Page 31 of Breeze and Melodie
When we found out Melodie was pregnant the first time, I truly didn’t care what gender the babies were.
Now that the girls were here, I began to worry about who would be there to protect them when I wasn’t around.
Of course, their big cousin RJ would be there, but he had his own little sister to worry about.
The desire for a son of my own became strong, and I began to have dreams about Melodie giving birth to a mini-me.
We’d talked about having more kids but wanted to wait until the girls were at least a year old before trying again. However, it looked like six or seven months would have to be enough because the pregnancy test I held in my hand read pregnant in bold, dark, capital letters.
It wouldn’t be so bad because the girls would be fifteen or sixteen months when this baby was born, and that was close enough to eighteen months. I couldn’t stop my lips from forming a smile, and when I looked in the mirror, I saw Melodie’s eyes on me.
“You don’t even have to tell me what it says,” she said as she turned around and leaned against the counter.
“You’re not happy?”
“I’m not sad, but I don’t know if I’m ready. It seems like I just had the girls.”
“I know, baby, and I really tried to be careful.”
“Nigga, stop lying.”
“You know I tried. Pulling out is the one thing in life I ain’t good at. I can’t be good at everything.”
She looked at me for a moment with pouty lips before they broke into a smile.
“I can’t with you.”
We embraced each other and exchanged a kiss.
“Don’t be mad at me, baby. The girls need a brother to protect them.”
“There’s no guarantee this will be a boy.”
“God spoke to me in my dreams. We’re having a boy,” I assured her.
“And if it’s not?”
“Don’t doubt God, baby. If He says it, it will be done. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Let’s go tell the girls and Mama Lyric.”
“You don’t think we should wait until we find out how far along I am?” she questioned.
“I would guess you’re somewhere between eight and ten weeks.”
“Okay, Dr. Foster. Let’s go tell Ma.”
You couldn’t have paid me a million dollars to believe this would be my life three years ago. Whoever said that everything happens in God’s timing spoke nothing but the truth. If I learned one thing over the past three years, it would be that.
I could have pursued Melodie ten—maybe even twelve years ago, but we wouldn’t be where we were today, nor would our relationship be as healthy and loving, if we’d even made it this long. Thankfully, I had the good sense to wait until the time was right.
Since the day I decided to make her mine, I hadn’t had one regret. Outsiders tried their best to ruin what we were building, but there was nothing a gunshot to the head couldn’t fix.
Arielle’s death was ruled a justifiable homicide and was forgotten almost as soon as it happened.
The disappearance of Sean and Dak was never investigated.
It was like they never existed. I still wasn’t sure how Rocky ran his organization or how he stayed off the authorities’ radar, but I was grateful for the connection.
We received a two-million-dollar settlement from the Onyx City Police Department.
After taxes and attorney fees, approximately $1.
2 million was put into a trust fund for Kadence and Sky.
I hadn’t heard from or seen Tia or her brother again, but I ran into their younger sister at the gas station several months ago.
Although I hadn’t asked, she voluntarily told me neither of them was doing well and proceeded to blame me for ruining their lives.
She became extremely disrespectful and belligerent, putting her hands on me and calling me everything but my name.
As a grown-ass man, I didn’t make it a habit of threatening or disrespecting women.
However, I had to make an exception that day.
I took it easy on her, but she’ll think twice before she gets in another man’s face acting crazy.
“I was about to come get y’all,” Mama Lyric said when we entered the family room.
“We have some news,” I announced.
“What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
“Ma, I know you see that big ole smile on his face. Why would you think something is wrong?”
“I don’t know. He wanted to talk to you privately, so I thought something happened. Well, what is it?”
“Your son-in-law knocked me up again.”
Mama Lyric was more excited than I was. She shouted so loud, she scared the girls, and they had to be consoled. Once they settled down, Mama Lyric went home, and I finished cooking the dinner Melodie had started.
I watched my wife play with my daughters and felt nothing but gratitude. Street niggas like me didn’t often get the chance to make changes and start over. Melodie was my motivation back then, and ain’t shit changed.
THE END