Chapter 16 #2
“Again, I’m sorry for your loss. When his last check gets mailed out, contact the number on it and explain what happened so that another payment can be sent in your name.”
She shook her head up and down.
“Well, thank you for coming to check on him,” she said before I walked off.
The thing was, I wasn’t coming to check on shit but a lead. I needed to know who the fuck was bold enough to rob me. That’s it, and that’s all.
As I made my way home, I just started thinking of how Sha and I were literally at a standstill with our little investigation.
The situation wasn’t even a setback. I mean, how could it be when I was at the head of the Ruiz Cartel?
This whole thing was about respect. I swear, the feeling made me feel uneasy, but if there were no leads, I had to leave the shit alone for now.
I was making peace with the shit as I made my way home.
ETERNITY
I was standing in one of the empty spare bedrooms in the house.
I was picturing how things would look as a nursery.
We had raised all our children in this house, and every single last one of them grew up in the rooms they are in now.
Malik startled me when he wrapped his hands around my waist and then pulled me close.
I didn’t even hear him walk into the room.
“So, the crib should go there. The changing table over there and,” he pointed in the corner of the room, “the mommy rocking chair you love right there.”
I smiled hard as hell at his recommendations on decor. He always knew how to read my mind. There I was thinking about filling this room with items that would be for the next member of this family, and here he was knowing what was going on in my brain.
“Stop doing that,” I said with a smile.
“Doing what?” he asked as he kissed the nape of my neck.
“Reading me.”
“Never.”
I turned around, pecked his lips, and then stared him in his eyes. We were really about to do this.
“What you going to do when I get big and round and just be wobbling around?”
I asked the question as if he hadn’t seen me that way twice already. Every pregnancy was different, and this one would be more special than any other one because it was one that we both were planning. It was one that we both had the time for.
“I’m still gonna bend that ass over and handle you how I always do.”
I had to turn away from him because I was blushing.
Still, after all these years, he could make my cheeks change in color like a damn schoolgirl.
His hand traced the necklace that rested on my chest. He picked up the pendant that was of gold baby feet and kissed it.
Inside the tiny locket that I had sealed shut was an umbilical cord.
Instantly, my eyes watered, but I was past that moment of pain.
I would always mourn our son, but I had shaken that immense amount of pain that came along with it.
His palm cupped my cheek, and I grabbed his hand and then kissed the back of it.
In ink, he had the name Renmen in cursive in that spot.
It was our first son’s middle name, a tribute to Malik and his Haitian culture.
Renmen meant love, and that little chubby-cheeked baby was made with just that.
Not to mention that was Malik’s middle name as well.
For a moment, we stood in the empty room just staring into one another’s eyes.
Having another baby wasn’t just about adding to our family.
It was about doing everything right this time.
A planned pregnancy, a healthy pregnancy and delivery, and then a healthy baby.
God, I needed this to happen for us. I loved my daughters and even my bonus child, but I yearned for the proper experience of having a baby that I couldn’t experience because, honestly, mentally, I couldn’t deal with it when Maliah and Maylee were born.
When I sniffled, he knew that tears were about to fall.
“What kind of theme are you thinking, ma?”
He changed the subject.
“Well,” I paused to think, “Once we know if it’s a boy or a girl, then I will know. I’m saying it like I’m pregnant already,” I said with sort of a chuckle.
“Let’s go practice as a matter of fact.”
He grabbed my hand and then started walking me out of the room.
“Stop dragging me,” I said with a small laugh.
The man was running down the hall toward our bedroom and dragging me with him. I giggled behind him while he ran at full speed.
He was so goofy, but only with me, and I loved every minute of it.
When he got inside our bedroom with the door locked behind us, I thought of how Maliah thought that he said something to Tahari to get him to break up with her.
He didn’t see her dad in moments like this.
Where he was playful and sweet. Don’t get me wrong, he was very sweet to the girls, but he could also be very serious.
“Babe?”
“Hmmm?” he responded in between kissing me down my neck.
“What did you say to Tahari the other night. He broke things off with Mali, and she’s in a rut about it.”
After pulling away from me, he smacked his lips together before letting out a sigh.
“See, this is why I don’t like this dating shit,” he hissed, “how is she?”
Instantly, he jumped into protective mode.
“She will be okay, she’s just in her feelings because it’s still fresh. She’s just looking for answers since he didn’t give her any.”
“Well, I walked him out, and I saw his car. He got this clean ass old-school Chevy Impala that he said his dad left to him. That’s pretty much it. Maybe coming here and seeing how we operate was too much for him.”
I nodded my head up and down because that was definitely a possibility. Our kids came from money, and that is because the man standing in front of me made it happen. To other people, that could be intimidating or a lot to take in.
Thinking about how my baby girl was so torn up earlier, I had to say something. We, well he couldn’t be this hard on her the next time she brings someone around.
“So, the next little boy that she feels comfortable enough to bring around, we can’t be hard on her about it.”
I was saying we to not make him the center of being the problem. Although he definitely was.
He screwed his face up at my request. I knew exactly how to butter him up.
“Come on, baby.” I grabbed him by the pants and then pulled him closer to me, “play nice.” I said as I looked deep in his eyes.
“Mmm,” he grunted, “isn’t it baby making time?”
I laughed as he picked me up and then walked to our bed. Maliah’s birthday was coming up, and I hope that by then she was in way better spirits than when I saw her earlier.