8. Eight - Ahmad
Eight - Ahmad
“ Y oooo. Bruh! That’s the shorty who dipped on you all them months back.
You said MiMi when we walked into that room.
Ain’t that the name of the woman you can’t stop thinking about?
” Daran was talking a mile a minute. Then he stopped his pacing and looked at me with wide eyes. “Yo… IS THAT YA BABY?!”
He went back to pacing, rubbing his beard as he did so. Daran was deep in thought, and I knew he had much more to say.
I was mad as hell that he put two and two together at warped speed.
The shit did not cross my mind… not once!
But I guess… with a woman who damn near accosts you on sight, let a brother believe that she probably did that on a regular, and shows up to a hospital pregnant…
a man could believe that could be on anybody.
I didn’t consider it for even a nanosecond that it was on me.
“Apparently, so,” I told Daran.
He stopped and looked at me like I’d grown three heads.
“I was joking, Maad!”
“Well, I’m not! She told me Little Man was mine; that she hadn’t been with anyone in years before me and there’s been no one after me.”
“You believe her?”
Daran’s face was stuck with a look resembling a mix of constipation and confusion.
“Funny thing, D… I do believe her.” I paused allowing my thoughts to take over, cause hell, the thought that the perfect little boy I just brought into the world, who was a fighter, and was my fighting son… caused my heart to do somersaults.
I just delivered my own son.
I rubbed my hands down my face. The double shift and news of my child had me delirious.
“Maad, this is one hell of a bomb. Why don’t you have someone cover the rest of your shift so you can get your mind right. You don’t need to be seeing any patients in this state.”
I turned Daran’s words over in my head for a few moments and ultimately decided he was right in his assessment.
“You’re right, D. I’ll check with Dr. Bassett and see if she can take over my patients.”
Daran nodded his head, got up, and squeezed my shoulder in silent support before leaving my office.
I sat in my office, letting my thoughts run wild, before getting up.
I knew I couldn’t leave the hospital before talking to MiMi again. There was no way I would leave her hanging after this revelation. I knew what it was like to not have a father fighting for me. And I for sure as hell knew I was going to be there for my kid.
I went to the NICU first, to check on Little Man. He was really strong and doing well. Seeing his fight made tears slip from my eyes.
I’m a fucking dad, I mumbled to myself.
After hovering over the incubator for what seemed like forever, I kissed my fingers and laid them on top of the clear covering protecting my son, and then headed off to see his mom.
Knocking on the door before I entered, I peeked into the room and noticed MiMi sleeping.
I didn’t want to wake her, so I took a seat next to the bed and just watched her chest rise and fall.
She looked just as beautiful as the night I met her…
hair wild on top of her head, high cheekbones, and smooth cinnamon skin.
She was thicker, obviously from almost seven months of carrying a child, but the swell in her breasts, and the added curves to her body only increased her sexiness.
She started to shift, and wake, and then I was met with her big, beautiful almond-shaped eyes.
Just beautiful.
“How long have you been sitting there?” MiMi asked.
I didn’t know why I couldn’t get the name she gave me out of my head, but I felt like it was something that was just for us. So, I continued to think of her as MiMi, the woman who literally rocked my damn world, instead of Jameela.
“Not long. I took the rest of my shift off, but I wanted to come and check on you before I left the hospital.”
“You’re leaving?” MiMi’s voice hiked with panic, and I smiled at her.
“Just for a few hours. I’ve been working for the past sixteen hours and with the bomb you dropped on me… I just need to go home and clear my head for a little while and definitely get some rest. I’ll be back.”
“Oh.”
“Do you have a name for our Little Man yet?”
MiMi smiled at me. I could tell she was pleased by me saying our Little Man. It was as if that was the confirmation, she needed regarding whatever was turning over in her head.
“Not yet. I couldn’t get you out of my head, and every time I thought of names, thoughts of you would put everything else out of my mind. What’s your real name, by the way, Dr. James?”
“Saeed is my real name,” I told her, pretending to be a little offended by the fact that she thought I gave her a fake name. “It’s just my middle name. Ahmad Saeed James.”
“That’s a nice name.”
I chuckled, not really knowing what to say to that.
“Thanks.”
“Would you want a junior?” MiMi asked.
I thought it over for a few seconds.
“Nah. I think I would want my child to make his own mark on the world, and have his own name.”
We both got quiet… stewing in our own thoughts, I guess.
MiMi broke the silence.
“What about Ahmir Saeed Moody-James?”
I was taken aback by the fact that she would want to give her child so much of me in his name, when she didn’t know me. It was very touching.
“It’s beautiful.”
Reaching out to grab her hand, I ran my fingers along her knuckles in a show of silent support and appreciation.
“I want to be there for my child… in everything. I know things came about very unconventionally, but I would never desert my child – no matter the circumstances.”
“I’d like for you to be a part of his life. It ate at me every day not knowing if my child would know his father.”
“I promise, he will.”
“You look tired. Go on home and get some rest.”
That was my initial plan, but now… I didn’t want to leave her.
MiMi just had a c-section, and I knew the recovery would be difficult.
I looked over at the hard ass pull out the hospital offer for fathers and decided to stay.
Getting up and kissing her on the forehead, I went to pull out the couch to get as comfortable as I could.
“I’ll stay. I can get some rest right here. I don’t want to leave you… just in case you need something.”
“You don’t have to do that. The nurses are only a button away.”
“I want to, unless you don’t want me to…” I trailed off.
“No, I don’t feel like that at all. If you would like to stay, that’s okay with me.”
I nodded, and finished getting the couch ready for my big ass frame. And before I knew it, my ass was knocked the hell out.