“Like your mom was just telling you, when you feel pressure, that’s when I need you to push. When I just checked you a fewminutes ago, I could feel his head. He’s right there, baby girl. You got this, Dionne,” Tamera coached her.
“Come on, D. You got this sister,” Free said, standing there, holding a camera in her hands because she was on film duty. Dionne wanted this moment on film, and Free had been here, recording everything.
Tamera assisted Dionne in opening her legs, putting her in the right pushing position, and from there, we were ready.
“Ughhhhhhh,” Dionne groaned out in pain.
“Come, Dionne. Push for me. I’m going to count to ten, and keep pushing for ten seconds,” Tamera went on, at the front of the tub, eyes down, paying attention to what was taking place.
“Come on, bae. This the end of the road right here. You did that nine-month bid, easily. Who the fuck you know that was strutting in heels at night months pregnant, effortlessly like you? Come on. You was strong the entire pregnancy. Finish this shit out,” I coached her, and you could tell that my words gave her the push that she needed because she screamed loudly through her pushing, and I could tell that she was giving this her all.
“Best friend, you hear this man? I see how you ended up pregnant,” Blake crazy ass said, standing next to Tamera.
Blake wanted to be the fuckin doctor so bad. I fucked with her though. She took her role as best friend and god mother seriously. She was the first person here this morning when I called all the women. She immediately came in, took the sweater off that she was wearing, changed out of her shoes, so that she could put on the house shoes that she came with, and she jumped right into action on whatever Dionne needed her to be doing.
Dionne was too focused in the moment to pay Blake any attention, so she didn’t respond.
“I think you can have him out within the next few pushes. Take a breath. Just relax until you feel pressure again,” Tamera told Dionne, as she laid back onto my chest.
“Turn your head around. Look at me,” I said to her, and as best as she could, she turned her head around, and I cuffed her jaw, looking her in her eyes.
There were fresh tears that were continuing to fall down her beautiful face. She looked as if she was exhausted and was ready to just get to the finish line.
“You’re doing amazing, baby. I’m so proud of you,” I let her know, and through her tears, she nodded, letting me know that she heard me.
I kissed the tears away, kissed her on her lips, and then she turned back around, and when she felt that pressure, she leaned up, and everybody in the room was counting to ten.
“Oh my God! Dionne, I see the head,” Tommie screamed, who wasn’t standing too far away from the pool.
That was the motivation that Dionne needed to hear because she continued to push through, and in seconds, I saw Tamera pulling… tugging, and then, she pulled out a hairy little boy that was screaming to the top of his lungs.
She held him in the air, showing everyone in the room, and she sat him down on Dionne’s chest, as her back leaned into me. He showed everyone in the room that his lungs worked well because he cut up. His little cries were like music to my ears though. Dionne was crying right along with him, as we both had our heads down, looking at him. He was tiny, but we already knew from the ultrasounds that Tamera would perform that he was going to be small.
He was coated in that thick, creamy stuff that babies came into the world with. His skin was a little wrinkled, and I paid attention to his ears, and his fingers, seeing that he was going to be chocolate, just like me, and Dionne. I took my eyes off him fora moment, just so that I could put them on Dionne, and I rained kisses all on her neck, while continuing to thank her for this beautiful gift. Still crying, she turned her head, so that she could face me, and she kissed me multiple times on my lips.
“He’s so perfect. Hi auntie man,” Tommie cooed, her eyes watering, as she came to the side with everyone else, so that she could look at her handsome nephew.
“I know you not crying gangsta,” I said to her, and she laughed through her tears, waving me off.
Our baby boy eventually stopped crying, and I didn’t know much about newborns, so I didn’t know what he was supposed to do. He did, however, have his eyes wide open, and you could tell that he was trying to make out what was happening around him. The way Dionne had him positioned on her chest, his eyes were able to look up, and they were on me. It felt like I was looking at the baby version of myself. Dionne talked about wanting to give birth to a boy that looked just like me, and that happened for her. His eyes were big like his mama though. A good amount of jet-black hair sat on top of his head, and now that he’d gotten all the crying out of his system, he was chilling. He was cool like his daddy.
“What’s up daddy boy?” I asked, talking to him like he could understand me. I took my hand off the side of the pool, so that I could put my index finger in his fist, and he squeezed it tightly. He got a hold of my finger and he didn’t let go.
“Ion know if I want to call him TJ or lil Tank,” I expressed, not being able to take my eyes off him because he was so perfect.
I wouldn’t have felt any kind of way if Dionne told me that she didn’t want to name our son after me. That kind of stuff wasn’t going to make or break me because either way, I was going to be a damn good father, and my son would be phenomenal, whether he had my name, or we’d given him a name of his own. Ultimately, Dionne did want to name him afterme though, and of course, I wasn’t going to fight her on that. Shit, it made me happy. She told me that I was everything that she would want our son to be, and that’s why we decided to go with Tavion Briggs Jr. Shit made me feel good that I was sitting here, looking at my very own creation, knowing that he had my exact face, and my same name.
“He’s perfect,” Dionne said, not able to keep her eyes off him, either.
Our families were standing watching, but they weren’t too close on us. I guess they wanted to give us our privacy and soak up these first few moments of being with our son. I took my eyes off my son, and Dionne for a second, just so that I could glance over at the women in the room with us, and you could tell that all of them were ready for someone to give them the green light, so that they could rush over here, and one of them could be the first one to hold him. My mama was going to be the one to break her neck to get to him. This little boy was going to be so spoiled that it didn’t make any sense.
“Can one of you go outside and get my daddy, please?” Dionne asked, taking her eyes off Jr. so that she could look towards the women. It was Antoinette who moved quickly, going to go get her man.
“Look how fast she walked away. She don’t play about Dionte,” Blake called her out, making everybody laugh.
I leaned back against the pool, my heart full in this moment. I had the money, the house, the perfect wife, multiple businesses, all that good shit, and now I have a son of my own. You couldn’t give me anything else after this because I already had it all.
9:57 P.M.
