-Genny’s POV-
I walked into my house, followed by Anthony, and turned towards him, “Mind if I put Ash to bed?” I asked in a whisper, as to not wake Ash.
“Sure thing,” He retorted, slipping his hands in his pockets as he looked around my apartment. I brought Ash up to the bedroom, changed him into his pajamas, and set him down gently in the crib. I spun around and walked over to the other side of the room, opening my drawers and pulling out my baby blue scrubs for my late-night job. I slipped into them and grabbed a hair tie, as well as a set of bed sheets that I recently cleaned.
“Alright, well, you can sleep on the couch." I told Anthony as I made my way down the stairs and put my hair into a ponytail. I walked over to the couch and set down the bed sheets, “Here, these are for you.”
"Cool," He replied, walking over to me. He looked at me for a little before saying, “So, this is where you live?” He scratched behind his head.
“Yes,” I answered, walking past him and towards the doors. "And that is why I need to go work at eleven at night.”
“Where do you work?” He questioned.
“The hospital, I should be back around three.”
I opened the door and stepped over the threshold when I heard him call out to me, "Don't you want to talk?" I glanced over my shoulder at him, "I mean, we have some things to discuss."
"I would if I could, but I can’t. I have a child to take care of, Anthony, and I'm barely making enough money as it is to suffice. So I can’t be late. I'm sorry."
"Oh…okay,” He remarked, hanging his head. I sighed and turned around, closing the apartment door behind me and making my way out of the building.
As I walked through the lobby, the receptionist called me over. She and I were pretty good friends. Her name was Yolanda. She was African American and slightly overweight. She had long, curly, black hair and was really nice to me. In fact, she even helped me bring in all of my furniture from my old apartment.
"What do you want?" I whined, approaching the desk, “I’ve got to get to work…”
"Oh, I know. Just…one quick question: Is that guy going to be living here permanently? You know the one you brought in with you?"
I shook my head, "No, he’s just staying for a week. He's a friend."
“Ooh, a friend,” She teased.
“Not like that, Yolanda,” I replied, annoyed.
"Oh, well, you know if he stays with you permanently, your rent will have to go up.”
I sighed, "Yeah, I know."
"Alright, see you later, honey," She smirked and went back to watching re-runs of Desperate Housewives on her laptop. I was about to leave when I heard her shout, "Oh! Give me his number when you come back! Would you?"
I rolled my eyes and laughed, "See you later, Yolanda."
-Anthony's POV-
I stood in Genny’s front room for a while with my hands behind my back, not knowing what to do with myself. After a while, I began to search through her house. Her cabinets were filled and her apartment seemed really organized and clean. She had some DVDs out next to her TV, mostly comedies, and an X-Box with a stack of neatly piled games next to it. Her TV was left on, with the Redbox menu on the screen.
I picked up the X-Box remote and sat down on her couch, resting my feet on the coffee table. I looked at her most recently watched movies – all chick flicks. I laughed. That’s when Ash began to cry. I hurriedly jumped to my feet and darted up the stairs. I rushed over to his crib and leaned over the edge. "Hey buddy, what's wrong?" I asked softly. He stopped crying and made eye contact with me briefly. I smiled and that’s when he started crying again.
I picked him up out of the crib and held him in my arms. I began to sway back and forth, rocking him in an attempt to calm him down. But he just started crying even harder.
"Shh,” I said, pushing his hair to the side. "Shh..." I looked around the room, hoping to find something that would quiet him down. And there it was, in its box still, a pacifier that was on his changing table shelves. I jogged over and grabbed the box, ripping the pacifier out and popping it into his mouth. He calmed down almost immediately, and eventually fell back asleep.
I walked over to the crib, but hesitated to put him down. I didn't want to put him down. He was my flesh and blood, and I had no idea about him until today. "Why would she think that having a kid would ruin my life?” I thought aloud, “Well, it’s going to shake things up a little, but...it’s not going to ruin my life.” I saw Ash open his eyes and then close them again. I heaved a sigh and laid him down in the crib.
There was a knock at the front door. I averted my gaze away from my son over to the digital clock that was next to Genny’s bed – 1:34a.m. Who would be coming to her house so late? I thought.
I walked down the stairs and opened the door. It was Ian and Tiffany. They walked right past me and into her apartment.
"Guys, does she know you're here?" I inquired, closing the door behind me.
"Oh, I always come here," Tiffany answered, “She doesn’t mind.”
"So, how are you taking all of this?" Ian asked me.
"I think I’m taking it better than Genny,” I replied honestly.
"She didn't want your help," Tiffany informed me.
“I know.”
"How'd you find out anyways?" Ian questioned, “I mean, sure, he looks just like you, but I don’t think it ever crossed your mind before that he could be yours.”
I crossed my arms, "Tiffany told me."
"What?" Ian turned toward Tiffany as guilt spread across her face.
She looked over at him and exhaled loudly, "Look, Genny needed the help, financially and emotionally. And I knew she liked him, so when the whole anniversary thing happened...I just knew it just needed to be said. So I said it, big whoop.”
Ian rolled his eyes, "Genny’s going to hate you when she finds out."
"But she's not going to," She said sternly, pointing at both Ian and me, "And if you tell her, I will chop your heads off, both of you, even if one only tells, and feed it to the rabid dogs outside my apartment.” Ian and I both cringed at the thought of that.
“I don’t believe you,” Ian spat at her.
She clenched her jaw and glared over at him, "Ian, if we weren't in Genny's house right now..."
"With Ash," I injected.
“With Ash,” She repeated, “And I wasn't wearing my good heels..." She pointed down to her shoes and smiled. "I would pound you to death."
He crossed his arms, "The feeling's mutual!” He shouted.
"Guys, Ash is upstairs asleep,” I reminded them, “You need to quiet down before he wakes up."
“Babies wake up all the time,” Tiffany commented.
“And what dad can’t put his own son to sleep?” Ian added.
"I just met him a few days ago!” I shouted at them, being hypocritical to my own advice, "It’s just…this is all happening too fast…" I trudged over to the couch and plopped down. Tiffany and Ian sat beside me, on opposite sides. "What if I'm not ready to be a dad?”
"You're ready, Anthony." Tiffany assured me as she began to rub my arm. "You just can't think right now because you're afraid," I looked up at her, "I don't know what of though..." She bit her lip as she went into deep thought.
"Oh my god…" I said as I rose to my feet, "What am I going to tell Kalel?" I grabbed my hair, "I can’t just tell her I'm staying at her enemy’s house for a week! She’d flip a shit!”
"Tell her you and Ian are going some place out of town for a video and you're staying a week there," Tiffany suggested.
"Yeah, man, I mean, Kalel won't find out from me," Ian reassured with a smile.
"Or me," Tiffany added.
"Thanks, guys…But how do I tell her about Ash? And how I'm his dad?"
"You don't," They retorted in unison.
I covered my face with my hands and murmured, "I'm fucked." I dropped my arms to my sides and jumped when I heard the door open behind me.
"Hey guys," Genny's familiar voice echoed from the entry way. I turned around and watched as she set down her things and made her way over to us.
"How was work?" I inquired.
"It's work. What do you expect it to be?" She laughed. I laughed too. "Hey, I love you guys, but I'm exhausted and just need to go to bed. Have fun down here if you want to stay. Just clean up whatever mess you make. Alright? Alright." She patted me on the shoulder and dragged herself upstairs.
I turned to Tiffany and Ian from watching Genny walk upstairs, “So…want to chill out and play some X-Box?”
"We should get going, actually,” Tiffany said, placing her hand on Ian’s shoulder, “Someone needs to take me out to get drinks." She smirked and walked out of the apartment.
Ian rolled his eyes and followed her. Before closing the door behind him, he said to me, "Hey, hit it off with Genny again, and this time keep in contact." He winked at me and walked out.
I turned around and began to lay the sheets Genny had brought down for me over the couch. I heard the floors creak and jerked my head up, seeing Genny. She changed from her scrubs into sweatpants and a tank top. She was standing at the top of the staircase.
"Hey," I greeted, "What’s up?" She walked downstairs and stood near the coffee table, watching me tuck the sheets under the cushions on the couch.
"I just wanted to make sure you’re okay with this,” She answered, "Like, you don't feel obligated to do this, do you?"
"No, not at all," I lied. Of course I felt obligated.
"Well I don't want you to feel that way," She detected the lie in my voice, "Anthony, I've been doing this for a few months now, and I've gotten a handle on things. So, sure, we can play house for a week, but…don't put your life with Kalel and Smosh and all that shit on hold just to help me."
"But…”
“Don’t feel obligated,” She ordered.
I scoffed, “How can I not? He's my son and I know how hard it is to be a single mom. My mom was a single mom, so I kind of understand where you’re coming from.”
“Well, in that case…” She smirked and took a step closer to me. I leaned down to kiss her when she put her finger up to my lips and said, “I still don’t want you feeling obligated. This is only for a week. Okay?”
I rolled my eyes, “Sure…”
She stepped back, "Well, if you're not tired," She bent down and picked up the TV remote. "You can watch TV or..." She picked up the X-Box remote, "...play some video games. And don’t worry about turning the TV and stuff off, I can do it when I come downstairs tomorrow morning." She looked up at me and sighed, “And I think that's all you'll need to know. Oh! One more thing: the bathroom is the last door on the right when you walk upstairs. Got it?"
"Got it,” I repeated with a laugh. She smiled before racing back upstairs.
Just before she escaped into the darkness, I yelled up to her, “Goodnight, Genny!”
She looked back at me and said, “Goodnight, Anthony.”
-Genny's POV-
I slipped under the covers and rested my head on my pillow. I was just about to fall asleep when Ash began to cry. I rolled my eyes and dragged myself over to his crib. I saw that his pacifier had fallen out of his mouth. I put it back in and realized I never used his pacifier before...
Anthony dashed up the stairs and asked in a worried tone, "Hey, is everything okay?" He was missing his shirts and his pants. The only thing he had on was his Spongebob underwear.
"Yeah, his pacifier just fell out," I retorted in a daze. He nodded his head in understanding, "Did you give it to him?" I inquired, returning to reality.
"Yeah…” He scratched behind his head, “I hope you don't mind. He just wouldn't stop screaming after you left, so, you know, I saw it and was all like 'Holy Grail'!" He laughed, but soon stopped when he realized I wasn’t laughing along, "Sorry."
"No, it’s cool," I reassured him. He smiled slightly before returning downstairs. I walked back over to my bed and lied down, staring at the wall. Well this is going to be one long week…