19. Cedar
Cedar
“ I never grow tired of this,” Sunday whispered.
“I would hope not,” I replied as I held her hand.
“Okay, Mom and Dad, let’s take a look at Baby Aspen and see how he’s doing today.”
We watched closely as the sonographer squirted the gel on Sunday’s belly and then slowly moved the transducer around.
I looked at my baby as she lay comfortably with her arm tucked underneath her head. Between her big belly and her perfectly juicy round ass, she had a deep arch in her back. I slid my hand underneath her back and whispered, “I think I’ma have to give you a massage tonight.”
She glanced at me and smiled. “My lower back is hurting.”
“Here’s Aspen’s head. Look, Mom and Dad, he’s looking our way, and he’s waving his little hand.”
Sunday and I immediately turned away from looking at each other and glanced at the monitor to see our baby boy on the screen.
“Aww,” Sunday exclaimed with a tear leaking from the corner of her eye.
“He knows his parents are here. He can’t wait to meet us,” I declared as I reached out and wiped the errant tear away.
“And I can’t wait to meet him,” Sunday replied.
“Oh, he’s really showing off today,” the sonographer remarked as she slowly slid the transducer to another spot.
“Is that . . . are those his family jewels?” Sunday asked. Her face turned a deep shade of red when I cheered with a big goofy grin.
“My boy! That’s the way to rep, Son. He definitely got that from me.”
The sonographer laughed. “Yes. He’s spreading his legs wide for the world to see his turtle today.”
“Trust me, that ain’t no turtle. That’s an elephant.”
“Cedar.” Sunday rolled her eyes and blew out a breath.
“What, baby? I’m just saying.”
The sonographer smiled and winked at Sunday. “Boys and their toys.”
Sunday shook her head. “I swear I can’t take him anywhere.”
“If you think I’m bad, wait until you get a load of my boy. That kid’s gonna be a handful or two,” I remarked, twisting my head at an angle to check out my son.
We looked at a few more pictures and listened to his heartbeat before the sonographer gave Sunday some wipes to clean off her belly.
“Do you have to be so embarrassing?” Sunday asked after the sonographer left the room.
“What’s there to be embarrassed about, baby? All men have ’em, and I’m sure that she’s used to seeing them.”
“But to brag about it though?”
“Girl, if I didn’t, you would.”
“Excuse me?”
“The way you be hollering my name and pleading for mercy when I’m digging all up in them guts, everybody knows I’m packing.”
“Boy, please,” she replied with a roll of her eyes and sucking her teeth.
“Yeah, that’s exactly what ya li’l ass be hollering.
Please, gimme more dick. Please ease up.
Please, I can’t breathe, CJ. Please, help me.
Shiiid, think about it. Every neighbor within a mile of our place knows that I be breaking your back, stealing your oxygen, and snatching your spine out when we have sex. ”
“Oh my God. You’re so full of yourself,” she groaned.
I helped her off the exam table and then helped her to get dressed.
“Nah, I’m just confident. You’re the one who be full of me, baby.”
She smacked my chest and rolled her eyes.
“Where you wanna go grab something to eat when we leave here?”
“Soldiers. I’ve been craving their food lately.”
“Gotcha. Whatever you and my little man want, y’all get.”
I leaned in and kissed her lips. After we finished, the doctor came into the room and went over a few details with us about the baby’s progress, Sunday’s health, and what to expect at our next appointment.
We headed to Soldier’s after our appointment, enjoyed a big lunch, and then I took Sunday shopping for some more maternity clothes and some baby items. By the time we’d left the mall, I had spent five stacks, but I couldn’t be happier if I tried.
“It’s a pretty mild day for mid-July,” Sunday remarked after she stepped out of the shower.
We had returned home from our day out, taken a nap, and then she’d showered. She had just pulled on a short set after she lotioned her body.
“You want to go up on the roof and chill for a while?”
“Sounds like a good idea to me.”
I turned away from rifling through my T-shirt drawer and looked back at Sunday when I heard the tension in her tone.
“You a’ight?”
“Yeah. Your son’s just tightening in a ball, is all.”
I moved to where she sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the side of her belly. I kneeled in front of her, rubbed both sides of her stomach, and spoke to our son.
“Aye, li’l king. Daddy’s gonna need you to chill out on all that extra shit you doing inside my woman. We Jackson men don’t do the most. We a pretty chill bunch of niggas.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Well, we are.”
“You’re hardly chill.” She laughed and rubbed the middle of her stomach. “He’s on the move again.”
“Good. So, anyway, as I was saying, I need you to chill on the extra shit with your moms. We gotta take care of the women in our lives, little G. That’s our duty as men. Ya hear me?”
Sunday and I both laughed when we felt our baby kick. “I guess he did,” I answered myself.
“I think he wasn’t happy with the food I ate at Soldier’s,” Sunday remarked with a groan.
“I’ve told ya li’l ass about eating spicy food.”
“But their peri-peri chicken is sooo good. It’s not overwhelming with spiciness. It’s like a warmth that grows in your mouth. Besides, I asked them to give me just a little of the sauce.”
“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled, getting off my knees.
I took her hand and helped her to stand up.
“What? It’s not. It’s mostly flavorful.”
“That ain’t what I’m talking about. Ya greedy ass reached over and grabbed two large spoonsful of my jollof rice. That shit’s spicy as hell.”
“Well, you wouldn’t let me order my own, and you know how much I love it.”
“I didn’t wanna hear your ass complaining later, and I wasn’t trying to let you fuck up my boy either. Now he up in there with the bubble guts and his ass probably on fire ’cause you can’t control your appetite.”
I led her to the stairs just outside of our bedroom that led to the rooftop.
“Shut up, CJ. You’re being mean to me.”
She pouted and looked so damn cute doing it. I moved behind her as she walked up the steps to the rooftop. I stood behind her to make sure that she didn’t stumble backward.
When we arrived on the rooftop deck, I pulled her into my arms.
“I love you so much, girl. I was a damn fool to not open my heart to you from the start.”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t worrying about it. I knew that I’d work my way inside of there eventually.”
“To be honest, you did that shit from the beginning. I was the one in denial, and when I finally admitted it to myself, I wasn’t ready to tell you yet.”
I kissed her lips softly, and she moaned before she deepened the kiss. Her tongue was soft and warm, and Sunday grabbed my hand and placed it between her thighs. She was hot and moist.
After a few seconds, I pulled back and smacked her on the ass. “Don’t be starting shit you can’t finish. You remember what happened Memorial Day afternoon when you started moaning like that on this roof.”
She pouted. “Yeah, you lost your mind and bent me over that chair. You tried to rip my insides out.”
“Damn right, and I’m about to do it again.”
“CJ, I had sunburn from that all over my butt and back. I was so uncomfortable sitting down for a while.”
“That’s why I’m warning ya ass now.”
Sunday walked away from me and sat down.
“Do you want some ice cream?”
“That sounds real good right about now.”
She grabbed the remote to the sound system and turned it on to a neo-soul station she often listened to.
I walked to the mini refrigerator/freezer that we had on the rooftop deck plugged in next to our bar.
I pulled it open and removed a small container of Tamari’s butter pecan ice cream for her and strawberry, mint chocolate chip for me.
I grabbed two spoons from a drawer in the bar and walked back to her.
“Here ya go.”
“I’ve been thinking a lot about what you said about moving.”
“And?”
“I don’t want to move right away, but I do think we should start discussing what we want, where we want to live, and the expectations on price.
By the time Aspen’s a year old, I would love for him to have a backyard to play in, a swing set to push him on, and room to run around.
As much as I love our rooftop deck, this isn’t a safe place for a baby to play. ”
“Glad you’re seeing things my way.”
She nudged me with her elbow and rolled her eyes. “Boy, please.”
“I’m serious.”
“Another thing I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is my father.”
I rolled my eyes but kept my mouth shut.
“Remember the story that I told you about what happened to him?”
“Yeah. What about it?”
“I want our son to grow up being proud of who he is, where he comes from, and all facets of his life.”
“No doubt. That shit’s gonna happen anyway.
I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’ll tell him all parts because I don’t want him out in these streets wildin’ out and being a crash out and shit, but I also don’t want him to be afraid of standing up for himself and representing what he believes in.
I want our little king to have the best education that our money can buy but still be grounded in his roots. ”
I took a scoop of my ice cream and slid it into my mouth. It was cool and refreshing and the perfect way to wind down after a busy afternoon.
“So do I. I’ve even been looking at private preschools that I want us to apply to that will give him a good foundation.”
“Speaking of, when are you talking about putting him in school? I’m not looking at him going into daycare right away.”
“Me either.”
She blew out a loud breath, which let me know that she had some things on her mind.
“I’ve been talking with Penny, the VP of marketing at work. Although my degree is in HR management, I’ve been considering a change in careers.”
“Like what?”