Chapter 3
NAOMI
“You still pouting? Stop that shit ‘for those people think I’m mistreating you.”
“You are,” I countered.
“For real? Baby Girl, I’m at every appointment with you. Even on Facetime, I’m there.”
“But you’re not. You’re in California.”
“And it’s fuckin’ five a.m., and I’m on the phone wit' you, Baby. If I could change that, you know I would. This meeting couldn’t be cancelled.”
Rolling, my eyes, I said, “Whatever.”
“Damn, I can’t believe I feel like I’m talkin’ to PJ right now.”
My mouth dropped.
“For real,” he insisted. “Yo’ attitude is giving sis-in-law, Baby.”
“If you were here, you wouldn’t have to worry about me having an attitude.
You know I get nervous, Sin.” Even with the renewed hope I’d gained over the last few weeks, coming to the doctor always ruffled my nerves.
Rubbing my stomach as I thought of every bad thing that could happen during this appointment caused me to groan.
“Nah, my baby, calm down.” Sin saw the worry on my face and his scrunched up in concern.
“I’m trying to.” Just as I said it, the door opened and in strolled Dr. Coco.
“Hey there, Beautiful!” she sang.
“Good morning.” I forced a smile I didn’t feel.
“Mornin’, Doc,” Sin spoke.
“How’s everything been going?” Dr. Coco’s smile was infectious. Somehow, it managed to ease me. Just a bit.
“I’ve been good.” Truthfully, I had been feeling better than I had in a long time. The fear was still present, however, physically, I was in a great place.
“She hasn’t been complaining about any pain, and she’s sleeping better,” Sin added.
“That’s great to hear! Before you know it Little One will be here!”
I beamed at the possibility.
“I can’t wait to hold my baby,” Sin said.
“It won’t be long! You two are doing great! Your urine is clear, so you’re staying hydrated. I love to see it. Lay back so we can hear Baby’s heartbeat.”
I did as Dr. Coco said, irrationally worried because I felt my baby busting a hole in my side. My stomach growled, wringing a chuckle from Dr. Coco.
“Came here on an empty stomach?” she quizzed.
Nodding, I explained, “I get queasy when I’m nervous.”
“I know you lyin’!” Sin fussed. “How you gon’ leave the house without eating?”
“Babe…” I shook my head as Dr. Coco laughed. After applying a little gel on my stomach, she maneuvered the fetal monitor over my abdomen. Almost immediately, our baby’s heartbeat echoed off the walls. The smile on my face couldn’t be dimmed if the building had started burning down.
“Listen to Baby!” Dr. Coco cooed.
Tears spilled from my eyes as if this was my first time hearing my baby’s heartbeat. I’d never get used to it until I was holding the precious gift Sin and I created.
“I’ll never miss another appointment.” Glancing at the phone screen, I caught Sin wiping his eyes. “Being away is harder than I thought,” he admitted.
“Aww, Dad.” Dr. Coco typed some things in my chart before saying, “Everything looks perfect! You’re thirteen weeks from delivery! As you approach your six-month mark, be prepared to grow, Mommy.”
Thirteen weeks! More tears came. I’d never reached this point in a pregnancy.
Things were really setting in that our baby was fighting to be here.
Whatever kept me from carrying my last two still scared me.
However, this go round, I had Sin in my corner.
His presence, reassurance, encouragement, and most of all his love, kept me from losing my mind.
“So, there’s a lot we need to do within that time,” Sin commented.
“The time will definitely fly by,” Dr. Coco said. “I’m going to give you an order for your last round of labs. I’ll request that you please go eat before you have them drawn.”
Simpering, I agreed.
Dr. Coco gave me my lab sheet and ushered me out of the room, requesting that I make my next appointment before leaving. I did so quickly, then hustled to my car where I put Sin on Bluetooth.
“We have to get married before the baby comes,” he said.
Mouth gaped, I gasped. “Really?”
“Really. Once I get back, we need to go straight to a bridal shop. I’m sure you want a custom dress, so that needs to be dealt with quickly. Everything else will be simple to handle.”
My man was really sitting here talking to me about our wedding. His proposal night was seemingly ruined by Teddy’s fool ass. However, with each day that passed, Sin kissed my engagement ring and reminded me that I would soon be Mrs. Smith.
Ahhh! I wanted to scream but settled for cheesing instead.
“You sure, Baby? We can wait until after we have the baby.”
“I’m more than sure. We should’ve been married yesterday, sweetheart. Naomi Smith, I said that shit sounds nice. You gon’ be Naomi Smith forever, too. Once the ink is on that paper, and we say, ‘I do’, we locked in forever. I’ma give you four more babies—”
“What? Sin!” I cackled. “We gotta have this one, first.”
“And we are. Our baby is gon’ be healthy and beautiful as hell. Every night I pray, Lord, just get my baby here. I promise I’ma take good care of her, just like I promise to take good care of this gorgeous, smart, athletically-the-goat, woman you gave me.”
Sin’s admission brought tears to my eyes. The love of a man didn’t have to be rough, scary, or forced. When it naturally flowed, everything around him flourished.
“Are you ready to be Mrs. Naomi Smith?”
“I am,” I answered. “As a matter of fact, I want to go to the bridal boutique today. I’ll call PJ and Bri to see if they’re available to go with me.”
“That’s more like it, lil’ baby. Whatever you want, get it. No budget whatsoever, aight?”
“Sin—”
“Aight?” he spoke over me.
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Aight.”
“Nie, go feed Nyema. I’m about to get ready to head to this meeting, so I can hop a flight back home. I miss the fuck outta you.”
“I miss you, too, Babe. The bed was so lonely last night.”
“Well, that won’t happen again. Next time, you’re coming with me.”
“I’d love to. As long as I’m safe to travel, I want to be by your side.”
“Bet. I’ma call you when I leave the meeting, and I’ll see you tonight.”
“Okay, Baby. Be safe.”
“You too, Sweetheart. Call me if you need me beforehand.”
“Okay.”
I drove out of my doctor’s parking lot, contemplating what I wanted to eat. It was a quarter ‘til nine, so lunch was out of the question, but that’s what I craved right now. With the happiness flowing through me, I wanted to celebrate with a greasy lunch.
Deciding I would enjoy my greasy lunch for breakfast, I headed towards one of my favorite spots while dialing PJ.
“Good morning, Sis!” she cheerfully answered.
“You sound mighty happy this morning. I guess Zoo broke your back last night.”
PJ laughed loudly. “Girllllll! I can’t even explain what he did to me; that’s how fucked-up my mind is right now!”
Laughing hard as hell, I could only imagine the smile on PJ’s face.
“I’m on my way to eat some good ole nasty food. You wanna join?”
“Do I? Where are we meeting? I’ll call Bri to see if she’s up to going.”
“Okay. I’m going to Hole.”
“Oh, you tryna be comatose by noon. Got it.” PJ chuckled.
“My appointment went great, but my man isn’t here, so I’m sulking, happy, and starving.”
“I’m getting ready now. I’ll meet you there in thirty minutes.”
“Okay, boo! Love you!”
“Love you, chile,” PJ mumbled then hung up.
Fifteen minutes later, I arrived at Hole.
Hole was a twenty-four-hour eatery that served everything from shrimp to lamb.
I’d only been there a couple of times with Sin and each time, I pigged out.
We were introduced to this restaurant by some of my teammates.
They occasionally ate there when they weren’t on strict diets.
I parked, cut the engine, grabbed my purse, and practically skipped through the entrance.
“A table for three,” I requested. The nice young, brown-skinned hostess smiled, collected three menus, and led me to a table. A familiar face stopped me as I was being seated.
“Can you please bring me a Sprite and just leave it here? I’m gonna go speak to my friend.” The girl nodded and left the menus on the table before walking away.
“Hey, Fallon,” I spoke when I reached her table. Her head snapped up from the pictures she was looking down at.
“Hey,” she cheerfully spoke, although her eyes were swollen like she’d been crying. Glancing back at the ultrasound pictures in front of her, I put two and two together.
“You need to talk?” I hadn’t talked to my teammates much since I went out. The last time any of us had been around each other was at the team’s party.
“Everything okay?”
She smiled and although she wanted to say ‘yes’, her eyes filled with tears, and she shook her head.
Sympathetically, I laid my hand on her shoulder.
“You need to talk?”
Again, one answer was on the tip of her tongue, while the other answer was in her eyes. Taking a chance, I sat in the chair next to her. Fallon and I weren’t exactly friends, and she was currently with a man I was completely over, however, she was in need. If anything, I could be a listening ear.
Fallon wiped her tears, blew out a deep breath, then cleared her throat.
“About five blocks over, back in the cut, there’s an abortion clinic.
You can’t tell from the outside, looks like an abandoned building.
On the inside though, it looks like a regular doctor’s office.
I was sitting in there, ready to do what I thought was best for me.
Then, something hit me.” She wiped more tears as I compassionately listened.
Hearing Fallon confess that she was about to have an abortion hurt my heart. At the same time, her choices were her choices. Being that I’d struggled to get pregnant and make it this far in my pregnancy, I was more sensitive where babies were concerned. That didn’t mean I would judge Fallon.