12. Micaiah
(JULY) TWO DAYS LATER
“I was a real G and never backed down from a challenge. I backed up whatever I said I would and put my weight on that shit—but shit had just got real.” –Heart of Stone, MJ Stone
“Breathe. Everything is going to be okay,” I declared.
Myraj squeezed my hand as she closed her eyes and inhaled. She slowly exhaled as the phlebotomist inserted the needle in her arm.
I took in her beautiful features while she was not looking at me. I admired her heart-shaped face, unblemished skin, full, pouty lips, and her long lashes that seemingly swept the apples of her high cheekbones.
When the needle was removed from her arm, the phlebotomist stated, “There. All done. Was that so bad?”
Myraj lifted her eyebrows and giggled. “Yes.”
I laughed. “It wasn’t that bad.”
“Says you, who apparently doesn’t have a fear of needles and won’t be getting poked and prodded for the next four months,” Myraj retorted.
I smirked. “You’re right about that. If I could do it for you, I would.”
“Sure. All you had to do was get your cheek swabbed.”
“Like that was fun.”
“It wasn’t painful.”
The phlebotomist smiled at us and stated, “The results should be back within six to eight business days. You can have them delivered to you or here and pick them up.”
“I’ve already arranged to have them delivered to us. Thanks again,” I declared as I helped Myraj out of the chair that she was seated in.
We walked out of the office and out of the building into the bright sunlight. She searched through her purse and removed her sunglasses. I watched as she placed them on her face.
“All right, so I guess it’s back home for me.”
“Yeah, with me in tow. You heard what the nurse said before she took us back to the phlebotomist.”
“I’ll be fine, Micaiah.”
“I don’t want to take any chances. She said that the risks could include bruising, pain, bleeding, infection, and fainting.”
“At the injection site,” Myraj argued.
“Not the fainting. Besides, we’re not taking chances leaving you alone to figure it out. You need someone watching over you for the next twenty-four hours, at least.”
“Don’t you think that you’re making this into a bigger thing than it is?” she asked as I opened the car door for her.
“Nah, not even. That fainting shit might be a real thing. You’ve already been hospitalized for dehydration; I’m not taking a risk on this too.”
“You guys won’t let me live this down—you, Mama, Symone, Daddy, or my brothers.”
“We’re just concerned is all.”
I closed the door on any further arguments and hopped in the car.
I drove to her place in silence. Both of us were lost in our thoughts, and I was glad.
Malachi was at my parents’ house for the night because I hadn’t planned to take him with me, nor did I plan to return home tonight.
I wasn’t ready for Myraj to meet him yet, not until I knew the results for certain.
While I didn’t doubt that the baby was mine, I still wanted indisputable proof.
The type of father I was demanded that I protect Malachi.
I never let anyone meet him unless I was certain they would be in my life, and I didn’t have that reassurance about Myraj yet.
I was feeling her from the moment that we met, but she had been firm about not wanting to take what we were doing beyond that weekend. I respected her views, and while I hadn’t expected her to pop back up, she had, and I wanted to be cautious about how we moved forward.
When we pulled up to her house, I caught a slight wince on her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, turning the ignition off.
“Nothing.”
“Myraj, how can I help if you’re not keeping it real with me?”
She rubbed her belly. “Nothing but a little hunger pain.”
I stared at her for several seconds. “Did you eat breakfast this morning?”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
“Myraj.” She flinched at my stern voice.
“What? I can’t force myself to eat if I don’t have an appetite. Besides, I wasn’t thinking about anything but needles being injected in me.”
I chuckled before I climbed out of the car. I headed around to her side, opened her door, and unbuckled her seat belt. “Let’s get you inside and get you fed. I wish that I had known that before; we could have stopped somewhere.”
“I can DoorDash a meal.”
“Nah, I’m about to cook for you.”
She reared back and smiled as we walked up the steps to her brownstone. “You can cook, sir?”
“Yeah. I can do a little something-something.”
She laughed and replied, “Why do you always find ways to continually impress me?”
I winked at her. “Just being who I am, beautiful.”
“Yeah. Book bae is a real thing,” she replied and squeezed my hand.
I winked at her as she opened the door to lead me inside. I looked forward to the next several hours. It wasn’t until we stepped in her house and I was surrounded by her aura and all things Myraj that I realized how much I’d missed her presence from all those months ago.
EIGHT DAYS LATER
Every now and then, my eyes would stray to the window where the homeowners across the street were getting their lawn manicured.
I noticed a woman pushing a stroller down the sidewalk.
I had seen her walking by earlier. She wore tight yoga pants and a short tube top that had her cleavage spilling over, but now she stopped to flirt with the mailman.
I glanced at the envelope again before my eyes drifted back out the window. Across the street and two houses over, a couple of teen siblings argued, seemingly about who would drive the car. The boy finally won, and the girl stomped around to the passenger side.
My anxious thoughts ran wild, my palms were sweaty, and my heart raced inside of my chest as I turned my gaze back to the envelope and then back to the expensive bottle of bourbon.
Myraj had it delivered that morning along with a snifter, tumbler, and Glencairn.
The glasses had my initials etched in gold underneath the rim of each.
I knew that her gift wasn’t cheap. It tugged at my heart that she remembered how passionate I was about bourbon.
“Daddy! Daddy!” The excited voice of my son drew my thoughts away from the current dilemma. He was the light of my world and always brought joy into my life.
“Hey, li’l G.” I greeted Malachi as he ran into my office where I sat behind my desk.
“Can you come pway wace cars wif me in da backyard? Mai said you busy.” He often interchanged his L’s for W’s.
I lifted him onto my lap and stared into his dark brown eyes.
“I’m never too busy for you,” I replied and tickled his sides just as Mai appeared in the doorway.
“I’m so sorry, Micaiah. I tried to contain him, but—”
“It’s all good. You never have to worry about that,” I replied. Mai was Malachi’s nanny. He was in preschool most days, but whenever he was out, and on the weekends, she came to help out during my writing sessions or if I had some business to handle.
“I was just preparing his lunch.”
“Go ahead and finish. I’ll take him out back and play with him for a while. When you finish, call us and I’ll bring him in. I’m sure when he finishes, he’ll be ready for a nap,” I declared, tugging one of his long plaits.
“Okay. Thank you,” she replied sweetly.
She hurried back toward the kitchen, and I headed for the backyard, which I had access to from my office.
I set Malachi in the grass and sat down beside him as we played with the toy cars that he had set up on his racetrack. We zoomed the cars around the racetrack for about twenty minutes before Mai called and said she was ready for him.
We put the cars away, and I walked hand in hand with my son through the kitchen doors.
“I’m hungry,” he declared.
“Let’s wash your hands first, and then we can feed you. Okay?”
“Okay, Daddy.”
I stood him on the stepstool at the kitchen sink and turned the water on.
“I fixed enough for you too, if you’d like. I know you haven’t eaten yet.”
“What are we having for lunch?” I asked as my stomach growled.
Mai laughed. “Broccoli and potato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.”
“Sounds good to me,” I declared.
“Grill cheese! Grill cheese! Me want—”
“I want. It’s ‘I want,’ Chi.”
“I want grill cheese.”
“Okay, let’s dry your hands and—”
The doorbell rang and pulled my attention away.
“Go ahead and get that. I’ll take care of him,” Mai stated.
I turned my son over to her and headed for the front door.
“Hey.” I greeted Arabella. Seeing her brought back all the stress that I had been going through. That time with Malachi had driven it all out of my mind. There was only one reason that Arabella was here.
“Hey. You’ve got the results?”
I nodded and headed back to my office. “Yeah.”
“You read them yet?”
“Not yet. I was about to when Chi wanted to play.”
“Mm.” I glanced at her as I poured myself a glass of bourbon and her a glass of red wine.
“What’s that mean?” I asked as I passed her the glass of wine.
“Just that I think you’ve been procrastinating.”
I sat down at my desk again and stared at the envelope. I fingered it as I turned the glass up.
“What are you waiting on?” she asked as I scratched my beard.
“It seems wrong opening it with you being here.”
“Excuse me? Why wouldn’t I be?”
Rather than voicing my thoughts, I lifted the envelope and slid the letter opener underneath the seal. When I pulled the paper free, Arabella immediately reached her hand out to grab it, but she stopped the minute that I mugged her.
I inhaled deeply and took my time reading every single word.
I knew once I read the results, my life would never be the same again, one way or another.
I wanted to preserve what was for a moment longer, but my eyes moved of their own accord and dropped to the bottom of the page.
I saw the 9999.99% at the bottom of the page declaring that I was Myraj’s unborn child’s father.
“What does it say? It doesn’t take that long to read anything, Micaiah.”
My gaze shifted to Arabella’s before I replied, “The baby is mine.”
Arabella’s mouth and shoulders dropped, and her hand did as well just before she caught herself. “What are you gonna do?”