Chapter 22
22
Mona
“ S urprise!” I heard as Clinton removed the blindfold from my eyes.
I gasped as I grabbed his arm. It took a moment for it to register what was happening.
“Oh my God! Is this… Is this my baby shower?”
I released Clinton’s arm and walked further into the large room filled with our family and friends. My mother, Clinton’s mother, Lariah, and Karla were the first to approach me.
“Are you surprised?” Karla asked with excitement.
“Am I? Y’all scared me to death, and I almost peed on myself. How did you pull this off?”
“It wasn’t hard with the four of us,” Lariah said.
“Especially with help from your future husband,” my mother added.
I tensed at the words future husband and wanted to address it with my mother, but there was no time. My father, stepmother, and my brother were waiting to greet me. I hadn’t seen my brother in person in a while because he couldn’t make it to our last-minute birthday party.
“I’m so glad you’re here, Malik. Thank you so much for coming.”
“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. I’m still pissed I couldn’t make it to your birthday party. Look at you, glowing and shit. Is this the man responsible for the smile I see on your face?”
“No, I’m responsible for the smile, but he does his best to keep it there. Baby, this is my brother Malik. Malik, this is Clinton.”
As they exchanged greetings, I was pulled away by Norah, Austyn, and Janeevah, whose belly was only a tad bigger than mine. I’d just seen them two weeks ago at Janeevah’s baby shower.
We chatted for a few minutes before I was being pulled in another direction. This time, it was by several members of Clinton’s family, and I talked with them for another ten minutes. The baby shower hadn’t even started, and I was tapped out.
When I reunited with Clinton, we were ushered to the room to prepare for baby shower games. I enjoyed every moment of celebrating our upcoming arrival, but when I got Clinton’s truck to go home, I was asleep before we merged onto the expressway.
“I can’t thank you enough, Ma. I appreciate you teaming up with my friends and Mrs. Hollister. That was so thoughtful and sweet of you.”
“You’re welcome, sweetheart. We had a ball planning everything. The only thing that would’ve made it a little easier would’ve been if we’d known the baby’s gender.”
“Oh my God, Ma. We’ve tried twice, but this baby is stubborn. I pray this is not an indication of this baby’s personality.”
“Well, you’re stubborn as hell, so I’m not surprised.”
“I’m not—”
“Don’t even tell that lie, Mona. You’re one of the most stubborn people I know.”
“You know what? I think I hear Clinton calling me. I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Look who’s finally awake,” Clinton said as he entered our bedroom with a tray.
“My mother’s phone call woke me up. I feel like I could use another few hours of sleep.”
“After you feed my baby, you can sleep until it’s time to feed her again.”
“Her?”
“Her what?”
“You said her. You called the baby her.”
“Did I? Hmm, that’s interesting. I don’t think I’ve ever done that.”
“You think that means something?’
He laughed. “No, because God wouldn’t give me another stubborn ass woman to live with.”
I gasped. “You think I’m stubborn?”
“I don’t think anything. It’s a proven fact. Here’s your breakfast. Do you want me to run you a bath for when you’re done?”
“Umm, only if you’ll get in with me.” He shook his head but agreed to join me.
After I finished eating, our bath was ready. Clinton got in first, and I sat between his legs with my back against his chest.
“Is the water good?”
“It’s perfect. Why is your dick hard?”
“Is that a serious question?”
“Yes. We just got in here, and I’ve barely touched you.”
“None of that shit matters, baby. You don’t know how hard it is to keep this muthafucka down when we’re in the same space. The brainpower it takes should be offered as a college-level class.”
“Wow.”
I closed my eyes as he rubbed my huge belly. I only had about six weeks left, and I couldn’t believe how big my stomach had gotten. This whole pregnancy had been kind of surreal, considering I’d miscarried early on in my other pregnancies.
My life, a life that I thought I no longer wanted, had done a one-eighty in the past seven and a half months. Mentally, I’d come so far that it was hard for me to believe I’d considered taking my life.
“I never thought I could be this happy. Thank you for being one of the reasons.”
“I’m glad I could be a part of your journey to happiness, baby. I hope I can continue to be one of the reasons you wake up with a smile, looking forward to each day.”
“I don’t think you know how much your presence changed my outlook on life.”
He kissed my temple as his hand continued to caress my stomach.
“I understand a lot more than you think.”
“Why do you say that?”
He didn’t respond immediately, but I waited patiently because I was very interested in his response.
“I planned to go to my grave with this, but I think it might be beneficial to have this conversation.”
“Umm, okay.” I’d suddenly become nervous.
“When I came back to your hotel room, I wasn’t expecting such a warm welcome. I didn’t know if you’d allow me to stay with you or if you wanted nothing else to do with me. I decided to take a chance because something in my spirit told me you needed me.”
“I did.”
“I know, but I didn’t know how much until I saw the pills in the garbage.”
My body tensed, and I closed my eyes, hoping to catch the tears that began to fall immediately. “You saw the pills?”
“I did, and I was so angry with you for a moment. I had to get on my knees in that bathroom and ask the Lord how to handle you and this situation. I could’ve flown out sooner, but God told me I couldn’t leave you until your mind matched your heart.”
“Oh my God.”
“Your mind tricked your heart into believing you wanted to die, but that was never the case, baby. Those daily text messages I sent you were my way… God’s way of reminding you that you are supposed to be here. Our meeting was not by chance, baby. I was assigned to you by God to remind you that the best is yet to come.”
At this point, I was crying like a newborn baby. I had no words, just tears, because words couldn’t express my feelings. When I told my therapist that Clinton was my angel, I didn’t realize how true that statement was.