Before my mind could even catch up with what was happenin’, I looked down and saw my baby right there under the water with a head full of dark hair already visible, and that sight hit me so fast it made my heart drop. It felt like everything around me slowed down but the moment kept movin’ whether I was ready for it or not.
“Hold on… hold on,” I muttered, leanin’ forward, my hands movin’ without me even thinkin’.
All I could see was my baby under the water, and in my head all I could think was that she wasn’t supposed to be under there like that.
I reached in without hesitatin’ and brought her up out the water. The second her weight settled into my hands, everything around me faded in a way I can’t even explain, ’cause all that mattered in this moment was the fact that she was real and she was right here with me. My baby was finally in my hands.
Her little body fit in my hands in a way that ain’t even make sense. Her skin was slick, her face small and so damn pretty, and that head full of hair had me starin’ at her like I couldn’t believe what I was holdin’.
My mama rushed back in right then, movin’ quick, her voice calm but urgent as she stepped in to take control of what needed to be done.
Toni was breathin’ heavy, lookin’ overwhelmed, like everything just hit her at once, and I stayed right here with her, my eyes goin’ between her and my daughter like I couldn’t pick where to look.
Then my baby cried, and the sound hit me different.
That shit went straight through me, and before I even realized it, my eyes was fillin’ up.
“Yeah… yeah…” I murmured, my voice low as hell, and my hands holdin’ her careful. “I got you mama. Daddy got you…”
My mama moved around us, handlin’ everything else, and I stayed locked in right where I was, still in the water with Toni, and still holdin’ my daughter like I had been waitin’ my whole life for this exact moment.
Tears started slidin’ down my face before I could even think to stop ‘em, and I ain’t make no move to hide it neither, ’cause I already knew this wasn’t one of them moments where I was supposed to hold myself together. Not when everything in me was finally lettin’ go at once and hittin’ me with the reality that this right here was different from anything I had ever felt before.
My mama came closer after a minute, her eyes glossy as she looked at my baby, then at me, and she leaned in and wrapped her arms around me, pressin’ a kiss to the top of my head.
“I’m so proud of you, son,” she said real soft.
I nodded, still lookin’ down at my daughter, my heart feelin’ full in a way I couldn’t even explain.
“My baby…” I murmured, my thumb brushin’ over her tiny face.
At1:11pm…
My’Love Toni Mensah was finally here.
Trill-Land, ’LoLux Estate
Whew… I ain’t gon’ lie… bein’ in labor with My’Love wore my ass the fuck out, but she was finally here, and the second I felt her in my arms, all that pain I had just went through started sittin’ different in my body. Don’t get me wrong, it was still there, lingerin’ in my bones and my stomach, but it wasn’t the same kind of pain no more. It was like my body was tryna come back to itself while my heart was doin’ somethin’ completely different, and all I could focus on was the little girl layin’ against me.
My whole body still felt weak, my legs shaky under the water, and my breathin’ uneven from everything I had just pushed through, but I couldn’t even think about none of that for real, especially not when I was lookin’ down at my world.
My baby… my daughter… My’Love.
I kept blinkin’ slow like I was tryna make sure this wasn’t somethin’ my mind made up to get me through that pain, but she was right here, warm against my chest, movin’ just enough to remind me that she was real.
All I could think about while I was in pain was Kay’Lo.
Every contraction that hit me, every time my body felt like it was bein’ pulled apart from the inside, he was right there, holdin’ me, kissin’ on me and talkin’ to me, lettin’ me know he wasn’t gon’ let me go through none of it alone. And I held on to that. I held on to him.
There was moments where I felt like I couldn’t do it, like my body was givin’ out on me, and then I would feel his hands on me, hear his voice in my ear, feel his lips on my skin, and it was like somethin’ in me would pull back together just enough to keep goin’.
And now here we was…
I shifted just a lil’ in the pool, my body still sore and sensitive, and I looked down at my baby again, really lookin’ this time, takin’ in every small detail like I needed to memorize her right now before time started movin’ again.
“She so pretty…” I whispered, my voice soft and tired, but full in a way I couldn’t even explain.
Her skin was so smooth and had a soft glow to it like she had been kissed by both of us, and her little face… she looked just like her daddy, and when her eyes started flutterin’ open just a lil’, I swear my heart damn near gave out on me. That brown hazel color sat right there in them pretty eyes, soft and deep, with that hint of green tucked in it dependin’ on how the light caught it, just like Kay’Lo and his mama’s eyes.
