“I promise, he’s a good guy, though. He will do what he has to do to take care of you and the baby. Do you believe that?”
“Yeah. Don’t tell nobody. He’s probably gonna want a DNA test. We’ve done all kinds of shit together . . . threesomes . . . just nasty shit. I’m so ashamed.”
“I won’t tell anyone, nor can I legally tell anyone. No need to be ashamed. Just woman up and do what you have to do. This baby is who matters now. Forget all that other stuff and how he or she got here.”
“You’re right. So what next?”
“Have you noticed any changes yet? We need to do bloodwork, for sure, to make sure all your levels are where they should be.”
I looked over her paperwork as she talked. Her blood pressure was normal, and she seemed to be about ten weeks if I judged by her last period. She said all was well, she would just get nauseated at times. I definitely knew what that felt like.
“Okay. We need to do an ultrasound. We need to be sure of how far along you are, and I’ll inform you of different tests you can take for preventative measures and to be informed of your baby’s condition on the inside. We can check for down syndrome and all types of other illnesses, but that’s totally optional. Go ahead and disrobe and put on the gown. A tech will be in shortly to perform the ultrasound. It will be vaginal, okay?”
“Okay. Thanks, Bali.”
I nodded and left out.Royal?That nigga was a freak. I always knew that shit. He was extremely discreet, though. Seven and Ace had told me that much. He loved nasty ass sex. I justcouldn’t believe he’d fucked Aaliyah. She was a beautiful woman. I thought she was a goody-two-shoes, being that she was an elementary school teacher and hung around her mama all the time.
It was just that she was so close to our family. I rolled my eyes at the thought. As if I wasn’t fucking and fell in love with the family friend. Hell, Noni was in love with her brother. She was twenty-four or so, so she was grown as fuck. I couldn’t wait to tell Noni this shit. I wanted to tell Royal, but the law kept me from doing that. Hopefully, this would make Royal slow his freaky ass down.
“That ride looked intense as hell,” I said as I fiddled with my engagement ring.
“Sis, I was so scared for him,” Noni said.
I nodded. Carter said he was coming here when they got to town, and my nerves were on edge. We had a family meeting tonight to talk about Uncle Marcus and the progress that they were making to get him home. My daddy was running his business, and he left Aston to tend to his. I was almost sure he was going to end up cutting Aston in as part owner. He did a lot of the work and day-to-day at the shop these days.
Noni had gotten home last night. I was knocked the fuck out when she got back. I had been handling her patients and my patients for over a week. We had called one of our colleagues from Houston to help handle them while we were gone, but since I didn’t go, I told her there was no need in her taking off work to come to Nome. I wished I would have let her still come.
“That last ride looked like God was on that bull with him. I don’t know how he was able to stay on. Watching his first ridebroke my heart. I wanted to call him so bad, but I was still somewhat angry at him for that goodbye fuck. I still wanna fuck you up behind that.”
She rolled her eyes. “Y’all love each other. I know y’all will work this out.”
“There is nothing for me to work out. I can’t take back what I did. So either he can get over it or not.”
“Are you going to tell him you’re pregnant when he gets here?”
“Yeah. Depending on how that goes will determine whether I go to the family meeting or not. I love him, but I don’t want to go back into a relationship if things will still be strained or weird feeling.”
She nodded as I brought my gaze back to my ring. I didn’t have it on. I’d found it on my dresser after he left. This ring didn’t belong to me. I didn’t care what he said. If we weren’t together, I didn’t want it. I didn’t need the constant reminder of how in love we were and how we didn’t work. This shit was frustrating.
Noni’s phone chimed, and she stood. “He’s on his way. I’m gonna go home, sis. I believe everything is gonna go well. The way he pleaded with you before he left broke my heart, so I know he’s coming here to make things right. Despite what you did to that pharmacist, Carter knows your heart. He knows you wouldn’t hurt him. I just think his mind went into overdrive, panicking because he didn’t see you capable of being a fucking thug.”
I rolled my eyes. “Get out, Noni. Ratchet ass.”
She laughed and left, walking to her house next door. I was so fucking nervous. Seeing him again after two weeks was going to be hard on my heart, especially if he didn’t truly fix us. I was willing to try again, but I needed to be convinced that he wasokay with what happened and that he still trusted me with his heart.
I wasn’t sure if he was on his way from his house in Liberty or if he was coming from Red’s house. If he was in Liberty, I had thirty minutes to sit here and anticipate his arrival. If he was at Red’s, he would be here in five minutes or less. The quietness was starting to get to me, so I grabbed my phone and put on a song I knew he liked. “My Angel” by Bobby V described us perfectly. We’d been in love for a long time, even before we realized it.
By the time the song ended, my doorbell rang. I closed my eyes for a moment. He was at Red’s house, thank God. I set the ring on the table and went to the door. I saw him through the glass, so I opened it. My insides shuddered as I stared at him. His dark chocolate skin was my weakness. He was so gorgeous.Jesus Christ.
He gave me a tight-lipped smile as I stepped aside to let him enter. I closed the door and locked it, then took a deep breath. I turned to find him still standing there, waiting for me. He extended his arms, and I went straight to them. My emotions bubbled up in my chest like indigestion. I did my best to swallow them back, but they emerged anyway.
I buried my face in his chest as I inhaled his cologne, praying that everything would be okay like Noni thought it would. I quickly pulled away from him and went to the couch before I had to throw up. When he sat next to me, his eyes landed on the ring. He stared at it and cleared his throat, then looked at me.
He grabbed my hand, rubbing it between his. “Hey, baby.”
“Hi, Carter. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” he said, then cleared his throat again. I could tell he was nervous. He closed his eyes for a moment, then continued. “I don’t want to live without you, Bali. I’m sorry for putting us through this unnecessary bullshit. I panicked. I knowyou love me with your soul and would never intentionally do anything to hurt me. I trust you with all of me.”
