“I’m very pregnant right now.”
“Hhm.”
“Yeah, so thanks.”
“We can add that to the contract.”
“What?”
“Pregnancy never stopped anyone. So think about it. You’d need to be in London by the first of next month. Six months minimum, possibly extending to a year depending on how the first season performs.”
Six months. Possibly a year. London.
Months ago, she would have said yes before Diane finished the sentence. But she wasn’t who she was months ago. She was a fiancée and an expecting mother. Her only job right now was them, her family. A family, she said, she wanted, and it was time to prove it.
“So you were just going to brew until what? I got my flight.”
“Are you leaving again?” he asked plainly.
“Rolani, I said I wasn’t.”
He was quiet for a long moment.
“I told you I wouldn't cage you,” he said finally. “And I meant that. I mean it right now. But that don’t mean…” He stopped. Started again. “You could say yes, Ken. That’s a real opportunity. Real money. That’s how you move, right?”
That landed the wrong way, and she felt it.
“I don’t care about that anymore. The most important story for me to write now is delivering a healthy baby and falling more in love with you. But it sounds like that’s not what you want. You don’t trust me, I see.”
“Well, why you ain’t mention it to me? I don’t want to wake up and you gone with my baby,” he said with pain in his voice. He was moving again, stepping out of the room with her on his heels.
“Rolani.” She moved to the couch, close enough to put her hand on his. “I turned it down before I even told you about it. Not because you asked me to. Not because I felt like I had to. Because I didn’t want it. I want this.”
He looked at her. “It reminded me that you could leave. Any time. For a real reason, a good reason, and I couldn't say shit about it because I love you and I want what’s best for you even when what’s best for you ain’t what’s best for me.”
The room was quiet. Somewhere down the hall, a door creaked.
Neither of them heard it.
“I want to be here. I’ve been here.”
“Today.”
The word landed flat and honest, and it stung because she understood exactly what he meant by it.
“Today,” she said. “And tomorrow. And the day after that. That's all anybody gets to promise anybody. But if you don’t trust that, maybe I should leave.”
“Leave?” A small voice came from the hallway.
“Monroe.” Rolani was on his feet before Kennedi could blink.
Monroe stood at the top of the stairs in her bonnet and oversized t-shirt, arms crossed. The look on her face said she’d heard more than just the last line.
“Monroe, sweetie, this is a grown folks conversation,” Kennedi said gently.
“That’s always the excuse.” Her voice cracked on the edges, but she held her ground. “Every time something’s happening that affects me, it’s grown folks. But I heard you. I heard you say you might leave.”
Kennedi stood up slowly, one hand on her stomach, and crossed the room to the bottom of the stairs. She looked up at Monroe and didn’t rush it.
