Heart bursting with love, I took the teddy bear I’d given her and hugged it to my chest. Synder wiped my tears as I said, “Thank you, Baby,” to Whimsy.
She beamed and replied, “Welcome, Mama!”
My heart raced because I wasn’t sure if Synder was okay with her calling me Mama, and I was too selfish to correct Whimsy. Looking into his eyes, I saw his smile and the light there. He picked Whimsy up and tickled her. Whimsy squealed in delight.
“It’s so sweet of you to cheer Mama up,” he said to her. “Is Mama happy?”
I realized Synder’s question was for me. Throat heavy with emotion, I nodded. “Mama’s happy.”
It was the truth. Somehow in less than a month, I’d acquired my own little family.
“Are you sure this is the right move?” my father asked. I was on speaker with my parents, discussing a potential sit down with Courtland. After her random texts to Synder’s phone from an unknown number and the constant lies she was spreading to the blogs, I had to get a few minutes with her.
“Mom. Dad. Y’all raised me to do the right thing even if it was hard. Do I want to talk to Courtland? No. Is it necessary I talk to Courtland? Yes. That woman is hellbent on doing everything inher power to destroy my name. Honestly, I don’t even see the full extent of what she does. I just know that a little with her is still too much.”
“Okay,” my father reasoned. “What do you hope to get from this meeting?”
Sighing, I said, “I’m not even sure. I just want her to understand that she has a child with Synder and that Whimsy is who’s important. Despite my relationship with Synder, Whimsy should be her focus.”
“Well,” my mama intoned. “I can tell ya right now that, that girl ain’t worried about that precious baby. She’s worried about that man. But she can hang it up. I’ve already started picking wedding colors.”
Appalled, I burst out laughing. “Mama, stop!”
“I won’t. Shoot, I saw your lil’ tattoo. Ellie showed it to me. You don’t do that ‘less you plan on marrying him, Sienna Cooley.”
The tone of my mother’s voice made me giggle. “I mean… If he asks, who am I to say no?”
Mama shouted.
“However,” I started, “you haven’t even met him yet.”
“No worries,” my dad said. “He’s already invited us for Christmas.”
Surprised, I stuttered, “What?”
“It was supposed to be a surprise, Sweetheart,” my mama said to my dad.
Cheesing, I said, “I won’t tell. See, this just proves I do need to have a sit down with Courtland. Things will be fine.”
Three hours later, I choked on those words. Courtland arrived at the bistro across the street from the practice facility wearing an ugly-ass mug on her face. As long as she kept her hands to herself, this would go fine. Either she was going to accept what I had to say, or she was going to accept what I had to say.
She expected the bistro to be full; I could tell by the way she glanced around perturbed at its emptiness. She wanted a spotlight, and I wasn’t about to give her one. Big N stood at the door and the staff was on an extended lunch break until this little shindig was over.
“Where’s my daughter?” she questioned.
“Whimsy is with a friend of mine,” I told her. My friend being Kewan. “It’s just the two of us so we can clear the air on some things.”
She turned her nose up. “What makes you think I wanna clear up anything? You’re a ho, and you think you gon’ slide in on my nigga and my daughter.”
“Come on, now. Let’s stop with the name calling.” I was sure my face showed something different than what my mouth said. “You agreed to meet me here, so you have something to say and that’s not it.”
“Actually, it is. I want to tell you to your face that I don’t like you. Synder and I have been off and on for ten years. You know how hard it is for him to get rid of me? I begged him for an abortion that he wouldn’t let me have. That tells you how much he loves me. What man wants to keep a baby by a woman he doesn’t want to be with?”
Her question was valid. However, I knew Synder. “A man who loves his child, maybe. It does shed some light on the person you are as well. You said yourself that you begged for an abortion. First, it’s your body. If you truly wanted that abortion, you would’ve had it. You wanted the connection to Synder just as much as he wanted his child. Although it’s clear you care nothing about Whimsy, having her kept you sealed to a man you will always want but will never get the opportunity to have again.”
She chuckled. “Bitch, please. Are you serious? See, that’s how I knowyoudon’t know that nigga you are laying down with. Syn is gon’ get tired of yo’ goofy ass so quickly, yo’ head is gon’ spinoff yo’ body. I can’t wait to see it. I can’t wait to remind you of this day.”
Smiling, I replied, “Okay, fine. You can hate me all you want, okay. What you won’t do is disrupt Whimsy’s life. You don’t want her, so drop all the fake shit you’re posting online as if Synder and I are doing something to keep you from her. Instead, I have a better headline for you. The day Synder walks away from me, you are free to have him.”
