Page 99 of Man Seeking Woman

“So, does that make me a fool for giving him a time and picking him up food.”

“No,” I said, holding up my finger and keeping my eyes on hers. “But, I bet if you didn't answer him or gave him the wrong answer, he'd go all ape shit on you.”

“El—”

“I know, I know, I'm sorry, I'm trying. I know you say lately he's been better, and I haven't been around as much because of this. . .” Looking down, I rubbed my stomach like a genie lamp. “So I'll lay off.”

“Wow—” Kayla reached across the table and touched my forehead. “Are you sick? Do you have a fever right now? I heard your hormones go all wonky when you're prego, I just didn't realize that it was like the body snatchers invasion.”

“Shut up.” Laughing, I grabbed the menu in front of me and started looking through it. “You know it's really not fair for me to judge him. You say you love him, and so long as I don't see him abuse you, and you tell him to fuck off when it's necessary, we'll be good.”

“You'll be good?” Kay asked sternly, veering her stare.

“Yes, I'll be good.”

“Girl, I love you, you know that.” Kay reached out and slapped the top of my hand. “And you better make sure I get a phone call when you go into labor.”

“Of course.”

A waiter came over, setting down some ice water, and took our orders. I had been craving egg sandwiches the whole third trimester so far. I couldn't go one day without having at least two, one for breakfast and a second for either lunch or dinner.

“So, how has life in my world been for you?” Sipping her water, Kayla smiled at me with her eyes. “Are you used to all the fancy food and people waiting on you hand and foot?”

“I try not to live in luxury too much. I have my own money from substituting, I try to help with groceries and doing things around the apartment so I don't feel like a leech.”

“What happened to Valerie?”

“She comes once a week now. I just couldn't do it. I'm there a lot, I can do all the things he was paying her to do. I hated just sitting on my ass and feeling useless. So, she spends most of her week at his mother's, and only comes to clean once a week.”

“The whole point of having a maid is for them to do the things most people don't want to.”

“Exactly, and that's why she comes to dust. The rest I can do no problem.”

The waiter returned, bringing us our drinks and my food. My stomach grumbled as the scent of the fried egg sandwich wafted up into my nose. Picking up the sandwich, I stuffed it into my mouth, moaning with how amazing it tasted.

“Did you just come?” Kayla asked, laughing out loud as she wiped her napkin across her forehead. “Because I want one of those now by the sounds you're making.”

With my mouth full of food, I started chuckling. “I might have, it's hard for me to tell right now.”

“Ok, so tell me the different names for the baby—what do you have?”

Swallowing, I took a sip of my coffee and wiped my mouth. “Alright, so we were thinking if it's a boy, we were going to name it after both my grandfather and August's grandfather, Jerrod Carson Burke, and if it 's a girl, Dahlia Florence Burke, after our grandmothers.”

“I love them both.” Picking apart her muffin, she took small bird bites. “The next baby you two have if it's a girl will be named after me, right? I think Kayla Marie Burke has a perfect ring to it.”

“Next kid?”

“Oh come on, you know you love this guy. I can see it, when are you going to admit it to yourself? And he loves you too, you do realize that, right?”

“I'm not admitting anything, love wasn't in the contract.”

“Love isn't something you write into a plan, El, it just happens.” Cocking her head, she squinted her eyes. “This is what I've been trying to tell you. You can't do anything about it, it just happens.”

“I'm not saying yes or no to anything. There are feelings, I won't lie about that. But is it love? I don't know.”

“You know, you're just too stubborn to admit I was right.”

“No, that's not true—”