Chapter 14 Delivery Day
Delivery Day
ADAI
“Can’t be out here playing with a bitch like me. There’s niggas out here praying for a bitch like me.”
I sang the lyrics to Cardi B’s new song, Principle, while sitting on the floor in the middle of the baby’s room, sorting and folding her clothes.
It was something about a female rapper pouring out her pain and checking a nigga at the same time on a record that did my heart well.
And Cardi did indeed tear Offset’s ass up on this new album.
It was my kind of therapy. I’d been spending most of my time in the baby’s room that was still under construction. Pryce barely let me go anywhere else.
I’d officially reached the thirty-nine-week mark, and the man was treating me like his own little porcelain doll.
At our last appointment, Dr. Kerri told us the baby’s head was facing down in the birth canal.
Pryce had been moving with caution ever since.
Sometimes, I had to beg him to leave the house just so he wouldn’t sit around and track my every move.
And when he wasn’t here, I’d sneak into the baby’s room and do something he told me not to do, hang a painting, rearrange furniture if I didn’t like the way he set it up, and some more shit.
I was a hard headed ass on the daily, according to him.
The room was coming along to my liking though.
And that was about all that mattered to me.
The song went off, and I picked up my phone to scroll through my playlist. As I searched, a DM notification from Ebone on Instagram popped up at the top of my screen.
Clicking on it, there was a post on Trill’s page.
@ebthebigrealtor: This nigga is corny. Why is he out here claiming my godbaby?
My lip curled up in disgust as I clicked on the video, so I could hear the sound. Trill had on a Houston Rockets jersey with his dreads pulled back in a ponytail, and dark shades covered his eyes. By the way the camera was angled, it looked like an interview he staged.
“So, what’s up next for you, Trill? What you got cookin’?” the woman interviewing him asked.
He took a sip from a styrofoam cup before responding. “Shit, more music and fatherhood.”
“That’s right,” the woman said. “I remember that picture that had the streets buzzing. Any updates you can give us on the baby?”
“In due time is all I can say.” He smiled. “I try to keep those moments as private as I can. But I’ll be Daddy Trill soon.”
For him to still be referencing my child as his was weird. He had women beating down his door that he could impregnate. Why he wanted to be attached to me still in any way was insane. But I was gonna bust his bubble right in his comment section. Scrolling down, I started to type.
Please make it clear that the “baby” you have on the way is not sitting in my womb. And this post is about as fugazy as you are for even putting that out there. #idontknowyouman
Once the comment posted, I took a screenshot and sent it to Ebone. I wanted to block him, but then he wouldn’t see the comment. So, I’d leave it up for a little bit for people to see then block him.
@ebthebigrealtor: That’s how you get rid of a nigga!
I responded to her message with a crying laughing emoji then exited the app. Going back to my music, I hit play on Principle again.
“Dai.” I heard Pryce call my name then his footsteps. “Where you at, baby?”
I froze with my back to the door and didn’t respond. The fact that I couldn’t just hop up off the floor and run back into our bedroom had me dying laughing inside.
“What you doing, man?” he asked, walking into the room. Picking up my phone from the floor, he paused the song. “Why you playin’ wit’ me?”
Unable to hold it in anymore, I laughed out loud. “Hey, baby.”
“Hey baby nothing. Why you in here doing shit again?”
I looked at him in his fitted cap and a LV denim shirt that he left unbuttoned with a white tee under it. His blue jeans sagged a little and fell perfectly over his constructs. One thing about a New Yorker, whether it was winter or summer, we’d throw a pair of Timbs on.
“I haven’t been down here long. I’m just sorting and folding the last of her clothes.”
The amount of gifts we received at our surprise baby shower was a little overwhelming at first. For weeks, most of the stuff sat lined up in the hallway, while Pryce put her room together.
The stroller, car seats, bottles, and different baby gadgets were one thing, but the clothes and shoes were a whole other beast.
“And how did you plan on getting back up?” he questioned, kneeling in front of me.
“Well, I was going to take my time, and if that didn’t work out, lay here on the floor until you came home.” I smiled like that answer would work on him.
I could see a smile forming on his lips that he was trying to hold back too.
“Come on, girl.”
“Okay, good. I gotta pee.”
He went to lift me up, and I felt liquid running down my legs, leaving a wet stain on my leggings.
“Damn, bae. You been holding it?”
I shook my head slowly. “No… umm... I think my water just broke.”
He paused with his hands under my arms.
“Baby,” I said.
“Yeah.”
“I think this the part where we rush to the hospital.”
“Yeah.” He responded again, in a daze. “We gotta call Dr. Kerri.”
“Yes. The number is in your phone. Go to your contacts under “D” for Dr. Kerri.” I coached him like he was the pregnant one.
“Nah, it’s under “B” for Bae’s Pussy Doctor.”
“You know what? Just help me change and get my shoes on. That’s just ridiculous.”
“Aight. Aight.” He jumped into motion, grabbing my hand and guiding me into the bedroom.
With the phone on speaker, he helped me into a new pair of leggings and my custom Crocs that Key had made for me.
They were blinged out with the words Big Mama across the straps.
Listening to Pryce take instruction from Dr. Kerri on what to do and where to go, I held in a giggle.
My baby was a nervous wreck, but she didn’t know it.
Holding my hand tight, he led me out to the car.
“You hurting?”
“No.”
“You feel pressure?”
“No.”
“Contractions?”
“No, baby. Not yet.”
“Okay, cool.”
I got in on the passenger side, and he strapped me in before running over to the driver’s side.
“You comfortable?” he asked, and I laughed.
“I’m okay. Let’s get to the hospital.”
“You right. You right. I love you.”
“I love you too, Pryce.”
He leaned over to kiss me then pulled out of his driveway.
After a few hours of labor, AriAnna Princess Sullivan made her debut.
Labor was fairly quick. It wasn’t quiet but far from what I’d had Pryce watch on YouTube.
I had him scared out his mind at one point.
He never left my side once. He was a great coach, encouraging me as the time passed and knowing to be quiet long enough to let a contraction pass.
And when Mariah Carey Jr. pushed through with a high-pitched cry, both of us got choked up.
As soon as the doctor placed her on my chest, Pryce began comparing features.
I had to ask him if she had his nose, eyes, and lips, what did she have from me.
This man had the doctor and nurses cracking up when he said she had my cheeks and forehead.
Once AriAnna was cleaned up and swaddled, we had a couple hours of bonding time with her before I gave Pryce the green light to start calling immediate family.
You would’ve thought they were waiting by the phone the way they all showed up one after another to see the newest addition.
My parents arrived first since they lived closest. My mother came undone the moment she laid eyes on me and AriAnna.
I thought she’d be mad that I didn’t call her to be a part of the delivery, but she was just happy that we were good.
My dad gave Pryce a manly hug and told him he was proud.
Next on the visiting list was his parents and Grandma Lettie.
There seemed to be a battle of who could cry the longest between my mom, Mama Jess, and Grandma Lettie.
It was a tie so far, but they sure were getting it in.
And then, Ebone, Key, Amil, and the guys arrived later that night.
I just knew we were going to be put out of the hospital.
They were so pissed with Pryce for only allowing them in two at a time. AriAnna’s daddy ran a strict program. After everyone had their first looks and spent some time with us, they finally cleared out, and it was quiet again.
“Hey,” I called out to Pryce, who was standing over her little makeshift bed, watching her sleep.
He looked up at me, and I waved him over. Helping me sit up and get comfortable, he sat on the edge of the bed.
“I have a newfound respect for you after watching you push her out. You did good. Fuck that. You did great, Dai.”
“Thank you, babe. And thank you for making it hard to say no in that text.”
He smirked. “That warning had yo’ ass spooked.”
“No. That warning was a reminder that I rather be witchu and all yo’ bullshit than to start life new somewhere else.”
He grabbed me by my neck and pulled me to him. “Good answer.”
We engaged in a deep kiss that took my breath away. This was it for me. Me, my man, and our baby. This was us.