“Maddie, I’m fine. I’ll call you when I get home and you can come by.”
Maddie rolled her eyes at Los, then walked to the other side of the bed. She and Sophie hugged.
“I’m still mad at you, but we’ll talk about that later. Trooper, take care of my girl.”
“Man, chill with all that. I got her. You go deal with his crazy ass.” I pointed at Los and he shot me a bird.
We all said our goodbyes and they left.
Sophie finished her salad and started a bottle of water before she got comfortable against my body in her tiny ass hospital bed. The nurse came in right after Maddie and Carlos left and told her they were getting her discharge papers ready, which I was happy about. I was tired as hell, since I hadn’t slept in an entire day, and was ready to take a shower. I wanted to be in my own bed.
“Ay, I promise I’ll make this up to you, Sophie.” I kissed the top of her head and moved my thumb across her stomach. It wasn’t really my fault, but that didn’t stop me from carrying it.
“You don’t have to make anything up to me. You didn’t do this.”
“Doesn’t matter, I should always be there. You know what though?”
“What?” She looked up at me like she was afraid I was going to say something bad.
“When I listened to your message, everything in me went crazy. It was like a million and one things started going through my head, but the one thing I felt the most was fear.”
“Fear?”
I could tell she didn’t get it. “Yeah, fear, and I ain’t never been afraid of anything in my life. Not even dying. I’ve always been the kind of person who just did shit, no matter the consequences. But when I heard your message, I felt fear. I was afraid of losing you and this baby. It had me not thinking clearly. I wanted to shed the blood of anyone who played a role in you being here, but more than anything, I knew right then…”
I stopped because I knew what I wanted to say, just couldn’t get it out.
“That what?”
“I just knew I wouldn’t be okay if anything happened to you.” I inhaled and released it slowly before I hugged her tighter.
We were both quiet for a minute before I heard Sophie’s voice once again.
“I love you too.”
It was soft and low, but I heard her loud and clear. She knew what I was trying to tell her.
“Sophie?”
We both looked up when Alana pushed the door open and walked into the room, but Sophie tensed next to me.
“How did you know I was here?” Sophie asked while her eyes moved from me to her mother.
“I told her.” Story walked in behind Alana, but stayed near the door.
In all the years I had known him, never once had I ever seen this man show any signs of fear, but he honestly looked worried.
I didn’t know if it was from concern about Sophie’s wellbeing or if he was nervous about actually being around her. Her visiting him in prison was one thing, but now that he was out,the expectation of him having to actually build a relationship with her was something completely different.
My child wasn’t born yet, but I had the same feeling in me when I thought about the things about to change in my life.
“What are you… how did you… are you supposed to be here?”
I smirked as Sophie stumbled over her words.
“Yeah, I am. Thanks to your mother.”
Alana glanced over her shoulder, looking his way and smiling, but the second her eyes were on Sophie again, her expression changed.
