Page 21 of No Love 2

Ding-Dong!

“He’s just in time,” I said. I wasn’t able to get off the couch and to the door fast enough.

Armias

“You need to control your dumb ass hoes. Pregnant or not bitches can get their asses dragged up and down the street.”

My head bounced back in confusion. She was in a good mood over the phone and then she answered the door appearing all jolly and shit. I wasn’t expecting for her to come at me with bullshit while smiling brightly and looking all beautiful. Pregnancy agreed with her so well. Her stomach had gotten bigger, her nose and lips had started to spread, and her bottom half was getting thicker everyday. I loved spotting all the new changes every time I saw her because those were signs that my daughter was growing, too.

“What are you talking about, Lourdes?” I asked as I walked in. I was hit with the smell of her pumpkin and vanilla candle that was burning on the coffee table and some good home cooking. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, so I was definitely grabbing a plate of whatever Ms. Lucia or Granny left on the stove. I sat the cake down on the counter top before taking a seat on the barstool.

“Nazaria dm’d me pictures of y’all from a fake page talking bout some is this your baby daddy?” She mocked Naz’s high voice perfectly. I almost forgot that I was mad and laughed. “Armias, that’s not funny!”

“Then why are you smiling?” I called her out. I really felt like she was pulling shit out of thin air because her demeanor didn’t match with what she was alleging.

“Because it’s funny how weird bitches can get behind dick. Trust me, I won’t be laughing when I whoop her ass.”

“Alright, chill out,” I gritted. I let her slide the first time she said that dumb shit, but she was pushing it.

“Oop, not you defending your bitch.” Her smile had dropped as her nostrils flared. “Okay, I see how you coming.”

“I’m defending my fucking baby. How you gon’ beat bitches up and you're pregnant?! Make it make sense, doll baby.” I hadn’t called her that in forever but just like old times it came out naturally. She was standing there talking shit but looking cute as ever in Hello Kitty Halloween pajamas. The pants were loose but they hugged her hips and ass like a glove and the bottom of her belly was poking from under the fitted tank top. She didn’t wear a bra, so her growing breasts were damn near spilling out. On days like this I wanted to be all over her without the fear of it complicating things between us. I was trying to stand on business and be done with her. I’d been navigating this situation by using my head and it was how I was staying strong, but my heart and dick was getting weaker everyday. I couldn’t stop my heart from yearning for her, but I could control my dick. Having sex or doing anything intimate with Lourdes had the potential to have both of us in our feelings and acting irrationally because of that. She was already leaving me out of shit and I’d been on my best behavior. I could only imagine the type of hell she’d give me if I were to be over here playing house while not trying to give her a commitment. Although she was the reason why I was hesitant about committing to a relationship in the first place, it didn’t mean I was going to punish her for it or string her along. I loved and cared about her too much to do that. I also didn’t want my daughter to be born into dysfunction.

“Look what this bitch sent me.” She shoved her phone screen in my face. I attempted to grab it, but she held it tighter.

“Aht-Aht, you see with your eyes.”

“You lucky I don’t snatch this shit out your hand but I ain’t about to wrestle with a pregnant woman over no phone,” I muttered before focusing on the dm’s.

“I’m glad you know we would be in this bitch tussling if you were to snatch anything out my hand.”

“I hear you,” I mumbled while closely examining the messages. I could definitely see why she was aggravated and wanted to put hands on somebody behind this. I found myself getting upset because she was being disturbed with dumb shit at a time when she really didn’t need it.

“Whoever sent that is lame as hell. And all those pictures are old.” There was really no need for me to add that last part in, but for some reason I deemed it necessary to be known.

“The whoever in question is the bitch in the pictures and they ain’t that old,” she rolled her eyes before pulling her phone back and twisting into the kitchen. Her ass wobbled with each step, making my dick jump. Why the hell was I here again?

“They’re from the summer, so they're old,” I explained while turning around in the barstool to face the kitchen.

“I really don’t care if the pictures were from yesterday, Armias,” she said while grabbing plates from the cabinet. “I’m not mad about the pictures because I know you still fuck with that girl.”

“I don’t fuck with her like that anymore, though.”

“Okay,” her eyes danced around. “Whatever the hell that means…either way, that’s not my issue. My issue is that she’s trying to start problems with me.”

“How can you be sure it’s her, though? Anybody in her close friends could’ve sent that and she got bukoo people in her shit. Ain’t no telling who did that.”

“Armias, if you really think somebody other than her cares enough to send me that then you’re delusional.”

“Nah, I just know that she’s related to and cool with a bunch of messy ass people who like drama.”

“And she’s obviously just like them. The troll page asking if you were my baby daddy was a dead giveaway because that’s not public knowledge.”

All of my ill feelings about the maternity shoot and the gift registry came back to the forefront of my head.

“That’s exactly what you want, right?’

“Huh?” Her eyes squinted in confusion. I wasn’t buying that fake shit.