He stopped but didn't look back at me.
“If Langford starts making enough noise again, I hear it from you before I hear it from the street.”
Pierce gave the smallest nod. “Fine.”
He headed back toward his Audi, and I watched him put the bag in his trunk, get in, and leave that dark lot slower than he entered it.
TARIQ “REEK” HORTON
By the second day after Cairo got here, I was already learning that newborns had no respect for time, sleep, or peace.
I was in Ava’s kitchen shirtless and pacing the floor with Cairo in one arm while I waited on a bottle of Ava’s breast milk to warm. He had been whining for the last five minutes, not full-out crying, just making that restless little fussing sound babies made. I kept bouncing him against my chest, with one hand cupping the back of his tiny head and the other rubbing slowly up and down his back.
“I got you,” I whispered, kissing his forehead. “I got you, RoRo.”
He smelled like milk, baby lotion, and that soft warm baby smell that still did something to me every time I breathed him in. It was crazy how natural he felt in my arms now. The same nigga who had spent half this pregnancy scared of fatherhood was now in Ava’s kitchen pacing a line in the hardwood floor because his son was hungry and he wanted to be the one to settle him.
I turned toward the microwave to check the bottle and nearly jumped out my skin when I saw Ava standing in the kitchen entryway watching me.
“You scared the shit out of me.”
She looked soft and sleepy in one of my T-shirts with her bonnet on and her arms folded under her breasts. Her light eyes were still drowsy. “I woke up looking for my crying baby, and both of y’all were gone.”
I glanced down at Cairo, then back at her. “When I came in with the food, he was crying and you was knocked out. So, I took him. You needed that nap.”
Ava stood there like she wanted to argue, but she was too tired to.
I reached into the microwave, grabbed the bottle, and shook it gently. “Go lay back down. I got this.”
That skeptical little look stayed on her face.
I walked over and kissed her forehead with Cairo still in one arm. “For real. Go back to sleep. He’s straight.”
That was still new too. Her trusting me enough to let me say that and not instantly challenge it.
Over the last two days, I had thrown myself into fatherhood in a way I hadn’t expected. I was obsessed with him already and gentler towards him and Ava more than I knew how to explain. The same man who once swore he didn’t want kids was now moving like this baby hung the moon and his mother deserved to be carried through every hard part of healing.
And the wildest part was that none of it felt like a burden. Taking care of Ava and Cairo didn’t feel like some weight on my life I had to force myself to accept. It felt like real purpose, the kind that made the rest of my old excuses feel cheap. I loved the quiet parts most; the late-night feedings, Ava half asleep against me while Cairo made those little greedy noises trying to eat, the way he settled when he heard my voice, the way Ava looked at me now when she caught me doing little shit for them both.
Ava sighed and rubbed at one eye. “Okay. But if he really starts crying, come get me.”
Looking at her, I tilted my head, “Why? I got him.”
She smiled at my resistance. “Make sure the milk isn’t too hot.”
“I know how to test a bottle, Ava. Go to sleep.”
She playfully rolled her eyes but finally turned and shuffled back toward the bedroom.
Once she was gone, I took Cairo into the living room, dropped down on the couch, and got comfortable. He latched on fast. His little hands were balled up near his face while he drank like he was starving. I sat there watching him and felt that same deep, humbling feeling settle over me again.
He had just finished half the bottle when somebody knocked at the door. I already knew who it was. So, I stood, balanced Cairo against my shoulder, and went to the door.
It was Saint and Legend, coming to meet my son.
Saint came in with Legend right behind him. The second Saint saw Cairo on my shoulder, his whole demeanor softened.
“Check out nephew,” he said, already stepping closer.
