“And why I gotta do that?” I asked, already planning to put my hands on him.
“To get your point across. Shit, to keep it a buck, I’ma keep this trunk open ’cause he one of those nerdy types. He’ll probably talk himself into it.”
I was about to get out of the car, but my brother’s hand on my wrist stopped me. “Nah, place is about to close. We’ll catch his ass leaving.”
I nodded and rested back in the passenger seat, watching through the glass as ol’ boy seemingly prepared to leave. Another fifteen minutes later, he was putting his jacket on and grabbing something. He then cut the lights out and moved toward the back. Seconds later he returned to the front, and he was at the door, pulling it open to leave. He looked around a few times before he turned to lock the door. Once he was done, he turned and walked off. There was no car for blocks, so he was either taking a bus or walking.
“You trust me?” Kinga asked out of the blue.
“Yeah.”
“Then watch this.” He didn’t even look at me before he mashed his foot on the gas, speeding up right in time to catch ol’ boy crossing the street. All that could be heard was his body rolling under the car before this fool reversed and backed over him. What got me was when he sat there for a minute—car on body, eyes straight ahead.
When he finally decided to pull off, he spoke. “You wouldn’t have done enough, and knowing your kindhearted ass, he still would have been breathing.”
I laughed. “Man, fuck you. We can’t all be a lunatic.”
“Well being a lunatic gets rid of problems before they arise. That being said, I’ma be whatever I need to be to keep peace. With peace I know my wife sleeps easily and so do I.”
I nodded in agreement, looking out of the window as he drove us back toward his house. “True. Speaking of peace, or lack thereof, that detective came by my house today.”
Kinga sighed. “I told you, there isn’t anything to worry about. Stick to it and she’ll move around. If not, I’ll have her ass handled.”
A brief silence filled the car, my mind knowing what he meant. My brother wouldn’t touch a woman, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t pay somebody else to take care of it. He just was who he was. He handled the cleanest and dirtiest of things without a second thought, because he protected peace. Kinga never went looking for trouble, he instead handled it when it came his way. That was why he had been my only call that night. Though he was a hothead, he carried himself better under pressure than anybody I knew. My brother handled things… regardless of the spectrum they landed on.
“So, when were you gonna tell me I’m about to be an uncle again?” His question had me looking in his direction. “She didn’t drink the wine. Meaning I’m about to go home and Harlem is gonna be faced.”
I chortled. “Shit, I was trying to process it myself, you know?”
“Understood. But I’m happy for you. Finally moving past all that darkness into happier pastures. You deserve this though, bro.”
“Do I?” I asked, glancing over at him. His eyes were trained ahead on traffic.
“You do and I swear I’ma tell you that shit till you finally believe it.”
By the time we made it back to the house, it was much later than I intended, but my baby girl and Jade were waiting on me. Well maybe not waiting, because Jade’s easily tired ass was asleep while Aja lay on her lap staring into her Switch. The sight had me in my feelings, not in a bad way at all. In the sight before me I saw a future far ahead of the past I had been living in. Yeah, I fucked up, but I was no longer able to live in that fuckup. I now had everything I needed to move forward.
Chapter 17
Jade
My shop was set to open this week and I was over the moon. Maybe that wasn’t the only reason I was over the moon, but it added to my mood. The second thing adding to my mood was the fact that we were currently at the doctor to confirm what the grocery store tests told us. Who knew I’d bag the nonchalant chef with the dark eyes? Damn sure not me. I wasn’t the girl who got the guy, definitely not the man like Oden, but I did.
Monday sped its way through, and before I knew it, both Oden and I were sitting in this waiting room. While he looked through his phone at paperwork for a deal Lois had sent him, I was feeling nostalgic. It wasn’t long ago that I was tipsy and half joking with Ava about a one-night stand, now here I was waiting to confirm a pregnancy with a man who had literally appeared out of nowhere. It was strange how letting go and focusing on other things brought desires and fate to the forefront. When Oden and I started this journey, the last thing I was thinking about was a baby, if anything I was thinking about us. My love for Oden happened fast, so fast that of course I second guessed it at first, but who wouldn’t? What helped was the fact that I was never able to sit with my second guessing, but instead I wasforced to let it happen. By Oden being a man, like a real man and not some pissy ass little boy, he didn’t allow me to stress. It feels like since we started this he’d been picking up my shit and putting it on his back. Like I said, Oden was a real man, not some play man either.
“Jade Hines?” A feminine voice pulled me from my thoughts. I looked up and my eyes landed on the nurse standing in the doorway. A million thoughts traveled through my mind before I finally responded. I didn’t know what the hell I feared because I wanted this.
We were seated in the small examining room alone for a minute before the nurse returned with a small cup and a smile. I knew the drill, pee in it, but this time was different. This time it wasn’t a checkup, but instead them making sure the home tests had given the right results.
I peed in the cup and left it where she told me before meeting Oden in the room. I felt his eyes the moment I entered. When I looked at him, he was smiling.
“Why you looking nervous, baby?” he asked, reaching for my waist and pulling me into his lap.
“Because I am.”
“For what?” Those massive arms wrapped around me were enough to erase the doubt. They were enough to keep me present and not overthinking.
I didn’t speak at first, instead relishing in the feel of being in his arms. “I don’t know. I guess I’m just overprocessing.”
