“Kaylee, what’s wrong?” Gerald asked softly. He looked down at me and then stroked a tear away. A tear I hadn’t realized I had shed.
“Who is that in the background? Are you already being a whore?” My mom screamed on the other end of the phone.
At the speed of light, Gerald snatched my phone from me and hit the speakerphone button.
“You might be Kaylee’s mother, but I suggest you mind your tone and words when you speak to her,” he growled. “She is by no means a whore!”
“Who the hell do you think you are to bark orders at me?” my mom huffed.
“Who the hell do you think you are to talk to Kaylee as though she’s a damn dog?” Gerald retorted. “Kaylee is going to be successful in school and in life. The fact that you even had the thought she would fail just goes to show your lack of intelligence.”
Gerald’s words made me smile. No one had ever stood up for me the way he did. His words sounded genuine and the look in his eyes told me he was beyond pissed.
“How dare you talk to me like that! You are just some stranger!” My mom shouted. I imagined the vein in her neck bulging and pulsating. It always did when she got her blood pressure too high. And clearly, her blood pressure was high.
“And Kaylee is your daughter and you talk to her like she’s some damn stranger off the streets!”
“Why you--”
“No. You don’t get a say in this. Just know that if IEVERhear you talk to Kaylee in that tone or manner, I will make your life a living fucking nightmare, Mrs. Brittain. Good day.”
Gerald hung up the phone. His nostrils flared with each deep, ragged breath he took. A vein in his neck bulged and pulsated, much like the one I imagined in my mom’s neck. He gripped my phone.
“Are you okay?” I whispered, taking hold of his free hand. He looked down at me.
“I’m fine,” he smiled. “I’m sorry for taking your phone away and talking to your mother like that.”
“It’s okay.”
Gerald shook his head.
“No. It was rude,” he sighed. “Hearing her yell at you and the tears in your eyes, snapped something inside me. I don’t want to ever hear someone talk to you like that or hurt you. Not even your mother.”
Gerald’s words were like icing on the cake. Any worries I had about going through with the proposal washed away. I knew he wouldn’t abandon the baby. I knew that he’d always be there for me. Even if we weren’t an item. I’d grant Gerald’s wish.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Two months later...
When I told Gerald I’d accept his proposal, he was over the moon. The next day, we went down to his attorney’s office and signed in front of witnesses, making the contract legally binding. My hand had trembled as I wrote my signature on the line. Gerald had to rub my back to calm my nerves. It wasn’t that I was worried about anything bad happening. I was just surprised that I was going through with it. Sometime in the near future, I was going to be a mom.
“Do you think I should forgive him?” Greggory Thomas asked me in his usual energetic tone.
I had forgotten he was walking beside me. He had found me after my last class, which was College Algebra and now we were heading to the front of campus, where Gerald would be waiting to take me home.
Greggory Thomas, never to be calledGregg-- he made it a point to tell me that the first day we met in Literature 101. The first day of school, I had shown up just as the bell had rung and quickly hopped into a seat. Little did I know that I would have abestiefrom there forward. Whether I liked it or not. I was stuck with him forever… another thing he told me from the start. Which I didn’t mind because him and I got along perfectly.
“Greggory,” I chuckled. “You know you’re going to forgive him. You’re absolutely head over heels for Dennis.”
I slightly bumped Greggory with my hip playfully. He looked at me and laughed.
“I know,” he sighed dramatically. “Damn him and his blue eyes. I’m a sucker for his eyes.”
“I know,” I groaned. “You’ve told me a gazillion times.”
“Kaylee,” Greggory pouted, “what has you in such a mood?”
I stopped walking. My shoulders slumped in defeat.
