Page 47 of Only for Me
Things were good with us. I didn’t want to start an argument by mentioning that Tony knew about Avi. I’d deal with that at some point, but right now, we were in a vibe.
“So how are we going to do this?”
“What do you mean?”
“The doctor part. We can’t just walk up in there…” She paused and frowned at me. “I mean, I can but I would prefer you didn’t. People know your face.”
“You scared to be seen with me?”
“No but if we’re keeping Avi out of the spotlight, then she doesn’t need to be attached to your face.”
I glanced at her. “You keep mentioning my face. You got a thing for my face, Kari?”
“Other than it’s recognizable, no, bring that ego down a few notches please.” She cut her eyes my way.
“I called yesterday and made sure we could be in and out without causing problems.”
“Please tell me you didn’t go throwing money at these people.”
“I didn’t have to, but I would have. They’re used to dealing with situations like ours. I didn’t have to ask for anything special. Only accommodations they already offer.”
Avi’s doctor’s office had a private entrance for who they considered VIP or exclusive patients. After she told me who Avi’s pediatrician was, I hit them up to see how we could make this work.
If the goal was to make sure I wasn’t attached to them, I damn sure couldn’t walk up in there with Makari and our daughter. Ten seconds after we walked in, the first person who recognized me would post pictures. Baller Alert would be running a story about my secret love child. They would also pick Makari’s life apart because it wouldn’t be enough to put the storyout there, they would have to dissect every detail of how I ended up with a kid in the first place.
“That’s why you asked who her doctor was?”
“Yeah, I was cool with having them pull up at my crib so her appointment could be private or either hooking her up with a new doctor who would mind their damn business about who her parents were. But I’m sure you weren’t going to rock with either of those options.”
“I absolutely was not.”
I smirked at the look she gave. “This is the alternative. We use their private entrance and the doctor will see her in a room set up for privacy.”
“I didn’t know they offered that.”
“You wouldn’t…”
She cut her eyes at me. “And before you assume shit, all I mean is you didn’t have a reason to know. That’s not how your life is set up.”
“Thatwasn’thow my life was set up.”
“Consider it a privilege, not a problem.”
“Perks of my baby daddy’s fame. We get in undetected and treated like royalty as opposed to sitting in the lobby with gen pop and having to wait with other potentially germ infected little people. Yeah, no, I’m going to consider this a win. No complaints from me on this one,” she teased. I was happy she wasn’t going to give me shit about this because something as simple as not being able to pull up to a doctor appointment for Avi was another reminder about how me being in her life disrupted everything they were both used to.
“Damn, that actually sounds like you’re giving me a compliment,” I joked.
“I’m accepting the privilege of your life. Let that ego simmer a little bit.”
We pulled up twenty minutes later, parked in the back of the building, and entered through a door with coded access. They had a separate check-in desk, and no one waiting, so we were immediately escorted to a private exam room.
After the basics were handled—measurements, questions about Avi’s development and feedings—the doctor announced that Avi was getting shots. I argued about that shit because nah, I didn’t want them sticking my baby with a needle, but it still went down. I wanted to punch the fuck out of Dr. Cole for making my baby cry and Makari was on my ass about acting like I had some sense. We wrapped up and were out of there in less than an hour.
“I have never been in and out so quickly. Most of the time we’re waiting no less than half an hour just to get taken back to the room. I might actually like being connected to your privilege,” she said, sliding in the passenger seat instead of fighting me on it. Little by little she was adjusting to me being in their lives. I appreciated that everything wasn’t a damn battle of wills with her. Once I had my baby locked in, I dropped kisses all over her face then eased into the driver’s seat. Makari was frowning hard as hell, staring out of the window which had me wondering if I overestimated just how comfortable she was letting me be a part of all of this.
“You good?”
She turned to me and sighed. “Yes, this just feels weird.”
