Chapter 16 #2
“I don’t know. I can’t tell that shit.” He pushes a finger through my hair, trying to do something; I don’t know what though. His squinted eyes and focus almost make me want to laugh but I hold it in. He’s really curious and I’m amused as hell. “So I can touch it?”
“You’re touching my hair now.”
“Nah. Like can I grab or pull it?” he asks and that sexy but devilish smirk appears on his handsome face.
“As long as you don’t pull my shit too hard and hurt me.”
“Never that. I’d never hurt you,” he says and I can tell by the look on his face that his words go beyond my hair.
I can also feel it. He’s telling me that he’d never hurt me.
“C’mere,” he adds. Although my legs are draped across his lap, I’m not far at all, I inch over and place my ass on his lap.
“Real shit, I can’t imagine having a baby with no one else. He is going to be lucky as fuck.”
“He? Did you see something I didn’t on that screen? I saw a tiny little gummy bear. That’s it. That’s all,” I tease. We won’t know the gender until our next appointment but I honestly don’t want to know until the day of delivery and he or she makes an appearance.
“I feel it, plus I definitely saw a baller on the screen.”
“Girls ball too.”
“I know but I know what I saw,” he says and I just laugh.
“I don’t care either way but my mom for sure wants a little grand princess. My dad too.”
I notice a dip in his eyes and I feel his body stiffen. “Hey. What’s wrong?”
“Dinner with your peeps was how it’s supposed to be. Your pops don’t play about you or your mom and it’s obvious as fuck that you grew up with love in the house. That… yeah… that shit wasn’t me and mine,” he says and his tone is filled with so much sadness.
“The past doesn’t dictate the future. I really think you need to talk to your mom.”
“And say what?”
“Now that, I don’t know. The words will come to you. Maybe ask her what you asked me about loving a man.”
“Nah,” he says while shaking his head. “Ion know about that.”
“Then, start with how you feel. It’s up to you but just talk to her, okay?”
“I’ll see,” is all he offers and I don’t press the issue. This is truly something he has to tackle. “It’s getting late. You ready to head up?”
“Yeah. I’m starting to finally get a little tired now. It’s been a long ass day but a beautiful one.”
“Let’s make it more beautiful,” he says with a smirk.
“And how are we going to do that?” I ask, knowing damn well he wants to do something that’s going to end with me screaming his name.
“How’s my little baby?” Rebel asks. Both of her intrusive hands are on my stomach.
“I truly understand now why some pregnant women don’t like this shit.”
“What?”
“This touching my stomach. It’s weird. It feels weird as hell. Like why the fuck would anyone want to just touch another person’s stomach.”
“Well, hoe, I’m not just anyone,” she says, then her voice morphs into a cartoony one as she leans in close to my stomach. “I’m your auntie and godmother. You can call me Rebel, TeeTee, or Goddie. And ignore your mean mommie.”
When she removes her hands, I suck my teeth. “This is going to be a long ass seven months with you,” I tease, laughing. My bestie is too excited about my pregnancy and I love all of it.
“No, it’s going to be a long seven months with your mom. She has already called me. She has so many plans for the gender reveal and shower.”
“Shower only. No gender reveal.”
“What? Why?” she asks, sounding like I just told her some devastating ass news.
“Yeah. I don’t want to know until he or she arrives. I really want to be surprised.”
“What about Tyriq?”
“He’s cool with not knowing because he swears it’s a boy, period point blank.
“I’m hoping it’s a boy too. Kassan can be like his big brother.”
“Until you give him a real lil brother.”
“Eventually but no time soon,” she says. “Besides, this pregame is about you, Tyriq, and the baby. Where’s he taking you again?”
“He won’t tell me. He just said be comfortable but sexy,” I tell her. This morning before he left for Crescent Falls, he told me that he was taking me out tonight. He didn’t give me any details besides his vague comfortable and sexy for my clothes.
“I really like you two together. You are officially together now, right? Because I can’t keep up with you and the fake rules you two had.”
“Girl, I don’t know,” I admit and grin. “My coochie has been officially his since the first night. I didn’t need or want to fuck nobody else.
He keeps me beyond satisfied,” I say then dramatically fall back onto my sectional.
“It’s the other official. We are having a baby.
He’s here all the time and I want him here and that alone speaks volumes. ”
“Volumes and volumes. Your ass don’t like any man in your space.”
“Right but I want him here, really want him here. I think I’m nesting,” I say, subconsciously trying to downplay my true feelings.
I love Tyriq being here with me. My heart drops to my stomach each time he leaves and I truly feel a void. The feeling is so damn foreign to me that it scares me shitless. Real talk, shitless. Everything between us is so seamless, good, and angst free. I’m scared that it’s too good to be true.
“Nesting, my ass. You’re falling and you need to let yourself fall. Nobody deserves it more than you.” Her hand returns to my stomach. “Both of you. Ain’t that right?”
“You’re going to have to stop talking to my damn stomach. Imma fight you,” I scoff. “Let’s go upstairs. I have an hour and he’ll be here.”
“Finish your glass first,” she insists.
For our pregame, she brought a bottle of Black Ops Specialty non-alcoholic bourbon, Spiritless Black Ops.
I appreciate the thought and it actually doesn’t taste bad but it’s not liquor and I don’t see the point of the substitution.
I’m really good with just drinking regular juice, water, sodas, and teas.
I honestly thought I would miss my occasional drink but I don’t at all.
To appease her, I lift my glass and down the brown liquid.
She finishes hers too then walks the bottle to my bar.
I walk the glasses and my half-eaten bag of popcorn back into the kitchen.
We head upstairs, and after spending too much time trying on different outfits, decide on the perfect one: a two-piece, gray, fitted maxi skirt set with a loose white, off-shoulder graphic tee.
I even agreed to pair the set with a pair of black, white, and gray kicks.
I definitely look cute, comfortable, and sexy as hell.
“Switch to that cute black and silver clutch. It’ll set off the black and your silver hoops,” Rebel suggests and I actually agree.
Once I switch out my purses, I place a little more oil between my thighs, behind my ears, and across my chest. Rebel and I head back downstairs. After she checks me out one more time, she nods in approval then pulls me in for a big hug.
“Have fun tonight. I’m about to call your momma on my way home. I gotta break the news of no gender reveal now.”
“Good luck with that,” I reply with a smirk.
When she leaves, I trek to the kitchen then grab a bottle of water. As I take a few sips, there’s a knock at the door. He’s here. I cap my bottle then walk to let him in.
“Damn,” he exclaims as soon as I open the door. His hands are on me next and he pulls me into him. As usual, he inhales me all in then kisses my damn breath away.
“Damn,” I repeat when he finally releases my lips.
“You look beautiful.”
“Did I pass the test? Comfortable and sexy?”
“Hell yeah. Almost too sexy,” he says while squeezing my ass. I swear that’s his favorite part of my body. “If you wasn’t going with me, this skirt would be a hard ass no.”
“Yeah right. Let’s go. I’m ready to see what I can’t know about in advance,” I say then smirk.
“Ay. Be patient. You gonna like it.”
We exit my townhouse and get in his ride.
When we bypass the exit for the highway, I realize we are staying in Diamond Falls and I smile.
I was hoping we didn’t make that drive to Crescent Falls.
Our city is small but still has a lot to offer.
About ten minutes later, we are turning on the street for the mall but we bypass it and pull up in a beautiful plaza behind it. I’ve never been here.
“Where are we going?” I ask but he doesn’t answer. He merely smiles. “You’re mean.”
“You’re impatient. Just chill. We’re here,” he says and I look up. We are parked in front of the business in the middle, On the Table. I heard that there were new spots behind the mall but I hadn’t ventured back here yet. When he kills the engine, he turns and asks, “You ready?”
“To eat? Is this a new restaurant?”
“You will see in a few minutes. Chill,” he says and I playfully roll my eyes.
He leans across the middle console and pecks my cheek. “You’re going to like this. Trust me.”
“Okay. I can do that.” I already do.
He gets out, walks over ,and lets me out. When we walk to the door, it’s locked, so he lightly taps the glass. Seconds later, it opens and we are greeted by a tall, cinnamon sister with a head full of beautiful microlocs. Her smile is so warm and inviting.
“Mr. Hill. We just finished setting up for you two. Come on in,” she says before fully opening the door.
As soon as we enter the space, I realize it’s not a restaurant.
It’s an enormous, gorgeous, state of the art kitchen with a massive Sub Zero fridge, several ovens, multiple sinks, and individual cooking stations all surrounding a large island.
On the backsplash in the kitchen in large cursive letters is On the Table.
My eyes dart between the space, him, and the pretty sista.
“What is this?” I ask.
“This is On the Table and I’m the head chef and owner, Aundricka. Welcome. We have a special cooking lesson designed for you tonight.”
“Cooking lesson? Tyriq! I’m not a cook; that’s all my mom. I’m a mean orderer though but that’s it.”
“You’ll like this lesson,” he assures.
“I’m sure you will too,” Aundricka says, still smiling. “Right this way.”
She leads us over to a rack filled with beige and gold aprons with the On the Table logo on front.
There are also disposable chef’s hats nestled on top of the rack.
Tyriq grabs an apron and drapes it over my head.
He does the same for himself. I tie mine then help him tie his.
Aundricka and I both laugh when he sees how small it looks on him. It practically stops at his waist.
“What?” he questions.
“The apron is short,” I say, still laughing.
“Sorry. We don’t have any longer ones. I need to rethink my apron sizes. I do suggest you both wear the hats; they heighten the cooking experience and make for cute social media posts,” she says.
“We are definitely wearing the hats.” Tyriq grabs two and hands one to me. I put mine on first then him and I hand my cell to Aundricka. “Can you please take our picture?” I ask.
“Of course. Side by side first so we can get the logo then let’s switch it up,” she suggests.
“I like that,” I agree.
We take a total of five pictures with different poses.
Then we walk over to our station. As soon as I see the setup, a huge smile spreads across my face.
I can’t hide it at all. We are making my favorite, popcorn.
Along with ingredients and toppings, our cooking stations have three clear tubes filled with different popcorn kernels, a large popcorn tin with a label that reads Teaira’s Favorite Popcorn, and three clear, plastic popcorn bags with the same labels.
My excitement can’t be contained. I practically leap into his arms but he catches me.
“We’re making popcorn!” I gush as I examine our cooking station.
“Yes. And it’s our first request like this. I was so delighted when I got the call. I hope we deliver,” Aundricka says.
While staring into his eyes, I say, “You already have.” I’m answering her but my words are meant for him, meant for the thoughtful man who made this happen. “Thank you,” I tell him before kissing him too nastily for watching eyes but I don’t give a damn.
“Save that for tonight,” he whispers in my ear.
“Oh, I definitely will.”
When we break apart, Aundricka is blushing but still smiling. “I take it we’re ready to get started?” she asks.
“I’m too ready. What kind of popcorn are we making?”
“We will be making three different gourmet popcorn flavors. Since he said you like the infamous Chicago mix, we will start with that one first. Then we will be making spicy ranch and truffle bacon. The chef in me is excited for the last one.”
“Me too,” Tyriq says.
“Okay. Let’s clean up and start. We need to pop fifteen cups of plain popcorn in peanut oil.”