Solid Brix:
Come over here by me, so you can lay your head on my chest.
He didn’t need to tell me twice. I scrambled over Zyah and went to sit next to Brix. Except, he didn’t let me sit next to him. As soon as I was close enough, he scooped me into his lap. I didn’t resist. I rested my head between his chest and his shoulder. The next thing I knew, I was waking up as he carried me into my parent’s house.
Brixton brought me into the bedroom I was staying in, dropped a light kiss on my forehead, then left because he was staying with Christian and Genesis.
Zyah appeared in the doorway as I was shimmying out of the skirt I’d worn. “So, you and Brix be cuddling now?”
I wasn’t expecting that question. “Huh?”
“Don’t ‘huh’ me, heifer. What’s up with you and Brix? Are y’all making my niece or nephew the old fashioned way at this point?”
The whoop that left my mouth caused me to slap my hand over it, muffling both the sound of my surprise and the soundof my laughter. “You really just said that.” I was still chuckling. “Zyah!”
“What? You were the one all in his lap.”
“He has good arms.”
She lowered her voice to whisper, “And good dick?”
“I wouldn’t know!” I whisper-yelled back. “Brix and I are not a couple. We’re friends who are going half on a baby.”
We both laughed.
“Well, your brother looked like he wanted to whup yourfriend’sass.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “Ain’t nobody thinking about Christian. I’m literally traumatized by how often I heard him and Gensie fucking when they first got together. And I let them live. I never said anything about their relationship, and as far as I know, neither has Brix. So Christian doesn’t have a leg to stand on as far as I’m concerned.”
Zyah gave me soft eyes and a small pout. “But you like Brix as more than a baby’s daddy.”
“I can’t.” My response was short. I didn’t leave room for interpretation or rebuttal. I couldn’t.
Brix was my partner in my journey to motherhood. Nothing more. Nothing less.
The next few weeks flew by, and before I knew it, Brixton, my mom, and I were back at the IVF medical center. My mom decided that her presence was what was missing from the first procedure. She felt like since she was there with Christian and Genesis during their transfer and they got pregnant with the twins, she needed to be with Brixton and me. I had zero complaints about that because my mother was my biggestcomfort. She was my gift from God and my good luck charm all wrapped up in one.
After talking about it, Brixton and I decided to transfer five more embryos, leaving four remaining. The transfer was a success. My mom and Brixton spent the next two weeks catering to and spoiling me. Brixton wasn’t shy about expressing how stressful he felt the entire ordeal was for me. His main goal was for me to be relaxed and as anxiety-free as possible. My mom was most concerned about the residual effects of all the hormones manipulation on my system. She wanted me to be kind to my body and rest. They made the perfect team.
Everybody close to me was on pins and needles, praying that the transfer was successful. When it was time for me to go to the clinic for the pregnancy test, my family rolled up in the waiting room like a gang. Their overwhelming support was embarrassing and refreshing at the same time.
There were morethan ten of us in the waiting room while Ryann gave blood and had her blood pressure monitored. Most of us were there to support Ryann, but a few people were there because right after she left the clinic, we were headed for the private jet that I rented.
The regular season had ended for The Bison the night before. Our record landed us in fourth place in our conference. We were headed into the playoffs facing the fifth seed, the Richmond Rebels. It was cool that we had a few days off before the playoff started and that those days coordinated with when Ryann was taking the pregnancy test. I wanted to get her away from everything.
When she got the negative result after the first round of IVF, she had to sit in that thing, and I knew that wasn’t good for her mental. It was easy to overlook because she never talked about it, but she wasn’t only dealing with a failed round of IVF, she was racing against an unseen shot-clock. Time was winding down, and the window was closing on her fertility. Nobody could tell her exactly how much time she had or how many shots she would get to even go through IVF. That was another stressor in itself. If she got a negative result this time, I wanted her to be surrounded by the people who loved her and would pour into her. I didn’t want her to feel alone, or like she was in it by herself. I was with her. I had her back.
The flight from Chicago to Jackson Island, South Carolina, where I owned beachfront property, took about two hours. I was tired as hell from the game we’d played the night before, so I could feel myself dozing off as I chilled next to Ryann. About halfway through the flight, she got a phone call. Her movements next to me woke me from the light sleep. She stood and walked to the back of the jet before answering the call.
We were all pretty sure that it was the results of the pregnancy test. I jumped up to follow her. I didn’t really want her to be alone if the results were negative again. I must’ve been moving too slow or something. By the time I stood up and started to follow her, she was already on her way back toward me. Our eyes met. Hers brimmed with tears and there was a half-smile, half-grimace on her face.
I waited for her to speak as knots formed in my stomach. She stopped walking, so I headed toward her.
Her hand went to her mouth and the tears that had been pooling in her eyes slid down her face. “It’s positive. I’m pregnant.”
I wasn’t even sure if she said the words out loud because I read her lips.
Without thinking, I dropped to my knees in front of her and wrapped my arms around her waist. Once she was close enough, I took one hand off her waist, lifted her top, and kissed her stomach repeatedly.
