Page 45 of Pretty and Loco

I knelt to get eye level with my daughter. “Rocki, be good for mommy, okay?” I asked. She let go of her mother to sandwich my cheeks between her hands.

“K.” She smiled.

“Listen to what she says, okay?”

She squeezed my cheeks tighter. “K.”

I kissed her forehead, then got up, knowing she wasn’t going to be good or listen to her mother, but whatever.

“Be careful with my son, woman,” I said as I tapped her butt on her way out the door.

I know that I had my doubts about when I expected a family to happen, but it took me by surprise. But just as my father told me, it was my biggest accomplishment beyond any of the things that could be put on paper. Despite being named a three-time MVP, an entrepreneur, whatever else they could attach to my name, nothing felt better than being called “husband” and “daddy.”

I met my wife Eris when I changed agencies, and her father became my Sports Agent. We dated for eight months before I proposed. We’ve been married for a little over two years, and our daughter is about to be two in a few weeks. It was the best time of my life.

I was only months away from finishing my four-year contract in the league. My youth sports complex was finished late last year, and we were planning the grand opening soon. I was ready to have more freedom to be home with my wife. Especially as my daughter gets older, I hate missing those milestones.

Eris was just months away from delivering our second child and said she wanted to go on a “baby moon.” She chose a four-day cruise to the Bahamas. Today was our first day of the four, but with the week I had, I had a couple of drinks that had me on my ass.

I lay down and tried to fight the Jack Daniel's, but it fought back harder, and eventually I fell asleep.

When I woke up, I looked around the room, and they still weren’t back. I picked up my phone. It had been two hours since I laid down, and I knew that Rocki was probably tiring Eris out.

I headed to the deck to find them at the splash pad. I scanned the sea of people. There were more people on this cruise than I expected for a random Thursday in March. With so many people on deck, it was hard to see them. I went to the children’s area, about to lose my cool because I didn’t see Eris, but I saw Rocki sitting at the edge of the splash pad playing alone.

“Rocki,” I said, gently grabbing her arm.

I spun her around, but the child was too old to be my daughter. However, she looked just like her. Same two ponytails, same yellow bathing suit with pink flowers.

I stood there in shock, let her go, and was about to apologize for clearly scaring her.

“Excuse you.” The voice behind me said, and it made me turn around quick as fuck. The woman I prayed to God I would never see in the flesh again was standing behind me still looking as good and as dangerous as the day that I first laid eyes on her.

“Cardi…come here.” She smiled as the child ran around my leg and stood beside her.

I looked down at the girl, and back at her.

“Look alive, Rocko, you look like you saw a ghost. Cardi, go back and play. I’m watching you.” She said, smoothing the baby’s hair, then watched her as she went back to the edge of the splash pad and sat down again.

I closed the space between us and spoke through clenched teeth.

“Leah, what the fuck are you doing? You had a baby?”

“Yes. I did. Why does it matter?” She feigned ignorance.

“You know why the fuck it matters,” I said, glancing back at the child who looked old enough to be conceived around the time of that dinner.

“Cardi is not your child, Rocko. I may be a lot of things, but there are two things you can bet I’m not. That’s a quitter-ass bitch and single mother material. I would have never let you get a second of peace, Rock, and you know that.”

“Her name?” I asked. I knew she was probably right about never giving me a moment of peace, but the name being similar to mine didn’t sit right with me.

“Baby, you good? Oh, Rocko, what’s up?” Cardell asked from behind Leah, carrying two plates of food.

The scowl on my face never left as I dapped up the guy who had just been traded to our team.

She looked from me to him with an evil grin.

“Oh baby, I didn’t know you knew him. You remember the woman I saw earlier? The pregnant woman who said that she wanted me to decorate her baby shower? That’s her husband. Rocko Sanders.”