So, I just nodded and let him open the passenger door for me.
The leather seat was cool against my legs. I sank into it, grateful for something solid beneath me, and closed my eyes as Amai shut the door and walked around to the driver’s side.
The engine purred to life.
We pulled out of the clinic parking lot, the city unfolding around us in late afternoon light. The streetcar rattled past on the neutral ground. Tourists with cameras. Locals on bikes. The rhythm of New Orleans moving like it always did—unbothered, unhurried, alive.
I watched it all through the window, my reflection ghosting over the buildings and trees.
“You need anything?” Amai asked.
His voice was quiet. Careful.
“I’m fine,” I said automatically.
A beat of silence.
Then, “You keep saying that.”
I turned my head to look at him. He was watching the road, hands steady on the wheel, jaw tight.
“Because it’s true,” I said.
“Is it?”
The question landed heavier than it should have.
I looked back out the window. “What do you want me to say?”
“The truth.”
I almost laughed. “I just had fourteen eggs pulled out of my body while I was knocked out. I’m cramping. I’m tired. And I don’t know what happens next. But I signed up for this, so yeah—I’m fine.”
Amai didn’t respond right away. Just drove, the city sliding past us in shades of green and gold and fading sunlight.
Then he said, “I know things been weird.”
My stomach tightened.
“I didn’t ghost you,” he continued, his voice measured, like he’d been thinking about this for a while. “I’m trying to keep this professional. For both our sakes.”
I didn’t say anything. Just waited.
“I don’t want this to get messy,” he said. “Or for you to get confused about what this is when it’s over. Once you give birth, it’s my baby. Not yours. Not ours.”
The words hit exactly where they were supposed to.
I swallowed hard. “I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.” My voice came out steadier than I felt. “I know what I signed up for. I know what this is.”
Silence stretched between us, thick and uncomfortable.
Then I heard myself say, “I was scared I messed something up.”
Amai glanced at me. “What?”
