4. Omiri #2
“Oh, so you really are an asshole and not misunderstood,” Makari mumbled and I chuckled.
“The baby need anything?”
She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “No, she’s good.”
And don’t need shit from you…
She didn’t verbalize that last part out loud but I heard it loud and clear. Luckily for me, my doorbell was going off again. After checking the camera and realizing it was Raaj, I had a distraction that would keep me from telling Makari and her girl to kiss my ass.
There was a woman with Raaj dressed in black scrubs and a lab coat carrying a black plastic case about the size of a medium toolbox. I led her to the kitchen table where she set up, then Raaj got started with Makari.
“I assume you’re Ms. Phoenix.” She nodded and he extended a hand. “I’m Raaj Armand, Mr. Hayes’s attorney. I appreciate you cooperating with this.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Makari look down at Avi then nod. “I just want to get this resolved so we can go back to our lives.”
Shit me too but our lives no longer existed in the ways we wished they did. We were fucking stuck in this.
“Understood. Dr. Logan is here to do the test. She will go over the process and I have some paperwork we need to take care of.”
I moved through the next hour robotically.
Logan explained things, then collected our samples, starting with Makari and Avi, leaving me for last. Makari and her girl whispered shit back and forth while Raaj watched the entire thing like a hawk.
His ass was acting like he didn’t trust ol’ girl doing the samples, which made me wonder why the hell he chose her.
But then again, I knew Raaj. He wanted to document everything so there was no question about the validity of the test.
After Logan was done, she packed up everything and talked to Raaj before she addressed the rest of us. “We’ll have the result sent over before nine tonight.”
“Shit, that fast?” Ol’ girl seemed surprised but Makari wasn’t.
“He can afford it.”
“I’ll send them directly to Mr. Armond…”
“Don’t I get a copy?” Makari frowned hard as fuck. Logan smiled and nodded.
“Yes, I have your email as well but the official results that will be used for legal reasons will be sent to Mr. Hayes’s attorney.”
“How do we know he can’t mess with them?” Ol’ girl cut her eyes at me and Raaj spoke up.
“Ms. Phoenix will have an official copy. If there were a situation where they didn’t match, she could submit and request additional testing.
I don’t plan on messing with the results.
There’s no need. Mr. Hayes isn’t denying the child.
He’s the one seeking custody.” He glared at me like he still couldn’t understand why the hell I was doing this but he didn’t need to understand.
He only needed to handle this shit in a way that made sure I was covered.
“Is there anything else?”
“Nah, I’m good.”
Makari looked at me, then her girl, before she shook her head. “No, I think we’re good.”
Dr. Logan nodded and headed to the door.
Right after, Tiana told Makari she was heading out so she could grab food before her shift, then was out the door, but not before warning Makari not to sign a damn thing until she had someone look over any agreements we settled on.
I respected that she had her girl’s back but I also wanted her the fuck up out my crib so we could deal with this privately.
We all sat at the kitchen table and Raaj spread out all the documents he needed to go over.
I finally got to give Makari all my attention.
She was dressed in wide leg ripped sweat pants with a fitted tee underneath a matching jacket.
Her hair was curly and framed her face which was a huge contrast from the messy ass ponytail she was rocking when I pulled up to her house.
I was amused that she put some effort into what has looked like and knowing her ass she wanted to prove a point.
I got my life together…
“Alright, let’s review the terms of this co-parenting agreement.”
“Why are we reviewing an agreement without the results back first?” She knew Avi was mine, had already admitted that shit multiple times, which meant she was just stalling the process of agreeing to give me access to my kid.
“With all due respect, Ms. Phoenix, in this situation, the best thing we can do is have this all laid out. Once the results are finalized, the framework of the agreement will be in place, but contingent on paternity. That saves us time and potential conflict but also allows Mr. Hayes to immediately have access to his daughter.”
Makari’s damn face dropped because she knew she didn’t have any argument for this. The kid was mine. We both knew that.
I dropped my eyes to Avi who was cuddled against her mother’s chest. She was about ten seconds from tapping out and looked cute as fuck trying to fight it.
“As long as you understand I have primary custody of Avi then that’s fine. She stays with me.”
Raaj didn’t speak but he swung his eyes to me and I offered a nod. “That’s a reasonable request. Mr. Hayes will agree to that given her age, however, he will be demanding generous visitation rights and that will increase and shift once the child is older.”
“The child is named Avianna Jaleeah Phoenix.” She glared at me like I was the one talking then turned back to Raaj. “Please define generous.”
“Three days a week, including one overnight visit every other week…”
“You’re kidding, right? You want me to hand off my child to him …” Her eyes shot across the table at me. “Three days a week and one of those being overnight.”
“That’s reasonable.”
“That’s not fucking reasonable. She’s four months old. I’m breastfeeding and he doesn’t know her.”
“Which is only a problem because you kept her from me. I wasn’t given a chance to know her, was I?”
Makari cringed and I glared at her crazy ass, daring her to pull that “I did what I had to do” bullshit in front of Raaj. He would eat that shit up and have her head spinning.
“That doesn’t change the facts. She’s a baby. She doesn’t know you, you don’t know her, and until you do, that schedule won’t work.”
“What would you propose, Ms. Phoenix?” Raaj cut his eyes at me and spoke up, sensing this was about to go left. His tone was calm but firm.
“A few hours at a time, three days a week. No full days, and supervised, until she gets comfortable with him. Then we can circle back to full days and overnight visits when she’s older.”
“You don’t trust me with my own daughter? The fuck you think I’m gonna do?”
“Oh, I don’t know, give her a contact high or have one of your one night stands babysit her while you do whatever it is you do.”
I chuckled dryly. “If I had a one night stand, my dick would be in her. She wouldn’t have the mental focus to keep up with a baby, but that shit wouldn’t happen. I don’t trust you with her so I damn sure wouldn’t let some bitch I was just trying to nut in make sure she was good.”
Makari’s mouth dropped open and she hugged Avi—who had finally tapped out—closer to her chest before I added, “And just so we’re clear, you were a one night stand, baby girl.
How the hell you gonna judge the next? You also know firsthand that when my dick is in you, there’s not much else you can handle because you barely handled that. ”
“You know what, fuck you and this. We’re leaving.”
“Ms. Phoenix, if you leave, I will have no choice but to handle this with a judge. We have the money and resources to get whatever he wants, even a temporary custody agreement that immediately places the child…” I grilled the fuck out of him for calling her the child again.
It wasn’t about knowing it pissed Makari off either.
It rubbed me the wrong way too. She had a gotdamn name.
Raaj caught my annoyance and made a correction. “That places Avi with my client.”
“You would take her from me?” Her eyes were on me quickly but I didn’t say a damn word. No, I wouldn’t take her. I wasn’t that fucked up, but I wanted her to think I would.
“Can we continue?” I said acting nonchalant.
She glared at me for a moment longer then turned to Raaj who continued, “We can agree to supervised visits. There are multiple services…”
“No, not a service, me. I’m not handing Avi over to him and a damn service.”
That shit annoyed me.
“I’m not a fucking criminal.”
“You would be without him. Didn’t he just get you out of a DUI?”
I couldn’t say a damn thing, because yeah, that was true, and she smiled arrogantly.
“You’re a stranger to Avi. She needs time to adjust. Throwing her with two strangers is just cruel and will disrupt everything. I also need time to adjust and the confidence that you can handle her alone, me or nothing.”
She couldn’t make that call but I was gonna let her have it.
I had zero experience with babies, so I could deal with Makari being around while I spent time with my daughter.
I also didn’t hate the idea of being around her pretty ass.
Maybe I could fuck her a few more times, but damn sure sober enough to make sure I strapped up to prevent a repeat of why we were here.
“Aight, I’ll agree to that.”
Raaj scribbled something down but looked annoyed as hell when he lifted his eyes again. “Okay, now for financial support…”
“I don’t want his money. This is his idea, not mine.”
She was offended, which was funny as hell. The way she dodged my ass over the past year and ran up outta that pharmacy; she wasn’t on a paper chase. Raaj wasn’t convinced though based on the look he gave her.
“The sentiment is appreciated but his money will be in the form of child support, which is the right of Avi. Not yours. Once paternity is confirmed, Mr. Hayes will be financially obligated to provide for his daughter.”
“I can provide for Avi.” She was standing ten toes down on that shit and it pissed me off.