Page 10 of Falling for Lucifer
Harley sighed, and she looked tired. “I would normally do more of a checkup with you, Ellodie, but I have to be real. I have the itis, and I’m tired as hell. I’ll just say this . . . You just had a baby. Your first baby. You need people around you to support you. You can absolutely do it on your own, but if you don’t have to, don’t. Okay?”
All Ellodie could do was nod because she felt tears gathering in her eyes. Harley didn’t understand that she really did haveto do it alone, at least until Yasmine got back home. Her mother would only make her want to jump off a damn bridge, and she didn’t really talk to the rest of her family like that. The only person she could think of to call would be her uncle Martin, Yasmine’s father, but he didn’t know anything about taking care of a baby or offering emotional support. He was the overprotector of Ellodie and Yasmine and would fuck anyone up over them. He spoiled them and could buy her whatever she wanted, but Ellodie could already do that for herself.
Harley slowly stood. “Where’s Etta?”
“She’s sleeping in my room. I’ll show you.” Ellodie walked ahead of Harley and down the hall to her room. Ellodie padded over to the bassinet and smiled as she gently picked Etta up. Etta squirmed a little and whined, but Ellodie quickly soothed her by bouncing her slightly and patting her back. “We can go to the nursery across the hall.”
Ellodie led Harley across the hall and into the light pink painted room. Harley spotted the rocking chair and made a beeline toward it. Ellodie giggled. She spent a long time researching the perfect rocking chair, and if Harley wasn’t careful, she would fall asleep in it.
“Hand me that baby. I can check her out right from here. You go on and talk to Lu. I know you want to.” Harley smiled up at Ellodie knowingly as she stretched her arms out for Etta.
Ellodie handed the baby over as she giggled. “Not necessarily. I can stay?—”
“Go,” Harley said with a tone of finality.
Ellodie stood there awkwardly for a moment before she looked down at her daughter. She seemed content with Harley, so she felt comfortable to turn around and go back into the living room.
Lucifer still stood in the living room with his hands in the pockets of his joggers. He looked at her wall, where photos of herand Yasmine filled the space. It gave Ellodie a moment to admire him. He was tall. Taller than the average man, and his skin was beautifully dark. He had a ton of tattoos and muscles all over his hard frame. The smell filling her living room because of his cologne was heavenly.
“You just gonna stare at me, or you gonna say something?” Lucifer asked with his back still turned toward her. It startled her a bit, but she quickly smiled as she shook her head.
“It’s good to see you, Lu.” She took a few steps toward him, unable to stop herself. She craved to be near him.
“I bet it is,” he replied as he turned around. “Why you ain’t call me if you were lonely?”
That question caused her head to swim. “I didn’t even know that was an option.”
“You got my number, don’t you?” he asked.
She nodded. “Yeah, but?—”
“I don’t give my number out for no reason, love. If you’re lonely, hit me up.”
Something about what he said and the way he said it made her heart stir with security. She looked directly into his eyes and said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
He nodded and looked like he was going to say something else, and she longed to know what it was because she could listen to him talk all damn day, but her phone rang and interrupted the moment.
She peeked over the couch at her phone where she left it earlier and realized it was her father calling. Her heart skipped a beat, and fresh tears threatened to fall.
Lucifer must have seen who was calling, too, because he said, “You should get that.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, she obeyed. Ellodie picked up her phone and swiped her finger across the screen.
“Daddy?”
“Now why the hell did I have to hear from your mother that you had your baby?”
Ellodie had to pull her ear away from the phone. Her father’s voice always sounded as loud as thunder, even when she turned the volume all the way down on her phone.
“Dad, you know how it is?—”
“My granddaughter has been in the world for three days, and I’m just finding out? You don’t think that’s a problem?”
“Wait, you just found out? I thought you knew the day I gave birth. I thought you might come to the hospital to meet her . . .” Tears gathered in her eyes, and she finally allowed them to fall. The realization that her mother waited to tell her father about Etta broke her heart. It had never crossed her mind that her mother would do that, but it made sense. She didn’t do anything that didn’t benefit her. Most likely, Kamilah let it slip on accident. “Daddy, I’m sorry. I should have known better. That woman hates me . . . Of course she didn’t tell you.”
Silence filled the line before her father spoke. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll deal with her for not telling me, but you and me have to work on our communication. I have a granddaughter, and I don’t want to miss anything else. You hear me?”
Ellodie sniffled. Her father wasn’t wrong, but she felt like what he asked was impossible. “We can try, Daddy, but you know how that wife of yours is.”
