“Thank you,” I muttered between kisses. “Thank you, Ry.”
Her hands landed in my hair, her fingers moving through my curls as her body wracked with sobs. For a few moments, it was like we were suspended in time. There was just the two of us. Nobody said anything while we held each other and let the knowledge that we were going to be parents settle over us.
Genesis broke the sacred silence by practically jumping on my back with a shriek. “Oh my goodness! I’m gonna be an aunt!”
After that, the moment was shattered and the jet erupted in shouts, cheers, and yells. Even Mocha gave out little howls and barks from her carrier. I gave Ryann’s flat stomach one last kiss and stood to my feet. I pulled her into a hug, then turned her like I was introducing her to the crowd. “Give it up for Ryann!” I told them.
I had just hung up from telling my grandfather the news about my impending fatherhood when my twin brother stepped into the bedroom I was sharing with Ryann. My house had five bedrooms. I’d given the primary bedroom to Mr. and Mrs. Upton. The other three couples, CJ and Gensie; Zyah and Amari; and Beaux and his lady, had claimed their respective bedrooms, all of which featured either a queen or king-sized bed. Since Ryann and I were the only two single people, we took the bedroom with two full sized beds.
I stood from the bed just as he approached me with his hand out. “Twin.” He shook my hand and pulled me into a hug at the same time. “Congratulations.”
Beaux and I were fraternal twins, but we looked enough alike that people were always asking us if we were identical. We had the same fair complexion and almond shaped eyes that made us look at least partially Blasian. We were both tall, but he was about two inches shorter. We had the same curly hair. I wore mine in a curly Ceasar, and he liked to keep his in a bald fade. He was skinnier, too, but not by much. The way we grew up with absentee parents, we would’ve been close even if we weren’t twins, but the fact that we were made us even closer. He was one of the few things I had in life that I could depend on. The others were Genesis, our grandfather, and basketball. Other than those four things, I didn’t trust much in life to go the way it needed to go.
“Thanks.” I squeezed him extra tight for about two seconds, then released him. “Thanks.” I shook my head.
He smirked at me. “You ready for this? It’s one thing for it to be a hypothetical situation, it’s a whole different ball game when the baby is in her stomach. You’re about to be father, my G.”
“I know. It’s wild as hell.” I ran a hand down my face. “If everything goes to plan, I’m ’bout to have a whole kid.”
“With a mother you’re feeling but can’t pursue.”
“What?”
“You heard me.” He gave me the side eye. “I mean, you just let everybody in the family see the reverence you have for Ryann. You were kissing her fucking stomach like she’s carrying the future of the world.”
“Fuck you, man,” I said with a chuckle. “She’s carrying the future of our generation. Gensie’s kids are Uptons. This baby is a Cole. If it’s a boy, it’ll carry our last name into the future. If it’s a girl, she’ll sit on a throne and be forever protected.”
“Say word.” He slapped my hand in agreement. “A princess Cole? Hell yeah, she’ll be forever protected. Her big unc got her.”
“Her daddy got her.”
“Psssst.” He sucked his teeth. “Bro, please. You’re gonna be distracted chasing behind her mother. Nose open wide enough for her to drive a Mack truck up in there.”
I grinned. “What are you trying to say, man?”
“I’m saying it.” He lowered his voice. “Your ass is into your future baby’s mother. Your ass was supposed to be trying to co-parent.” He looked at the beds that were parallel to one another. “Your ass is finna be trying to co-sleep.”
I laughed hard as hell. “Come on, dude.”
“Yo, come on, Brix. I know you.” He thumped his chest. “I know you. And I gotta admit, there’s something about Ryann. She’s got that girl-next-door, black all-American girl thing going. She looks sweet and innocent. Like… home.”
“Physically, Ryann’s bad as hell. She’s gorgeous and her personality is sweet and easy. She’s definitely pressure. But I’m still dealing with the aftermath of Adrianna. I don’t want nothing else complicated.”
“Adrianna wasn’t complicated. She just fucked up. And because we grew up with a mother who never made us the priority, you can’t abide anybody not making you the priority. When Adrianna chose fucking old boy over being faithful to you, it was a wrap. There wasn’t anything she could’ve done to correct her error because Sabrina Cole laid the foundation.”
Adrianna’s cheating had only fed into the narrative that was already in my subconscious because of my parents, especially my mother—that I wasn’t good enough. I wasn’t good enough for my father to bother sticking around to raise. I wasn’t good enough for my mother to care about more than work. I wasn’t good enough to be all the man that Adrianna needed.
Beaux was right. There was no way for Adrianna to come back from reinforcing my negative feelings about my place in the lives of others.
“Dude, go be with your girl. She’s probably looking for you.”
“She isn’t. She went with your girl.”
Beaux was always with the shits.
“I don’t have a girl.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
