Page 102 of Fever: Love In Scrubs
Ifelt a weight being lifted off my chest once I told Jaxson about the baby three weeks ago.
We’d decided to keep it a secret until we could plan a surprise to tell the family. I was so excited to be a mother. At first, the thought of bringing a child into the world scared me. What if I died like my mother? My baby would be raised by some amazing women, but they wouldn’t have me and that scared me.
I had a dream that it happened a few nights ago and I woke up in a fit of tears. Jaxson listened to me vent about it and offered me some encouragement. The next day at work, he introduced me to Dr. Desmond Wilder. His girlfriend, Yara Sinclair, owned a center for kids who lost their mom during childbirth and she had some amazing resources. She, herself, had lost her mother and we connected over that shared loss.
“Hello, in there,” I sang, rubbing my belly.
I stood in front of the mirror in nothing but my bra and panties. I already had a little belly from just my weight, so I wasn’t showing yet, but my stomach was hard. Jaxson emerged from the bathroom in nothing but his towel. When he saw me, he smiled and came over to kiss and caress my belly.
“Hey, Daddy’s baby,” he said softly as I stroked his head. “How you doing in there, lil’ one?”
“He or she is just fine.”
He stood and kissed my lips. “And how is mommy?”
“Mommy is fine too. Just hungry.”
“Well, lucky for you, I have us a picnic brunch planned.”
“From my favorite spot?”
“Of course.”
“I’m gonna be devastated if this baby doesn’t let me eat my favorite food anymore.”
So far, I hadn’t had any morning sickness. My breasts were a little tender now and I had been sleeping a little more, but all else was well.
“I’m sure once those cravings kick in, you’ll find something new that you’ll love.”
“I’m sure I will.”
He slapped my ass and walked over to the dresser. “Go on and get dressed so we can head out.”
I was all smiles as I headed into the walk-in closet. Last week, we started moving into the new house. While we were still waiting on a couple pieces of furniture, we’d moved a good bit of my furniture over as well as all our clothes. For the past week, we’d been staying here and I was loving the place. I woke up every morning and curled up in the bay window in the living room to watch the sun rise with a mug of green tea, since I wasn’t drinking coffee anymore.
The neighborhood was so quiet and peaceful.
I hadn’t run into any Karens, so that was a plus. I noticed that there were mostly black professionals on our street, and I loved that. A few families had come over to introduce themselves and they were all so nice. Jamari had made friends with two of the neighborhood girls across the street and I could tell she was going to like it here. Once we were all moved in, I had plans to sell my childhood home. I came back and made it into the place I’d always deserved to live in and it healed a part of me. I didn’t feel like I needed to hold on to it any longer.
We were starting a new life with brand new blessings and I couldn’t live in my past. The present and future deserved my full attention. I was pregnant with my first child and I had a whole teenager that needed me. My girl had been doing so good since starting therapy. She had her moments of sadness, but she always pulled through. I hated that she had to lose her mother to be happy, but as long as she was happy, that was all I wanted. Amandela was currently sitting in jail, still awaiting trial. Apparently, the courts were backed up and she was denied bail, so she had to sit there.
Once she sobered up and realized what she’d done, she’d called Jaxson every day for weeks. He always ignored her and even went as far as changing his number. She then called his mother, crying about how sorry she was and how she let her anger get the best of her. She claimed she wanted to make things right.
As if she could.
She’d royally fucked up and there was no way she could ever come back from this. When the news broke about what she’d done, her mother randomly popped over at my in-laws talking about she wanted to be there for her granddaughter. Jamari politely told her to go back to wherever she’d come from because she hadn’t been around in years and she didn’t need her now.Jaxson, however, told her to go to hell and of course, I co-signed with my man.
I settled on a long, flowing sundress and a pair of sandals, then added gold jewelry to accessorize. I decided to leave my curls wild and free because that’s just how my man loved it. After throwing on a little lip gloss, I headed downstairs to meet him in the foyer. He had a picnic basket in his hand.
“It took you long enough, woman,” he teased.
“You can’t rush perfection.”
He chuckled as he leaned in to kiss me. “You can’t. You ready?”
“Yep.”
We left the house and climbed into his Range Rover. As he backed out, I hooked my phone up to the car and put on some music. The smooth sounds of Jesse Powell’s “You” came through the speakers. I horribly sang my heart out as I touched my man’s face and fingered his beard.
