“Oh shit,” she squealed then hustled to get up. “Maybe he wants some early afternoon pussy.”
“I doubt it, nasty.” I giggled. “He has his son. Something must have come up.”
“Maybe.” She shrugged. “Or maybe he put the baby to sleep and wants to get some in the early afternoon.”
Chuckling as I reached for my purse then the shopping bags, I said, “Girl, come the fuck on and hush.”
Morgan and I spent the ride across town making plans to bother my grandmother about making me a broccoli and cheese casserole. I had been craving it something serious and nobody could make it like her.
Solomon and Bernard were waiting outside on the sidewalk when we pulled up. They immediately approached the car and opened the doors to help us out before taking the shopping bags from the back seat as well. Mo and I hugged, followed by a hug from Bernard, before they walked toward his car and us to Solomon’s place. I took a seat on the couch as soon as we were inside and he immediately went to take my shoes off. I gushed at the gesture. He truly did everything he could to make my pregnancy easy and make sure I was good.
“Is everything okay?” I asked, grabbing the blanket from the back of his couch. “I thought you were going to have to Solo until later.”
“He spending the night,” he replied as he began to roll a blunt, glancing my way. “What happened at that mall?”
Smiling and reaching for the bags, I began pulling the stuff out to show him what I had gotten. “I got some really cute stuff despite not knowing the baby’s sex yet. I saw so much cute stuff in there, ugh. I can’t wait ’til we find out,” I admitted, lifting some of the onesies. “Look at these,” I gushed. “Ralph Lauren had a sale so I got a lot of these and these.” I showed him the other onesies as well as sleepers and socks.
“Word.” He nodded. “What else you do?”
The smile I was wearing faded as I lowered the outfit to my lap. “Um, we got food in the food court. What’s wrong? I’m telling you about the baby stuff I got and you’re all cold and uninterested.”
“Cap. I love all the shit you got for the baby. That’s just not what’s important right now, baby. What’s important is what else went on in that food court.”
“What are you…” I paused, realizing that he knew about Jamal. “My ex. You’re talking about my ex?”
He angled his head to the side. “You tell me.”
“Jamal is harmless.”
“Then why the fuck you got them red marks on your wrist?”
My eyes went there and I gently caressed the barely visible bruise. He was just as observant as my father.
“He grabbed me and?—”
“I’m gon’ see about him.”
“My mother handled it,” I countered. “She facetimed Mo and?—”
He cut me off again. “No disrespect, love, but telling me ya mother handled some shit over the phone does nothing for me. I know Ice and K-Dot ya people and I’m sure they got eyes on you, but not only are you carryingmybaby, you’remygirl. I know they gon’ always look out for you but I’m stepping on shit behind you, period.”
“I know.” I sighed. “I don’t want you getting in any trouble behind me.”
“You worth it.” He smirked, then leaned in to kiss me. “You got some shit for you in them bags?”
Smiling and rolling my eyes, I replied, “Yes. I kind of had to get some things for myself after you begged me to.”
“Good, so that means you can stay the night.”
“Um, no.” I chuckled. “I know you don’t have any kind of soap here that I use, plus I need my skincare stuff from home, my cocoa butter stick for stretch marks…” He kissed his teeth when I mentioned the last part. “What? I’m trying to prevent them. You know you don’t want my body to be all ugly and nasty looking.”
“I don’t give a fuck about ya body changing after you carry my kid.” He frowned. “Fuck I look like caring about that shit after the sacrifice you’re making for me?”
“Some men are funny about that.” I shrugged.
“I ain’t some men, I’m your man, and I fuck with the stretch mark shit if you get them. It’s evidence of the solid you’re doing me by birthing my seed.”
“Okay, babe, I still need my stuff though.” I smiled and he nodded.
