Page 14 of Certified Pressure 3 (Certified Pressure #3)

Chapel Grove

Another week later…

Zurie, be careful,” I said as I watched her skip across the grass with her braids bouncing.

The sunlight caught her little face, and for a second, it almost felt normal.

Three weeks ago, she was in the hospital bed, her head wrapped up in bandages, machines beeping around her while I prayed to God she would wake up.

Now she was laughing and spinning in circles at the park like she had never been through brain surgery.

The doctors told me she could start easing back into her routine after a couple of weeks if she was healing well, and she’d been stronger every day since we left the hospital.

I still carried the weight of fear though, like if I let her do too much, it might all come crashing down again.

But she begged me to take her to the park, and I couldn’t tell her no.

I owed her at least this piece of childhood back.

I sat on the bench with my phone in my lap, my head down because my body hadn’t been right lately.

My breasts were sore, I had been throwing up almost every morning, and the headaches had me feeling like I was dragging myself through each day.

I was only seven weeks pregnant, but it already felt like my whole world had shifted.

When I went to the clinic and heard that little heartbeat, I swear I couldn’t stop crying.

That tiny sound put everything in perspective.

I was carrying a life. I was carrying Pressure’s baby, and no matter how complicated things between us were, I couldn’t ignore that I needed him in some way.

I hated admitting that to myself. I had been living with my uncle Lionel and Aunt Deanne since I left the hospital with Zurie.

But I was really on my own the night my father put his hands on me and Pressure had to kick down that front door to protect me.

I hadn’t seen or spoken to my father since then, and my mama hadn’t even tried to reach out.

Even though I knew my parents were pathetic as hell, I still couldn’t believe how they’d basically abandoned Zurie.

I had been trying to stand tall on my own, refusing to just run into Pressure’s arms because I didn’t want to live under his rules.

But I couldn’t deny how tired I was, and how much I wanted something solid for me and Zurie.

She felt like my child now, not just my sister.

I was the one making sure she ate, the one sitting by her bed every night, the one holding her hand when she was scared and now, I was about to bring another life into this mess.

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, scrolling through nothing on my phone to keep my mind from spiraling. Then I heard Zurie’s voice carry over from the swings.

“Wow! For me?!”

Her little squeal made me look up, and when my eyes landed on who she was talking to, my phone almost slipped out of my hands.

Pressure was standing there like he owned the whole park, tall and broad with his tattoos peeking out from under his black T-shirt.

In one hand he had balloons shaped like stars and hearts, and in the other he carried gift bags that looked heavy.

My stomach flipped so hard I thought I might throw up right there on the bench. I hadn’t even seen him walk up. I had no idea how he found us, and for a second, all I could do was stare.

Before I could process it, Zurie came running toward me with the brightest smile, holding a box in her little hands. “Pluto, look! He got me an iPad!”

She shoved it in my lap like it was the greatest treasure in the world, the plastic still sealed on the box. Her excitement was contagious, but my eyes went back to Pressure as he strolled over, cool and unbothered like he hadn’t just blown my whole day up.

He lowered himself onto the bench beside me, the balloons floating up over our heads.

His eyes locked on mine, and I had to look away because the heat in his stare did something to me I wasn’t ready for.

My heart raced in my chest even though I tried to keep my face neutral. I couldn’t let him see me soft.

He leaned over to help Zurie peel open the tape on her gift, his deep voice smooth as ever. “You gotta let ya sister hook it up to the Wi-Fi so you can watch all them cartoons I heard you like. It’s yours though, lil’ mama. Don’t let nobody else play with it if you don’t feel like sharin’.”

Zurie laughed and hugged the box tight, then threw her arms around him without hesitation. Watching her pressed against him like that sent another rush of confusion through me. He was so gentle with her, rubbing her back like she was his own. And in a way, I guess she was about to be.

“You didn’t have to do all that,” I said, my voice low because I didn’t want Zurie to think I was ruining her moment.

Pressure glanced at me with a smirk. “I do what I wanna do.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed my hair back over my shoulders, trying to look unbothered even though my chest felt tight. “How did you even find me?”

He didn’t answer right away. He just stared, his eyes holding mine until I couldn’t look anywhere else. Then, without warning, he reached out and laid his hand on my stomach. My heart skipped a beat, not from shock, but from the weight of what it meant.

“As long as you carryin’ my kid, it ain’t never gon’ be hard to find you.”

I wanted to swat his hand away, but I couldn’t. Instead, I sighed and said, “I went to the doctor. I’m seven weeks.”

Something shifted in his eyes. He didn’t look like the wild, unhinged Pressure everybody else saw. He looked serious, like this was the only thing in the world that mattered to him.

We went back and forth, me telling him he didn’t need to buy us things, and him telling me he was gonna do what the fuck he wanted.

Eventually, he leaned back, his voice relaxed but sharp.

“Look, I want the best for you and my child. We ain’t gotta be livin’ together, we ain’t even gotta be together right now.

But I do want you closer to me. I’ll put you in a house, pay your bills and make sure you straight.

I’ll get you a car too. You ain’t about to be runnin’ back and forth, tired and broke down, not while you pregnant with my damn baby. ”

I shook my head slowly. “You act like it’s that easy. I can’t just pick up and move Zurie with me. She’s still healing, and I promised her—”

He cut me off with a look. “Yes you can. You just don’t want to.

Don’t sit here tellin’ me no more excuses about Zurie when you know them sorry-ass parents of y’all ain’t doin’ shit for her.

If you know she ain’t bein’ cared for right, then you gon’ have to step up.

And now that you carryin’ my seed, you ain’t got no choice but to start livin’ different.

All that runnin’ from house to house—That shit over. ”

His words hit hard because he wasn’t wrong. I wanted to argue, but in my heart, I wanted the same thing. I wanted stability, the lifestyle he was offering and for Zurie to have something solid, but pride and the pain of him choosing Kashmere over me made me act like I wasn’t listening.

I stared down at my hands, trying to act like his words weren’t sinking in. He leaned closer, his voice calm but firm. “I’m givin’ you a month to figure it out. I ain’t pressin’ you to make no move today, but you gon’ make it. For our baby, for Zurie and for yourself.”

Then, like the conversation was over, he turned back to Zurie with that soft smile again. “A’ight, lil’ mama. I’mma let you enjoy your new toy. I’mma see you later.”

Zurie hugged him again, beaming up at him like he was a superhero. I just sat there, numb and tangled in emotions I couldn’t name.

He stood up, walked back to his car, and drove off without another word.

I sat frozen on the bench, the iPad box still in my lap, Zurie’s laughter floating in the air as she watched me open the box.

My heart felt heavy because Pressure had left me with more than balloons and gifts.

He left me with decisions I couldn’t dodge forever.

That evening, after setting up Zurie’s iPad, I went through all the bags that Pressure had dropped off at the park.

I carried them into the spare bedroom I had been sharing with Zurie at my uncle Lionel and Aunt Deanne’s house and sat down on the floor by the bed.

The bags were sleek, heavy, and too polished to be anything but expensive.

Pressure had a way of making everything feel larger than life, and even though I tried to act unbothered earlier, I couldn’t deny the way my hands shook a little as I started pulling everything out.

The first box I opened nearly stopped me in my tracks.

Inside was a portable ultrasound device, slim and sleek, with a tablet attached.

There was even a small velvet pouch with instructions tucked neatly inside.

My chest tightened as I realized what it meant.

I didn’t have to wait until my next appointment to hear my baby’s heartbeat.

I could check anytime I wanted, on my own terms. I thought about the way Pressure looked at me in the park, his hand pressed against my stomach and his voice telling me it would never be hard to find me as long as I was carrying his child.

Now, with this gift, it was like he had extended that promise into something physical… something I could hold.