She frowned. “For what? Are we moving?” “No,weaintgoingnowhere.Sheis,though.”
“What?” My baby’s face balled up. “Nooo,” she whimpered, before full out blubbering. “You said that she was here to stay. We’re family. She can’t leave. I love her.”
Right then, Aspen wandered into the room. “What are you crying for, Shi?”
Rubbing her eyes, She looked at Aspen. “Daddy’s packing Babi’s clothes. He’s making her leave us.”
And once again, there were instant waterworks. “Noooo, she’s my mommy.”
Now, that really fucked me up. I’d witnessed Babi correct her several times, reminding her that she still had a living mother. Regardless, Aspen had started calling Babi mommy, as they outwardly expressed their love and adoration for one another. Shit, sometimes I questioned if Aspen loved Babi more than she loved me. And Babi gingerly pulled me aside and schooled me on nurture. My kids probably craved what I couldn’t naturally provide, and Babi had been able to tap into that for them.
In my angry haste, it was easy to forget what Babi meant to this household. She wasn’t some bitch I’d been fucking here and there. Regardless of a ring or anything, Babi was their stepmother. But I think that her and the girls would beat my ass about using the wordstep. I never had to question her intentions with my kids. I knew that everything she did was with a pure heart. I trusted her with them more than anybody else, including my own mama.
So, I knew that I needed to stop and think, before reacting. “Look,y’all.”Ibreathedout.“Iwasjusttalkingmess.Babi’s
notgoinganywhere,okay?”
Immediately, they both stopped crying.
“You were just pranking us?” Shi questioned, while drying her eyes.
“Yeah, baby. Daddy was just pranking y’all. Now, go to your rooms and get dressed. I’m calling your GG to come pick y’all up, while me and Babi go have dinner.”
“Okay,”theyspokeinunison,beforeturningtoleavemyroom.
Long after they’d been gone, I stood there, trying to collect my thoughts.
Babi
fter arriving home, I stepped through the doors, expecting the girls to bomb-rush me, as they always did. However, today was different. Nobody greeted me, and
the house was eerily quiet.
“Shi! Aspen! I’m home,” I sang with a smile, ready to spend a little time with them.
There was no response.
“Their GG must’ve picked them up,” I grumbled, as I headed upstairs.
Halfway up, I was reminded that I was carrying two living souls, as I was winded as hell. I had just reached five months and my belly was heavy. My doctors knew what I was having, but we were waiting to find out at our gender reveal. We were hoping for boys, but would love whatever God gave us.
Rubbingmybelly,Ismiled,justthinkingaboutourfuture.
167
After going to see Too Low, I felt like a boulder had been lifted of my shoulders. And now, I was about to go upstairs, love on my man, maybe give him a shot of head, before taking a nice nap.
When I stepped into our room, I slowed my stride, realizing that something wasn’t right. There were clothes strewn across the bed. Shoes scattered across the floor. And that wasn’t how the room looked when I left. Then Face was sitting on the bench at the foot of the bed, appearing disconnected.
“Bae, what’s going on?” I quizzed, while stepping closer, and soon realized that those were my clothes sitting on the bed.
He lifted his head, and glared at me. “I got a call today.” My heart skipped a beat. “Okay?”
“Yeah, it was my nigga. He told me that his cousin saw you in visitation today.”
I gulped.
“And I was so fucking pissed. Cause you lied to me. Had me seeing red. So, I came in here to pack your shit. Then the girls came in, and asked what was going on. I told them that you were leaving—”
