Page 2 of Save Room for Us

“Oh my gosh! Congratulations!” I brightened, feeling a tiny bit of envy.

I always felt a bit envious when I would see pregnant women so overjoyed, because that wasn’t my experience at all. I would have never procreated with Cedric and made Sophie by choice, but with Cedric, my right to choice was no longer. All I remember from the night we made Sophie was Cedric telling me he was gonna be better over a dinner he’d ordered from a steak house and us having some champagne to go with it. After downing my champagne, I couldn’t remember much else but waking up in bed with him, ass naked.

I didn’t like that, not remembering the night, but I brushed it off because, at the end of the day, he was my man, and I’d had sex with him before. But three weeks later, Cedric made me take a pregnancy test, wearing a devilish smile as we awaited the results, and I was floored, seeing it was positive. It hit me then that the night he’d ordered dinner and popped champagne was all a ploy to trap me.

I figured I would get an abortion, but Cedric was steps ahead, letting me know he would shoot me dead if I got rid of it. He hawked me for months after to be sure of it, following me to work, to my mother’s home, and anywhere else, to be sure I wasn’t visiting a clinic of any kind until I was too far along.

I loved Sophie, but I hated the way she was created. That wasn’t the last time Cedric had sex with me while I was unconscious or asleep. On several occasions, I would wake up with him already fucking me, or he would drug me in creative ways, causing me to wake up hours later, with a sore pussy and a banging headache. It was to the point that I only ate out currently to avoid him slipping me something.

“Thank you, girl! I’m only a couple months in so you’re the first to know.” Jacinta grinned. “I hope it’s a girl because I feel like you have so much fun with yours.”

“I do.” I nodded, closing the top on my container. My appetite had barely been there and only depleted by the minute. “Well, let me get back to work so I can get off. My feet are barking.”

“Mine too.” She shook her head. “Only gonna get worse from here.” She laughed, rubbing her nonexistent abdomen in her scrubs.

Some hours later… around 6 p.m.

I couldn’t get out of work fast enough, rushing to my car so I could hurry and grab my baby girl. My sister ran a daycare, and I couldn’t have been more thankful, because I hated leaving Sophie in random places. With my sister’s place, Little Gems U, I knew she was in good hands.

“No, let me take her home.” Analicia turned away from me, cradling a giggling Sophie.

“I wish I could, but you have enough babies in your home.” I grinned, kissing my baby before taking her.

Sophie being with Analicia wasn’t a part of the plan.

“Alright. Well, same time tomorrow then.” She rubbed Sophie’s back lovingly. I smiled watching my sister, seeing how she still bore that glow from the first time she began dating her now husband. I’d never been happier that she didn’t listen to my ass and stay with her bum of an ex.

Leaving the daycare, I checked my Apple Watch for the time as I sped through the LA streets to my mother’s home. Sophie talked the whole time, and it amazed me that she behaved and spoke like she was three years old when she was only two. My sister was a baby whisperer, for real.

Pulling up to my childhood home, I grabbed Sophie and then her duffel bag I’d packed last night so she could stay over with her grandma, before approaching the front door.

“Oh, hey, baby.” My mother frowned, taking Sophie since my hands were full. “I didn’t know you were coming over today.” She watched me, brows dipped as I entered, setting Sophie’s things down.

“Yeah, I didn’t plan on it, but I have some errands to run, and you told me you’d been missing her.”

“Right. I did.” She pecked her granddaughter’s face.

“You didn’t have plans, did you?” I panicked on the low. I didn’t account for that since my mama rarely went anywhere these days. Occasionally, she would have a date or go for dinner and drinks with her sister or Lisara St. Thomas, Analicia’s mother-in-law, but nothing too crazy or frequent.

“No, I don’t. It’s just, you look nervous. That nigga isn’t hounding you, is he?” Her lips tightened.

“No, Ma, and leave Cedric alone. He’s not all bad like you guys think.” I recited my usual shit.

My mother sighed, shaking her head slightly before kissing Sophie again. I knew she was worried about me, thinking how could she have raised someone like me. She was worried, thinking Cedric was just rude, disrespectful, and possibly unfaithful. If she knew the real, she would probably have a heart attack.

“Whatever. When will you be back? Or is my cutie pie staying the night with me?”

“Staying the night.” I hurriedly pecked her cheek and left, feeling her eyes on me all the way to my car.

Checking the time again, I sped down the street and headed straight home. By the time I got there, it was almost 7 p.m., which was perfect.

I brushed my teeth again, showered, put on some comfortable clothes and shoes—a graphic tee, tights, slouch socks, and Crocs—pinned my hair up into a claw clip, then sat down. When I heard Cedric’s car pull into the driveway, I grabbed my suitcase from the closet and began slowly packing.

The door slamming jolted me, so I took a deep breath and relaxed my nerves.

“Stazi!” Cedric’s voice boomed, scaring the shit out of me, even though I knew he was here. “Stazi!” He sounded as big and scary as he was.

Cedric was six feet three inches and almost three hundred pounds, whereas I was five feet, five inches and not even half his weight. He could kill me with one good punch.

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