Page 4 of So Special: Fanatic Love

Well, that minute was more like an hour. Dinner was over and everything was put up. Me, Daisy, and my mother were sitting in the living room when he finally came from the front porch. He sat in his favorite chair across from us. “Alright, let’s talk about this. First, Katniss, I love you. Nothing you do can ever make me not love you.

“You’re twenty-eight and an adult. Would I have rather you be married? Of course.” He paused, then continued. “What are your plans?”

I sat there for a minute to think about it. I gulped before I answered. “I think I should terminate the pregnancy.”

“The hell you will!” My mother spoke up. “You will not abort my grandbaby.” She looked at my dad. “This girl done lost her damn mind.”

Daisy giggled. “Girl, you must have forgotten how far along you are.” She gawked at me. “Abortion where?”Fuck! She was right. I was too far along to get a legal abortion.

My dad nodded. “Welp, abortion is off the table. It was off the table whether it was legal or not. Your ass would have had my grandbaby and handed him or her over and gone aboutyour business.” His eyes tightened. “Just to be clear. What are your plans?”

When I said I didn’t know, Daisy asked the next question. “Are you going to tell Asher?” She sat on the couch on the left side of me with her leg up in the seat facing me.

“No, I’m not. I don’t even have the man’s phone number,” I said dejectedly. “What am I supposed to do, hit him up on IG like the rest of the groupie hos?” I put my face into my palms. “How did I get myself into this?”

Daisy grabbed my hand. “Best friend, I don’t think that is the right decision. That man deserves to know that he has a child out here in the world.”

“I agree with Daisy,” my father said. “As a man, I would be devastated if I found out that I had a child in the world, and no one told me.” He leaned up in his seat. “Now, baby girl, you are grown, and you make your own decisions. I will support you either way. Can I ask why you don’t want to tell him?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t want the drama of it all. He’s a very successful, very popular professional football player.” I looked over at my mom. “Could you imagine what the blogs would say? I would be the whore who trapped him with a baby. I’m not going to be that.”

My mother smiled softly. “Katniss, I understand what you’re saying and how you feel. With all of that, I want you to realize that it is still selfish. This is not about you; it’s about your baby. You would rather your baby not have a father that lives in the same city than give a damn what people say or think about you?”

Without thought, I answered, “Yes, Mom. I do.” I understood they may not agree with my decision, but right now it was for the best.

Back To Present…

God is a funny God, I tell you!What are the damn odds that I would run into Asher after all this time? In all the months I was pregnant and the ten months after, I never ran into him. It’s not like I was hiding. I’d just been busy. I looked in the rearview mirror at my baby boy through his mirror that hung from the back seat over his car seat. I loved my baby boy more than anything in this world. Motherhood was the best thing that ever happened to me.

I told my truck to call Daisy.“Hey, girlie. Do you have my god-nephew?

“Daisy, I just saw Asher,”I said before she said anything else. She was quiet on the other end of the line before she asked me where.“His nephew goes to the same day care as Ashtan. He reached out to me on IG and wants to meet with me the day after next with Ashtan.”

There was shuffling on the other end.“What are you going to do? Are you going to meet him? Oh my God! What did he say?”

“Daisy, I told you what he said. He wants to meet me. Fuck!”My head hurt.“Oh, and he was with his sister. Why did this have to happen now? I just got my damn life together.”

Daisy laughed.“Girl, shut the hell up. You act like your baby daddy is some bum ass nigga that ain’t got shit. You’re the one that told me he signed a new one hundred and seven-million-dollar contract.

That was the truth. The Cougars went to the Superbowl and beat ass. Asher was out there putting in major work. When the media reported the amount of his new contract, my mouth hit the floor. Let’s not get into the endorsements that he received.“His money doesn’t determine who he is as a person.”

“You are absolutely right,”she agreed.“Let me tell you what does though. That man fucked you to utopia, let you relax in a nice hotel, and sent you on a shopping spree all on him. Wait, there was something else he did.”She paused for dramatic affect.“He paid your nursing school tuition so you could graduate debt free. Those are actions that determine who he is as a person.”

Why does she always have to be the sound of reason? “You get on my nerves. I’m on my way to my parents to let them know.”When she told me that she would see me when I got there, I chortled. My mother must have told her what she was cooking.“Bitch, I’m almost there.”

Daisy met me in my parents’ driveway when I pulled up. It was fuck me as she went straight to the back seat to get her babbling god-nephew out. He was just as excited to see her as she was him. She didn’t acknowledge me until she got to the front of the car where I stood. “Oh, hey, best friend.”

I wanted to curse her out, but I just laughed and followed her into the house. The smell of the pot roast hit my nose as soon as I walked into the door. My mother didn’t care what day of the week it was, she would cook what people considered Sunday dinners on a Tuesday.

“Where is my grandson?” my daddy yelled out from the living room.

I swear it’s just fuck me when my son is around. “Daisy has him, Daddy!” I put my stuff down then headed to the livingroom. Both of my parents were there. The second Ashtan saw his grandparents his excitement turned up more.

“I’m happy both of you are in here, so I don’t have to repeat myself,” I said after I sat down. I cut my eye at Daisy who snickered from her seat next to me. “Shut up,” I told her. “I ran into Asher at Ashtan’s day care today. He wants to meet me with baby boy the day after tomorrow.”

My dad had my son in his arms. Without looking at me, he said, “That took longer than I thought it would.” When he did look up, he had theI told you so, little girlsmirk that he loved to give me when he was right. “Let me know what happens.”

“That’s all you have to say, Daddy?” I was surprised he didn’t have more to say. He was usually more opinionated.

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