13. Myraj #2
It was bad on my part, but I didn’t even like the word “shared custody.” I never dreamt that I would have to share custody with anyone.
I could tell by the finality of his tone that he didn’t want to discuss what happened with his son.
“Where is Malachi tonight?”
“He’s with my older sister Brooke and her family. She has kids around his age.”
“Do you come from a close-knit family?” I asked.
“I do. I’ve got five siblings: two older sisters, two younger brothers, and a younger sister. The oldest of us is forty-two, and the youngest is twenty-three, both girls.”
“I have an older brother and a younger brother.”
“Do they drive you crazy?”
I laughed. “Not anymore. When family gatherings become too much, I have the luxury of going home or traveling somewhere.”
“Speaking of traveling, how’s the business coming along?”
“It’s great. People are always looking to travel.
I guess the best part of it is that a couple of months ago, I landed exclusive contracts with some major event planners who hosts these author events.
I used to land a deal here or there, but now I’ve got exclusive rights for the next three years. That feels great.”
“Congratulations. How did you manage to land that?”
“Networking and offering deals that no other travel agencies were willing to. That’s in part because they don’t know how huge these events can be, and partially because they don’t have respect for the literary world.
“Either way, besides substantially boosting our revenue, having the option to help them with booking hotels and other reservations helps me feed my reading fetish and meet so many authors. I’m still tripping that you’re who you say you are. I mean, how didn’t I know it?”
“You said that you don’t do mystery and crime fiction, and I don’t recall seeing you in any of the workshops that I participated in, and you damn sure didn’t come into the conference room where my book signing was held,” he replied.”
“I mean, why? I genuinely wasn’t interested, no shade.”
“None taken.” He chuckled. “I haven’t allowed my face to be seen except for the rare event that I attend or at my private signings.
When people take pictures with me, they not only sign an NDA, but my face is blurred out or covered.
You wouldn’t have known unless you came to one of those workshops or my signing. ”
I laughed so hard that tears leaked from my eyes. I wiped them away.
“What’s so funny?”
“Can’t believe that I thought you were in security.”
“I did nothing to dissuade that either.”
“How did you end up wearing that shirt?”
I laughed as he told me the story about the ice cream fiasco and the women whistling and catcalling when he removed his shirt.
“How did you get into writing?” I asked.
He told me about his love of writing since he was a kid, his college career, and his journey to becoming published, including all his denials, before the conversation circled back to our current situation.
“When is your next appointment?”
“Next Wednesday.”
“I want to go.”
“I’d love that.”
“I want to attend all of your appointments if I’m free.”
“I would love to have you go with me, Micaiah. She’s your baby, too, and—ooh!”
“What?” he asked, jumping up from his chair the minute that I grabbed my belly and rubbed.
I was always amazed at feeling her move inside of me. What started off as a tiny flutter in my belly gradually transitioned to a tussle as the weeks passed.
“Nothing’s wrong. She just gave me a nice little kick.”
He stared at me in amazement as he stood by my side. “Here, sit beside me,” I instructed, reaching to tug on the chair beside me.
He moved the chair and frowned at me. “I know this is a first time for you, but I’ma say this one time and one time only—don’t ever try to move anything as long as you’re pregnant. You ask me to do it. If I’m not around, get someone else to do it, but not you.”
“Okay, daddy.”
“I’m dead ass, Myraj. I’m not playing.”
“Okay, I get it. Ooh, she kicked again. Are we going to argue, or do you want to feel her?”
“Can I?”
The tender look of awe in his eyes that had replaced that look of frustration touched my heart.
I took his hand and placed it on the spot where I had just felt her kick. We sat like that for almost a minute. “Oh, well, I guess she’s settled down,” I declared and prepared to remove his hand.
Just as he lifted it, she kicked again. “Ohh! Right there.” I hurriedly placed his hand in the spot she kicked, just as she did it again.
Micaiah’s eyes twinkled with awe as he felt our baby move around inside of me. I placed my hand over his and stared at him as he closed his eyes and kept his hand there long after she finished.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, and I saw nothing but pain and bitterness there. It caught me off guard because I’d never seen that look in his eyes.
“Yeah. I’m good.”
He widened his eyes and tilted his head back briefly, closing his eyes again. I squeezed his knee and rubbed his arm. When he looked at me again, he wore a smile, and the look of pain had disappeared.
“I didn’t get to have this with Malachi.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a long story, but I don’t want to miss a thing about this baby, Myraj. I want to be involved in every moment of her creation.”
Although I briefly wondered if his missing so much of his ex’s pregnancy with Malachi was part of the flaws I knew he must have, I ignored that thought and focused on the here and now.
I smiled at him and hesitantly placed my hand against his cheek.
He leaned into my palm and closed his eyes.
I wasn’t sure what Malachi’s mom had done, but she had clearly created a wound in his beautiful soul, one that I wondered if it would ever heal.
“Micaiah, what did you mean by shared custody earlier?” I asked after he returned to his seat on the opposite side of the table.
“I work from home, and I’m willing to have our daughter three days out of the week or even on the weekends. It’s important that I play a major part in her life.”
“I don’t—don’t know, Micaiah. I cannot imagine not being with my baby every day. How soon are you thinking about this occurring?”
“I know babies need their mothers in the beginning.”
“Yeah. I was planning to breastfeed.”
“We can work something out. I wasn’t thinking before six months old.”
I was still uncomfortable, but I decided we could cross that bridge when it came.