Chapter 20
My heart palpitated as I drove Janiyah and me to our destination. I wasn’t even sure why I was so nervous; I already knew the answer to the question I wanted to ask her.
“Why do you look like you are going to shit your pants? And where are we going?” Janiyah asked, but I didn’t want to answer her.
I knew she wouldn’t let it go, so I had to make up something. “I don’t know what you are talking about because I’m nowhere near about to shit on myself.” I chuckled. “And you will see where we are going when we get there.” I squeezed her thigh, then focused on the road.
“If you do shit yourself, I’m not cleaning you up.”
“Damn, what would happen if I couldn’t do it myself?”
“That’s a different story. Don’t try and distract me from where we are going.”
Life for us had been a whirlwind, but I wouldn’t change it.
Well, if I could have, I would take back what happened to Monica and Trevor, and maybe even spent more time with them when we could have, but there was nothing I could do about that now.
I did make sure to cherish the people in my life and spend time with them when time permitted.
Since Mikayla’s birthday party a few months ago, Onyx and I had chilled together a few times.
We even went to the pottery studio for men’s night.
It was a cool experience, and we were able to connect with other guys.
We discussed things that we went through as men, especially as black men.
It was a safe space and an environment that I would always treasure.
We were able to be vulnerable without being judged.
Janiyah and Maverick had developed a friendship as well outside of books, and they would sometimes meet at the park with the kids.
I wanted to continue to show Janiyah how much I loved and appreciated her.
She stood by me when I didn’t have much, so I wanted to give her everything.
My wife was strong and knew how to get shit done.
She was almost done with another book, because she said the inspiration hit her, and once she started writing, the words just flowed.
I caught her writing a few times in the middle of the night because the characters wouldn’t stop talking. Her words, not mine.
“We are almost there,” I told her.
She sat up in her seat and looked out the front window. More than likely, she realized where we were headed or at least had an idea.
“This sure looks familiar.” She cut her eyes in my direction.
I glanced in her direction and smiled. I didn’t say anything; I just pulled into the parking lot.
“Why are we on the college campus, Arsel?” Janiyah took off her seat belt and turned toward me.
“Because I wanted to bring you back to where it all started.” I shut the car off and got out. I walked around to her side of the car and opened the door for her. I helped her out and led her through the parking lot.
Multiple times, I went through how I wanted the day to go, but suddenly, one night, I settled on this.
If it weren’t for us meeting in college, we probably would not have met each other.
We also might not have met Trevor and Monica and ultimately wouldn’t have met Mikayla.
I believed everything happened for a reason, even if we didn’t understand why it happened.
Janiyah looked around as we passed multiple students hustling to their classes or playing around with their friends.
“This really brings back so many memories,” Janiyah said as she held my hand and smiled at people walking past us.
A couple of girls stopped her and asked for her autograph because they had read some of her books.
We continued walking until we made it to the courtyard. I had to pull a lot of strings to have a small section blocked off, but I got it done.
“Do you remember this tree?”
Janiyah smiled at the memory and moved closer to the tree.
“Our initials are still here,” she pointed out.
One day, I spotted Janiyah under the tree with her pen and notebook. She was so into her writing that she didn’t know I had been watching her for almost ten minutes. It was the spot where we shared our first kiss. It was also the spot where I asked her to marry me.
“Is there a reason we are taking a trip down memory lane?” She let my hand go and stepped back. “Oh no. Are you about to tell me some bad news? Arsel, I can’t take it if you are. You damn sure aren’t about to make me a single mother.”
I grabbed her hands to center her before she spiraled.
“Girl, nobody is about to give you any bad news.”
“Good, because I can’t handle two kids on my own.” She quickly slapped her hand over her mouth.
I held on to her other hand but leaned back a little to look at her. I glanced down at her stomach, then back up at her.
“What do you mean two kids?”
“I had this whole plan of how I wanted to tell you, but me thinking the worst made me spill the beans too soon.”
I lowered myself to the ground, then pulled her onto my lap. People were going about their business around us, and we got a few glances, but nobody tried to come into our little space.
“I found out a week ago that I was pregnant, and at first, I was scared to tell you. Then, I decided I wanted to tell you in a cute way.”
I cupped the side of her face and rubbed her cheek. “Why would you be scared to tell me?”
“Because you were already forced to care for Mikayla before you were ready, and now adding a kid into the mix—I don’t know.” She shrugged and looked down.
I placed my finger under her chin and lifted her head, so she had to look at me.
“I’ve already told you I wanted you to have my baby, so I don’t know why you were afraid.
Shit, I’m ecstatic to be expanding our family.
” I gently placed her next to me on the ground, then got on one knee.
“This just makes my question even easier to ask.” I pulled the box out of my pocket and opened it.
Janiyah’s hand flew over her mouth as tears streamed down her face. I noticed people had stopped walking to watch us.
“I asked you before to marry me right under this tree, so it was only right for me to ask you to marry me a second time in the same spot. So, Janiyah Smith, will you marry me again?”
She nodded her head at the same time she said, “Yes.”
The people around us clapped as we shared a kiss. I pulled away before it got out of hand, because we were on a college campus, and we didn’t need these young people seeing too much.
Once we pulled apart, I stood then helped Janiyah up. Multiple people congratulated us as we walked away from the tree.
We stayed at the campus for a little while, talking to some of the students and some of the professors that were still there from when we attended.
All it took was three minutes to change the trajectory of our lives, but I wouldn’t have wanted to go through any of it with anyone else.