The Billionaire's Baby

II

          Or maybe I was just that drunk.

          It was all a little fuzzy still.

          It was nearly 8:30, so I grabbed my tote bag and stumbled out the door, making my way down the street to the shop. Tatiana was already waiting, her hair in freshly done box braids adorn with gold clips, a high-quality camera around her neck. I was a little shocked with how nicely she was dressed, a long denim colored button-up dress and white sneakers. You wouldn't know she had three children by looking at her. Black don't crack, I thought with a grin as I walked up to her. She walked around me, hyping me up and saying things like, "Booty? Poppin'!" and "Dang Ma, that brown suga' lookin' real sweet today!" I laughed at that one, feeling my face heat up.

          "You're looking pretty cute yourself!" I replied, embarrassed. I hadn't received friendly support in a very long time, maybe since I was living with my mom and Aphrodite.

           "Thank you, do you know where you want to take pictures?" She asked, and I thought about it before shrugging. "I know a place covered in some really pretty graffiti, its like clouds and flowers, and stuff. It'll look real good with your outfit."

          "Really? Okay, sounds good! I don't really know the area all that well still." I smiled sheepishly as we started walking, Tatiana leading the way.

          "So you aren't from here! I was wonderin' where your accent was from."

          "Ohio, actually. It's been a dream to come back to New York since I was little. My daddy was from the Bronx. We did live here when I was little, I don't remember it. We moved 'cause my daddy got transferred for his job. He was a cop."

          "He was from the Bronx? Me too! I moved to Manhattan to get away from my ex, he's a dealer and I ain't want our children to be around that. He chooses drugs. I choose family. I can't believe I dropped out of college for that man."

          "You went to college?" I asked as we continued down the street, taking a right. She nodded, a tender look crossing her face as she rubbed her fingers over her camera thoughtfully.

           "I was going to be a photographer for magazines, had a job lined up and everything until I got pregnant with Zaniya. Shoot, I was taking communication and journalism classes too! I had a whole plan in front of me!"

          "Do you regret having your kids?"

          She gave me some mean side eye for that comment. "No! I may have given some things up but my babies are what keeps me going sometimes. They were and are blessings." Tatiana sounded so sure, I was a little jealous as I wondered if I would be that way one day. "Oh! Look! There it is!" She said, sprinting ahead and spreading her arms out to a beautiful section of bricks painted as she has described. It was beautiful.

           "Tati! This is beautiful!"

          "Yeah, yeah. I know. Now strut your stuff ma'!"

          Afterward, we went to get ice cream at a shop Tati seemed to love, and I instantly loved it too. I found Tatiana to be really sweet, in fact, I wanted to hang out with her more. She knew a lot of things about pregnancy, kids, and relationships. She was all about black empowerment and could recite a lot of Martin Luther King's quotes. Her kids, Zaniya, Taheem, and Jamele were 5, 4, and 2 and her mom watched them while she was at work. She also has a boyfriend, Issac, who she is about to have her one-year anniversary with. She rarely has time for things other than her kids, and she doesn't really use social media because of it. Which, made an idea come to me.

          "Hey, Tati, you should start uploading your pictures to Instagram. It would be a good way to get your photography career back on track!" I said, the idea popping into my head. Her eyes grew wide as she pulled the spoon out her mouth.

          "What?"

           "You should post your art online, and do freelance photography on the side. My photos look so good! I'm sure people would pay mad cash for it. Heck, I'm going to pay you right now. I want you to be my pregnancy photographer from here on out!" Excitedly, I dug my phone out my tote bag and showed her how many people like did freelance online.

          Her eyes lit up. "Really? I have an Instagram already, I just don't be usin' it like that, ya' know? Man! Why didn't I think of this? Man! Ms. Greene, you're so good!" She said, quickly making a new account for her photography while I dug around my tote for my wallet and began to pull out some money.

          "Tati, call me Persephone or Seph or something. Ms. Greene sounds so old. Now, look, how much are you going to charge me for each photo? Or...however you want to do it." I asked, and she glanced up at me with shock in her eyes.

          "You really finna pay me?"

          "Yeah, you're my photographer now, and my friend."

          "Nah, I don't charge friends. This was fun! And you just helped me so much, I never get to think about this stuff, ya' know? I got kids to feed." She said, laughing a little as I put my wallet away. "Speaking of, don't you have an appointment in like...an hour?"

           "Yeah, it's a ten-minute walk from here, actually."

           "Ooo! The first appointment is always a little nerve-wracking. Especially with Zaniya, 'cause Matías wasn't there. Speaking of, where's your baby daddy?" She asked, scooping her ice cream in her mouth as she looked at me expectantly.

          I sighed, mixing the ice cream around in the cup. For some reason, I was all kinds of sad in a matter of seconds. Mood swings, oh, no. "I actually don't know. Just know he left me naked and alone the morning after. I was planning on not having sex till I was married, ya' know. Like, I had sex before but I started going to church when I was like 15 and told myself I would never have sex before marriage again."

           "Oh dang, Ma'. I'm sorry, I just thought you had a lil' boyfriend you never talked about before." Guiltily, she twiddled her fingers, a rosy tint rising on her cheeks.

           "Ha. As if. Men don't really go for this piece of chocolate. I got a mean restin' mug." I said, laughing away the awkward air that had settled over the conversation. Tatiana chuckled before joining me in a full-blown laugh. I had a dry sense of humor, but I tried sometimes.

           "We should hang out more often Ms...I mean, Seph. I don't really hang out with no one anymore, 'sides my family. This was really fun! Give me some updates after your appointment, 'ight? I'll give you my number, hold up." I agreed and Tatiana pulled her phone out and gave me her number before leaving.

           Off to the doctors, I went.