Page 14 of Only a Gemini Will Do

Chapter 5

Sawyer

One month later.

I wasin and out of Brazil in less than forty-eight hours, and Kareem didn’t stop me. I still hadn’t processed how I felt about that. Or the fact that I hadn’t heard from him since. On the one hand, I missed him; on the other, I couldn’t help but feel like his silence was the best thing for both of us.

In his presence, I was too emotionally unavailable to have the conversation he wanted to have, and we both knew it. It was one thing to know my body, but what Kareem was asking for was different. He wanted to build a life with me. He wanted a family, to know my heart, to see me in ways I wasn’t sure I could afford to have him weaponize against me later. So, I left.

Walking away from him was hard, especially now that he knew about the baby. But I had to do what was best for us in the long run. I’d never forget him, though. Gemini men were crack, plain and simple. One hit, and I was ready to start doing the chicken head down the interstate in a fur coat and some rainboots for that nigga.

I sighed, pushing thoughts of him to the side as I sat alone in the waiting room at my OB’s office. My legs were crossed at the ankles, and my right hand lay over the very noticeable curve of my belly. After a ten-minute wait, a nurse called me back. I followed a few steps behind her into an exam room down the hall. There was a rack on the wall with various pamphlets on topics ranging from family planning to menopause, and a framed photo of a Caucasian family of four playing together on a beach.

“Welcome to your twenty-week appointment and the halfway point. How are you feeling today?”

I forced a soft smile as my shoulders rose and fell with a heavy shrug. “Alright, I guess. As long as crying at a red light because I dropped my French fry between the seat and eating popcorn on top of a blueberry waffle for breakfast is considered alright,” I answered with a slight chuckle.

The nurse laughed, then pointed at the exam table. “Let’s take a look at your little one. Do you want to know the sex today if they will give us a good look?”

I hesitated for a second, considering whether I wanted to know or not. I figured learning the sex could be the boost I needed to put me in a good mood, so I nodded. “Sure. Let’s do it.”

“Alright.”

I lay back and lifted my shirt high enough to expose my stomach. She applied the cold gel to my belly and then glided the wand over it to locate the baby. My eyes were glued to the monitor as she checked the baby’s heartbeat. It was strong and fast.

“There’s your precious baby. Looks like . . .she’sgoing to be a little Simone Biles the way she’s doing all those gymnastics in there.”

I laughed softly, tears prickling at the corners of my eyes—agirl.I was going to be a girl mom.

The nurse smiled at me. “Your baby girl is healthy and growing on track. Would you like a printout?”

I nodded eagerly before gently wiping away the gel. “Yes, please.”

As happy as I was to hear that the baby was healthy and to learn that I was having a baby girl, I still couldn’t help but think about Kareem and how beautiful our daughter would be. After seeing the doctor and confirming that everything with the baby was good, I left my appointment with a smile on my face.

I stepped outside into the November sun with my heart stillhammering from learning I was having a baby girl. I held the updated sonogram photo as if it were my best-kept secret.In a way, it was. At least until I made it to Tampa for Friendsgiving with my girls and revealed the truth. Soleil was coming down to Jacksonville for Christmas, and I planned to surprise her then. As my big sister, she could always tell when something was off with me, but she still hadn’t guessed about my pregnancy.

I took one last look at the photo and pressed it to my chest before easing it into my purse and pulling out the half-eaten protein bar I started on the way to my appointment. My phone vibrated almost simultaneously as I continued to my car. I saw Soleil’s name on the screen and swiped to accept her FaceTime call. After a few seconds, her face appeared.

“What’s up, ugly?” I quizzed, eyeing her messy bun and square-framed glasses. “Where you at?”

“The same place I’m always at around this time during the school year, dummy. In my classroom.”

I scoffed. “Tuh. My mama ain’t raise no dummy, and if she did, it was you. Not me,” I retorted before taking a bite of my proteinbar.

“Whatever. You look different.”

“How?”

“I don’t know. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were glowing.”

“That’s just that Fenty highlighter. You know RiRi had to put on for the gwols.”

“You sure that’s all?”

I playfully rolled my eyes. “What else would there be?”

She shrugged before taking a sip of her iced coffee from her favorite coffee shop. “I don’t know. Maybe meditation, or you’re fucking a yoga instructor.”