Chapter 29 #3
“I gotta get the sheets and mattress from my car. I’ll be right back.”
I kissed Cayla on the forehead and looked behind her into the kitchen.
“Damn, it smells good in here.”
I looked at the pots and pans on the stove and smiled. This woman had cooked dinner, and I couldn’t wait to put this bed together, get out of the shower, and see if she was any good at it. It damn sure smelled like it.
“I cooked dinner,” she stated the obvious.
“Good, ’cause I’m starving. I’ll be right back. Be ready to buzz me in.”
She grabbed her keys from the rack on the wall and handed them to me.
I rushed downstairs, making sure to get everything out of the car.
I even brought over my toolbox just in case the tools I needed weren’t in the box.
I let myself back into her place, and when I did, I saw that the box and my bag were no longer by the front door.
I walked to her bedroom and saw that Cayla was taking the things out of the box while Oriana was in her nearby playpen tossing around a doll like the thing owed her money.
“What are you doing?”
Cayla had the instructions in her hand and the pieces laid out across her floor.
“I’m trying to see how to do this.”
I sucked my teeth, walked over, and playfully snatched the instructions from her.
“Girl, watch out. You can busy yourself with whatever. I’ll have this together in like thirty minutes.”
I helped her up off the floor, and she took Oriana out of the highchair, then walked into the living room with her. Once I was alone in the room, I got to work. She had the perfect empty spot in the corner of her bedroom where the bed fit perfectly.
“Mama…” I called out to Cayla.
“Ma… Ma,” Oriana mimicked me, and the shit made me laugh.
“Both of y’all need to stop yelling.” I heard Cayla’s voice along with the sound of her slippers dragging against the carpet.
When she came into the room, she smiled as she put Oriana on the floor. She walked right over to the bed and lay down. It was like she knew it was for her.
“I think she likes it,” Cayla said with a smile.
I looked over at her and saw her trying to get under the blanket.
I rushed over to help her. I was sure that sometime during the night, she would find her way into Cayla’s bed because that’s where she was used to sleeping, but at least she had a bed of her own that she could always go to. I did a light stretch and then yawned.
“Go get in the shower. I’ll bring you your bag, a rag, and a towel. And I’ll have your plate ready by the time you get out.”
This woman was a wife without the damn title, and I hated how men before me couldn’t see that shit. Well, actually, I loved that their blind asses obviously couldn’t read because now she was with me, and I had no intention of ever letting her go.
“Alright.”
I always made sure to give her some affection before I left the room.
After I lightly kissed her on the lips, I walked to the bathroom.
I ran the shower and noticed that there were bath toys pushed to the corner of the tub.
Dating a single mother came with this exactly: toys in random areas, and some nights of fussiness, but I was ready to fully step into this role.
The bathroom door opened, and I pulled back the curtain to see Cayla placing my towel on the sink, and then she came and handed me my rag.
I grabbed it from her and pulled her closer to me.
Deeply, I kissed Cayla. Her heart still being made of gold after everything she had been through was impressive.
I could literally see her brown cheeks blush after we finished kissing.
“I should drag your ass all the way into this shower with me, but you’re lucky my stepchild is in the next room.”
She looked away bashfully. “I couldn’t fit in there with you even if I wanted to.”
I hated how she would make small comments like that. To me, we could make whatever work.
“Stop doing that, mama. Stop speaking bad about yourself. You gotta speak life into yourself for you to start believing it. You are the shit, and don’t let anyone make you feel otherwise.”
A light coat of tears covered her brown eyes as she stared into mine. When she looked away, I grabbed her chin with my wet hand and made her face me.
“Start believing that, aight?”
She shook her head up and down, and when she did, I kissed her button nose.
She then left me alone in the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
I thought about the bathroom connected to my bedroom back home.
It was a walk-in, stand-up shower. It was very spacious because when we had it built, we anticipated Nana moving down there as she got older.
The shower was big enough for a whole chair to fit inside.
The truth was, as she got older, those feet of hers started bothering her more and more.
I didn’t want to get too much into my thoughts, so I hurried my shower session up.
The steam in the room fogged the mirror.
I hated getting dressed in a hot ass bathroom, but I couldn’t just step out of the bathroom in my towel with Oriana in the very next room.
I tossed on my pajamas and walked into the living room to find Oriana in her highchair, fucking a chicken bone up.
I was about to walk into the kitchen to assist Cayla, but she quickly stopped me.
“You can go sit on the couch. I’ll bring you your plate.”
I wasn’t going to argue with her. She was on her catering shit, so I was letting her have it.
I flipped through the channels, waiting for her to bring my plate.
And when she did, my stomach growled instantly.
I dropped my head and silently prayed. I was big on prayer, but most of the time I kept it to myself.
I loved the Lord with everything in me, but I wasn’t the kind of person to push my beliefs on others.
I was waiting for Cayla to sit beside me before I took a bite.
When she sat next to me and started praying, I snapped my neck in her direction.
She was loving God out loud, and that was a turn on.
As soon as she said Amen, I stabbed my fork into the baked mac and cheese and took a bite.
“Mmmm,” I hummed out as I chewed.
Her ass could cook. And here was another thing added to the list of reasons I was locking her ass down.
“It’s good?” she asked as she took small bites from her plate.
“I should have known from the way little mamas cleaned her bone over there.”
We both cut eyes at Oriana, and she was using the chicken bone as a damn toothpick. Together, we laughed. The aura in the room was a smooth one; it was one that I could see myself wanting forever. In that moment, I knew I wanted her and the child she came with forever.