Page 12 of Only a Gemini Will Do

She smiled a little wider as her hand instinctively found its way to her stomach. “Thanks. It still feels unreal.”

My brother nodded. “It looks real enough to me. You’re a brave woman flying all the way out here and telling this nigga to his face. I would’ve paid to see his reaction.”

“He handled the news well, I promise.”

I interjected. “Are you hungry? I can make you something, or we can go out.”

“Can you drive?” she inquired.

“Yeah, shawty. I just can’t get pulled over,” I stated matter-of-factly.

Kadeem snickered behind me. “I’ll give you two some privacy.”

“I thinkwe should finish talking about what we were talking about last night,” I suggested as we sat out on the balcony eating breakfast.

She sighed while sinking her teeth into a fresh strawberry. “Do we have to? I’m really enjoying the view right now.”

“Shawty, you told me I’m gonna be somebody’s dad in six months. Hell yeah, we gotta talk about this shit.”

“Okay, you go first. Put it all out there. Say what you gotta say.”

Air fled my nostrils as I tried to organize my thoughts. “I may not have intended to get you pregnant, shawty, but I’m not an unintentional ass nigga. I wanna be a father. Ain’t no wiggle room in that for me.”

“Okay, and I’m not negating that. I want to knowhow, Kareem. We have the who, the what, the when, and the why, but not the how, which is the most important part. How is this going to work?”

“Stay here with me.”

“Here? Kareem, my whole life is in Florida. I can’t uproot and move to another country on an entirely different continent. Be serious. I need a support system. When my sister finds out, she’ll probably want to quit her job and move in with me.”

“It doesn’t have to be here, Sawyer. We can go anywhere in the world but America.”

She shook her head. “That won’t work for me. I’m sorry. We can work something out once the baby comes. You can FaceTime us as much as you?—”

I cut her off. “FaceTime? Girl, get the fuck outta here with that before you piss me the fuck off.I ain’t got no plans on being a FaceTime father that my kid only sees now and again. I’ve seen that shit firsthand with my twin, and it doesn’t sit right with me.”

“I’m already sacrificing my body, and now you want me to give up my life too? How is that fair?”

My eyes rolled skyward. “There you go with the drama.”

“It’s not drama, Kareem. It’s reality. Be for real. It’s not like you’re asking me to move from one city to another. Uprooting my life during such a crazy time feels disruptive. This is Brazil, Kareem. I don’t know anybody here. What are the doctors like? Where are the hospitals? There are just too many uncertainties. And then what if the baby is born here? Does that mean I can’t take it back into the U.S. because it won’t be a citizen? There’s no safety net for me here.”

“I can’t replicate what you have in Florida, but I can give you all of me. We can make something of our own here . . . or anywhere but the U.S., like I said.”

Her forehead creased. “You keep saying that like it’s that easy. Like it’ll be easy to live life with a newborn on the run. This is the U.S. fucking government you’re fucking with, Kareem. Not to mention my entire life. I have a career that I love. I’ve been going to the same gynecologist since I moved to Florida. She knows my history. I have a dog, a lease, a fucking routine! You’re just casually asking me to give all that up—for what? A maybe?”

I cocked my head to the side, reading between the lines. “Is this really about the baby, or about our future? Because I’m trying to give you a family and you’re telling me you wanna do this alone.”

Sawyer’s shoulders slumped. “I’m not saying I don’t want us to be a family, Kareem. I don’t wanna do this alone. But I also need to feel safe. And right now, Florida is that place for me.”

“You don’t feel safe with me?”

She paused. “I didn’t mean?—”

I swung my head. “Nah, shawty. I got you.”

Sawyer let out a frustrated huff. “I’m not choosing Florida over you, Kareem. I’m choosing consistency over confusion. That’s not the same thing.”

“You run your mouth about support systems like I’m not one. Like I wouldn’t move mountains for you now that you’re carrying my baby, shawty.”