Page 26 of Book Bae

Symone stood by my bed and bobbed her head with her hands together in prayer pose, begging me to agree to his suggestion. I rolled my eyes at her. “Oh, uhm, . . . okay.”

“All right. I’ll be there in about a half hour. That’s cool?”

“Uhm, sure.”

“See you then.”

“Yeah.”

I breathed in deeply as my nerves became unrattled inside of me. I gripped the bed tightly as I felt flushed.

“If I weren’t pregnant, I would whup your ass,” I declared after the call ended.

“Calm down,” Symone stated calmly as she grabbed her handbag. She pulled my hair into a cute, fashionable bun on the top of my head and then commenced to doing my makeup.

Symone stuck around long enough to get an introduction to “sexy baby daddy,” and then she left. I was glad that she didn’t call him that to his face, and I was also glad that she left because I was certain that she would have no problem embarrassing me.

“How have you been?” I asked when we were left alone.

My stomach was tight with nerves.

He leaned forward in the chair that he had pulled up beside my bed, clasped my hand, and smiled at me. The dimples that I was so fond of twinkled, and my heart did a crazy dance in my chest. His thumb rubbed the back of my palm as he stared into my eyes.

“Life is good. I can’t complain, but what’s been going on with you?” he asked with concern coloring the tone of his voice.

“Well, business is good, my friendships are great, my family is still my family, but I love them.” I released a soft, nervous laugh before I continued with a sigh. “And me? I’m in good health.”

“I can’t tell. You’re stuck in this hospital.”

“I just need to slow down and take care of myself. I get too focused on other things that I don’t take time to make sure that I’m hydrated and eating well.”

“You have to do that. I haven’t lived in Georgia before, but I’ve visited enough to know that these summers can be brutal.”

“They can be. We’re just starting to creep into the summer months. In three weeks, we’ll be at the official start of summer. I did get carried away, but I know better. So, why Cherokee Springs?”

“I’ve been contemplating a move here for a few years. I finally decided to take the plunge. This city has great history, amazing Black culture, excellent schools, and I’ve got family here. It’s right on the coast with excellent beaches, great art galleries, restaurants, all that jazz.”

“Cherokee Springs is the place to be outside of Atlanta. It’s the second Black mecca of the South, or so they say. How’s your family? Your baby?” I asked, pointing at the face tatted on his arm.

I was dragging the conversation out, not because I needed to, but because I wasn’t ready to have the conversation yet.

He chuckled. “My family is good. That old man? He’s good. My son is three now. That was him when he was still a baby.”

“I know that you told me you weren’t married, but are you and his mother still involved?”

He sat back and pulled his fingers through his beard, but he didn’t let go of my hand. “No, we’re not. I’m a single father, but she gets visitation.”

“Did you leave her behind in Vermont?”

“Nah, she moved here about a year ago to be closer to her family. We fly back and forth so that he can visit her, which is another reason I wanted to relocate here. It makes things easier on everyone.”

“I’ll bet he was excited about moving into a new home.”

“Yeah, he was. He couldn’t wait to pick out his new bedroom. That joker tried to take the master bedroom.”

“Malachi, right?” I asked, squinting at his other tattoo.

“Yeah. He’s the light of my life.”