“Give your mama a break, shorty rough-rough,” she joked.
“Right.” I looked down at my stomach. “Please give your mama a break, shorty rough-rough. She’s gonna try to feed you now. Let’s keep the food inside of us. Let’s not give it to the toilet.”
“Yuck!” Genesis pulled a face. “I remember those days, though. Especially with Christian the third and Killian. I had morning sickness with Giselle, too, but nowhere near as badly as I had it with the twins. I was over the toilet 24/7 with the twins. Anyway, I made salmon for you because you need the omega-3. Spinach for the iron and calcium. Mashed potatoes just because they taste good and coat the stomach.”
“Thank you. Where’s the fork?”
She laughed before sliding me a fork. “I was so greedy with the twins. All I did was eat and sleep. Are you sleeping?”
“I love sleep,” I told her in between small bites. “It’s the only time I’m not nauseous.”
“Is Brix doing his part to spoil you properly?”
I grinned. “He bombards my house with at least six bouquets of pink flowers every week.”
“Six bouquets?”
“Don’t trip. I got him down from about fifty bouquets. I can live with six. Six is good.”
We both laughed.
“And he comes by every day and checks on me. If I’m not feeling good, he walks Mocha. Your brother is definitely my favorite.”
She eyed me suspiciously. “We’re gonna circle back to that in a minute. But first of all, I thought you were fostering this dog for two weeks. It’s been like four months at this point.”
I had to snicker. “You’re right. You’re right.”
“So, she’s your dog now?”
“No. They tell me I’m still fostering her. The husband and wife that own her are waiting to move. They keep saying that their current home isn’t a good fit for a small puppy. I love Mocha, I really do. But I wasn’t expecting to be a dog owner. At this point, I’m wondering if she’ll be with me when I have the baby.”
“Are you thinking about giving her back to the agency?”
“Absolutely not. If her original owners don’t come back for her, I’ll see if I can adopt her.” I took more bites of food. “Genesis, this is so good.”
“Slow down. Give it a chance to settle on your stomach.” She took a breath. “Now, back to my brother being your favorite.”
I sighed. “It’s just an expression. Nothing is going on between the two of us.”
“I can’t tell with the way he was kissing on your stomach and stuff.”
“Shut up! He’d just found out that he was gonna be a father. I think it was okay for him to display some emotion.” I wasworking hard to keep my face blank because just the mention of Brixton’s name made me want to smile and blush.
I was trying to undersell it, but Brixton really was my favorite. He was my favorite person. His touch was my favorite thing to feel. His scent was my favorite thing to smell. It never turned my stomach or made me nauseous. His voice was my favorite sound. And his visits to my house were my favorite time of the day. I had it bad for that man, and trying to suppress my feelings took a whole lot of energy.
“Listen, I’m not knocking you. I would love it if you and Brix had romantic feelings for each other.” She wiggled her eyebrows comically. “We could be related two ways. Plus, I would trust you with my brother’s heart, Ryann. After Adrianna’s old shady ass hurt him like she did, I’m vetting any woman that tries to get next to him. But I trust you. Y’all would be so good together. And this baby is about to be gorgeous!”
“Just like his or her cousins. Because I have the cutest niece and nephews.”
She eyed me. “So you sure you don’t feel anything for my brother?”
“Leave me alone, Gensie.”
Of course, I overate the food Genesis made for me. By the time Brixton made it to my house, I was down for the count on my sofa. Since I was down most nights when he arrived, I had given him a key and the code to the alarm system.
Mocha greeted him with a bark and a dance around his feet. I greeted him with a grunt. “Hey.”
He scooped Mocha into his arms, which was all she wanted. She, like me, had discovered that his arms were a wonderful place to be. “What’s wrong?”
