Chapter 18
“Are you sure I shouldn’t be expecting any packages?” my mom asks for the umpteenth time.
“I’m positive and stop asking that.”
“Well, Mother’s Day is in two days and the mail doesn’t deliver on Sundays. I’m just asking,” she says and I can’t stop laughing.
We are at Morningside having brunch. She drove over today to check on me after we talked this morning.
Tyriq moved in last Tuesday and I’ve gotten so used to him being with me already.
When I wake up to head to work, he gets up too and makes me a smoothie, my new obsession, and when I come home at night, he rubs my feet and massages my back before putting me to sleep with his beautiful dick.
I’ve been living in heaven, and now, he’s leaving on Sunday to go to the NBA Combine for a whole damn week.
She heard the sadness in my voice and hit the highway.
She surprised me an hour and half after our call.
I was so happy to see her that when she insisted I put on red and black like her, I didn’t protest. Happily, I grabbed my black stretch jeans, red distressed shirt, and red slides from my closet and got dressed.
We came straight to the mall, spent two hours in retail therapy, picking up little gender-neutral stuff for the baby, then stopped by here.
“Stop asking. Not all gifts are mailed,” I assure her.
“Mmhm,” she says with raised eyebrows. “I’ll stop asking and just trust you.”
“Please do,” I say, then look up at her. “Thank you for today, Momma.”
“You welcome, baby. But you know I had to come check on you. I did not like how you were sounding. Besides, I need face time to try and convince you about this gender reveal.”
“Not gonna happen.”
“Ugh! Can I at least know? I’ll keep it to myself. I need to start getting the room ready in the house.”
“Room ready?” I ask.
“Yes. I’m turning that second guest room into my grandbaby’s room. I want to start getting furniture but I don’t have a theme because I don’t know if I’m having a grand princess or grand prince.” She shrugs.
“And when I come over and see the room, I’ll know the gender. That’s a no, momma.”
“You don’t have to see it. I’ll lock the door,” she says as if her plan actually makes sense. It doesn’t. She would not know my baby’s gender if I don’t.
“Still no,” I say before taking a sip of my caffeinated caramel cappuccino. I allow myself once a week. The other six days, I have my smoothie or decaf cappuccino.
“I’ll let it go,” she sighs. “This was good. I’ll have to get your daddy to take me to the one in Crescent Falls. He would like the corned beef hash. You know he’s a true southern man. I’m going to get him bread pudding to-go, though. Do you want something else? You only ate half of that omelet.”
“I’m good. I’ll finish it later though maybe with that bread pudding. I’m going to order some too. Oh, and let me see if Tyriq wants something.”
Me: ’Bout to leave Morningside. You want something?
Riq: Thanks, bae but I’m good. Still here with Mick.
Me: Okay. If it’s late, my mom brought dinner. She made smothered beef tips, mashed potatoes, and creole succotash.
Riq: Bet. I’ll smash that. Have fun.
Me: :-))
“He wants what you cooked,” I tell her after my last text and she smiles.
“How is it with you two?
“Really good. We have our own little rhythm and it works. We don’t argue or fight. Well, nothing serious anyway. If we don’t agree on something, we just talk it out and squash it. It’s usually me though.”
“I figured because you’re so much like me but your poor daddy just deals with me,” she says I agree by nodding.
“Relationships aren’t perfect or always easy but they don’t have to be hard either.
Trust and communication are key. You have to trust one another and reinforce that trust with actions not just words. And please talk.
“Communicate, communicate, communicate! If something is bothering you, say it. Tell that man. He will never guess or figure it out. Never. Men aren’t wired that way.
You have to be direct with them or you’ll find yourself mad because he didn’t read your mind.
That makes no sense. So many relationship issues can be rectified if both people would open their damn mouths.
If you don’t listen to anything else I say, hear this.
Because if you two are going to stay together, life is about to be very different.
He’s going into the NBA. The N…B…A. The world is going to be at his fingertips and the only way for y’all to survive and navigate through that world is to trust each other and communicate. ”
“That’s the only thing that scares me,” I admit. “Right now, we’re really in our own little world here in Diamond Falls. He’s just Tyriq here ’cause it’s home. When he enters the league, things will change.”
“The outside will change. You two work to make sure that what’s inside, you, him, and the baby, don’t. Keep your rhythm and don’t let anything disturb it. And share that fear with him. I’m serious; always tell him how you feel.”
“Okay. Okay. I will,” I assure her while hyping myself up too.
I love what Tyriq and I are building. My feelings for him grow more and more each day ,and if I’m being honest, I’m falling fast and hard.
How can I not? He’s everything and he ensures I have everything I want and need.
For me and our baby, he talked to his mom.
He’s trying to work through his family shit.
He’s living with me in my townhome when he could be living it up in a luxury suite in The Metropolitan.
It’s us, in our own little world, and I don’t know what that will look like when he enters his new one.
After I finish my drink, we motion our server over for to-go boxes and to place our dessert orders. Not only do I have some of my omelet and potatoes to take with me but she has leftovers too. Their breakfast bowls are huge and she couldn’t eat it all.
“So have you met his parents yet?” my mom asks.
“No, not yet. His parents are still married but Tyriq and his dad don’t have a relationship.”
“Oh no,” she sighs.
“Yeah. It’s a long history but I’ll be meeting his mom and sister soon.”
“He has a sister? Older or younger?”
“Younger. She’s almost seventeen.”
“Well, I’m going to have to meet them too, especially his mother. I’m not trying to be one of those grandmothers fighting over the grandbaby. She and I have to work together in this. Maybe she might want to help with the shower and gender reveal.”
“Momma!” I snap while shaking my head. She never gives up.
“Alright, damn! Shower only,” she says, hopefully finally conceding.
We spend our time waiting on the bread pudding just talking about nothing really but I soak it all up.
Seeing Tyriq go through what he does with his parents really puts things in perspective.
I’m truly lucky and blessed to have been raised in a healthy, loving household.
I experienced an abundance of love from my mother and father and not all Black kids can say that.
I can and my baby definitely will as well.
Soft kisses on my inner thigh beautifully pull me out of my sleep but I don’t let him know it.
The intent of the kisses is to wake me and since I’m not ready for his lips to leave my body, I pretend to still be asleep.
To my benefit, it works. His lips move to my other thigh and softly kiss up to the crotch of my thin shorts.
When he inhales me and exhales, the warmth of his breath sends a chill up my spine and I shiver lightly.
Busted.
“You up?” he utters. His mouth is close; another chill vibrates through me.
“Mmhm,” I moan.
“How long you been awake?”
“Just now.”
“Liar,” he says, then grins. He’s closer now because when he speaks, his lips brush across my lower ones.
My back arches in anticipation of a good morning, tongue-pleasing kiss.
My heart breaks though when he utters his next words.
“Good. Get up and get dressed,” he says before kissing my crotch and easing off the bed.
My eyes fly open and I sit up in bed. To my chagrin, he’s fully dressed, looking too damn sexy to be all the way at the end of my bed. I need him back between my legs.
“Tyriq. I know you fucking lying,” I scoff. “Take that off and come back to bed.”
“I can’t. If I do, we won’t make our reservation,” he says, surprising the hell out of me. This is not the plan.
“Reservation. No. Why? You leave tomorrow for that stupid combine and we were supposed to spend the day together, in bed. We decided that we weren’t going anywhere,” I whine and fuss at the same time.
“Not that stupid combine,” he says with a chuckle.
“If I could stay here with you, you know I would. Don’t be like that.
” He turns and walks into my bathroom. I hear the shower turn on then he walks out.
“Our plans changed. We gotta go,” he says while stepping toward me.
When he reaches the bed, he holds his hand out for me and I just stare.
“Trust me. You’re going to like the change.
Go shower,” he urges with his beautiful smile.
So, stubbornly, I accept his hand and get out of my bed.
He walks me into the bathroom, takes my tee and shorts off, then opens the shower door. When I step in, I ask, “Are you going to wash my back?”
“You know I can’t. I’m leaving because looking at all of this got me wanting to cancel the new plans.”
“It’s cool, cancel them. We can shower together and—” He closes the door as I speak and just laughs. I should curse his ass out but I don’t. I can’t. I’m too amused that he shut my ass up by closing the door. “Where are we going anyway? And don’t say it’s a surprise either.”
“To a place,” is all his smug ass says before leaving me in the bathroom.