Air
It had been days since we got married, and I was still walking on clouds. My parents were still in town, and getting to spend some time with them under different circumstances was everything I needed.
They got to know Love more, met my friends for real, and even got close to Amir, calling him their grandson.
Before it was time for them to go, Love did one more thing for me that would make their trip special, and that was to make an appointment at a clinic to find out what we were having.
We picked them up and all went to the appointment together. In the car, Amir took over like he normally did, talking to them about everything he could think of that he didn’t already tell them.
I stayed quiet for the most part, nervous as hell about what we were about to find out.
When we got there, Amir and my parents walked ahead while Love and I walked slowly while holding hands, and my head rested on his arm.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I am nervous,” I told him.
“Come on now,” he said with a laugh. “We have been through some things. You have no reason to be nervous over this.”
“You are right, but still,” I said as I stopped walking. “I just be feeling like something is gonna go wrong, you know?”
I laughed. “I feel you, I was thinking the same thing, but what you need to remember is you have a nigga that will fix everything.”
I smiled, then pulled him inside.
The clinic wasn’t like a doctor’s office. Screens filled the walls along with pictures of clients that they had.
Love got me checked in, then handed me the clipboard to fill out. I did that while they looked around at the different baby items you could buy from the gift shop.
I joined them when I was done, my mom and dad picking out shit that was about grandparents, while Amir found something about being a big brother.
As I looked off to the side, I saw Love standing by himself, not on the phone, not talking to us, just standing alone staring at the things on the shelf.
“Are you okay?” I asked as I walked over.
He nodded. “I’m worse than you. I just got nervous.”
We laughed together, and he pulled me into his arms, giving me a hug.
“We got this,” I stated.
A few minutes later, they called us to the back.
Love gripped my hand tight as hell, and we walked to the back with my family. It was a whole sitting area for guests and snacks that Amir dug into while I got settled on the table.
The nurse asked a few questions, then left out to get the doctor, leaving us to talk, and we found out my parents were just as nervous as we were.
“Listen, I just want you healthy, Islah, and somebody to take to the games, ain’t that right, Amir and Love?” my dad said.
My mom smacked him in the chest.
“No, we need a lil’ princess to dress up and take to tea time at church,” my mom expressed.
I laughed at both of them.
“Well, whatever it is,” I said, looking up at Love, “I am happy.”
Some more time passed, and the doctor finally came in, and we got started.
My eyes stayed locked on the screen as she put the cold ass jelly on my stomach and started moving that thing around.
At first, we didn’t see anything, but then we heard a heartbeat.
My eyes shot up at Love, and he was already looking at me.
And then we saw our baby. It was bigger than it was last time we saw it, and was very active and gave us a lot of 3D pictures.
The doctor asked us questions about any concerns and told us what we could talk to our doctor about before she showed us what we were there for.
“Okay, now we are going to check the anatomy scan,” she stated.
She checked the arms and legs. Then counted the toes and fingers. All was there, everything was sounding perfect, then she said, “You see that?”
We looked closely at the screen, trying to figure out what we were looking at.
“It’s a girl!” she yelled out.
All of us, my mom, dad, Amir, and Love, cheered as we looked at the screen.
“I’ma have a little sister,” Amir expressed.
“A granddaughter,” my mother said.
“Yes, a lil’ Islah,” my dad added.
I looked up at Love, and that nigga was trying to hide his excitement.
“A daughter, you’re giving me a daughter.”
After getting all the pictures and them buying up the gift shop, we thought we were going back to the house, but instead, Love took us to a baby store.
He didn’t tell us anything but to hop out after he parked. We all walked in and looked at him while he was looking at me.
“Go,” he said to me.
“What?” I asked.
“Go shop for our daughter while your mom is here.”
It took me a second to realize what he was doing, but then I took my mom’s hand.
“We will be outside,” Love yelled at me, taking my dad and Amir somewhere else.
My mom and I grabbed some baskets and started with the clothes, picking things out in different sizes.
“I got to ask you something,” my mom said. “Is he always like this? Doing…big things.”
I nodded with a laugh. “Yes, Love keeps me on my toes, but one thing is for certain: He is going to make sure we are taken care of.”
My mom agreed. “That’s for sure. And I can’t be mad at that.”
We quickly filled up two baskets with baby clothes and anything else we could think I would need, then moved on to the bigger items. When they came back in to check on us, I had Amir go and pick out the toys.
When I was done, we had about four carts full of everything that the baby needed, to the point that I didn’t even have to have a baby shower.
My parents stood to the side and watched everything get scanned, and the total got higher and higher, and my parents pulled me to the side.
“Islah, can he afford all of this?” my mom asked.
“Yeah, this is a lot. Does he want us to help?” my dad asked.
I shook my head just as the lady was telling Love that the total was over 3K, and he pulled the cash out like it was nothing and handed it to them while asking them to deliver the shit within two hours.
The lady agreed, and my father’s mouth dropped.
“Well, shit,” he said.
We laughed and walked out of the store and grabbed some dinner. My dad asked when we were coming back to Cali, and that made me tense up.
“We will plan a trip there after our honeymoon,” Love answered them.
“Y’all gonna leave me with people again?” Amir asked.
I leaned over to him. “I have an idea,” I said softly.
He nodded and let it go.
Back at the house, the stuff was getting delivered just in time for us to open the garage.
My mom and I took the clothes, Amir grabbed the toys, and we took them upstairs to what was going to be our daughter’s room.
I turned on some R let’s do our first family trip.”
Love kissed me. “And this is why I married you.”
He then walked away from me, leaving me smiling.
“Amir, go pack yo’ shit, we’re leaving for Turks tomorrow.”
Amir ran over to me, jumping for joy, wrapping his arms around me.
“Best stepmom ever!”