Page 78 of Intercept My Heart

“I’m gonna get going. I’ll be back to pick them up Friday.”

“Yep.”

“Good night, Sunny.”

“Charae will work just fine. Good night, Money.” I sighed, deciding to leave well enough alone. In due time, I would repair things between us, but first, I needed to get back to the man I used to be. The man she and my sons needed me to be.

One monthlater

“Umm, friend. Are you okay?” Tamia asked.

I couldn’t even open my mouth to answer her before it began to water. Leaping out of the chair, I raced to the bathroom, releasing all the contents in my stomach. I sat there on the floor until there was nothing left besides stomach bile. The cold tile felt good to me, so I decided to lie down for a while.

“Here, drink this.” Tamia handed me a cold bottle of water. I was too afraid to drink anything right now, so I held the cold bottle against my forehead. I usually came down with a stomach bug around this time, but it was never this aggressive. My mind tried to recall what I ate in the last seventy-two hours that may have caused this, but I came up with nothing. Not to mention, Cash and Moolah ate the same food as me, and neither of them were sick.

“I think I need to go to the emergency room. I must have some type of virus or something.”

“Hmmph, you’ve got a virus alright. It’s called the ‘I hopped on my baby daddy’s dick’ virus. I heard it is fairly common and untreatable, depending on your religious beliefs.” I rose up to look at her. My head was pounding much too loud for her riddles.

“Mimi, what are you talking about?”

“Bitch, you have two degrees. There is no way you can be this slow.”

“Come on, Mimi. You see that I’m sick. Don’t make me guess.” I lay back on the floor because it was much more comfortable, and my stomach hadn’t settled yet.

“Okay, I’ll break it down for you slowly. When was the last time you had a period? It’s been months since your baby daddy touched down, and you haven’t mentioned pads, tampons, or cramps in at least two of those months. Math may not have been my best subject, but I know the basics, and the equation here appears to indicate that you are pregnant.” Her arms were crossed as she peered at me, waiting for an answer.

“No. No way. That’s not possible.” Sitting up with my back against the wall, I tried to remember the last period I had. If I recalled correctly, it was shortly after my birthday. I remember spotting a month after that, but that wasn’t unusual for me. Simultaneously, flashbacks of Dinero deep stroking me on my bedroom floor flooded my mind. I never even thought about protection since it had been so long since I’d had sex. Besides, the doctor made it clear that another pregnancy was next to impossible for me.

“Where is my phone?” I searched the bathroom but couldn’t find it.

“I think you left it on the table. I’ll be right back.”

“No, there’s no way,” I whispered to myself. I wasn’t some reckless college student who forgot to take their pill. I stayed on top of my health, both physically and sexually. How did this happen? More flashbacks took over, and I was ashamed of how careless I acted these last few months. Dinero and I were having unprotected sex like rabbits without a care in the world. To be fair, I truly believed I was infertile.

“Here you go, love. I’ll let you sit in denial for a while longer while I run to the CVS down the road. We need to get to the bottom of this because I brought all of this stuff so we could make frozen margaritas, and now you’ve probably made my twosome a lonesome with your hot pussy ass.” My mouth dropped open in surprise because I couldn’t believe she was talking to me like this.

“Mia, I’m having a crisis, and you’re joking.”

“Oh, I’m being so serious right now, bae. You’ve fucked the city up with this one. I can’t believe you’re about to make me a godmother of three. Wait, what if it’s another set of twins? Wouldn’t that be crazy? You’re gonna be a baby mama with four damn kids. Damn, I never thought I’d see the day.”

“Tamia, get out of my face before I kick you out then block you.”

“I mean, you could do that, but who is gonna help you raise all these damn kids? Oh, wait. I guess you have your baby da?—”

“Get out!” I screamed. She snickered, then fixed her purse on her shoulder.

“I’ll be back. Make sure you drink that water because I need you ready to pee when I get back. I think I’m gonna buy three different brands to make sure that we have covered all of our bases. I’m so excited. At the rate you’re going, I won’t need to have any kids of my own.” I was glad one of us could see the bright side of all of this because the light at the end of this tunnel seemed dim as hell.

Cash and Moolah had practice today and weren’t due back home for a few hours, which would give me time to deal with this alone. Getting up from the floor, I sat on the closed toilet lid and unscrewed the cap on the water bottle. I sipped it slowly to make sure I was able to keep it down. Once I sat there for a few moments without the urge to puke, I drank a little more.

By the time Tamia made it back, most of the water was gone. She stepped into the room with a bag filled with pregnancy tests.

“This reminds me of sophomore year. Only this time, we’re grown as fuck with money in the bank.”

“Is this your version of a pep talk? Because if it is, I need you to work on that.” I scoffed, snatching the bag from her hands.

“It must be the hormones making you act this way. It’s okay, love. I’m here for you.” She giggled while I opened the first box. I must not have been moving fast enough for her because she snatched all three boxes open and set them up for me.

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