Epilogue next
Tiana
5 months later
3 weeks until due date
"Dominic." I called as he slowly crept back into the room. He must've thought I was sleeping but I was still awake.
"Yes, baby." He sighed, coming all the way in and dropping his keys onto the dresser.
"Oh am I bothering you?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows, shoving more Oreo ice cream into my mouth.
"Na'.." He trailed off, nonchalantly as he moved around the room, straightening up things.
"Well why aren't you spending time with me?" I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Tiana." He spoke sternly, looking at me.
"Don't start this shit again." He shook his head, being mean to me and I instantly bursted into tears.
Literally sobbing, I closed the gallon of ice cream and threw it down onto the bed.
"Baby, what the fuck is you cryin' for?" He asked as I continued to sob and he stood there looking at me in amusement.
"Stop laughing at me." I cried harder as he sat there with a smug smile on his face.
"Then tell me why you cryin' T."
"If you can tell me why you cryin' I won't laugh at you, ma." He told me as I continued to bawl my eyes out.
"You gon' tell me or you gon' keep cryin'?" He asked and I sighed in distress as he began to wipe my tears with the pads of his thumbs.
"Gon' head. Tell what's wrong, baby." He spoke softly to me.
"You're not spending enough time with me. You left to go to class this morning and then when you got home, you left me again. And now you're trying to make me sleep because you don't like me and you like your friends more." I ended up saying to him and he busted out laughing in my face. I was literally sitting here with tears in my eyes and he was laughing at me.
"Tiana."
"Baby, you-" He started but stopped as he pulled me to him with a smile still on his face.
"Baby, you sittin' there cryin', sayin' I ain't spending enough time withchu but not even 20 minutes ago you told me to get the fuck out of your face and don't ever touch you again."
"Do you remember that, baby?" He asked as my lip trembled.
"No." I looked down at the ice cream I'd just thrown onto the bed, feeling my mouth water for it.
"Baby, I don't know whatchu wun' a nigga to do." He chuckled lightly as I sat up and pulled him to me, hugging him tightly.
"I just want to spend time with you." I cried into his neck, feeling myself calming down from my rage. I was on an emotional rollercoaster these days and I didn't know how to handle it at all. I felt crazy.
"Aight, baby. I'm gon' spend time witchu." He chuckled softly, shaking his head.
"And how you gon' say I left to go to class and then left you again when I got home, baby.." He trailed off, making me pull back to look at him with my wet eyes.
"You know you sent me to four different stores to find this ice cream that you just threw down on the bed?" He asked, looking into my eyes and I pouted.
"Every time I left today other than school, it was because of you, baby." He laughed as my lip trembled.
"You keep wantin' shit and you know your man gon' go and get it for you."
"But I can't be in two places at one time." He chuckled softly.
"I know, I'm sorry." I apologized to him and he pulled me back to him, letting me sulk in the crook of his neck.
"It's aight, baby."
"I understand you gon' through a lot right na'. Just keep on baking my son."
"Amiri." I blurted out as we pulled away from each other.
"Yeah, ma. Keep on baking Amiri. I got everything else." He nodded, making me smile.
Breaking us away from our gaze, his room door opened, making us both look.
"Oh shit." Deja tried to quickly close the door.
"Deja." I called sternly and she sighed deeply, coming back into the room.
"I thought this monster was sleep." She said jokingly to Dom as they both laughed at me.
"Where are the cupcakes I asked for to go with my ice cream?" I asked her. She'd had cupcakes earlier and told me she'd get me some later since she didn't want to share hers.
"They ran out." She joked as they both continued to laugh at me and I sat there without an ounce of play in me.
"Aight, stop laughin' at my baby." Dominic cleared his throat once he saw that I was serious.
"I'a go get you some tomorrow, Aight?"
"Tonight." I spoke sternly, poking my lip out.
"Aight, baby."
"Tonight."
*
Next day
"So living arrangements.." I trailed off from the floor, looking up at Dom as he painted the walls of Amiri's room.
"I don't know, ma."
"I wun' live together but we ain't even figure what we doing yet.." He trailed off, making me roll my eyes.
"Dominic, we've already established that we're together. And I told you I would be your wife after I have Amiri."
"What other form of validation do you need?"
"Tell me you my girl." He went on, making me turn my lip up as he turned around to me with a smile.
"I'm your girl, Dominic." I rolled my eyes and he nodded slowly.
"Aight then. We gon' live together." He shrugged and I smiled wide, completely happy now.
We'd never came to a clear understanding of how we were going to raise Amiri in two separate households.
Dominic had just started school a few months ago and he was planning on getting an apartment since he didn't want Amiri to be raised in his neighborhood and I was working and still had my own apartment to myself. But I figured why not just live together, save money and we won't have to make extra trips with him.
"Are you sure you want to?" I asked, just to make sure he was completely sure about this.
"Baby.." He trailed off, stopping what he was doing all together and putting the paint brush down. He then walked over to me and helped me to my feet. We looked into each other's eyes a while before he began to speak.
"Listen to me." He spoke sternly and I listened intently.
"If I ain't wun' live witchu I wouldn't."
"I just don't want you to feel obligated to open your space to a nigga just because we about to have Amiri." He explained and I nodded slowly, completely understanding where he was coming from.
"Na' I don't mind as long we gon' put my name on this shit too." He went onto say and I nodded.
"Okay." I agreed.
"Aight." He let me go then kissed my forehead.
"Na' stop over thinking shit. We got this."
"We been doing this shit here for almost seven years na'."
"Shit gon' be a little different but as long as you love me and I love you, that's all that matter." He expressed, making me smile.
"You love me?" He asked.
"You love your nigga?"
"Of course, Dominic." I smiled, playfully rolling my eyes.
"Aight then. I love you too so just relax."
Saying not another word, I sat there in silence. He'd always reassured me every time I began to overthink things. I did a lot of that these days but with him by my side, he'd never allow it to go on for too long. We were too in love.
Breaking me away from my thoughts, a knock came to the front door, making me furrow my eyebrows.
Trying to stand to my feet, Dominic helped me up before we both made our way to the door.
"Who is it?" I whispered as he looked through the peephole, clutching his gun in his pants.
"Oh. It's your moms." He chuckled, relaxing himself as he slowly opened the door.
"Hi, baby!" My mom squealed, instantly wrapping her hands around my protruding belly.
"Hi." I spoke calmly as Dominic closed the door behind us.
"And hello to you, Dominic." She smiled wide.
"What's going on, Ms. Wanda?" He spoke with a smirk.
"Baby, I'm let y'all talk while I finish painting the room." He told me, kissing my cheek before walking away.
I watched as his shady ass walked away and I couldn't help but to laugh. I'd had my mother apologize to him like he'd wanted a few months ago but he still wasn't her biggest fan. He'd made that clear to me multiple times.
"So how've you been, baby?" My mother asked.
"Give me all the deets."
*
Later that night
Coming out of the bathroom, I heard Dominic and my mother busting it up in the kitchen. For someone who wasn't her biggest fan, they'd seem to be hitting it off once he'd finally came out of Amiri's room.
Taking a quick detour, I walked into Amiri's room just to check on the paint. Dominic has did a good job for someone who dIdN't kNoW hOw tO pAInt.
"Wow." I said to myself, looking around and rubbing my belly. I just couldn't wait for him to finally be here.
After imagining life with him here for a while, I cut the light off and walked out. I then made my way toward the kitchen where Dominic and my mother were.
When I walked in, him and my mother both looked at me in amusement as I took a seat, trying to figure out what the hell they were looking at.
"What?" I spat angrily, making them both look away quickly. They were both about to work my nerves and knowing Dominic, he wanted to play some sort of games with me.
Tired of the both of them, I sat at the island, feeling like a whale as I looked around for my chocolate Reese's cup.
"Um, where is my Reese's?" I asked, not seeing it on the table anymore. I knew I'd just left it there before I went to the bathroom.
Dominic couldn't even hold in his laugh as he looked at my mom. I didn't find anything funny as the both of them fell into a laughing fit.
"Where is my Reese's?" I asked again as they continued to giggle like children and it was making me angrier by the second.
"I think Dominic might've ate it, Tiana." My mother joked like a kid.
"Baby, na'. Come on, you know I wouldn't do that to you."
"Your moms ate it." He ended up saying as my mother smiled guiltily.
"Alright. He's right." She nodded.
"Sorry, baby. I was hungry and you guys have nothing else to eat here." She spoke as I swallowed the lump in my throat.
I wanted that Reese's so bad that my mouth watered for it. I didn't want anything else but that Reese's right now and she ate it as if it was hers.
Before I knew it, I was full on crying as if I'd just heard the worse new ever. While I did, they both bursted into fits of laughter as I sat there with tears in my eyes.
Standing to my feet, I tried to get away from their childish, mean asses as Dominic quickly grabbed me, pulling me toward him.
"Aight, baby. Stop cryin'." He told me, pulling the Reese's out as my mother continued to laugh and I stood there with a serious face.
"Stop playing so much." I hit him in the chest as he smirked at me.
"Don't be mad at him, Tiana. It was my plan." My mother's laughter finally died down as Dominic looked at her in amusement.
"I told him you would jump off the deep end. It all comes with the pregnancy." She waved me off as I stood there with wet eyes.
"I'm sorry, baby." Dominic apologized again and I pouted with a nod.
"Okay but just stop hurting me. It's not funny anymore." I expressed and he nodded, bending down to kiss my lips.
"Aight, baby. No more jokes."
"I love you." He kissed my lips again, rubbing my stomach.
"I love you too."
*
Thoughts?