Yeah. I'll set it up. I'll call around this week and boom boom boom. But look. How bout this. One week we skiing. Next we on a beach."

"Deal."

"I'm excited now."

"Me too. I can't wait to just get away for a while."

"No friends. No family. No assistants. Just us."

"Just us." Nicki said agreeing.

They heard a starter firework sound off and and Safaree turned around while putting an arm around her shoulder. She wrapped an arm around his back and they stepped up to the railing of the balcony to get a good view.

The first set of fireworks shot into the air and burst into a bunch of white music notes. "Ooooh that's dope." Safaree said with his eyes focused on the sky. The fireworks kept going non stop and the colorful tie dye bursts caught Safaree's eye. He knew Dos would be jumping with excitement if he was standing over there with them. The word 'you're' popped up with 'my' following shortly after and a huge globe popped up into the sky. He pulled her as close as possible and kissed her on the forehead. Another set of firework popped up in the shape of a Ferris wheel. A bunch of 4th of July  fireworks popped up before a specific one caught his eye. "#1 DAD" popped up in blue and a huge grin spread across Safaree's face. Motorcycles and cars filled these sky before Nicki's named popped up with pink hearts all around it. "Looove." Safaree said never refocusing his eyes. A rainbow color set popped up before it turned into a spiral and spun around before bursting. WE LOVE YOU popped up and Nicki tightened her arms around him.

___________________________________________________

"I'll take him."

"My baby's getting too big." Nicki said before letting Safaree pick him up. He stirred a little bit before he rested his head on Safaree's shoulder. Nicki pouted at her sleeping boy and ran her hand over his face gently before she followed behind him and Safaree. They walked through the crowd and into the house. She pinched at the back of Safaree's shirt and held it while they walked towards their sons room. Micaiah stepped out of the bathroom just before they were approaching it to pass it.

"I'll watch him." He said before fixing his shirt and pants one more time.

"You sure?" Nicki asked him as they still walked towards his bedroom. She let go of Safaree's shirt and slowed down a bit walking side by side with Micaiah.

"Yeah, I got him."

Nicki stared at his face and could tell something was off. She didn't know if it was because it was late or there was something going on with him. She made a mental note to be sure to check on him tomorrow morning not wanting to force him or ruin the mood of the night. They made it to his bedroom and Safaree stepped around the bed. He adjusted him gently not wanting to abruptly wake up knowing how that always resulted into a fit because he woken up out of his sleep. Nicki pulled the cover back and Safaree laid him down gently and watched as he squirmed. His body met the bed and his head moved up and down the pillow as he moved around to get comfortable. Micaiah sat over in the lazy boy chair and reached for his phone that was in his pocket. Nicki put the cover back over Dos while trying not to interrupt the good night kiss Safaree was giving him. Once he was done he helped make sure he was tucked in and stood up watching Nicki adjust the pillows aligned on the right side of the bed. He had a habit of always rolling over to one side of the bed and would continue if there was nothing there to stop him. Nicki bent down and placed two quick kisses on his face before standing up, pushing her hair behind her ear before her finger pointed at Micaiah.

"If he wakes up giving you trouble you call one of us."

"I got it."

"He shouldn't wake up. All that sugar knocked him out." Safaree spoke up.

"I got it." He repeated again with a slight laugh this time while looking down at his phone. Nicki snarled at him and walked off following behind Safaree who was headed out the door.

"Pay attention to my son." She said before she fully walked out the door and closed it behind her quietly. She sped up her next few steps to catch up with Safaree. She leaned into him and he moved his arm tossing it around her shoulder.

"I liked that cotton candy machine. We should keep it."

"You're not about to have our son bouncing off the walls, Safaree" Nicki reached out hitting the hall light as they passed it not understanding why every light in the house was on.

"It's for me." He licked his lips. "Usually it's too much sugar. But nah. It's different when you make it yourself and you make the flavor what you want. It was good."

"It was. I hope Patrick didn't eat mine."

"I don't even know why you let him hold it for you. Should have just brought it in the house."

"I was enjoying the show. I loved the fireworks show much. I hope Grizz got them all on camera. That man was worth every penny. They were beautiful." They stepped into the kitchen and Safaree laughed before sighing.

"We definitely gotta have somebody clean all this shit up."

"I don't even want to think about it." she laughed lightly. "Thank God for paper plates though, right?" she laughed again and Safaree removed his arm from her shoulder while he reached out for the door sliding it to the side. Before they could fully step out of the door and into the backyard they were met by Nicki's mother.

"I was just looking for you guys. Where's my grandson?"

"Caiah got him." Safaree said as he moved to the side letting Nicki around him and fully stepped out sliding the door closed.

"He's sleep." Nicki spoke up adjusting her hoodie. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I'm tired. Your father said he's gonna stay back and he'll take Micaiah." She embraced Safaree's arms that were opened and he hugged her tight and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Appreciate you, mama." He said before letting her go.

"You've always been my favorite child." She said with a laugh before turning to Nicki to embrace her in a goodbye hug.

"Wow. Forget that you actually gave birth to me." Nicki said while playfull rolling her eyes and hugging her mother. They gave each other a double cheek kiss and Nicki held her before she could fully get out of her grasp. They both glanced over at Safaree who spoke out yelling back to someone who said something to him. They directed their attention back to each other as he walked off.

"Are we still on for lunch tomorrow?" Carol asked her.

"Yes. Just call me and Safaree and I will meet you guys there. Do you want us to pick you guys up?"

"No, we can drive. Just making sure we're still going. I know how my working girl likes to cancel last minute." Carol gave her a side eye. Nicki leaned back and gave her a dramatic mouth drop.

"I'm not feeling the shade tonight, Mommy."

"I'm just playing. I'll call you when I get home. Okay?"

"Okay. Love you."

"Love you too." they said releasing each other before Nicki walked through the crowd and found Safaree sitting at the table with his and Nicki's friends. She walked around the table and sat down on Safaree's leg.

"What's going on over here?"

"Peaks." Joyce spoke up. "It doesn't have to be today, but the peak of knowing Safaree. You can go last."

"Seeing you man up has been crazy." Rex spoke up before quickly taking another drink from his solo cup. "You really got a wife and a kid now. It's crazy to say it out loud. You've helped me out a lot. Nicki too." He said before nodding at her. "I got your back, man. You've pulled me out of some shit." Him and Safaree shared a common nod before everyone looked to the next person beside him.

"My baby shower." His sister said. "I didn't even have to ask. The second I told you that I was pregnant you took care of it. I think that's the best moment for me. It was my first child and at the time I wasn't financially ready but you handled it. You flew out the next day and took care of everything. That's the best moment for me. I'll never forget that. You a cool sister." Neek said before everyone laughed knowing the relationship between them and how they would call the other brother/sister.

"Okay, it's my turn!" Joyce said before shaking her breasts. Everyone laughed and Nicki playfully rolled her eyes at how crazy she is. "You helped me out with Zeplin so much. Even when I wasn't doing Nicki's make up for the day, you always wanted to babysit. At that time me and his dad weren't getting along well. He liked you a lot. You were good with watching him. You spoiled his little ass and that's why he's so damn high maintenance now. But thank you."

"Aye I ain't seen Zeplin in a minute. Tell him I said whuddup!" Safaree said before nodding his head and placing his elbow back on the arm of the chair before resting his chin in his hand again. He placed his hand on Nicki's waste adjusting her not liking the way she was pressing on his leg.

"Let me go!" Nicki said excitedly before turning in his lap a little bit more to look at him. "Okay, honestly. I was battling back and forth with which moment was the peak in my head. But I would honestly have to say the day I met you was the peak." She smiled before licking her lips. She rubbed her lips together while looking off for a moment not wanting to get to emotional before looking back at Safaree's face. "You've changed my life for the better ever since the day I met you. You're a pain in the ass." Nicki and everyone laughed. "But I couldn't imagine my life without you." she paused. "You've taught me a lot about.." Nicki looked up at the sky trying to make sure her words came out right. "caring for someone besides myself. I can admit for the longest time I was selfish. And meeting you was just different." Nicki shook her head. "I've never met someone who could be so selfless. Who could love so hard. Who could just want the best for that person and just not expect anything in return." Nicki said while talking with her hands. "And that's one of the most valuable things you've ever done for me, aside from giving me my son. You've taught me that it's okay to love someone wholeheartedly and express that feeling to them. It's okay to be vulnerable with the person you love. The person you cherish. The person you wanna spend the rest of your life with." Nicki said while placing a hand around his wrist. "You've taught me that love is the strongest emotion and the easiest to give when you're willing to receive it." Nicki said looking into his eyes. "That's what makes me look at you everyday and just see sparks flying."

Here We Go Again

"What's up?" He said with his arms reached out. Nicki slowly leaned in and gave a small smile. He hugged her tight which caused her to tighten her arms around him. He dipped her back and let out a deep sigh.

"It's been 2 and a half years." Nicki said as he stood her up making sure she caught her balance. Once she got it her hands moved from around his waist to his wrists.

"I know." He said before licking his lips out of habit. "This feels weird." They released each other and Nicki sat down on Safaree's couch. Safaree walked over to the fridge and grabbed two water bottles. He closed the door and walked over to Nicki. She grabbed the water bottle from him and opened it taking a sip. He sat down next to her and dropped the water bottle beside him while positioning himself to look at her. "You look the same."

Nicki laughed. "Well I didn't change anything, Safaree. You got your teeth done?" Nicki reached out to touch the side of his face and her thumb gently moved his bottom lip. "They look nice. You look nice."  She moved her hand from his mouth to the back of his neck. "I haven't touched you in so long. I missed it."

"Me too." He said before licking his lips. "Your random touching. I'm not gonna lie I kind of missed it."

"Kind of?" Nicki raised an eyebrow and rolled her eyes playfully. She took her hand off his neck and leaned back on the couch getting comfortable. "Your place is nice." Nicki said as she looked around. She stretched her legs out on Safaree indicating that he should sit back. He sat back and pulled at her legs gently pulling her body as close to him as possible. She leaned her head back and folded her hands across her stomach. "It's really nice. Who decorated in here? It's not your usual red bachelor pad shit but it doesn't look feminine either."

"Thanks. I know it's nothing like yours. You even comfortable here?" He joked in reference to his place being noticeably smaller than the houses he lived in when they were together. She gave a small laugh. "I got female friends." He said in reference to her last comment. She cut her eyes at him and twitched her lip. He laughed. "I said friends. That's it." He ran his hand up to her thigh and gripped it tightly. "Yo. I've just missed being around you." He looked over at her wide smile. "We don't even have to talk for the rest of the day. I could just look at you."

"You wanna know what's so crazy? I've imagined this moment in my head so many times, Safaree." she said with her voice trailing off. She licked her lips and looked over at the tv  not really paying attention to it, but setting her eyes on something else. "And I've had in my head everything I wanted to say to you. It was really perfect in my head. I thought I would be crying my eyes out." She looked back at over his serious face. "But all I can think about now is how I've missed your face." She laughed.  "Your goofy ass obnoxious laugh." She rested her head on his shoulder and trailed her hands down his arm before resting one hand on top of his as the other locked fingers with his.

"I don't want to talk about the past. These last couple years of my life..." She sighed. "Every bad thing that went wrong... I just wanted to talk to you. My brother. The show being canceled. Losing 2 of my best friends. The argument with my mom. Everything." She took a moment to reflect. "I know I moved on. I was getting really good at thinking you never wanted to see me again and accepting it. But then something bad would happen and I would just want to hear you tell me how it's gonna be okay. It's gonna be okay. You give me some life long speech that has nothing to do with what I'm sad about, tell me a joke to make me smile and then feed me." They shared a laugh. "The first year was okay but this last year... I was falling apart."

"You kept it together."

"You think?"

"I thought our situation was permanent. I know you. I knew you. But during the time, man. I felt like I didn't. I thought you were happy. You were good. You didn't need me."

"You knew something. You reached out." She lifted her head up and rested her chin on his shoulder.

"Can I be honest?"

"We're starting over right?" She laughed a little.

"Your mom reached out."

"Ugh." Nicki said before leaning off his shoulder and leaning back on the couch. She pulled his hand that was still locked and covered with her hands into her lap. She stared at their hands, turning them around and looking at them.

"You know me, Safaree." She looked over at him. "I love my mother with all my heart. But I cannot sit there with them and act like that's okay!" She said just a tad bit louder the longer she went on. "You know what he did to me. You know our family secrets."  She rested her head back again and looked over at him looking down. "I can't believe after all these years nothing has changed."

"You can't be mad at your mom though." He looked back at her and they held eye contact. "She's just tryna help him out. Would you do the same for your son?"

"No Safaree! It's fucking wrong. I don't want him around my nieces like that. I don't want him around Micaiah like that. We've hid our family secrets for long enough but once you do this to someone else's child you need to pay." She let go of his hand and grabbed at the pillow beside her. She aggressively fluffed it up before sitting it in her lap with her arms over. "I don't want to talk about it anymore. No one sees my side." She ran her nail over the trace of the design on the pillow with her lips poured.

"Nicki. I get it. I know you. I know your mom. What he did was fucked up. The first time and every time. You can't put it all on your mom. She don't want to lose a son." He raised his arm behind her head and laid it on top of the couch. He licked his lips and looked down at her. They shared a comfortable stare before she rolled her eyes. "And for real, if she wasn't gonna take his side then he would've went away when he did what he did to you."

"It's just hurtful. It's always put a strain on our relationship." she shook her head. "Let's talk about something else." She looked over at him and pointed a finger in his face. "You. Don't ever do reality tv again." She shook her head at the fact that Safaree's loud laugh roared out before she could even finish the last two words of that sentence. She shook her head laughing and put her finger down.

"You wasn't feeling it?"

"No, Safaree. And you knew I wouldn't like it, and that's why you did it."

"Hey, I was single. Enjoying life. Coconut oil. The beach. The women."

"Stop." Nicki held up her hand. "You know better. And I didn't like any of them."

"Hey I didn't like yours either." He shrugged.

"No, Safaree. K. Michelle?" They laughed. "You talked about her when we would watch Love & Hip Hop saying little sexual comments about her to piss me off. But you really dated her! I couldn't believe it. When Candice sent me pictures of the two of you I hated it. I hated seeing you with her on TV. Going on your stupid little dates."

"We were never together." He laughed when Nicki's head snapped up at him and looked him directly in the eyes. "We were just friends. A lot of them girls you seen me with... we was just friends."

"You're lying."

"I swear." He raised his hands up as if he was surrendering. "I had two girlfriends the whole time. I hung with a lot of them. I went out with them. We would go to dinner. But it was never a girlfriend. You just assumed." He shrugged again before dropping his hands on her legs. "TV was fun for me. I got to show people who I am. I got to meet new people. Have new experiences. I went to a couple weddings. I loved it. I don't regret a thing. Kind of wish I would've went through with the dating show." he laughed at Nicki making an annoyed noise at his last statement. "Nah but. Something else almost happened."

"Hm?"

"I almost got married." He said in a serious tone and looked over at her. They stared at each other without saying anything. "For real."

"What stopped you?"

"It wasn't you."

Nicki's arm reached out, back handing him on the shoulder.

"Ah!" Safaree reached up and grabbed at his shoulder where Nicki had just hit him. "That actually hurt. Your nail got me." He rubbed the spot and Nicki laughed.

"Move your hand, let me see." She moved his hand out the way and hit his shoulder again. "You're fine."

"See. I don't miss the abuse."

"Shut up. I don't abuse you." she leaned back on the couch and stared at him. "No, really. Tell me. Why not?"

"It just didn't feel right. I don't know." he shrugged. "I proposed. She said yeah. Right away. She didn't hesitate like when I asked you." he said before chuckling. "But that's not really what I wanted. Who I wanted it to be with. About a month before the wedding I just called it off. I couldn't do it." he shook his head. "I couldn't."

"You were waiting for me?" She asked quietly while looking down at her nails.

"I always will. But even now I'm not ready [for marriage]." he paused. "I still gotta get my mind right. I did a lot of thinking when you were gone."

"Yeah? About what?"

"Just everything. How it all went down. How it all started. The breakup. All of it. There's some things I would change and some things I wouldn't." He paused. "Maybe this all had to happen. I changed a lot. I'm willing to talk things out. You know I'm infamous for disappearing."

"How could I forget?!" Nicki said making a joke out of the sore situation.

"Yeah. Well." he licked his lips again out of habit. "I'm willing to talk it out. I'll answer you. Any questions. I'll answer. Any time you speak, I'll listen."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Being consistent." she laughed. "I would've stayed in that situation no matter how many doubts I had. I had said some really hurtful things about you. But you proved me right. You're a way more forgiving person than I am. And for that I'm sorry. About all of it."

"I know how you are. You say some fucked up things when you're mad but you never mean them. Doesn't take away that it's fucked up." He lifted an arm and wrapped it around her neck gently pulling her closer to him. He kissed her on the forehead and Nicki took a hand, grabbing his, and locking their fingers again.

"So what's next for us, Fonty?"

He smiled at her mentioning a nickname she had given him many years ago when they were in Japan.

"Whatever you want next, Lee." she smiled back. "But I think we should just do us. The whole public thing wouldn't be good for you right now. Let everything die down with your family. People are gonna have something to say. Our mind has to be right going into this again. I'm not stepping out. I'm not lying. I'm 100% focused on us. What about you?"

"I'll do anything not to lose you again, Faree. You don't understand how hard it was for me when you first left. I cried everyday for those 4 months I was alone." she held his hand tighter. "I messed up too and I made it about you. I'm sorry."

"I've forgiven you for it all. Do you forgive me?"

"I forgave you when you called." she gave a small laugh. "I was so nervous to answer the phone, Safaree. Mommy had given me your new number just in case I ever got the balls to call you again. When your name was on the screen I froze."

"I have that effect on women."

"Be quiet." she said playfully. "I never stopped thinking about you." she admitted. "I kept having dreams and I would wake up feeling so stupid. I agree with you. We should do everything how we want this time. And when you're ready for me to show you off to the world I won't think twice." She looked up at him nodding his head. She stared at his lips and sat there for a moment. He felt her eyes planted on him and looked down at her.

"I'm cute to you?"

"You look better than I remember."

"So do you. Put on a little weight."

"Oh my gosh!" she looked down at their hands in her lap. "Why would you say that, Safaree? I'm getting fat."

"I like it." she leaned down and kissed her on the nose. "I love when your face is round." She laughed and reached up holding his face with her free hand.

"Can I have a real kiss?"

"I've been waiting on that." he said as he leaned down and kissed her on the lips. They held it for a while before Nicki pulled away before looking at his face and giving him another quick peck.

"I really, really, missed you." she said before laughing. She let go of his hand and moved her legs off of his body. She stood up pulling down her shirt and walking over to the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" Safaree asked confused at the interruption and movement from the moment they were having.

"I'm about to cook for you." she said as she opened his fridge looking over the food. "Who did this shopping for you, Faree? You're like a different person." she scanned the fridge looking over nothing but healthy stuff and rolled her eyes not being able to think of anything to make. He stood up from the couch and walked over into the kitchen. "I can't make anything out of lettuce and vitamin water, Safaree." she said as she stared over at him coming closer to her.  She let go of the fridge doors when he stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her. Her smile grew as she turned around and took steps forward walking over to the cabinets.

"With the weight gain your ass got bigger." he laughed and Nicki smacked his arm. "I'm not complaining." he said before he kissed her on the neck. "I'll order something for us. Anything you want." he turned her body around and grabbed her waist sitting her on the counter. "Talk to me."

"I just want to eat and lay with you for the rest of the night." she stared at him. "I could go for some chicken."

"You could always go for some chicken." He said as he looked around for his phone.

"You're falling back into your old ways, Faree. I don't like this teasing." she placed her hands on the ends of the counter and leaned forward.

"I love you." he said before he picked up his phone while scrolling through to find the number of their favorite place that served Nicki's favorite chicken. She smiled and hopped off of the counter. She walked over to him while staring at him putting the phone to his ear. She wrapped her arms around his back and hugged him tight.

"Love you more."