20. Kay’lo Mensah #2
When the chef got here, I had him make a real breakfast for my girls.
I wanted thick brioche French toast with cinnamon and vanilla, Belgian waffles, cheesy scrambled eggs, turkey sausage, crispy bacon, and some warm biscuits with butter and strawberry preserves.
I had him make cheese grits too, then cut up strawberries, pineapple, watermelon and grapes for My’Love.
While everything was gettin’ made, I sat at the island with my baby in my lap and let her eat some strawberries.
She was wide awake by now, makin’ all kinds of noise and pointin’ at shit she wanted me to give her.
I kept kissin’ on her cheeks and handin’ her fruit while she leaned back on me like she owned my ass.
Everything was done less than an hour later. I fixed Toni’s plate myself, made mine, then made My’Love a lil’ plate and put all of it on the tray with the fruit and they drinks.
My’Love was already headed out the kitchen by the time I picked the tray up, so I followed behind her and watched her go all the way to the stairs.
“Slow down, Mama,” I told her when she started climbin’.
I stayed right behind her while she made her way up, ready to drop all this shit in my hand to catch her if her foot slipped. Soon as she got to the top, she took off toward my room, and I shook my head while followin’ her with the tray.
By the time I walked in, My’Love was already climbin’ in the bed. Toni reached for her and pulled her into her arms, kissin’ all over her face while she twisted around and laughed. I watched ‘em for a second before walkin’ over and settin’ the tray across Toni’s lap.
“Thank you, baby,” she said after I leaned down and kissed her.
“You welcome, beautiful.”
I got back in bed with ’em and grabbed my plate while My’Love sat between us eatin’.
Toni started on her fruit, and My’Love reached over for a strawberry off her plate like she ain’t have the same shit on her own.
Toni moved her hand and told her to eat her food, but she reached right back over there.
I laughed and kept eatin’ while Toni looked at me like I was supposed to do somethin’ about it.
A few minutes later, I looked over and Toni wasn’t eatin’ no more. Her fork was still in her hand, but she was just sittin’ there lookin’ at her plate.
“You good, baby?” I asked.
Toni swallowed and put her fork down. “My stomach don’t feel right.”
I stopped eatin’ and looked at her. “You feel sick?”
“Yeah.” Toni put her hand over her stomach and closed her eyes for a second. “I feel like I’m finna throw up.”
I took the tray off her lap before she could try to move it herself, and she threw the cover back and rushed toward the bathroom with her hand over her mouth. I put the tray down and got up behind her, and by the time I walked in the bathroom, she was already bent over the toilet throwin’ up.
I went straight over and grabbed her hair, holdin’ it out the way while I rubbed her back. She threw up again, and I crouched down beside her without sayin’ much while she got everything out. I hated seein’ my wife sick, ‘cause she damn near never got sick, so I was already payin’ attention.
When she finally stopped, I kept her hair back and rubbed my hand over her back.
“You done?”
“I think so,” she said, sittin’ there another second before reachin’ for me.
I flushed the toilet, helped her up and walked her over to the sink with my arm around her.
She brushed her teeth and washed her face while I stood behind her with my chest against her back, rubbin’ her hips and watchin’ her in the mirror.
She looked tired as hell, and she had already been sleepin’ more than usual lately.
I reached in the shower, turned the water on and got it how she liked it before lookin’ back at her. She was still by the sink with one hand on the counter, and I walked over to her.
“Baby, you got any more pregnancy tests?”
Toni looked at me through the mirror for a second before shakin’ her head. “No. I used all of ’em.”
I looked at her and ain’t say shit else. My wife hardly ever got sick, and we had been tryna get pregnant. She had been tired as hell lately, and now she couldn’t even keep breakfast down.
I kissed her forehead and rubbed my hand over her back before helpin’ her toward the shower.
Soon as Toni got herself together, I was goin’ to get another test to see if we was about to have another baby.
After watchin’ Toni throw up, I knew I needed to get a pregnancy test. She had been in the shower for maybe ten minutes when I ordered a shit load of boxes of the same ones she always used and had ’em brought straight to the house.
I ain’t even bother tellin’ her I ordered ’em ‘cause I wanted her to get herself together first. She had just threw up damn near everything she ate, and between that and how much she had been sleepin’ lately, I was ready to see what the fuck was goin’ on.
We had been tryna have another baby for a long ass time now, and after enough negative tests, that shit had started fuckin’ with both of us. Toni ain’t always say much when another one came back negative, but I knew my wife.
I could see the disappointment on her face before she threw the test away and went on about her day. After a while, I stopped bringin’ it up as much ‘cause I ain’t want her sittin’ around thinkin’ somethin’ was wrong with her every time her period came.
Years ago, both of us thought Toni couldn’t have kids at all. We had been together thinkin’ that shit was just what it was, then she got pregnant with My’Love and proved both our asses wrong.
Once we decided we wanted another one, I figured we would keep fuckin’ until it happened again, but month after month kept passin’ without shit happenin’.
I ain’t know if we had just got lucky when we made My’Love or if our next baby was takin’ its sweet time gettin’ here, but I damn sure wasn’t ready to believe we couldn’t make another one.
When Toni finally finished her shower, I went in the bathroom and helped her out before she could do too much herself.
I wrapped a towel around her and dried the water off her skin while she stood there lookin’ tired as hell. When I finished, I went in her closet and grabbed one of her favorite gowns. I brought it back, helped her into it and smoothed her hair away from her face before kissin’ her forehead.
“You still feel sick?” I asked.
“A lil’ bit,” Toni said as she leaned into me. “I’m mostly tired now.”
“A’ight. Get back in bed for a minute.”
When she was comfortable, I grabbed my phone and called my mama ‘cause she always had some natural shit around her house for damn near everything.
When she answered, I told her Toni had been throwin’ up and feelin’ tired, then asked if she had somethin’ natural that might help with the nausea.
I left the pregnancy shit out of it ‘cause we ain’t even know yet, and if that test came back positive, Toni deserved to enjoy it before everybody else got in our business.
My mama told me she had some stuff she could bring over and started namin’ shit she thought might help, so I told her to bring whatever she thought Toni could use.
By the time I got off the phone, Toni had her eyes closed again.
I stood beside the bed lookin’ at her for a second before pullin’ the cover higher over her.
She opened her eyes when I leaned down to kiss her, and I rubbed the side of her face with my thumb before tellin’ her my mama was bringin’ some stuff over for her.
“You called her?” she asked.
“Yeah. She know what to bring for this kinda shit.”
Toni smiled a lil’ and reached up to touch my face. “You doin’ a lot, and I already know why.”
“You threw up an hour ago. Let me do what I’m doin’, baby.”
She laughed soft and closed her eyes again while I kissed her palm before puttin’ her hand back down.
I left her alone after that and went to check on My’Love, who I left with one of our staff then handled some shit around the house while Toni rested.
The tests got delivered durin’ that time, and I took the bag upstairs and put one of the boxes in the bathroom where I could see it.
Some more time passed before Toni finally got up and told me she had to pee. I was sittin’ on the edge of the bed when she said it, and my eyes went straight toward the bathroom ‘cause I already knew what time it was.
“Come on then,” I said as I got up.
Toni followed me in the bathroom, and I grabbed the box off the counter. I opened it, pulled the test out and took the cap off before handin’ it to her. After all the damn tests we had bought over these past few months, I knew how the shit worked just as well as she did.
Toni pulled her gown up and crouched over the toilet while I stood right here beside her.
She peed on the stick, then put the cap back on and sat it on the counter before wipin’ herself and flushin’ the toilet.
I moved out her way while she washed her hands, and after she dried ’em, she looked at the test before turnin’ back toward me.
We still had a few minutes to wait, so I pulled her close and wrapped my arms around her. Toni laid her head on my chest while I rubbed my hand over her back, and I could feel her relaxin’ more the longer I held her.
I kissed her forehead and kept my lips there for a second before movin’ down to her cheek. When she tilted her head up toward me, I kissed under her chin and then found her lips.
Toni wrapped her arms around my waist and kissed me back while I kept one hand movin’ over her back.
I could feel how much she wanted this without her sayin’ nothin’, and I knew she could feel the same shit from me.
We had done this too many times already, and I ain’t want another mornin’ endin’ with my wife throwin’ a negative test in the trash and actin’ like she was cool with it.
I rubbed the back of her neck and kissed her again before pullin’ her closer. There wasn’t shit either one of us could do about whatever that test was about to say, but I could hold my wife while we waited on it.