Page 46 of Fervor

“My daddy is coming to pick us up for ice cream. There he is!”

I spun around to see Clayton turning in the driveway. A slight smile made its way to my lips as I thought about Vegas fucking him up. I hadn’t seen the man since the night Akia was born, but I still couldn’t stop thinking about that shit. Every time his name came up in conversation, I would chuckle, especially when I thought about Keke saying how Vegas made a special trip to Florida, specifically for that shit.

We laughed about that shit the entire day. “Hey, Y-Yunique.”

I smiled as I chuckled softly. “Hey, Clayton. How are you?”

“I’m good. Just coming to get my b-babies.”

I nodded and quickly turned to go inside before I had to explain to him why I was laughing. When I walked inside, Giselle was coming to the door to see the kids off. She smiled big and said, “Hey, girl! I know you’re here to see your baby. She’s in the family room with her shadow.”

I kissed G’s cheek and continued through the house to find Gentry. I knew that was who she was referring to. When I entered the room, he rolled his eyes. “Baby, girl, you don’t have to go to her if you don’t want to.”

My eyebrows lifted as he chuckled. “Really, Gentry? She’s barely three months old, and you have her so spoiled. G told me how she had a whole fit at day care. She should have made you take her to work with you.”

“First of all, that would have been my pleasure, but G didn’t want her baby close to all the animals that come through there.”

“Lawd, have mercy,” I said as I reached for her.

That nigga literally frowned as he passed her to me. I chuckled and said, “Nigga, if you don’t fix your damn face!”

He laughed as Akia stared at me with her big, beautiful eyes. The moment I pulled her close to me, that lil diva started screaming at the top of her damn lungs. I quickly handed her back to her father as I rolled my eyes. I took my phone from my pocket and snapped a picture of Gentry rocking Akia. Then I hit the record button as he said, “That’s daddy’s baby. I knew you didn’t wanna be bothered with her. Good job, sweetness.”

I sent the video to Harlem with the caption,you better not turn into this.Within seconds, he sent back the laughing emojis, then a message.

Get yo’ mind right, Big Nique. If we have a daughter, that’s gon’ be us times ten.

I rolled my eyes as I slowly shook my head. The smile that appeared right after was one of true happiness and love. The trauma, tribulation, and misery had all led to this… a beautiful relationship and family I loved deeply. I slid my hand to my belly and said, “You betta not turn against me when you get here for a nigga that didn’t endure these nine months of hormonal imbalances.”

ONE YEAR LATER…

“Hey, daddy lil stinka.”

Blossom showed me her big toothless grin. Our baby girl was nearly five months old and one of the joys of my entire life. She was my world, and I didn’t hesitate to let anybody know it. I named her Blossom because she was such a beautiful flower when she was born. She bloomed from greatness. Her mother was a gorgeous flower, so only flower seeds would come from her.

Yunique’s pregnancy was something serious. That woman’s attitude was all over the place. At first, I thought it was just with me, but when even Giselle talked about it, I knew her hormones had ‘no respect of persons,’ just like Romans 2:11 said about God. That attitude didn’t care who it unleashed on. It only gotworse as she neared her delivery date. I believed it had gotten to the point where she was getting on her own nerves.

Blossom was just as dark chocolate as her mother, and I loved every bit of it. She looked like a dark Hershey’s Kiss. Unlike Akia, my baby’s presence didn’t grace no damn day care. I took care of her when Yunique was at work. Whenever we went anywhere, I had her dressed to the nines with her jewelry and tiara on.

When I got close to her as she swung in her swing while Yunique cooked, she started kicking her chunky legs. She was almost nine pounds when she was born, and I felt for Yunique’s small frame. Baby girl didn’t slow down after she was born either. For her six-week checkup, she’d already gained nearly four pounds, and now she was eating all kinds of shit she shouldn’t be eating, like mashed potatoes.

She hated baby food. She went straight from formula and baby cereal to table food. Yunique fussed continuously about what I let her eat, but what was I supposed to do? I was holding her while I ate, and she tried to suck my damn lips trying to get to that food. She was only three months old at the time.

When I got to the swing, I saw Yunique playfully roll her eyes. I unstrapped my little stinka, and the moment I lifted her to my shoulder, she grabbed my face and brought her mouth to my cheek. I smiled so hard. She was my munchkin and my road dog.

I turned to Yunique and said, “You just jealous, girl. The more you hate about our love, the closer we gon’ get. We have a double date with Gentry and Akia next weekend, by the way. So you and Giselle can go do whatever.”

She slowly shook her head and chuckled. “I swear, it was like my warning to you almost a year ago went in one ear and out the other. The only good thing is that she still recognizes who her mommy is.”

“That’s ’cause you got them milk bags on your chest. Stop breast feeding her and watch what happens.”

Yunique laughed. “She gon’ be trying to suckyournipples. That’s what’s gon’ happen, nigga.”

I smirked and rolled my eyes as I kissed Blossom’s cheek. “You love your da-da, huh?”

I lifted her in the air, and she screamed with laughter. Yunique couldn’t help but smile. It was impossible to hear Blossom’s laughter and not acknowledge it.

We’d been married over a year, and once Yunique’s mental state was better, things were great. She was still journaling every day, some days longer than others, and I was proud of her for not letting that get away from her. She had only had one nightmare since her breakdown. That had stemmed from a movie we watched. She said it was probably too soon. The good thing was that it didn’t result in her having a full-blown anxiety attack. It was extremely mild, and I was able to help her through it.