Skye #2
“I got you,” he said, low. He’d said it a hundred times before. I wanted to hear him say it a hundred more. “I got you, baby. Just let it out.”
I didn’t have the strength to be embarrassed. I just knelt there, shaking, one hand braced on the trash can, letting him hold my hair. My body relaxed as he started to rub slow circles into my back.
“That was a lot,” I finally managed, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Watching you do that.”
“Was it too much?”
“No.” I let him help me up. He steadied me at the sink while I rinsed my mouth and avoided my own reflection.
“It was everything I didn’t know I needed to see.
I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself.
For us.” My voice cracked right at the end.
“My headache is back and now this.” I gestured weakly.
Ducane went very still behind me. I caught his eyes in the mirror and watched the exact moment the math started running behind them.
“Skye.” His voice had changed completely. “When’s the last time you—”
“Uhm, we should probably stop at Walgreens or something.”
“Skye, please, baby, don’t play with me.” He was fighting a smile so hard it looked like it hurt him. “What are you saying?”
“Ducane, I don’t know, that’s why we need to go to the store. It cou… I could be.”
We stopped at a Walgreens on the way home, and Ducane stayed tethered to me. Hand in hand the entire time. The aisle was daunting to say the least. The last time I’d had to do this, I was alone with five dollars to my name.
“Which one do we get, Spot? And why the fuck are there so many options?”
I laughed because I was thinking the same thing.
“I know, but I say we grab one of each. I didn’t do this last time.”
“What did you do last time?” he asked, wrapping his arms around me.
“I went with the cheapest option from Dollar Tree. That was what I could afford at the time. But now that I’m the boss of your law firm, I think I can spring for a digital screen one.”
His arms tightened around me, and I relaxed into him as a deep rumble rattled against me.
“What’s funny?”
“You, that’s what. Get one of each baby.”
“So, I’m not the boss of the law firm? Is that what you are saying?” I asked, smiling as he stepped back and shook his head.
“You’ve always been the boss. Now come on, I know you’re tired and so am I.”
“You just want to lay up under me all night.”
“As long as you know,” he said softly, slapping my butt.
I grabbed one of each pregnancy test. Before we left, we also filled the cart up with sour candy and dill pickle chips.
My mouth watered when I spotted them. That was probably all the confirmation I needed.
But Ducane deserved to experience this the way it was supposed to happen — together, waiting, not knowing — and after everything he’d given me, I wasn’t about to take that from him.
Neither of us said much the rest of the ride.
I was in my head, not necessarily sad or worried, just feeling a mixed bag of emotions. I really wanted this for him, for us. Even in the midst of fear, I wanted this with him.
We made it in and Cadence had caught her second wind. Pizza was ordered, movies turned on, and the couch housed all of us laughing as we watched The Princess Diaries with Cadence.
Night had fallen, and we couldn’t keep avoiding the nagging question much longer. After feeding Cadence, bath time, story time, and “Let me tell you all about Miss Lola’ time, Cadence was out cold before we finished the last page of her book.
I pulled her bedroom door closed as quietly as I could and made my way down the hall.
I found Ducane waiting for me in the bathroom, already sitting on the edge of the tub, all the tests laid out on the counter like he was a surgeon.
“You scared?” he asked, quietly.
“Terrified,” I said, leaning against him and lacing my fingers through his over my stomach. “You?”
“Nah.” He pressed a kiss below my ear. “Whatever they say, I already know what I want. I just feel grateful to be here with you.”
“And if it’s not?”
“Then we keep practicing and try again.” His thumb moved slowly against my hand. “I ain’t in a rush, Skye.”
We shared a kiss, and I inhaled deeply before opening the first test.
He stood while I did what I needed to do, standing close enough that I could feel him at my back the whole time. When I set the last test face down on the counter, he pulled me straight into his lap on the closed toilet lid, both arms wrapped around my waist, his chin hooked over my shoulder.
“I want you happy, Skye. Whether that be working with me or at school. I want to support you in whatever way I can.”
“I am happy, Ducane.”
“Good, so what’s the future hold for Skye Simmons?”
“Graduating from school, and then you can hire me for the communications side of the entertainment industry.”
He looked up at me with a smile. “I don’t believe you’d give up the sky, Skye, but if you do, the job is yours.”
“School starts back again for me soon; I don’t know how I’ll find balance.”
“We’ll do it together.”
We shared a kiss, the type of kiss that led us here in the first place, until the timer went off.
“You gotta look. I can’t do it,” I said, standing and moving back. Ducane stood and pulled me into his body. He turned the first one over, then the next, until the counter was lined with overwhelming confirmation.
“Baby, we’re pregnant,” he muttered, scooping me up in his arms so tight I fought to breathe. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how happy I am and how much I love you.”
“I love you too, and this is just proof of how far we’ve both come. You for…”
“Not tonight, not ever again. We are moving forward. What happened in the past is staying in the past. I never want to talk about that shit ever again.”
He stepped back and turned the bath on. The bathroom filled with the smell of lavender. It instantly relaxed my shoulders. Ducane came closer, removed my clothing, and helped me into the bathtub. I reclined back and let my shoulders drop. It was perfect.
“Open,” he said, dangling a sour worm. I opened my mouth and giggled.
“Why do I love this?
Silence took over the bathroom for a minute.
“I’m going to get you that house the minute we get home, baby. Six bedrooms, three bathrooms, three-car garage, big backyard for the kids. Maybe two more. Or three,” Ducane said massaging my scalp.
“That sounds good, baby.” Before I knew it, I had drifted off to sleep.