33. Saint
Anger surged through my body as I pushed the door of Sage’s daycare open.
Bless received a phone call from the school’s director about Sage’s involvement in an altercation with another student.
I’m trying to figure out what type of altercation one-year-olds were getting into.
Bless is in a meeting with contractors, so she called and asked me to pick her up. I didn’t hesitate.
“Welcome to Brightside Learning Center. How can I help you?” The lady at the front desk asked. She didn’t bother to look up from her phone.
“I’m here to pick my daughter up,” I responded, resting my hands on the desk. She looked up at me, and her eyes widened.
“Oh shit. You’re that football player! Can I—”
“Where’s my daughter?” I cut her off, not in the mood for the friendly shit. Before she could respond, an older lady stepped into the hall and waved me over.
“Hello, Mr. Simmons. Blessing told me you were picking Sage up. She’s right in here. Can I have a word with you?”
I nodded and followed her into her office.
Sage was sitting in a playpen, her face streaked with tears.
She stood to her feet and reached for me as soon as she saw me.
I scooped her up, tightly embracing her.
After a moment, I took a seat in front of the desk.
“What happened?” I asked as I rubbed Sage’s back, comforting her.
She sighed and looked at me. “One of the older toddlers bit her during playtime. There were no skin tears, but the spot is a bit swollen.”
I lifted Sage’s arm immediately, seeing the small teeth marks on her arm. My blood boiled at the bruise forming around it. “How did this happen? Where was the teacher? Matter fact. Where the fuck the toddler at?”
“Calm down. His mother is on her way to get him. We don’t tolerate biting, but he is a toddler. This is a normal thing for his age group.”
“That shit ain’t normal! My baby has a bruise on her arm. Where that lil nigga at?”
The office door swung open, causing my head to snap towards it. My heart stopped when I saw the last person I thought I would see, son perched on her hip. Out of all people I expected to see today, Kynnedi damn sure wasn’t one of them.
I scoffed and shook my head. “Kynnedi.”
She paused, looking at me. “Saint…”
“Of course, your son is running around biting other kids.”
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!” She snapped.
“Exactly what I said. Blessing be up here later to withdraw Sage’s enrollment.” I stood from my seat.
“Mr. Simmons, please. I don’t think the situation is that serious. Withdrawing Sage is unnecessary.”
“Don’t tell me what’s unnecessary when my child is involved. Clearly, they weren’t being supervised for this to happen. Be glad I’m not blasting y’all on social media and filing a complaint with the board. Do better.” I didn’t wait for a response before I left.
I heard footsteps approaching as I secured Sage in her car seat. I pressed a kiss to her cheek and gave her the sippy cup I’d filled with her favorite juice.
“Saint..” Kynnedi said behind me.
I turned to face her with a scowl on my face. “What?”
“Lorenzo wants to apologize to your daughter.”
I couldn’t stop the laughter that erupted. “So, you left me. Told me you didn’t want a life with me, but turned around and let another nigga knock you up, then had the audacity to name the lil nigga after me? Get the fuck out my face.”
“Oh, fuck you, Saint. I didn’t even realize that’s your middle name.” She lied, rolling her eyes. “Why does it even matter? You have a child too.. Are you with her mother?”
“That’s my wife.”
“There’s no ring on your finger.”
“Mind your business, bruh. Worry about teaching that lil nigga to keep his mouth to himself.” I snapped, opening the driver’s door to slide inside.
A few hours later
“With the way production is going, give or take, everything should be up and running in six to eight weeks.” The contractor, Eddie, said, wiping his dusty hands on his overalls.
“That’s perfect. ADT is coming by tomorrow to upgrade the security systems, and the sign should be getting delivered within the next couple of days.” Blessing unlocked the front door, ushering everyone out. Sage was asleep in my arms.
“I’m so proud of you, baby. This shit looks amazing. Designed all this shit on your own. When are you starting the hiring process?”
“Soon. I’ve posted job listings on LinkedIn. I got a couple of applicants already.”
I nodded and pulled her into me. I placed soft pecks on her lips and gazed down at her. “You’re so beautiful, you know that?”
She smirked and nodded. “How could I forget? You tell me a million times a day.”
She said her goodbyes to the contractors before we left the building. I opened the passenger door for her after she secured Sage in her car seat.
“Where we goin’?” She asked, putting her seat belt on as I got into the driver’s seat.
“You’ll see,” I responded, starting the truck.
My palms became sweaty as we rode in silence. Things are better between us, but there’s still a conversation that needs to be had. So, I wasn’t sure how she would react to my surprise.
She turned and squinted at me as we entered Lily Cove, a small city only fifteen minutes away from Oasis Cove.
The city had been recently developed like Willow Creek.
Last year, I bought some land and started building my dream home.
Right now, the shell of the house is complete, and the rest of the house should be finished before the holidays.
“Whose house is this?” Blessing asked, looking out the window.
“Ours,” I responded, getting out of the truck. “Come on, let me show you something.”
“Saint… Ours? You bought us a house?”
I removed a sleeping Sage from her car seat and carried her to the door with Blessing following behind us. I used my thumbprint to unlock the front door and lead her inside.
“I bought this plot of land last year. Didn’t tell a soul about it because I wasn’t sure what I had in mind for it.
Eventually, I reached out to an architect and started designing my dream home.
Blessing, I love you. I love Sage and Journey like they’re my blood, and I want y’all in my life forever.
This home is ours, and I can’t imagine living here with anyone else.
I know we got a lot of shit to work through, but I want this shit forever, Bless.
” I reached into my pocket and pulled a marker from my pocket.
Blessing snickered and wiped the tears that were about to fall. “Papa, I thought you were about to pull a ring out of your damn pocket.” She took the marker from me and scribbled our initials on one of the wooden panels.
“Don’t trip. It’s coming.” I quickly pecked her lips before snapping a picture of us. “I have one more surprise for you.”
“What is it?”
“We’re going to Turks & Caicos.”
She squealed and wrapped her arms around me, causing Sage to jump from her sleep. “Sorry, princess.” She whispered.
I ran my hand across Blessing’s thigh and slightly gripped it as I drove towards my house. My stomach was touching my back, and if I didn’t eat something soon, I was going to pass the fuck out.
“You hungry?” I asked Blessing, glancing over at her.
“Yes! I’m in the mood for a juicy ass burger.” She rubbed her stomach as she scrolled through her phone.
“You wanna stop somewhere, or you want me to throw some on the grill when we get home?”
“Ooo. You know imma choose the grill every time. Before I forget, how’d things go at the daycare?
” Blessing said, shifting her body to face me.
When I pulled up to her facility, I told her that Sage got bitten, but I didn’t go into detail.
Even though the situation wasn’t a big deal, I knew I needed to tell her about running into Kynnedi.
“Long story short, a little boy bit her. You see the bruise. I snapped at the director because she shouldn’t have been around the older kids unsupervised. I told her Sage will be withdrawn.”
“Yeah, that’s ridiculous. Thanks for stepping in while I was in a meeting. I’m definitely withdrawing her. I’m not working right now anyway, she can stay home with one of us.”
“You know I don’t mind watching her while you’re handling business at the facility. That’s not all, though. The parent of the boy bursts into the meeting, and guess who the fuck it was.”
“Who?” She asked, eyebrows raised.
“Kynnedi.”
She paused for a moment, then shook her head. “Of course it was.”
I chuckled. “Don’t start, Bless.”
“I’m not starting anything.” She said quickly, holding her hands up. “I’m just saying, what are the fucking odds?”
“That’s not even the worst part.”
“Oh gosh. What else?”
“She named the lil nigga Lorenzo.”
Blessing burst into laughter. She laughed so hard, her eyes filled with tears.
I sucked my teeth. “That shit ain’t that funny, Bless.”
“It literally is. What the fuck do you do to these bitches? Dick ain’t even that good.”
“It ain’t?”
“Nah.”