Kwame had softened in a way I never thought I’d see, and it wasn’t just for My’Love, it was for us too, and that meant more to me than anything I could even explain. Him and Treasure had been comin’ over every single day, checkin’ on me, and the baby.
Even Kelli came around, but he stayed the same.
He’d stand off to the side with his hands in his pockets, noddin’ at My’Love with a light smile, and sometimes he’d reach out and let her hold his finger, but that was as far as it went.
He wasn’t the type to be all in it like everybody else, but you could tell he cared in his own way.
But Kay’Lo…
Couldn’t nobody love My’Love the way her daddy had, and it wasn’t even close.
That man was somethin’ else when it came to his baby. He didn’t play about her at all.
I’m talkin’ about makin’ everybody wash their hands before they even got near her, lookin’ at people crazy if they got too close to her face, tellin’ folks straight up they needed to have clean breath before they started talkin’ all in her space.
“Back up,” he told Renza one time when he leaned in too close. “You breathin’ all on her like that, you trippin’.”
Renza looked at him like he had lost his mind. “Nigga, shut the fuck up. I just brushed my teeth.”
“I don’t give a fuck what you did,” Kay’Lo shot back. “Go do it again if you gon’ be in her face like that.”
I was cryin’ laughin’, but Kay’Lo was dead serious, and when Renza made a comment about him kissin’ her too much, it was some more shit.
“Yo, chill with all that kissin’, you gon’ have her breakin’ out,” Renza said.
Kay’Lo looked at him like he had just said the dumbest shit alive.
“Man, shut the fuck up and mind your business,” he snapped. “This my baby.”
Didn’t nobody say nothin’ else after that, ’cause everybody already knew…
At night, it was the same thing.
He’d wake up before I even had the chance to move, already reachin’ for her, changin’ her diaper, even the shitty ones. He ain’t care.
He warmed her bottles up, fed her, burped her, talked to her like she could answer him back, and then laid her right back down like it was nothin’. And in the mornings, before he even thought about leavin’ for court, he’d wake up early just to spend time with her.
He’d feed her, change her, hold her, kiss on her, and then make sure I had everything I needed before he stepped out that door.
He’d have bottles warmed up, diapers laid out, wipes ready and extra clothes sittin’ right by the bed so I ain’t have to move too much.
He thought of everything, and that shit meant more to me than anything.
Right now, we was sittin’ out back with the sun hittin’ just right while My’Love laid across Kay’Lo’s lap, so small it still amazed me.
He started changin’ her right on his lap real careful, movin’ slow while talkin’ to her under his breath. I just sat there watchin’ them.
Then, all of a sudden, he froze.
His eyes went wide, and his whole body tensed up like he had just seen somethin’ crazy.
“What?” I asked, already sittin’ up a lil’.
He ain’t answer right away. He just stared down at My’Love’s diaper like he ain’t know what to do.
“Kay’Lo… what is it?”
“That shit…” he muttered, lookin’ at me. “Toni… her cord…”
