“I meant to ask you this the other day. Did you have a place out in Houston?”
“Yeah.” I laid my head on his shoulder. “Now I’m gonna have to go back there and pack up all my stuff, one thing I’m not looking forward to.”
Although I hadn’t accumulated much while in Houston, my apartment was fully furnished, and I had a good amount of clothes and shoes in the closet.
“I’ll pay somebody to go over there and pack everything, then we’ll get a moving company to do the actual move.”
“That’s one resolution, but where am I going to put my furniture?”
He paused and stroked his goatee. “How about you sublet the place with the furniture? It’ll be an extra stream of income for you. I’m sure somebody will put it to good use. Plus, there ain’t nothing for you to return to in Houston anyway.”
His matter-of-fact tone was one that let me know that the last part of his sentence wasn’t up for negotiation.
“Can we talk about it later?”
“Which part? The sublet, right?”
“Yes, annoying.”
Before he could say anything else, my name was called. We were escorted into an exam room and only waited a few minutes before Dr. Kerri came in.
“Oh!” Her hand went to her chest dramatically. “So, this is the reason you missed your last visit? How did this happen?” she asked, giving me a hug.
“I never thought I’d be having to give you the birds and the bees talk, Dr. Kerri.” I smiled as she stepped back to look at me.
“Daddy?” she asked Pryce, who sported a smile himself.
“Yeah. To both of them,” he said proudly.
“Sounds like my husband.” She laughed. “Congratulations to you both on your bundle of joy. Are we just doing a sonogram today?” she asked, sanitizing her hands and then snapping on a new pair of gloves. “I got the records the other doctor sent over, and it looks like you had a visit a few days ago.”
“I did. But this is Daddy’s first time, so I wanna make sure he gets the full experience.”
“That I can do,” she said.
For the next half an hour, Dr. Kerri gave Pryce a full tour of the inside of my womb with the help of the sonogram machine. I laid back, watching him be completely amazed by his baby’s growth. A little guilt crept up in me thinking about that six-month gap. Then, I remembered Key’s words reminding me that I couldn’t move forward if I was hanging my decision over my own head.
“Do you know the gender yet?”
“No,” I answered. “But you can tell us.””
“Alright. Let’s see.” She moved the probe around, pressing it into my belly to get the baby to change positions.
I glanced up to see Pryce’s brows pulled tight. Tugging at his shirt discreetly, I mouthed that I was fine. He nodded and grabbed my hand.
“Okayyyy,” Dr. Kerri sang. “Looks like you need to prepare for Mommy and Daddy’s little princess’ debut.”
I froze, and for a second, my brain didn’t even catch up. Tears fell immediately as I squeezed Pryce’s hand.
“A girl,” he marveled, sounding like he was in a trance. “Damn. I’ma go to jail.”
“Pryce, shut up.” I laughed through tears. Dr. Kerri joined in.
“Well, hopefully not,” she said, wiping the gel off my belly.
Pryce helped me sit up and step down off the exam table.
“As I mentioned, you’re entering that third trimester. I want you to keep moving, but at the same time, don’t overdo it. We want baby girl to come when she’s ready.”
