My eyebrows were raised. A nigga was confused as hell.
I licked my lips and went back to wrapping the rest of her fingers, trying to make sense of what the fuck she was telling me.
When I got the last Band-Aid on, I let her hand go and took a step back.
Crossed my arms.
She looked off at the wall, rubbing her thumb against the edge of one of the bandages.
“Wait.” I tilted my head. “So, you thought I was gonna try to take her from you? Because you were being evicted?”
She nodded. “Yeah. I did. You’re the more established and well-off parent. I don’t have much of anything right now.”
“You really think I’m that type of nigga?”
Her eyes came back to mine. I wanted her to look at me when she answered that shit.
“Now that I’ve gotten to know you a little bit more over these past couple of weeks, I don’t think that at all.” Her bottom lip trembled. “And I hate that I didn’t tell you from the jump. I take full responsibility for that. And I swear I wanted you to know from the beginning. I tried to tell you, but… Ginger did what she did, so… I couldn’t.”
My jaw tightened right before I swallowed and looked away for a second.
“Yeah, the shit with Gin has been handled,” I said, not getting too much into the shit I’d just gone through in my room. “I ain’t even gon’ front. A nigga was a lil too trusting of her. I ain’t realize she was going through my phone, blocking people, or any of that shit. I swear.”
“Yeah, I know that you wouldn’t intentionally block me.” She lowered her hands. “Well… I know that now.”
She stared down at her fingers before picking her head up.
“So where do we go from here?”
“I want to meet her.” I ain’t even hesitate. “Where is she?”
“She’s with my mom. That’s who’s been keeping her.” She wiped under her eye. “And when you asked me where I was sneaking off to on my off days, that’s where I’ve been going. To spend time with my baby.”
She caught herself. “Our baby.”
I looked at her for a second longer than I meant to.
Our baby.
I still couldn’t believe we were standing here having this conversation.
“So, if I wanted a DNA test?”
Her lips parted, and she looked down before meeting my eyes again.
“I’d completely understand. I won’t stop you from that,” she said. “But I can tell you now, she’s yours. That’s not something I would ever lie about.”
I paused before saying, “Cool. I’ll make sure we get that handled.”
She nodded, then stepped past me. “I’m a little lightheaded. I need to sit down.”
I followed her down the hallway into the living room area. She dropped down on the couch while I stayed standing.
“Damn.” She put her head back and closed her eyes. “I feel a little weird. Like I’m about to pass out or something.”
I stepped closer. “When’s the last time you ate?”
“Earlier this morning.”