“I’ve had an abortion before.” I started to tear up waiting for his judgment and of course it never came.
“Okay.”
I looked up and his face was as unmoved and filled with his normal calm. “You don’t have questions?”
“Nah.”
“Not even why I never told you?”
He moved closer to me again and took both of my hands in his before he kissed the backs of them. “Porsha, what you did with somebody before me ain’t my business as long as it ain’t putting my life at risk. We’ve shared all the pertinent health information with one another a while ago. Clearly, one of the soldiers wanted to say hello to an egg up close. That shit doesn’t have to be a permanent situation if that’s the route you feel the need to go.”
“It almost killed me the first time but the ex I was with was…an ex for a reason.”
“This the one that tried to get you cased up to save himself?” He leaned back against the counter so he could watch my face.
“Yeah.”
He shook his head in disgust at Link’s actions. “I wouldn’t want to be tied to bullshit like that for eighteen years, either.”
“You’re not judging me.”
“You expected me to?” His offense at me even hinting that he would was clear.
“I…I mean men always have strong opinions about stuff like this.”
“Most men ain’t got the sense of a botfly. But be real, how you feel about all this?”
“I don’t want you to think I trapped you.”
He pulled me closer to him by my hips and his hands circled around me to give my ass a squeeze.
“You trapped me? Porsha, baby, you new here? I was waiting on you to speak up about us for a minute but you talking about trapping me? Clearly, my nuts were as desperate to keep you as my heart was because I locked you down.”
“I want to keep the baby.” I was fidgeting with my fingers but I spoke clearly. The words hung in the never-used kitchen as I waited for him to say something.
That bright white smile set against his deep coffee brown skin was all I could see. The worry over the last few hours disappeared as I watched him grin.
“You for real? You gone have my baby?”
I made him wait a few seconds before I responded.
“Yes.”
His smile grew even wider as he cupped my face and stroked both of my cheeks with his thumbs.
“Damn, Pretty P. I ain’t think there was a way I could love you more but you just proved me wrong.”
He squeezed me close and rocked me back and forth. I could almost feel his joy as we stood there. It warmed me from the inside out and I was so grateful to have a man in my life that wanted so much for me.
“Corey, we gone be some old ass parents.” I truly had to wonder what the hell I was getting myself into because I was geriatric as hell to be a first time mom.
“I can hear your mama right now talking shit, too. Gone run her mouth but will be the first one mad if she doesn’t get enough time with her grandbaby.” He was laughing like Toots wasn’t going to irritate the fuck out of everyone about her grandkid.
My skin got clammy and I went into the stainless steel fridge to grab a bottle of water for both of us. “Shit, I’m gonna have a baby.”
“No,weare. Don’t be doing that possession is nine-tenths of the law shit, Porsha.”
He looked at me like he was being so serious, despite how silly his words were. It was the type of look that told me not to fuck with him on this. He took the water from my hand and chugged it down as he watched me gauging my reaction.
