Chapter 32
Kass
“He picked her up and did what?”
I felt my temples throbbing as I let Cayla finish telling her story.
I had literally just walked through her door, ready to move things, when I got blindsided by this news.
There was sorrow in her eyes that let me know she was sorry for the encounter between her and her baby daddy, but my pride wouldn’t let me shake feeling like a sucker.
She twiddled her thumbs before repeating herself.
“He picked up Oriana for daycare and kissed me.”
“Now what would entice him to do some shit like that?”
Her brow dented, and I just knew she was about to catch an attitude because my statement had offended her. Cayla had never given me any reason to think she would cheat on me, but everybody I knew always talked about the bond between baby mama and baby daddy.
“I don’t know what would entice him to do some shit like that, Kassidy. What are you trying to say?”
“Nothing.”
The feeling in my chest was paranoia, and I knew it.
I told Cayla at the beginning of our relationship that I didn’t want to be a rebound.
I put one hand into the pocket of my sweatpants and played with the ring box.
I took money out of my savings to cash out on this ring, and everything in me wondered if the woman standing in front of me even deserved it.
Cayla’s slanted eyes were staring at me like she was trying to read me.
“Kass, I would never do anything to jeopardize this. I respect you as a man, and I love what we have going here.”
“Do you feel anything for him?”
I didn’t care that I sounded like a simp.
I needed to know. Since we started dating, I had vowed silently to myself that I wouldn’t do anything to intentionally hurt her.
She had opened up to me about how the last nigga had wronged her, and I wanted to be the furthest thing from that.
I knew how most women wouldn’t even open up about their past because they were worried about how the next man would treat them.
It took some time to get Cayla to see that she had no worries over here.
I took my time with her healing, and I showed an abundance of patience.
The thing is, I didn’t know until now that I, too, needed the same reassurance that she did.
I needed to know she was all in. We had been rocking hard since we started, and I thought we were working toward building a family, but I could have been wrong.
I was treating her like a queen and her daughter like a princess because that’s what they were to me.
“I did,” she interrupted me from my thoughts, “for months after he and I broke up. I cried and prayed that he would want to be back as a family. Then, you came along, and all of that changed. You are showing me what it feels like to be loved properly. I don’t want him anymore. I want this. I am so sorry.”
I saw the tears build in her orbs, and that’s when I folded. I promised her that tears would never fall from her eyes when it came to me. Only tears of joy, of course.
“Come here, Mama.”
I held my arms open for her, and her fluffy frame filled the once-empty space.
“I never want to jeopardize this,” she whimpered, and that made me feel like shit for making a big deal about this.
“Shh shh,” I repeated as I kissed the top of her head.
I thought about dropping to one knee and asking her right then and there to marry me, but I decided against it. Cayla made a big deal about me even asking her to be my girl, so I knew the gesture of asking for her hand in marriage had to be grand and intentional.
“Come on, Mama, get it together. We need to finish packing. He probably only did that shit because he saw the boxes and figured something was up.”
Cayla sighed, and I knew that was from relief. She broke our embrace and then wiped her face clean. I kissed her button nose and helped her clean her face.
“You’re right.” I sighed.
Her apartment was boxed up, and I knew that nigga was sick when he walked through the door earlier and saw that shit.
She walked away, and I quickly grabbed her booty, which made her smile.
That’s how I always wanted to see her. I loved when that small gap between her two front teeth peeked from under those full lips.
We were going to load up my car, then get the U-Haul to pick up the rest of the stuff.
“I’m going to run these boxes down. By the time I come back up, the truck should be ready. Okay?”
She stopped packing a box in the kitchen and offered me a smile. “Okay.”
I walked out of the apartment and just stood on the other side of the door for a moment.
I was letting my feelings get the best of me, and I hated that shit.
My mind was so all over the place that I had forgotten to grab the two boxes on the way out.
I quickly opened the door to the apartment and then grabbed the two boxes by the front door before letting the door close behind me.
“Come on, Kass, tighten the fuck up,” I coached myself before walking down the stairs with the boxes in tow.
When I made it outside, I placed the two boxes in the trunk of my Maxima.
I had moved Oriana’s car seat out of the car the night before.
To say that I was heavily invested would be an understatement.
I was knee-deep in Step Daddy season, and I didn’t play about my role.
I’m pretty sure that I was so salty about Orion kissing Cayla because, in my eyes, Cayla and Oriana were my damn family, and I didn’t want any nigga around them.
I didn’t care that Orion was Oriana’s other parent; that little girl belonged to me, and her mother was mine for sure.
Whatever Cayla needed for her baby girl was taken care of.
Toys and diapers were paid for, summer clothes were done as well, not to mention the daycare fee was coming straight out of my check as an allotment.
I didn’t want Cayla to want for nothing since her bum ass baby daddy wasn’t stepping up and doing what he was supposed to do.
When I started to overdo it, she shared with me that she was receiving child support, but I didn’t care about that.
I told her to put that money up for college.
A piece of me wondered if I was overplaying my part.
In the deepest part of my mind, I felt like maybe I was doing the muthafucking most. But then in another part of my mind, I felt like this is what the fuck a nigga is supposed to be doing when he don’t play with what’s his.
I slammed the trunk and sighed in frustration because that was why I never dated women with children.
I wasn’t a doubtful ass nigga, and I hated that I was making myself feel as such.
The bass from a black Cadillac caught my attention as it slowly strolled down the block.
When the truck stopped beside me, the passenger side window rolled down slowly.
I knew what Orion looked like from baby pictures of Oriana that Cayla had shown me. Before he could open his mouth to speak to me, I heard Oriana in the back seat.
“Kassy Kassy.”
Her light little voice caused me to smirk because I could see the vein form on the side of Orion’s forehead as she said my name.
“You must be the boyfriend,” Orion said as he made eye contact with me.
“You must be the baby daddy.”
One thing I wasn’t was a bitch, and I didn’t play all that trying to drag balls shit. I always held my own, and I would never let another man disrespect me.
“Kassy Kassy…” Cayla was singing her little heart out in the back seat.
“She's been singing that shit since I picked her up from school. The doors are unlocked. You can grab her.”
A piece of me wanted to punch this nigga in the face for kissing my girl earlier, but I held that down.
What mattered was how we handled things now in the moment.
He seemed to be putting aside whatever the fuck happened earlier, so I guess I would have to as well.
I gave him a head nod and then popped the back door open.
“Kasseyyy,” Oriana was reaching for me with both her hands out.
“What’s up, little mamas?”
I unstrapped her, picked her up from her seat, and grabbed the bag on the chair beside her. She took both of her chubby hands and started playing with my cheeks.
His truck started ringing, and when it did, I glanced at the screen in the front before closing the door. The simple fact that her name was in his phone with a heart emoji had me vexed.
“Yeah, Cay, what’s up?”
“When are you dropping Oriana?”
“I’m outside right now. Ya man got her.”
There was a brief moment of silence. Knowing her, I already knew she was trying to process the awkward moment.
“I’m bringing her up now,” I said a little loudly so she could hear me.
“Okay.”
Orion gave me a head nod, and with that, I started to walk back to the building with Oriana in my arms. I heard his truck ride by when I was walking up the ramp to the building with her.
Cayla
When the front door swung open, I smiled at the sight of Oriana.
Her little jacket was dirty with marker, and a crushed cookie was smudged on her face.
I took her from Kassidy and then looked him in the eyes.
I wanted to see if he was truly okay. He kissed the side of my face and then went to grab two more boxes.
“You know next Friday is the Family Friday event at Ori’s daycare. I invited Orion if that’s okay.”
“Yeah, that’s cool.”
I wasn’t too sure what had occurred downstairs between the two, but my man didn’t seem bothered by it, so I wouldn’t be either. He grunted as he lifted the two boxes. I looked at the clock on the stove and saw that the two moving guys I hired should arrive within the next ten minutes.
The last thing I wanted was for Kassidy to carry the load. He was already carrying enough.
“Papa, set those down. The moving men should be here in a bit.”
He leaned his head back and then looked at the stove to check the time, too.