Chapter 23
E melie Corrine Jenkins.
My baby sister had finally made her entrance into the world.
My mother called me at four this morning to let me know her water broke.
I was dead to the world after a role-playing session with Quaid and didn’t even hear the call.
He had to wake me up, and the news had me jumping out of bed.
I almost busted my ass trying to put on clothes.
“Did you just fall?” my mother asked, laughing.
“I’m good! I’m getting dressed now!”
“Please take your time, baby. We aren’t going anywhere, and neither is she. We’ll be here when you get here.”
“Okay. I love you, Mommy.”
“I love you too, baby.”
I hung up the phone and took a deep breath.
“Calm down, love,” Quaid said, chuckling while pulling a shirt over his head. “I’ll get you there in one piece.”
“I just don’t wanna miss this.”
“You won’t. You won’t be any good in the delivery room if you’re nursing a sprained ankle.”
I slowed down enough to get dressed, but I was giddy with excitement the whole drive to the hospital. I loved babies, and I already knew I’d have my little sister as much as my parents allowed me to have her.
By the time we got to the hospital, she was seven centimeters dilated.
Those last three seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, she was pushing, with me and Hershel holding her hands.
Emelie’s cries were the most beautiful thing I’d heard.
She was such a pretty little doll, looking just like her mama.
“I can’t believe you had a whole baby,” Steel said, fingering her chubby cheeks.
“Like I don’t have four already?” Mom said.
He laughed. “Yeah, but you’re hitting fifty soon. Wasn’t this considered a geriatric pregnancy?”
“Kerrion, go to hell.”
“I’m just saying, Ma. Please tell me you’re done now.”
“Yes, I am. These tubes are tied, ’cause there will be no more oops babies.”
Hershel chuckled. “I mean, it was fun making them.”
Their three other children and I frowned.
“Don’t do that,” Steel said. “That’s nasty.”
“The nasty got your black ass here, didn’t it?” Mama sassed.
Steel smirked. “You right. At least Emelie will have someone close to her age to play with.”
“Yeah, ’cause your brothers are slowly repopulating the earth,” my mother said with a giggle.
“It’s uh, . . . it’s not just them.”
I hid my smile as everybody looked at him with wide eyes.
“You’re having a baby?” Kalia asked. “You and Donna?”
“Yep. She’s about six weeks now.”
My mother immediately began to tear up. “I’m gonna be a grandma?”
Steel grinned. “Granny and PaPa.”
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner!” she fussed.
“We wanted to wait a lil bit, Ma. I’m telling you now.”
“Oooh! My baby is having a baby! Come here!”
He handed Emelie over to me and went into her arms where she smothered his face with kisses.
“I’m so happy for you, Kerrion. I know how important having a family is to you.”
“Congratulations, son,” Hershel said, pulling him in for a hug.
“Thanks, y’all.” His smile was bright as he spoke. “It still doesn’t feel real, man. I’m really about to be somebody’s daddy.”
Hershel slapped his back. “It doesn’t become real until you hold them for the first time. If you’ve never fallen in love at first sight, you will when you hold your child. It’s the strongest thing you’ll ever feel.”
“Not you being sappy, Daddy,” Kalia jested.
He playfully mushed her head.
“Does that mean I’m gonna be an auntie or an uncle?” Jaiden asked, causing all of us to laugh.
“You’re gonna be an uncle,” Steel told him.
“Is the baby gonna have to listen to me ’cause I’m the oldest?”
“Don’t you be out here bossing my baby around, man. I’d hate to have to hem you up.”
Jaiden put his dukes up. “I can fight back.”
“I taught you how to fight, my boy. You think you can beat me?”
“Don’t worry, Jaiden,” I said. “We can jump him. Right, Kalia?”
Steel waved us off. “I can take all three of you. You forgot I’m trained for this? Kalia ain’t gonna help y’all. She already says she’s too pretty to fight.”
She giggled. “And I am! Pretty girls don’t fight; we call the police. In this case, I’ll call Aunt Mia or my cousins. I might be inclined to break it up for the right price.”
Steel rolled his eyes. “I don’t know where you got this hustling spirit from, like you weren’t born with a silver spoon in your mouth.”
She shrugged. “If I’m ever down on my luck, I know how to make something shake.”
We all shook our heads as a knock appeared on the door.
It opened, and Quaid stepped in with several bags in his hands.
He’d offered to make a food run, and nobody turned him down.
He placed them on the counter, prompting Kalia and Jaiden to vacate their space in search of whatever he brought.
After washing his hands, he came over and kissed my cheek.
“How are you feeling, Ms. Tavia?” he asked.
“A little sore, but not too bad.”
He looked down at a sleeping Emelie in my arms. “She’s beautiful. You literally spit this one out. She looks just like you.”
“You wanna hold her?”
“Oh, I don’t wanna impose.”
My mother shook her head. “It’s no imposition at all. Go on and get that practice in,” she added with a laugh.
I turned and placed my baby sister in his arms. Every time I saw him with a baby, my ovaries were on fire.
My mind would flood with thoughts of what our children would be like.
Would they look like me or him? Would they have our mannerisms?
Would we be a family of visually impaired people? The thought made me giggle internally.
Emelie opened her little eyes and stared up at my man for a moment.
“I know she didn’t just open her eyes for you,” Steel said, clearly offended. “I’ve been begging her to look at me.”
Quaid chuckled. “Clearly, the babies in your family love me, man. I told you I’m gonna be the new favorite uncle.”
Steel kissed his teeth. “Whatever. Aye, y’all do look good with a baby, though.”
I looked at Quaid, and he looked at me, both of us grinning.
“Don’t get any ideas yet,” Steel warned us. “I better see a ring before I see a baby bump.”
Quaid shook his head. “Pot, meet kettle.”
We all laughed because he was essentially about to be a baby daddy.
I was so happy for him, though. After getting his heart broken all those years ago, I was afraid he’d never have the opportunity to parent with someone he cared for.
Even though he and Donna weren’t a couple, I could tell he had so much love for her for bearing his seed.
Every time she was around, he catered to her, barely letting her lift a finger.
She fussed about being pregnant, not handicapped, but I could tell she adored it.
We spent the majority of the day at the hospital.
People were in and out to visit. My dad came with gifts and jokes, as usual, and as usual, my mother had to threaten him.
All my aunts showed up to congratulate my mother.
Quaid found it so interesting how friendly three of my father’s baby mamas.
When them and my father got together, there was never a dull moment.
They mostly took the opportunity to gang up on him and threaten him.
He took it all in good stride, though. It wasn’t like he had a choice.
The lack of sleep caught up with me about three o’clock, so Quaid and I left and went back to his place since it was closer than my house.
After a hot shower, we climbed into his bed and cuddled up.
I lay there, lost in my thoughts and staring at the wall while he gently ran his fingers up and down my arm with his eyes closed.
“Quaid?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m really glad you’re here.”
He peered down at me and kissed my forehead. “I’m glad you’re here too. Everything okay?”
“Everything’s fine. New life just makes me emotional. The last couple of years, I’ve watched my brothers fall in love, get married, and have families, all while wondering if that was in the cards for me. I don’t wonder about that anymore.”
He chuckled. “You saying you want to marry me and have my babies?”
I looked up at him, seriousness dwelling in my eyes. “I want it all with you, . . . everything.”
“Then that’s what you’ll have.”