Chapter 5 #2
Mozzi grabbed Iara’s car seat off the base so he could carry her inside while Coast picked up her purse and the diaper bag to trail him up the steps. Once they were settled in the living room, he kissed his daughter on her cheek, which caused her to stir and look up at him.
“Call me if you need me.” It wasn’t just a statement, it was assurance.
He made sure to always be readily available to Coast. He didn’t want her to ever question where he stood as her husband.
“I will. Tell Moose I said hi.”
He slapped her ass and bit into his bottom lip before backtracking to the front door. The minute Iara heard the door close and didn’t see Mozzi anymore, she looked at Coast, and her little lip quivered.
“Don’t start that,” Coast chastised.
The attachment between those two was so real.
No one would ever guess that Mozzi wasn’t her biological father the way he loved on her and vice versa.
When he stepped into a room, she lit up.
If he left, like now, she automatically knew and would pitch a fit.
Coast watched her little lips part as her fists balled at her side, and she let out a high-pitched wail.
Shaking her head, she kicked off her shoes and leaned forward to unlatch and free her child from her seat. She whimpered a little, but the minute she was close enough to sniff out the breast milk, she lunged for Coast’s chest.
“Greedy little girl.” She unbuttoned her shirt and removed the latch to her nursing bra so she could whip out her very full breast and pop it in her daughter’s mouth.
Coast zoned out thinking about court, Shalice, and watching her baby girl feed hungrily from her.
It was all so much to process. How could she let that woman around her child?
She didn’t know her. As far as Coast was concerned, she didn’t deserve to either.
Sipes was nothing more than a sperm donor in the equation.
She didn’t want to share her child with a woman who would more than likely speak ill of Coast and Mozzi when they weren’t around.
She’d zoned out, watching Iara shut her eyes and eat peacefully until she started to slip back into a doze.
This was nothing new. She didn’t even like fooling with the bottle too much, especially if Coast was nearby.
She’d fall asleep with her nipple partially in her mouth and snoring like a bear cub.
“Hello! Coast, are you there!” The banging on the front door and Inari’s voice on the other side stirred Coast from her thoughts.
Cradling her baby girl in her arms, she shuffled over to the door to let her inside. It was no surprise that she came bearing gifts. Every time she dropped by, she was showering Iara and Coast with something. Smiling and rocking on her feet, Inari rushed past her into the foyer.
“Inari, at this point you’re going to have her closet filled before she’s even able to wear any of this stuff.”
As if she had the most brilliant idea, Inari’s face lit up when she bypassed Coast and entered their living room.
“We should do a fashion show! Oh Coast, you can do her hair and take all her pictures! Please!” Inari begged, sauntering to the table and dropping the bags.
Snickering, Coast looked down at Iara, who had suddenly woken right up from the excitement in her auntie’s voice. She pulled off Coast’s nipple and turned her head as Inari spun around.
“Hey, Shuga Shug!” she cooed, flashing her contagious grin that Rara returned.
Breastmilk leaked from her lips when she smiled, and her little legs went crazy.
“Yeahhh, that’s my girl!” Inari knelt and held her arms open.
Relieved, Coast stepped forward and handed her daughter to her.
Inari was one of the only people Iara would take a bottle from.
She loved being in her arms and letting her sing and rock her, while talking to her about any and everything like Rara could understand.
Mozzi was the same way. Coast could relate, but some days she also felt off.
It wasn’t her daughter. She loved her wholeheartedly and would never harm her, but she had a lot of self-doubt and anxiety thinking about motherhood.
Life was hard enough trying to get through it when you felt alone.
Meeting Mozzi gave her a family she never thought she could have.
Being home waiting for him, seeing the ring on her finger and how much he had turned his whole life around for her sometimes made her wonder if he would ever regret or be resentful of her.
“Hey, what you over there thinking about?” Inari noticed Coast get quiet and drift off.
She recognized that look. She was fifteen years old when she gave birth to Dane, and nobody could tell her that her life wasn’t over.
A teen pregnancy was always a stigma on a young girl.
No matter what they say, people judged you off that, whether good or bad, depending on how you and the kid turned out.
Coast was present and a very good mother to Iara, but she had this somberness resting in her eyes. Inari knew the feeling.
Coast might not have known Ayla that long, but it was long enough for her to know she loved her like a little sister too. Losing her had hit them all in one way or another. Mozzi didn’t even like watching cooking shows anymore because they reminded him of her.
“About me and Mozzi.” Coast moved over into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water. “I have turned his life upside down. I just don’t want him to ever regret anything or be resentful.”
“Coast, lemme tell you something… mmkay.” Inari bounced Iara on her knee so she could burp her.
“That man loves you like I have never seen a man love a woman before. He’s crazy as hell, but he’s even crazier about you and this little girl.
The man went from having this whole poly situation with three women to husband and daddy in less than a year. Take the love.”
A lazy smile claimed Coast’s lips when she thought about it in retrospect.
“Furthermore, you deserve it. Why do you think you don’t should be the question?” Inari posed with a hiked brow.
“Because all this blissful domestication scares the hell out of me,” Coast muttered, turning to the fridge and pulling on the door to open it.
“That’s just that free spirited growing up you did with your parents. I think you lowkey always wanted this. You just never got to see it up close. Family. A real home to grow up in. Friends, a village. Instead of all these fleeting moments with people you won’t ever see again.”
“I did not know you minored in psychology, Dr. Jacobs,” Coast jested, grabbing a bottle of spring water and a bowl of fresh cut fruit with a tropical yogurt that she loved.
“Just calling it how I see it.” Iara burped loudly, and Inari snickered as she rubbed her back. “Shug, that was unladylike, but you get a pass tuhday because you’re so pretty.” Inari spun her in her arms so she was facing her but still in the sitting position.
“Do you mind sitting with her while I got take this suit off and shower?”
“Yeah,” Inari agreed. “How did it go at court?”
Coast popped the lid on the fruit and grabbed a chunk of cantaloupe. She took a bite and stared ahead for a minute before sighing.
“Supervised visitation twice a month for now,” she disclosed.
“How did Mozzi take that?” Inari wondered.
“You know him. Calm on the outside, plotting some shit on the inside.” Coast twisted the cap off her water bottle.
“And you?”
“I hate it,” Coast admitted. “I don’t want her anywhere near my child. I gotta figure out a way to get out of this. Next, she’ll be pushing for unsupervised, and there ain’t no way.” Coast shook her head.
“Well, take it for what it is right now. Don’t be stupid or impulsive. Damn sure don’t give her anything she can use against you. Take advantage of the situation. Has Mozzi even looked into her background? She might be a lawyer, but that don’t mean she ain’t got some skeletons in her closet too.”
“You’re right.” Coast bobbed her head.
She had a lot going on with being a new wife and mother.
So, she walked around with brain fog most of the time.
She did laundry, cooked, cleaned, and tended to her child.
Lately, she hadn’t even had time for sketching or taking pictures unless it was her phone catching some sweet or cute moment from her baby girl.
She’d been consumed by everything. This court date was the first time she’d left the house since her daughter’s last doctor’s visit.
Mozzi even gave her the option for house calls on that.
“You need to get out of this house,” Inari surmised, damn near reading Coast’s thoughts. “You’ve been cooped up in here with this little cutie. Even if you take her to the park or something. We could go get massages and facials. The works. My treat!”
“I get anxious thinking about leaving the house after—” Coast stopped herself, and tears stung her eyes.
Inari paused, a lump forming in her throat as her sister’s face flashed through her memory.
It was one thing to know she was gone. But to have the image of it happening constantly on replay, it was a wonder she hadn’t gone completely crazy yet.
Swallowing slowly, Inari blinked away tears and nodded.
“I get it.”
“I can’t help it.” Coast shrugged. “She went out to get something to eat, and someone got to her and they… just the thought paralyzes me because it’s not just me. It’s Rara too.”
“Coast…” Inari hopped up from the couch to join her at the island where she stood.
“You do not have to hide that from me. I understand. Hell, I’m paranoid my damn self every time I leave the house.
It always feels like someone is watching me, and I’m constantly on edge.
I hate it! I hate that bitch Mira is still out there. ”
“I know.”
“So, your feelings are valid. You also have security, and Brim is not about to let anything happen to you or his goddaughter.”
“No, he wouldn’t. You sticking around for a minute?”
“As long as you need.”