5. Better than Good
BETTER THAN GOOD
Lotus stretched as the urge to pee hit her bladder with full force.
Her baby was playing no games. She turned and saw that the other side of the bed was empty, but she still smelled Eazy.
Bacon permeated the air, making her stomach growl while sitting up.
First, she went to relieve herself in the bathroom, then she handled her oral hygiene before exiting her room.
Eazy moved around the kitchen in his own world, his back to her, sweats hugging his waist and a wife beater clinging to his muscular chest and abs.
“Just send me the paperwork, Alyssa. I’ll get it handled. I can’t come in today, but I’ll be there tomorrow afternoon,” she heard him say.
He had his ear buds in and carried on a conversation with his current boss.
Eazy ended the call, then took both buds from his ears and set them on the counter.
When he turned, his face lit up when he found Lotus standing on the opposite end of the counter, resting an arm against the surface and smiling sexily at him.
This was new for her, but she enjoyed waking up to this view, and for the first time since she found out she was pregnant, her stomach didn’t lurch at the thought of food first thing in the morning.
“Fine ass.” Eazy came around to her side of the counter to greet her with a kiss, orange juice on his tongue that he slipped into her minty mouth.
“Good morning to you too.” Lotus threw her arms around him, and he pushed her toward the bar chair so she could sit and be served.
“I hope you like omelets.” Eazy pulled away and went back to the kitchen. “And I invited Bull, Toni, and the kids over. I got some shit I need to talk to him about that can’t wait. I need you to be here, though.”
“Yeah.” Lotus nodded and leaned on her arm. “That’s fine.” She noticed the tray of sliced strawberries, kiwi, bananas, and grapes arranged with a yogurt dip nearby and reached for it. “So, you want to talk about last night, or is this some need-to-know shit?”
“You need to know,” Eazy said, flipping her omelet so he could plate it in a few minutes. “Niva’s alive.”
“Niva?” Lotus felt like she’d heard the name before but couldn’t quite place it.
She brought a slice of banana to her lips and took a bite.
“Niva, my ex.” Eazy clarified, watching her hand lower as reality dawned on her.
“Oh.” Lotus could barely swallow her bite as her stomach flipped.
Eazy plated her omelet and even added some garnish to it before bringing it over to the counter and placing it in front of her.
“Eat,” he said, pivoting back to the stove so he could whip up his own and prepare the pancakes, eggs, and sausage he planned to serve Bull and his family.
“Ezekiel, you can’t just say something like that to me with no other explanation.”
“I’m looking for one myself, Lo.” He poured his egg batter with the sausage, peppers, and mushrooms into the pan before sprinkling cheese over it and letting it cook.
“When me, Bull, and Jewel stood in the same room with her, and she gave me nothing but excuses about why she stayed away… I don’t know. Shit just changed my perspective.”
“Like how?” Lotus might have been uneasy, but she was also starving, and his meal both looked and smelled good.
She picked up a fork resting on a napkin nearby and said a quick prayer over her food.
“I don’t know. I mean, I guess ever since I thought she died, my whole motivation behind anything was to gain enough money and power to feel around some more and find out what really happened to her.
I left Prospect Pointe after that for a reason.
I needed to let shit simmer around here before I started poking at dirt again.
Found more than I bargained for. Got answers to enough to make me reflect on my life and what I want from it from now on. ”
Eazy faced her, then Lotus cut into her omelet and took a bite. He watched her eyes close in peace as she absorbed the flavors on her tongue and moaned.
“I’m not ignoring you. I just need a minute with this omelet,” she jested.
“Take your time.” Eazy turned back to the stove.
Lotus was halfway through her food when he came to join her at the empty chair beside her with his own food.
“Did you put bacon on yours?” She sniffed like a bloodhound.
“Damn, you gotta chill with that, baby mama. You had sausage. You don’t need all that pork anyway. Too much sodium.”
“It smells so good,” she whined as Eazy reached for a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce and sprinkled some on part of his omelet.
Lotus grabbed her glass of orange juice and noticed the pill capsule beside it.
“What’s this?”
“Prenatal vitamin.” Eazy took a bite of his food. “You need to start taking those now. Helps with all kinds of developments and shit for you and the baby. I left the bottle in your medicine cabinet.”
Lotus looked around her apartment. Nothing was different per se, but she could tell he’d done his best at cleaning. Now she was wondering what type of nigga she was really involved with.
“So, is there some contest or competition I missed? Or you got something to prove?”
“What you talking about?” he asked, cutting into another piece of his dish.
“Is there something else on your mind? Maybe your ex that’s back from the dead?” she suggested.
Eyes focused straight ahead, but arms propped on the counter, Eazy froze.
The whole situation had him tight. It was why he had his pistol in his sweats’ pocket now.
He called Summit and Taci’s spot so much last night his grandfather eventually took the landline off the hook, and he only used his cell every now and then, so it was most likely tucked in a drawer somewhere.
Taci was more technical between the two, but she knew how to put her shit on DND and would in a heartbeat.
“Something on yours?” He faced her.
“Well, of course I’m curious.” Lotus swallowed her bite. “I want to know what it means, how you’re feeling? How this affects us going forward?”
Eazy simpered, finding her inquiries sexy as her brows knitted together.
“You want me to keep it a buck with you, Lo?”
“Ten times out of ten,” she countered, watching him nod before swallowing and setting his fork down.
“I spent four years grieving somebody who wasn’t even dead.
Only for me to look her in her face and not even know who the fuck she is anymore.
I once thought I knew her better than she knew her fucking self.
Now…” Eazy shook his head. “I’m wondering if a nigga knew her at all.
It hurts. The fact that she chose to trust Oracle over me in the situation cuts deep.
Ain’t shit I can do about it now, though.
So, we leaving the past where it’s at. Besides, I got a lot to look forward to.
” He picked up his glass of orange juice before draping a hand behind Lotus and leaning in to kiss her and place his hand over her stomach.
“I like that answer.” She kissed him back. “But I would understand if you need time. Space—”
“Nah, fuck that. We not doing none of that. Niva or no Niva, I’m where I want to be. She moved on before I did. You helped open a nigga up to whatever this is and blessing me with a little one. We made a fucking baby, Lo. I don’t take that for granted. Real shit.”
Lotus heard her phone ringing as someone knocked at her front door. Eazy picked up his plate, starving like he was the one carrying a child, and carried it with him to answer the door. Lotus slid off her stool to grab her phone, and he flung the apartment door open for Bull, Toni, and the kids.
“What’s up, bro?” Bull dapped him up and let Toni and the kids stroll in before him.
“What’s good? T, little people.” Eazy greeted them with a nod. “Yo, Lo, where you go?”
“I’m talking to Taci.” She slid out of her room and waved to everyone else while frowning as Taci went off on her. “Did you tell her I was pregnant?”
“No.” Eazy cut into his omelet and took a bite. “I told Summit.”
“Ezekiel!”
“Aye, it was a dicey situation, Lo. You had to be there,” he responded, chewing then slowly swallowing.
“Now she yelling at me about fornicating, being a baby mama, and some more shit.”
“You’re pregnant!” Toni squealed. “Oh, my God, congratulations!” She clapped her hands together, and Lotus gave an eyeroll.
“Not now, girl.” Lotus’s brows went up. “Taci, I need you to calm down and remember you supposed to be a Christian, calling me everything but a child of God.”
Eazy snickered and moved back over to the counter so he could keep eating.
“I made breakfast. Pancakes, eggs, sausage.”
“More pancakes!” Breeze pumped his fist and raced into the kitchen with Jou Jou behind him.
Lotus sighed and finally managed to end the call with Taci but glared at Eazy when she was done as Toni and Bull got comfortable on the couch together. She slammed her phone on the counter beside Eazy’s plate.
“I can’t believe you ratted me out like that. Like dealing with my own parents and Jewel wasn’t enough.”
“Everybody gon’ find out one way or another, baby.” Eazy kissed the top of her head and moved into the kitchen to fix a plate for Breeze and Bijou.
Lotus took the opportunity to dig into his omelet and take a bite even though she still had half of hers left.
His just looked better. Someone tapped at the door and then pushed it open.
Jewel appeared and looked around at the full house as he shit it behind him.
Dabbing Bull up, he nodded to Toni before joining Lotus at the counter, where she settled in front of her own plate to finish eating.
Once Eazy got the kids situated, Jewel took it upon himself to grab something to eat and stood with his back to the stove.
“So, what’s up? Or you just call us over here to display your culinary skills?” Jewel teased, folding his pancake like a taco with scrambled eggs and a sausage link between it.
“I ran into Midas last night.”
“That nigga dead?” Jewel frowned and moved toward the counter across from Eazy and Lotus.
“Where you see him at?” Bull chimed in from behind.
“At Summit and Taci’s house,” Eazy answered.