Page 6 of Embrace

“I want two or three. However, it’s all up to my lady and what her body can take. I know pregnancy can be hard on women and I wouldn’t want to continuously put her body through dangers if she didn’t want more than one.”

Lamya cooed. “Aww. I know that’s right!”

A breath escaped from my nostrils. “I had an aunt pass away a few years back from complications of birth. It’s something I never want to experience as a husband. You know black women are often ignored in the medical world, but I ain’t gon’ let that shit happen to my wife. I’ll turn the city on its head before I lose my soulmate to medical negligence.”

“A true king! From the way you’re so passionate, I can already guess your answer to the next question. Are you religious? If so, how important is it that your partner believes the same as you?”

I sat up and clasped my hands together. “God is everything to me. I don’t always go to church, but I make sure to pray and thank Him for all He has done and continues to do for me and mine. I don’t mind being with someone who isn’t religious, but they have to at the least respect my relationship with God.”

“Amen. I love that.”

My granny would skin me and my future wife if she wasn’t a God-fearing woman, and I didn’t want to upset Granny Brandie. She was too important in my life, and I needed her to approve of my wife.

“We’re almost done. I have a few more questions.”

“This went faster than I thought,” I admitted.

“I don’t want to waste your time,” she explained.

“I appreciate that for real.”

“Can you give me your most important physical attributes?” Lamya quizzed.

I licked my lips. “I need a fine black woman. I like my women thick. I don’t care if she’s a hundred pounds or two hundred and fifty pounds. As long as she can keep up with a nigga like me, I’ma do what I got to do.”

“I know that’s right.” Lamya covered her mouth as she let out a quiet giggle.

“I don’t think any other race could love me and understand me like a black woman. Black women are the blueprint.”

“Period!” Lamya grinned. “Do you have a preference for your potential partner’s education and career level?”

I shook my head. “I’m a mechanic. I get down and dirty daily, but I don’t mind because fixing cars is my passion. I don’t mind what level of education or what career my lady has, as long as she’s doing what she loves and can financially support herself. I’m a traditional man, so I’m going to pay the bills, but I would hope my woman would be able to have her own money on the side, so she wouldn’t have to ask me.”

Lamya nodded. “That’s commendable. You want a partner who can get it herself, but you’ll handle it anyway.”

“Exactly.”

“That’s amazing. So, what are your top two hobbies?”

“I like to take naps and eat. I love my sleep. I also love to eat. I ain’t get this big from skipping meals.”

Lamya stifled a giggle. “You’re something else. I have to ask this: How much time do you ideally want to spend with your partner versus alone?”

I rubbed my fingers through my beard. “Honesty, I’m the type of nigga who wants to be around his lady twenty-four seven. I know she’ll want her alone time, so I can give her twenty or thirty minutes out the day…”

Lamya laughed. “You’re clingy?”

“I guess that’s what folks call it. I just know I’m the type to want to live in my lady skin if I could.”

Lamya nodded as she gave me a knowing smirk. I didn’t know what that meant, but I could tell she had something up her sleeve. “You did amazing. The next steps are submitting these answers into our system. You’ll receive a phone call when we’ve found your match. In the meantime, you can expect an email with a few follow up instructions.”

She explained what all I needed to do. Apparently, I’d paid all this money, but it didn’t include a tuxedo for the occasion. That was fine, though. I’d force Suvi to go shopping with me. She was better at finding the right look than I was.

“Thanks again,” I stated before I shook her hand and exited the office. Suvi was sitting in the chair on her phone. When our eyes met, she jumped up and closed the distance between us.

“How’d it go?” she asked.

I shrugged. “It was fine.”

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