“You not goin’ nowhere else without security. Fuck that,” he said, and it wasn’t up for debate. “I don’t give a fuck if you just ridin’ to Pressure crib. I don’t care if you goin’ to brunch. You not movin’ without somebody with you.”
I just nodded against his chest.
Earlier in the day before I hit the mall up, I might’ve told him he was doin’ too much, but after seein’ that gray car pull in behind us at our own gate, I couldn’t pretend like he was overreactin’.
“That bitch had her nigga drivin’ all the way to our house,” I murmured, still tryna wrap my mind around it. “That shit crazy.”
Kay’Lo’s jaw flexed under my cheek and I felt the muscle move even though I couldn’t see his face.
“That bitch lucky that’s all that happened,” he said low, and of course I believed him.
The truth was, when I saw him stormin’ toward that car shirtless and barefoot with the gun in his hand, somethin’ in me didn’t feel fear. I felt protected. I felt claimed, and I felt like no matter what the world tried to throw at us, my husband was gon’ stand in front of it first.
And knowin’ that did somethin’ to me.
I wrapped my arms tighter around his neck and pressed my face into his shoulder. The scent of his skin mixed with the blunt smoke had me deep in my feelin’s.
“There ain’t nothin’ scarier than thinkin’ I could’ve lost the baby today,” I whispered, my hand movin’ down to rest over his on my stomach.
His fingers spread wide across my belly like he was shieldin’ it. “Baby… the only thing that would’ve got lost today was them niggas.”
We ain’t talk no more about the situation ‘cause it was becomin’ too heavy to unpack right now and too fresh to relive.
He finished the blunt and then leaned forward to put it out in the ashtray on the table beside us. After that he slid his hand up the back of my neck and pulled my head down gentle until his mouth found mine.
The kiss was deep and groundin’ and full of somethin’ unspoken. His lips moved against mine like he was remindin’ me that we was still here, and we was still solid.
When he pulled back, he rested his forehead against mine for a second before droppin’ his gaze to my stomach again.
He moved his hand down and started rubbin’ in slow circles, his palm warm against my skin through the thin fabric of my dress. He pressed a lil’ firmer like he was tryna wake her up.
“Come on, baby girl,” he murmured, his voice soft in a way only I ever got to hear. “Let daddy know you good.”
We both waited for several minutes, then I felt a small bump under his hand.
His eyes lifted to mine immediately and I saw the relief wash over his face like somebody had just handed him air after he’d been holdin’ his breath.
“She good,” I whispered, smilin’ for real for the first time all day.
He exhaled and leaned down, pressin’ a kiss right over the spot where she had kicked.
“She strong,” he said.
Watchin’ him bond with her like that made my heart swell in a way I couldn’t even explain. The same man who had just beat somebody bloody in our driveway was sittin’ here all over my stomach.
While I sat here in his lap feelin’ protected, feelin’ loved and feelin’ like no harm could reach me as long as he was breathin’, another thought started creepin’ into my mind.
Protection went both ways…
All day I had watched my husband move like a wall in front of me. I had watched him risk his freedom again, without thinkin’ twice ‘cause somebody dared to follow me home. I had watched him stand between me and danger without hesitatin’. And as much as that made me feel safe, it also made me realize somethin’ else.
If the world was bold enough to test him because of me, then I couldn’t just sit back and hope he handled everything alone.
Echo had started somethin’ bigger than just an interview. Even if she ain’t personally send that bitch to confront me at the mall, even if she ain’t know about the gray car, the narrative she pushed had opened a door for strangers to feel entitled to us. They felt brave enough to approach me and follow me, and I wasn’t feelin’ that shit at all.
I rested my chin on Kay’Lo’s shoulder again, and stared out at the pool again, but my mind wasn’t quiet no more. It was movin’ in ways I hadn’t expected.
Sittin’ here with his hand on my stomach made it real in a way it hadn’t been before, and I understood that this wasn’t just about bein’ his wife or carryin’ his last name. I was about to bring his child into this world, and that changed the weight of everything.
