But now? At thirty-four? With my fertility window shrinking every year?
I couldn’t accept it anymore.
I reached into my purse and pulled out my phone. Opened the app I’d been using for the past two months.
My ovulation tracker.
According to the calendar, I was three days away from my fertile window. Quest was flying back to DC tomorrow. If I timed it right…
I’d removed my IUD two months ago. Didn’t tell Quest. Didn’t tell Lyric. Just scheduled the appointment, had it taken out, and kept my mouth shut.
Was it wrong? Maybe.
Did I care? No.
Quest was a grown man acting like a child. Refusing to even consider fatherhood because of some trauma he wouldn’t talk about. Meanwhile, Prime was stepping up. Justice was raising two beautiful girls. The Banks brothers were built for family—Quest just refused to see it.
Well, I was done waiting for him to grow up. Done begging for something that should have been a conversation, not an ultimatum. Done letting his fear dictate my future.
If he wouldn’t give me a baby willingly, then fate would decide for us.
I started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
One way or another, I was going to be a mother.
And Quest Banks was going to be a father—whether he liked it or not.
15
PRIME
My knee wouldn’t stop bouncing. A nigga ain’t been this nervous since I was ten, working up the nerve to talk to the pretty girl in school.
But the most beautiful woman in the world got my ass angsty. I couldn’t wait to see her. It had been way too long. The last time we saw each other I was at least able to kiss her. But today that wasn’t going to happen. I needed to put my lips and my hands on my Goddess. I had to bring her home to take care of her and our daughter.
I sat on the metal stool, eyes locked on the door across the glass partition, waiting for it to open. Waiting for her. Other families sat in the row beside me—mothers crying, kids confused, men trying to hold it together.
Then the door on the other side opened.
And there she was.
My chest caved in.
She was bigger. Noticeably bigger than the last time I saw her. Her belly strained against the orange jumpsuit, round and full and carrying my daughter. My daughter who was growing inside a cage. My daughter who I couldn’t touch. Couldn’t protect.
Zainab sat down on the other side of the glass. Picked up the phone. I did the same.
“Hey, baby.” Her voice was soft. Tired. But she smiled for me.
“Hey, Goddess.”
We just looked at each other for a moment. Taking each other in. She had dark circles under her eyes but her skin was still glowing. Pregnancy looked beautiful on her, even in this ugly-ass place.
“She’s getting big,” I said, nodding at her belly.
Zainab rubbed her stomach. “She’s been kicking like crazy. Especially at night. I think she knows something’s wrong.”
“She knows her daddy’s coming. That’s what she knows.”
