Page 59 of Book Bae

“Are you okay?” I asked.

I reached over the console and grabbed Myraj’s hand after we finally returned to the car twenty minutes later.

She sighed and turned her gaze out of the window. I knew she was disappointed, but there was no way around what her doctor said. She was about to enter her third trimester. Dr. Rose had placed her on mandatory bed rest for the rest of the pregnancy to avoid preterm labor. She had started having contractions a few days ago, and her blood pressure was high.

“How am I supposed to scale back my workload? I own a freaking company, Micaiah.”

“Dr. Rose said that she’s convinced that’s where your high blood pressure is coming from.”

“It doesn’t!”

“Hey, beautiful, I need you to breathe. Getting upset about it is gonna raise your blood pressure higher. You’ve been working longer hours since you got the contract with the airline, and then you immediately followed up with a new negotiation with Hartford Hotels. You’re taking on major projects, Myraj.”

“I have to do that for my company. The doors are open for us to⁠—”

“You have to do this for our daughter. If you decided you didn’t want to work another day in your life, you wouldn’t have to. I would have your back and take care of you and my child and set up accounts for you both, but I know that you worked hard to build your business, so I don’t expect you to walk away from it. I do expect you to do what’s necessary for your health and our daughter’s. Now what are you choosing? Our daughter or your company?”

“That’s unfair. That’s a no-brainer, Micaiah.”

“Is it?”

“Of course. I would give up everything for her. Don’t doubt what I’m willing to do for my baby.”

“Our baby.”

“You know what I meant. But there isn’t anything that I won’t do for her.” She rolled her eyes, and her lips were pursed in a fine line. I knew she was upset, but she’d have to get over it.

“Fine. It’s settled. You’re moving in with me.”

“Excuse me? That’s not what I agreed to. I’m not moving in with you, Micaiah.”

“Why not?” I asked calmly as I steered onto the highway.

“What do you mean, why not? Just because I’m on bed rest, it doesn’t mean that I’m handicapped.”

“Mm, in a nutshell, it does,” I replied and turned my lips down.

All this shit was triggering me and reminding me of everything I’d gone through with Malachi. I wasn’t repeating that nightmare again if I could help it.

“Fuck that nut and the shell it’s in. I’m not moving in with you.”

“You literally have to be in bed. You can’t get up to cook, clean, grocery shop, or anything else that you usually do and take for granted.”

“I can hire a housekeeper, order grocery service, and hire a private chef. As it relates to me, I can hire a nurse to help with personal factors.”

“Who’s going to answer the door?”

“That’s easy. I’ll get Mama or one of my brothers to come and stay until I get everything set up. After that, the chef, the housekeeper, and the nurse can answer the door for anyone else.”

I clenched my jaw. I was trying to stay calm, but she was making that shit hard.

“Why go through all of that when I’m here and willing to do all those things for you and more?”

“Because I’m not about to rely on you, Micaiah.”

“Why not? I have the time and the physical and financial ability to care for you full-time, and you have no one else capable of doing that.” I exhaled, still trying to remain calm, but her reasoning was making it harder with every word she spoke.

Her phone rang, and she groaned. “Who is it?”