Page 22

The melodic voice of Daniel Caesar flowed throughout my entire condo as I did a deep cleaning. Google said I was nesting, and I had to agree. My obsession with making my place perfect was keeping me up all hours of the night. If I wasn’t working, I was cleaning and organizing.

The doorbell distracted me from my current chore of scrubbing the bathtub squeaky clean. It took me a minute to lift myself off the floor.

“Whew.” I huffed before wiping my forehead. “This is getting out of hand now, son.”

I was fussing but fell more in love with my bump by the day. Massaging it with shea butter was my favorite part of the day. I would play music, sing, and just talk to my son. I think those talks were more for my sanity than anything else, but they got the job done.

“Coming!” I yelled when the doorbell rang for a third time. I snatched the door open to find a delivery guy standing there with a bouquet of roses and a gift bag.

“Charmony Hart?”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

He handed them off after a quick signature then disappeared down the hallway.

Backing up, I allowed the door to slam behind me as I walked to the kitchen.

I set the vase of flowers on the counter.

My nose nuzzled closer for a fresh whiff.

Feeling satisfied, I sighed. I didn’t need to read the card to know who they were from, but I was going to just to see what he had to say today.

Thinking about you and missing you like crazy. We’re going out for dinner so I can rub on your bump when I’m done here. I’m losing my mind without you!

I giggled with a shake of my head, knowing he was so serious. We were back like nothing ever happened. If he wasn’t popping up, he would send food, flowers, or gifts for me and the baby. I figured dinner would be a good idea because it was time to name our son.

I set the card down then rushed to the bathroom for my phone. Picking it up quickly, I unlocked it then went into our text thread.

Me:

Let’s have dinner before you leave for Houston.

Instantly, the three bubbles appeared as he typed a response.

My King ? :

How you know I’m going to Houston?

I knew he was teasing me. Grinning, I typed a quick response.

Me:

Your schedule is still hanging up on the fridge

My King ? :

Damn right! Exactly where it belongs!

I got ready to text him back when I felt a sharp pain shoot through my side.

“Oww,” I whined.

Before I could take a breath, another one ripped through me.

“Owww,” I cried out with a backward stumble.

My hand slapped against the wall, and I lost the grip I had on my phone.

I hissed as it fell into the bucket of mop water.

I couldn’t even react because the pain kept coming.

I tried to regulate my breathing, but it was no use.

I lifted from the wall only to feel a trickle of liquid rush down my leg.

“Nooooo. It’s not time yet.”

I instantly began to cry, thinking the worst. I wasn’t due for another two months.

My last appointment was a week ago, and everything was perfect.

Despite the little turbulence with Kianis, my stress levels were down.

He treated me like royalty giving me massages any time he was around and waiting on me hand and foot without complaint.

He always seemed genuinely happy when he was doing it, too.

I swallowed the warmth thinking of him caused to focus on the here and now. I had a second phone in my Jeep, so I braced myself for a walk down to the garage. Since my water broke the pain subsided a little. That worried me more than anything.

“Lord, please cover my baby. Please… I can’t lose him.”

Too afraid of wasting time, I waddled to the front of my condo, snatched my purse off the island, then bolted for the door.

All the birthing plans I’d created were completely forgotten on the elevator ride down.

Just as I was about to step off, the pain returned.

I held on to the wall damn near foaming at the mouth like a pit bull because of the gut-wrenching agony.

When it subsided again, I knew what time it was.

I walked as quickly to my truck as I could.

Using the key fob, I started it up before I made it all the way there.

Somehow, I was able to pull myself up. Reaching into the middle console, I pulled out my second phone to see that it was completely dead.

The charger was nowhere in sight because I’d let Vari borrow it the last time he was over.

Tears swelled in my eyes. I gripped the steering wheel tightly and released a shaky breath.

“You can do this, Charmony.” I put the car in gear and pulled off. “Everything is going to be okay,” I coached myself.

I’d only barely made it down the block when I felt another contraction.

The good thing about living in the city is that I was only ten minutes from the hospital.

I prayed without ceasing the entire way there, begging for my son to be okay.

When I arrived at Mercy, I parked out front then waddled inside.

“I think I’m going into labor!” I yelled at the woman at the receptionist desk. She jumped up from her seat and raced around the counter while calling out to someone. Everything became a blur as a wheelchair was brought out.

I grabbed the woman’s wrist before they could push me away. “I need someone to call my husband.”

“Okay. I’ll make sure I tell the nurse. For now, just relax.”

I didn’t know how she expected me to relax when I had no clue what was going on, and I was all alone.

I was placed in a private room where the nurses and the doctor on call raced around to get me checked out.

My fear materialized when it was confirmed that I was in labor. Tears streamed down my cheeks.

“Did someone call my husband? I need someone to call Kianis. Please, please, please call him,” I begged the nurse closest to me.

She took down his number and promised to call him. My eyes went to the ceiling as the sound of our son’s heartbeat echoed throughout the room. I felt like I was going to be sick, and my contractions wouldn’t stop coming.

“Okay, Ms. Hart you are almost ten centimeters dilated. It’s almost time for you to push.”

“Push?” I shook my head. “No, no, I can’t. I need Kianis!”

Pure terror was threatening to pull me under forceful and pitch-black waves. In that moment, I realized it wasn’t that I couldn’t do this without him, but I didn’t want to.

“I know you want him to be here, but this baby isn’t waiting.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, praying for a miracle.

When they fluttered open a minute later, he was there.

He materialized out of thin air like God had zapped him through time and space just to be here.

His chest was heaving up and down, a thin layer of sweat was glistening on his forehead, and tears were melting in his beautiful brown eyes.

“Kianis,” I whispered his name.

He raced beside me and took my hand. “I’m here, baby. I told you I would be here.”

I shook my head.

“It’s too soon,” I reminded him.

He kissed the back of my hand. “God’s timing, baby, not ours. If He says it’s time, we trust Him. You can do this. You were built for this.”

The intensity of his grip on my hand and the sincerity in his eyes injected me with the strength I needed to push.

Holding on to the man I loved more than anything, I pushed with all my might. I began to hyperventilate from the pain, but Kinga was right there to calm me down.

“It hurts,” I cried.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. It’s only temporary. We’ll be holding our son within the next thirty minutes. Keep pushing, baby. You can do this.”

I squeezed my eyes shut in time with my next contraction. I don’t know how long we played that game until a sweet, piercing cry cracked through the air. A shudder surged through me at the same time an orb of love spilled out of me.

“He’s here,” Kianis said in shock. “He’s here,” he repeated in wonder.

My son was placed on my chest, and sobs tore out of me. He was so fucking perfect with tiny hands and toes, a head full of curly, black hair, and chubby cheeks.

“He’s beautiful.” I smiled through my tears.

Kianis was right there admiring him with me. Both of our tears baptized our son as we celebrated his birth into this world.

Kianis kissed my forehead. “You did amazing, baby. I’m so fucking proud of you.”

His praise was music to my ears. A sense of peace swallowed me as I stared down at the life we’d created together.

His every breath was a testament to God’s perfect will for my life.

I wish I knew this would be the best day of my life.

Maybe I wouldn’t have fought so hard against it.

Because in only a few minutes, I couldn’t imagine life without my son, and he didn’t even have a name yet.

Kianis climbed into the bed beside me. I closed my eyes, feeling nothing but love as he massaged both of our heads with slow, adoring strokes. His head pressed against mine as he became more comfortable.

“I never want to be away from y’all,” he whispered hoarsely.

His confession blasted away the lingering dust mites of doubt crowding my mind. All that was left as we lie there was my undeniable love for him.

“Good because I don’t want to be without you either.”