Chapter 13
13
Clinton
“ A re you nervous?” I asked Mona when we arrived at her doctor’s office.
“I am. I just want everything to be okay.”
“Everything will be fine,” I reassured before squeezing her hand and lifting it to my mouth to kiss the back of it. I wanted her thoughts to remain positive but understood why she was nervous.
We entered the waiting room, and while she checked in, I found two open seats away from the people already present.
“Thank you for coming with me,” she said when she sat down.
“Mona, don’t play with me. Nothing will stop me from being at every appointment.”
“Okay.”
We sat quietly for about ten minutes before she was called back. The nurse introduced herself, and after a quick stop at the scale, we entered the examination room. She asked several questions before taking Mona’s vitals.
“Alright, can you take this cup to the bathroom across the hall and give me a urine sample? Once the pregnancy is confirmed, I’ll draw your blood, and the doctor will be able to tell you exactly how far along you are and your estimated due date.”
“Thank you.”
Mona left the room first, and the nurse followed. While waiting for them to return, I replied to several emails and text messages. When Mona returned, smiling, I did the same.
“I love seeing you smile,” I told her.
“I have so many reasons to smile, and you’re one of them.”
She stood between my legs, leaning in slightly for a kiss. When she pulled away, I tucked my hands underneath her shirt and rubbed her stomach.
“That’s good. I’ll do my best to keep you smiling.”
There was a quick knock on the door before it opened, and the nurse entered. Mona turned and tried to move to the chair beside me, but I pulled her onto my lap.
“You are indeed pregnant! Congratulations!” the nurse announced. “I’ll draw some blood, and the next person you see will be Dr. Pryor.”
I let Mona sit next to me to have her blood drawn. Afterward, the nurse left us alone again.
“It’s official. We’re having a baby,” I said.
“It seems surreal. I kinda figured it was too late for me.”
I leaned into her and stole a kiss. “Thank God for my super sperm.”
“You might be right because it took no time for one of them to fertilize my egg.”
“I got plenty more where that one came from.”
We laughed as another knock sounded before the door opened.
“Well, hello, Mona. Who is this fine gentleman?” Dr. Pryor greeted.
“Hey, Dr. Pryor. This is my boyfriend, Clinton. Baby, this is Dr. Pryor.”
I stood and extended my hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” she responded as we shook hands. “It looks like congratulations are in order. You two will have your new bundle of joy on or around September twenty-fourth, which is twenty-seven weeks from now.”
“Oh wow! We have an actual due date,” Mona said excitedly.
“You sure do. Why are you just now coming to see me?”
“Umm, well, what had happened was…”
“Nope! I can already tell you’re about to give me a lame excuse.”
“If it makes you feel any better, Dr. Pryor, I haven’t known for very long either.”
“Well, I guess we won’t fuss at you too much. Let’s get set up for the ultrasound so we can see your little one and hear his or her heartbeat. I’ll be right back with the ultrasound machine.”
Dr. Pryor left, and I pulled Mona into an embrace. “You’re really about to have my baby.”
“It looks that way. Are you having second thoughts?”
I released her to look into her eyes. “What? Second thoughts? Fuck no! I couldn’t be more excited to be on this journey with you, baby.”
I pressed my lips against hers, and we got lost in a kiss, not coming up for air until Dr. Pryor interrupted us.
“Uh oh! I see things are getting a little spicy in here,” she teased. “Sorry to interrupt you two lovebirds, but we gotta keep things moving.”
“Are you trying to wear out my carpet, man? What is that you’re looking at?”
I’d just gotten back to the office after our doctor’s appointment and was still in awe. For the past few minutes, I’d been pacing in front of Evander’s desk, staring at the ultrasound pictures while he finished a phone call.
“It’s the ultrasound. I’m really having a baby, man.”
“That’s what happens when you hit it raw. Congratulations again. Let me see the picture.”
I stopped in front of his desk and gave him the copy. He looked at it for a moment before returning it.
“Seeing that alien on the screen and hearing the heartbeat for the first time makes it real.”
“Tell me about it. I damn near cried when it appeared on the screen. Mona was boohooing like a baby, so I had to keep it together.”
“Wait until she starts to show. You won’t want to let her out of your sight. Have y’all talked about living arrangements?”
“We argued about it last week. She’s not ready for that yet.”
“Bruh, you can’t give her a choice.”
“What do you expect me to do, kidnap her?”
“Shit, I mean, she’s carrying your seed, so I feel like you’d be well within your rights.”
“Nigga, be serious.”
Evander looked at me with the most serious expression, letting me know he wasn’t joking.
“You don’t want to have them living separately from you when the baby is born.”
“Hopefully, by that time, we’ll be living together. For now, we’re alternating weeks at each other’s places.”
“How long do you think that will last?”
“Hopefully not long, but I’m trying to move at her pace.”
“If I’d moved at Austyn’s pace, her ass would’ve never told her family we were married. I had to put my foot down.”
I shook my head. “Our situation is a little different, but I hear you. Let me get my ass to my office and get some work done. It’s hard to come to work on Saturdays when there’s a beautiful woman in your bed.”
“You don’t have to tell me.”
I left him in his office and headed to mine, looking at the ultrasound the whole way. I’d never felt a high like this and wasn’t sure I’d ever come down.
The next few hours flew by. I was thoroughly immersed in my work when my cell phone rang, and Mona’s name flashed across my screen. I smiled as I answered on the second ring.
“Hey, baby.”
“Hey, umm, did you make plans for us tonight?”
“No, is there something you want to do?”
“Karla and Lariah invited us to dinner and game night with their husbands.”
“That’s cool. What time?”
“Seven. Are you sure you want to go? I know it’s short notice.”
“We both have to eat, baby. It’s fine. I’m always down for game night.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll see you in a couple of hours.”
“Later, beautiful.”
I was looking forward to cuddling up with Mona and watching movies tonight, but she willingly met my friends, so it was only fair that I did the same. I focused on the documents in front of me for another hour and a half before packing up for the weekend.
“I’m about to head out,” I told Evander when I stopped in front of his door.
“Let me finish the email, and we can walk out together.”
I stepped inside his office and waited. A few minutes later, he gathered his things, and we headed for the elevator.
“Y’all got plans this weekend?” I asked.
“Nah, I think we’re staying in this weekend. You?”
“Tonight we’re doing game night with Mona’s friends.”
“Are they cool?”
“Her friends seem cool, but I haven’t met their husbands.”
“I wonder if their husbands fuck with Winston’s punk ass?”
“I guess I’ll find out. If they are, this game night will be very interesting.”
We parted ways, and I headed to pick up Mona from work. As soon as I pulled up, she came outside, barely giving me enough time to get out and open the passenger side door.
“I missed you,” I confessed, pulling her into a hug and kissing her forehead.
She tilted her head back to look up at me, giving me access to her lips. I pressed mine against hers for a moment.
“It feels good to be missed. I missed you too.”
I removed her work bag from her shoulder and helped her into my truck before putting her bag in the back seat. Seconds later, I was in the driver’s seat, pulling away from the curb.
“How’s our baby treating you today?”
Thus far, her morning sickness had been minimal. Although she had several bouts of nausea, most of the time it didn’t lead to vomiting.
“Today was good. No nausea, and I took a twenty-minute nap in one of the conference rooms during my lunch.”
“That’s good. I’m glad you weren’t too busy to take lunch since you took a few hours off this morning for our appointment. I haven’t eaten since breakfast.”
“One thing I’m gon’ always do is take my breaks. My bosses treat us well, and I enjoy my job, but that ain’t my company.”
“As you should, baby. Don’t let them overwork you, especially now that you’re carrying my seed. If anything changes, you can always quit and let me take care of you.”
She reached across the console and rested her hand on my leg, causing me to quickly glance in her direction. “That’s sweet, baby, but not necessary. I can take care of myself.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t, but I don’t want to argue about it, so I’ll let you have it.”
“Why would we argue about it? I’m a self—”
“Mona, chill, baby. You can take care of yourself, and I have no plans to stop you. Let it go.” Her hand was still on my leg, and I covered it with mine, rubbing the back of it with my thumb. “Did you share the news with your co-workers?”
“No, and I’m not sure when I will.”
“You’ll be showing soon, so you might want to mention it before then.”
“True.”
We rode the rest of the way to my place in silence. Her hand remained on my knee, and I laced my fingers through hers until I parked in my designated parking spot in the condo’s garage. After retrieving her bag from the back seat and helping her out of my truck, we entered the building hand-in-hand.
“Which of your friends is hosting tonight?”
“Karla.”
“She’s the taller one with the short hair, right?”
“Yeah. Her husband’s name is Cairo. Lariah’s husband’s name is Dominick, but we call him Dom.”
“Cool. How often do y’all have game night?”
“Once a month.”
“My people have game night too. I’ve only gone a few times because I didn’t have a partner.”
“Same here. Even when I had a partner, I didn’t have a partner. It’s been a minute since I accepted their invite. It should be a good time.”
Once we made it to my condo, we freshened up and changed into sweats and hoodies, which, coincidentally, were both shades of green. Not long after we arrived, we were headed out the door.