Page 58 of The Best is Yet to Cum

Mona

“Surprise!” I heard as Clinton removed the blindfold from my eyes.

I gasped as I grabbed his arm. It took a moment for it to register what was happening.

“Oh my God! Is this… Is this my baby shower?”

I released Clinton’s arm and walked further into the large room filled with our family and friends. My mother, Clinton’s mother, Lariah, and Karla were the first to approach me.

“Are you surprised?” Karla asked with excitement.

“Am I? Y’all scared me to death, and I almost peed on myself. How did you pull this off?”

“It wasn’t hard with the four of us,” Lariah said.

“Especially with help from your future husband,” my mother added.

I tensed at the words future husband and wanted to address it with my mother, but there was no time. My father, stepmother, and my brother were waiting to greet me. I hadn’tseen my brother in person in a while because he couldn’t make it to our last-minute birthday party.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Malik. Thank you so much for coming.”

“I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. I’m still pissed I couldn’t make it to your birthday party. Look at you, glowing and shit. Is this the man responsible for the smile I see on your face?”

“No, I’m responsible for the smile, but he does his best to keep it there. Baby, this is my brother Malik. Malik, this is Clinton.”

As they exchanged greetings, I was pulled away by Norah, Austyn, and Janeevah, whose belly was only a tad bigger than mine. I’d just seen them two weeks ago at Janeevah’s baby shower.

We chatted for a few minutes before I was being pulled in another direction. This time, it was by several members of Clinton’s family, and I talked with them for another ten minutes. The baby shower hadn’t even started, and I was tapped out.

When I reunited with Clinton, we were ushered to the room to prepare for baby shower games. I enjoyed every moment of celebrating our upcoming arrival, but when I got Clinton’s truck to go home, I was asleep before we merged onto the expressway.

“I can’t thankyou enough, Ma. I appreciate you teaming up with my friends and Mrs. Hollister. That was so thoughtful and sweet of you.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart. We had a ball planning everything. The only thing that would’ve made it a little easier would’ve been if we’d known the baby’s gender.”

“Oh my God, Ma. We’ve tried twice, but this baby is stubborn. I pray this is not an indication of this baby’s personality.”

“Well, you’re stubborn as hell, so I’m not surprised.”

“I’m not—”

“Don’t even tell that lie, Mona. You’re one of the most stubborn people I know.”

“You know what? I think I hear Clinton calling me. I’ll talk to you later. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Look who’s finally awake,” Clinton said as he entered our bedroom with a tray.

“My mother’s phone call woke me up. I feel like I could use another few hours of sleep.”

“After you feed my baby, you can sleep until it’s time to feed her again.”

“Her?”

“Her what?”

“You said her. You called the baby her.”

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