Page 42 of Only a Gemini Will Do
“Atlanta. You can’t be the only one of us doing right by our kids.”
He handed me the keys, and I dapped him up. “Love you, twin.”
“Love you too,” he replied.
I hopped out with complete confidence in my twin and the muscle memory of survival. I dipped my chin in his direction after starting the engine and seeing there was a full tank of gas and some folded clothes in the passenger seat. With my hands on the wheel, I drove off.
An hour later, I was parked outside Sawyer’s apartment. It was still dark out, but the birds were starting to do their early morning stir. I killed the engine, resting in the silence of the car for a moment before changing my clothes.
Before I knew it, I was standing at her door, hoodie hung low over my head, as I drew in quick, low breaths. I hadn’t laid eyes on her in months, not since the courtroom. My hand slowly raised to knock, and my knuckles tapped three times. I heard the muffling of low growls and barking on the other side before the door eased open. There she was—Sawyer in all of her third-trimester glory. Shawty was breathtaking, even with crust in her eyes and her bonnet on crooked. Her belly was round like a full moon.
She expelled a loud gasp before slapping her hand over her mouth. “K-Kareem? Oh . . . my God.”
As much as I wanted to say something . . . anything, I couldn’t force my lips to speak. All I could do was stare into her wide, brown eyes. Shawty was so fuckin’ beautiful. The memories I’d been holding onto over the past few months didn’t do her justice. Before I managed to speak, she drew in a sharp, audible breath as a splash of water hit the floor underneath her.
She gripped the doorknob. “Oh shit.”
“What?”
Sawyer looked down at the floor before looking back up at me with her eyes wide as saucers. “My water just broke.”
Chapter 15
Sawyer
I’d been asleep when Butta woke me up with his barking and growling at the front door. I tiptoed down the hall barefoot, wrapped in a pink robe.
“What the fuck is going on?” Soleil whispered to me in the dark as she hopped up from the couch.
“I don’t know,” I whispered back. “Butta won’t stop fucking barking at the door.”
“Does your dog suffer from an overactive bladder, bitch? If so, we gotta get him a fuckin’ litterbox because this is too much.”
“Did you hear anything?”
“I thought I heard knocking, but I was knocked the hell out, so I could’ve been dreaming.”
“Grab the bat just in case,” I whispered to her as I crept toward the door and peeked through the peephole. “Oh shit,” I whispered.
“What? Who is it?” Soleil asked, standing guard.
The minute I eased the door open, my legs went numb. My entire world stopped the minute I laid eyes on Kareem.
A loud gasp escaped my lips before I slapped my hand over my mouth. “K-Kareem? Oh . . . my God.”
The second I said his name, I felt a warm gush running down my legs. My fucking water had broken.
I gripped the doorknob. “Oh shit.”
“What?”
I looked down at the floor before shooting my ballooned eyes back up at him. “My water just broke.”
He stepped forward, instincts kicking into go mode. “It’s okay, shawty. I got you. I’m here now,” he assured me.
Soleil was standing by the couch with her straight back cornrows on display and her wig on the coffee table, gripping the baseball bat that I kept by the sofa in case of emergency. “Holy fucking shit, Sawyer. Are—are you in labor?”
I waddled toward the couch, clutching Kareem’s arm. My face was a blend of panic and shock.