I mushed her head to the side. “Girl, gon’. Ain’t nobody scared of you.”
She giggled. “Nah, you’re just scared of heights.”
I stopped walking and frowned. “I already told you I’m not afraid of heights. I’m afraid of doing shit that could kill me. That was the last thrill you get out of me too. I swear, from now on, you’re doing all that shit alone.”
She stuck her bottom lip out in a pout. I shook my head and put my hand in front of her face to shield myself from falling victim to her pretty ass. “Not going to work. Leave me alone, actually.”
I began walking faster, forcing her to run to catch up to me because I started sprinting when she got closer. I stopped when I heard her yell out. When I turned around, I saw her sprawled out on the ground. Pivoting, I rushed back over to her. I bent down when I was close enough to help her up.
“Damn, Shirley. You good?” I joked while checking her over. I saw a little scrape on her knee that would need a bandage, but other than that, she looked fine to me.
She moaned dramatically with tears in her eyes. She whacked me on the arm. “You play too much. I think I twisted my ankle, it hurts,” she whined. I helped her up, and she winced. “I don’t think I can walk on it. You’re gonna have to carry me since you made me fall.”
My head jerked back. “Girl, how the hell I make you fall, and I was damn near a block ahead of you?”
“Because you were running away from me. You were going a little too hard too. You trying to run out of my life, Stanley?”
I scooped her up, causing her to yelp. “Shut that shit up. You know I would never do that. You stuck with me for life. I’m justnot doing no more crazy shit with you. We good for everything else though.”
She tossed her arms around my neck and snuggled her face against my chest. “Oh, okay. Just making sure.”
I kissed her cheeks twice, then her lips once, lingering a little longer to savor the moment. “You never have to double-check on that.” Glancing up, I saw we were in front of an Italian place. “How does pizza sound, baby?”
She hugged me tighter. “Perfect, just like life with you.”
I smiled down at her, and my heart began to fill up with light. My life was complete from the moment I laid eyes on this girl. I didn’t know how much she would come to mean to me, but I knew she was special. I knew I had to know who she was. I finally understood what her name meant. It didn’t cost me a thing to give her my love, but it was the most rewarding exchange I’d ever made. Because of her, I knew what true freedom was, and nothing would compare to doing life with this woman. My woman. My heart. My Shirley. Even if it was only us left in the world, I knew we’d be alright.
Two years later . . .
Twisting to the side, I tried sucking in my stomach to hide the little pudge there, but of course, it didn’t work. No matter what I did, it wouldn’t go away. There was no running away from what was to come in a few short months.
I glanced up when I felt Ketai sliding his hands around my waist. He placed a sweet kiss on my cheek that brought a grin to my face. “You nervous?” he questioned me in a concerned tone.
I nodded quickly. “Yes.” I stomped my foot before crossing my arms over my chest. “Oh my God, everybody’s going to know you be hunching me now.” I mean, I was a grown woman and very married, but there was still something so embarrassingabout everyone being able to tell I was out here doing the nasty with my man.
Ketai tossed his head back as he laughed heartily. “I be hunching you?”
I nodded adamantly. “Yes, of course. You know I’m a pillow princess.”
The sexiest smirk appeared on his face, reminding me exactly how I ended up in this situation in the first place. “A damn good one at that.” He placed his hands on my belly and began to softly caress it. I giggled when his breath tickled my ear. “I can’t wait to tell everybody about how you just laid there and let me put a baby in you.”
My mouth popped open before I spun around and pushed him away from me. He laughed, trying to grab me, but I moved out of his way. “You’re annoying. Let’s go.”
I snatched my purse from the dresser and walked toward the door. Ketai rushed forward to open the door for me. When I walked by him, he smacked me on the ass so hard that I hissed. A satisfied smile was on his face when I glanced at him. He took my hand in his and began walking us toward the elevators.
After one year of traveling together became two, we were finally ready to return home. We debated for a while on where we should call home, but once my mother said she would move back to the States to be close to her grandchild, it was the obvious choice. So far, she was the only family member who knew because we were in La Promesse when we found out I was pregnant. Today, Tai’s family would find out when we got to his family reunion.
When we got outside, Miles waited for us beside our black Eskimo. I rushed toward him with my arms out. “Miles! I missed you,” I said genuinely.
He smiled and opened his arms to receive me. His eyes bulged when he saw my belly. “I missed you too, Free. I see y’all were doing a little more than traveling the world,” he joked.
I turned to look at Ketai. “Omg, see,” I complained. Shaking my head, I climbed inside the truck, throwing my back against the seat.
Ketai slid in beside me after dapping up Miles. “Fix your face before I fix it for you,” he threatened me.
I rolled my eyes and my neck. “And how you think you’re going to do that?”
Ketai leaned forward when Miles got in. “Put the partition up for me.”
