46/Danielle
Chance was stalking me. At work. At home. I was so sick of him and his lies and his excuses. Rumor had it he was now living with some white woman. I thought it would bother me, but I didn’t care, which told me I never really loved his trifling ass in the first place.
Friday, I went on a shopping spree. I couldn’t help myself. I went to Target and practically bought out the baby department. Next, I went to Baby Gap and bought my granddaughter all kinds of hip outfits. I even found her a pair of Nike tennis shoes at Foot Locker.
After I maxed out my credit card, I headed over to my parents’ house to drop off all my goodies. I stepped inside with my arms loaded down, and Portia came down the stairs.
She gave me a curious look. “Mama, what have you been buying?”
“Stuff for my grandbaby.” I was so excited. “Here, come help me.”
Together, we unloaded my trunk, carried everything up to the baby’s room, and started putting it away.
“Where are your grandparents?”
She turned and looked over at me. “Grandpa had another bowling tournament, and Grandma went to cheer him on.”
I smiled. My parents had been married almost forty-five years, and they still loved each other. I hoped to be like them someday.
Portia picked up a brown teddy bear I’d bought and took a seat in the rocking chair, cradling him to her chest. I looked over and grinned. “That’s going to be your daughter in a few days.”
She nodded and started crying. “Mama.”
I stopped folding baby clothes and swung around, leaning against the dresser drawer. “Yes?”
Her lips quivered. “I’m so ... so sorry for everything that I did. I-I was wrong for breaking you and Ron up and ... and accusing him of messing with me. I hope you can forgive me someday.” She wiped her tears with the teddy bear.
I looked down at my baby girl, and my heart flooded with emotion. “Sweetheart, you’re already forgiven.”
She rose from the rocker and wrapped her arms around me, and I hugged her back. My life felt more complete now with her back in my life than it ever had with Chance or Ron. I felt movement and drew back with a look of surprise.
“Did the baby just move?”
Portia wiped her eyes and nodded. “Yep, she’s doing a lot of that lately.”
I placed my hand on her stomach in time to feel her kick again. “Wow! I think we have a fighter on our hands.” I had a feeling she was going to be just like all the other women in our family.
As we finished putting the baby clothes away, Portia and I really talked. She and Demetrius were back together and trying to do everything they could to make their relationship work. That’s all you can ask of a couple of teenagers.
I hung around until my parents returned, then headed out the door. I had one more thing I had to do before I could sleep well tonight.
Fifteen minutes later, I pulled up at Nadine and Jordan’s house. They’d had the two-story home built late last year in an exclusive neighborhood where mostly doctors and lawyers lived.
I knocked, and Jordan came to the door. This beautiful woman with flawless peanut-butter skin was a wonderful balance to my workaholic friend.
“Hey, come on in!” She moved aside so I could enter.
“Congratulations on the baby,” I said, giving her a hug.
“Thank you.” Happiness was quite apparent on her face. “Go on back. Nadine’s in her office.”
I nodded, then moved down the spacious foyer to an office on the other side of a large kitchen.
“I see you’re still working hard as usual.”
At the sound of my voice, Nadine looked up and scowled. “Yeah, I’m working on a divorce for one of my clients. Her husband has been hiding his assets for years.”
“Men ain’t shit.”
She gave me a smirk. “You’re right about that.”
Nadine closed the file, and I took a seat on a leather couch she kept in the corner of the room.
“I brought a peace offering.” I held up a bottle of Riesling wine.
“Let me go get some glasses.” Nadine rose. She was dressed comfortably in sweats and furry house shoes. She went into the kitchen and came back holding two flutes that had been engraved with the date of her commitment ceremony with Jordan last winter.
I waited until she opened the bottle and poured us both a glass before I spoke.
“Nadine, I am really sorry about the whole mess with Chance,” I said in a low whisper. The last thing I needed was for Jordan to hear.
She gave a dismissive wave. “Don’t worry about it. Shit happens.”
I wasn’t letting myself off the hook that easy.
“No, it shouldn’t have happened. Not with friends.
You and I have been girls for years, and the second he tried to act like he didn’t know you, I should have cut his ass loose right then.
” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “I hope you can forgive me.”
“Forgiven.” Nadine took a sip. “I’ve been in enough relationships to know that the heart wants what the heart wants, and there is nothing that anyone can do about that. I’m just glad you came to your senses. Renee says he’s been acting like a possessive nut.”
I rolled my eyes, then brought the flute to my lips. “That’s an understatement. He’s been begging and everything. It’s crazy because Calvin is doing the same thing, only with him it doesn’t seem nutty.”
Her eyes shone with humor. “What do you be doing to these men?”
I had to laugh at that one. “You know what’s crazy? Both of them have slept with one of my best friends. Now what are the chances of that?”
She shook her head. “One in a million.”
I had to drink to that.