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Her answer came so quickly that some of the tension left me. I wrapped my arms around her waist and rested the side of my face against her stomach. My son moved almost immediately, and I pulled back slightly.

“Did this nigga kick me?”

“He’s been kicking me all morning,” she said with a laugh.

I put my hand over the spot and waited. A few seconds later, another movement pressed against my palm.

“I wanna be walking when he gets here.”

Eternity became quiet.

I kept my hand against the place where our son had moved.

“Malik…”

“I know what the doctors said.”

“Then you know you can’t put a deadline on this.”

“I ain’t saying I’m finna run a fucking marathon. I ain’t even saying I gotta walk across a whole room by myself.” I looked up at her. “But when my son comes into this world, I wanna be able to get on my feet.”

Eternity’s eyes softened.

“He’s not going to care whether you’re standing when he meets you.”

“I know.”

“He’s going to know his daddy whether you’re standing, sitting, or lying right where you are.”

“I know that too.”

“Then don’t turn his birth into something you’re going to punish yourself over if your body isn’t ready.”

I looked away. Eternity knew me too damn well. She ran her fingers along the side of my face.

“Make it a goal. Don’t make it a measure of whether you failed.”

That sat with me for a second, and I eventually nodded in agreement.

“Aight.”

“Promise?”

She held her little pinky out, waiting for me to wrap mine around hers.

“Don’t push it.”

She smiled and leaned down to kiss me. I caught the back of her neck before she could pull away and kissed her again, slower this time. When we separated, she rested her forehead against mine.

“We’re going to get through this.”

“Yeah.”

Her phone vibrated in the pocket of the cardigan she was wearing. Eternity pulled it out, glanced at the screen, and sighed.

“Maylee,” she said as she looked at her screen.

“What she want?” I quickly asked.