I turned back to Pryce, who was now smiling more than he had been during the photoshoot.
“Who you know gets a photoshoot and a baby shower all in one day?” he asked, looking down at me.
“A very blessed baby,” I replied, kissing him.
The Sullivan crew headed toward us with his mother leading them.
“Hey, baby.” She spoke to Pryce, hugging and kissing his cheek then doing the same with me.
“You couldn’t have thought we were going to let you bring yo’ lil one in the world on some regular shit.” Aura stepped forward to dap him and give me a half hug.
Tay followed. “Nigga, this a Sullivan baby. I got a baby Benz truck pulling up as we speak.”
We all laughed.
“Lambo in back of that,” Jay added behind him.
“Yeah. Real rich shit,” Aura followed up.
“Rich and ghetto,” Key commented. “I love the combination.”
I watched as they crowded him, and his shoulders visibly settled into the moment instead of fighting it. This was our family. This was that solid foundation that my father was referring to. Something I could never get in Houston. Not when my heart was with him.
CHAPTER 14
Delivery Day
ADAI
“Can’t be out here playing with a bitch like me. There’s niggas out here praying for a bitch like me.”
I sang the lyrics to Cardi B’s new song,Principle,while sitting on the floor in the middle of the baby’s room, sorting and folding her clothes. It was something about a female rapper pouring out her pain and checking a nigga at the same time on a record that did my heart well. And Cardi did indeed tear Offset’s ass up on this new album. It was my kind of therapy. I’d been spending most of my time in the baby’s room that was still under construction. Pryce barely let me go anywhere else.
I’d officially reached the thirty-nine-week mark, and the man was treating me like his own little porcelain doll. At our last appointment, Dr. Kerri told us the baby’s head was facing down in the birth canal. Pryce had been moving with caution ever since. Sometimes, I had to beg him to leave the house just so he wouldn’t sit around and track my every move. And when he wasn’t here, I’d sneak into the baby’s room and do something he told me not to do, hang a painting, rearrange furniture if I didn’t like the way he set it up, and some more shit.
I was ahard headed asson the daily, according to him. The room was coming along to my liking though. And that wasabout all that mattered to me. The song went off, and I picked up my phone to scroll through my playlist. As I searched, a DM notification from Ebone on Instagram popped up at the top of my screen. Clicking on it, there was a post on Trill’s page.
@ebthebigrealtor: This nigga is corny. Why is he out here claiming my godbaby?
My lip curled up in disgust as I clicked on the video, so I could hear the sound. Trill had on a Houston Rockets jersey with his dreads pulled back in a ponytail, and dark shades covered his eyes. By the way the camera was angled, it looked like an interview he staged.
“So, what’s up next for you, Trill? What you got cookin’?” the woman interviewing him asked.
He took a sip from a styrofoam cup before responding. “Shit, more music and fatherhood.”
“That’s right,” the woman said. “I remember that picture that had the streets buzzing. Any updates you can give us on the baby?”
“In due time is all I can say.” He smiled. “I try to keep those moments as private as I can. But I’ll be Daddy Trill soon.”
For him to still be referencing my child as his was weird. He had women beating down his door that he could impregnate. Why he wanted to be attached to me still in any way was insane. But I was gonna bust his bubble right in his comment section. Scrolling down, I started to type.
Please make it clear that the “baby” you have on the way is not sitting in my womb. And this post is about as fugazy as you are for even putting that out there. #idontknowyouman
Once the comment posted, I took a screenshot and sent it to Ebone. I wanted to block him, but then he wouldn’t see the comment. So, I’d leave it up for a little bit for people to see then block him.
@ebthebigrealtor: That’s how you get rid of a nigga!
I responded to her message with a crying laughing emoji then exited the app. Going back to my music, I hit play onPrincipleagain.
