Tia listened.
Meadow squeezed her fingers. “God…I’m asking you to touch my girl, cover her body, balance her hormones, set her heart at ease. Remind her she is not broken…remind her she is not behind…remind her she is not forgotten.
Bless her timing, bless her womb, bless her marriage, and bless her rest today and every day. Amen.”
Tia’s forehead hit Meadow’s shoulder as she cried again, this time quieter…a wounded kind of quiet.
Meadow kissed the top of her head. “You’re a Black queen…whole, perfect, and capable. This ain’t the end of anything.”
Tia sniffed. “Thank you.”
Meadow rubbed her back slowly. “Always.”
They just sat there for a while, allowing Tia to work through her feelings before she had to put on a happy face so she didn’t alert Blain. He knew her inside and out, so he’d pick up on any crack when it came to her.
Meadow watched Tia quietly, guilt crawling up her spine. It didn’t seem fair. She’d been out here laughing, lusting, letting Zaire touch parts of her heart she didn’t even know were open…letting him spill all that love and possibility into her body…while her best friend wanted a baby so badly it lived in her eyes every time she talked about the future, and still didn’t have one.
Meadow wanted children too. She dreamed about them. But wanting wasn’t the same asaching.
Not like Tia…Tia deserved a baby in her arms before anybody.
The thought made Meadow’s stomach twist…made her body tense…made her mind race toward the nearest pharmacy and that little pink box that gave you three days she suddenly wasn’t sure she should ignore.
She swallowed hard, staring straight ahead.
It was the first time joy felt complicated.
The first time her blessings tangled up with someone else’s pain, and she didn’t know what to do with that.
When Meadowand Tia made it to the kitchen, Zaire stood at the island slicing fruit while Blain leaned against the fridge drinking coffee. The morning sun hit the windows, lighting up the black granite counters and the clean lines of the cabinets.
Zaire wore a black tee, his chain peeking through, forearms out, his watch catching the light every time he turned his wrist.
Meadow’s heart did a stupid little flip that she pretended not to feel.
Blain noticed the girls first. “Good morning.”
Zaire looked up next. His eyes softened before the rest of his face did. “Morning.”
Meadow smiled but didn’t speak. She walked over to him slowly, the pace her body chose without her permission. Zaire shifted just enough to open space for her, and she fit herself under his arm effortlessly.
He kissed the side of her forehead…quick, soft, nothing flashy.
Blain smirked into his mug.
Tia pinched her lips to hide a grin.
Brent chose that moment to walk in.
He froze for half a second when he saw how close they were, then covered it with a smirk. “Well damn. Y’all comfortable in here.”
Zaire didn’t look at him. He kept slicing his fruit. “Sup, cuh.”
“That’s all I get?” Brent shot back, leaning against the counter.
Zaire shrugged. “What you want? A speech?”
Blain snorted into his coffee. “Here we go.”
