Page 18 of Only a Gemini Will Do
I shrugged. “Maybe he was just looking for comfortable positions to put you in?” I suggested, followed by another laugh.
“Absolutely not. My height is a kink, and I don’t like that shit, so his ass had to go into the block pile,” Kaneesha announced with no hurt in her voice.
“You sound like me, sis,” Brit added. “I was talking to this guy I met online for a few weeks. He seemed nice and normal, real cool, so we met up a couple of times and went on a few dates. It got to the point where I wasn’t really feeling him, so I decided totry to let him down easily before straight-up ghosting him. So, last week, he asked me what I was doing. I told him I couldn’t go out because my grandma had died. Do y’all know this fool texted me back saying, ‘my consolidation.’ I said, huh? Do you mean condolences? His ass said, nah, what’s that? I told him to go to hell and blocked him.”
Kaneesha and I burst out laughing so hard that my cheeks started to burn. “Poor thing was a fry short of a happy meal,” I joked, barely able to catch my breath from the side-splitting laughter.
Just as our laughing fit started to die down, the timer on the oven dinged, signaling that dinner was officially ready.
“Y’all ready to eat?” Brit inquired, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“Been ready,” Neesh added.
“Let’s do this.”
Forty minutes later, Brit’s dining room table was a chaotic mess of empty plates and half-finished glasses of wine. Brit was rubbing the food baby in her stomach while Neesh was halfway through her fourth glass of wine.
“Y’all saved room for the pie, right?” I inquired before getting up to bring it from the kitchen.
“Hell yeah. I grew a whole second stomach just to make sure I had room for this pie,” Brit announced with a smile.
I cut and served them both a hefty slice of pie to satisfy their sweet tooths.
Brit sank her teeth into her first bite and moaned while closing her eyes. “I think I just had a spiritual awakening. Did Jesus return? I feel like He did. Just now. In my mouth.”
Kaneesha nodded. “Listen . . . I’m not saying I’d go half on a baby with this pie . . . but I’d consider co-parenting with this bitch.”
I stood back and exhaled before letting my cardigan fall open. My belly was unmistakably pregnant; no food baby included. “Well, speaking of going half on a baby . . .”
Neesh took one look at me and her eyes bulged. “Hold up. Is that ababybump or a food bump because I don’t recall seeing you eat that damn much!”
Brit dropped her fork against the side of her plate. “Bitch. Are you . . . pregnant? Like, currently, right now in this moment with child?”
I nodded. “Looks like I brought dessert and some tea too.”
Kaneesha shot to her feet. “You’ve been hiding a whole fucking human? That’s Queen Yoncé level secrecy right there, bitch! Who the hell do you think you are?”
“Nobody knows. Not even Soleil,” I confirmed.
Neesh was still stuck on stupid as she fanned herself with a napkin. “I have a million questions. I need a minute. And maybe another glass or two of wine.”
“Pour me one too, sis,” Brit stated. “Who is the baby father?When did this happen? How far along are you?”
“It’s complicated. Fourth of July weekend. And almost twenty-one weeks,” I answered briefly.
Brit’s brows creased. “Complicated like a Rubik’s Cube or complicated like he’s married with two other kids already?”
I sighed. “Complicated like he’s a felon on the run . . .”
Kaneesha choked on her drink while Brit fell out of her seat.“Explain. Now. Spill that fucking tea, bitch,” Neesh demanded.
“Right the fuck now because I know you fuckin’ lying,” Brit added from the floor.
Instead of taking my seat back in the dining room, I made my way into the living room and sat down on the couch to get comfortable. It was about to be story time. I grabbed one of the burnt orange and mustard yellow throw pillows scattered across her gray sectional as part of her fall décor and held it to my chest. The faux flames from her electric fireplace flickered underneath the mounted flat screen TV, more for the aesthetic than warmth. After all, we were in Florida.
After refilling their glasses, they both joined me on the couch, eager to hear all about how my life had spiraled out of control over the last few months.
“Start from the very beginning,” Brit stated.