Page 17 of Only for Me

Dr. Logan nodded and headed to the door. Right after, Tiana told Makari she was heading out so she could grab food before her shift, then was out the door, but not before warning Makari not to sign a damn thing until she had someone look over any agreements we settled on. I respected that she had her girl’s back but I also wanted her the fuck up out my crib so we could deal with this privately.

We all sat at the kitchen table and Raaj spread out all the documents he needed to go over. I finally got to give Makari all my attention. She was dressed in wide leg ripped sweat pants with a fitted tee underneath a matching jacket. Her hair was curly and framed her face which was a huge contrast from the messy ass ponytail she was rocking when I pulled up to herhouse. I was amused that she put some effort into what has looked like and knowing her ass she wanted to prove a point.

I got my life together…

“Alright, let’s review the terms of this co-parenting agreement.”

“Why are we reviewing an agreement without the results back first?” She knew Avi was mine, had already admitted that shit multiple times, which meant she was just stalling the process of agreeing to give me access to my kid.

“With all due respect, Ms. Phoenix, in this situation, the best thing we can do is have this all laid out. Once the results are finalized, the framework of the agreement will be in place, but contingent on paternity. That saves us time and potential conflict but also allows Mr. Hayes to immediately have access to his daughter.”

Makari’s damn face dropped because she knew she didn’t have any argument for this. The kid was mine. We both knew that.

I dropped my eyes to Avi who was cuddled against her mother’s chest. She was about ten seconds from tapping out and looked cute as fuck trying to fight it.

“As long as you understand I have primary custody of Avi then that’s fine. She stays with me.”

Raaj didn’t speak but he swung his eyes to me and I offered a nod. “That’s a reasonable request. Mr. Hayes will agree to that given her age, however, he will be demanding generous visitation rights and that will increase and shift once the child is older.”

“Thechildis named Avianna Jaleeah Phoenix.” She glared at me like I was the one talking then turned back to Raaj. “Please define generous.”

“Three days a week, including one overnight visit every other week…”

“You’re kidding, right? You want me to hand off my child tohim…” Her eyes shot across the table at me. “Three days a week and one of those being overnight.”

“That’s reasonable.”

“That’s not fucking reasonable. She’s four months old. I’m breastfeeding and he doesn’t know her.”

“Which is only a problem because you kept her from me. I wasn’t given a chance to know her, was I?”

Makari cringed and I glared at her crazy ass, daring her to pull that “I did what I had to do” bullshit in front of Raaj. He would eat that shit up and have her head spinning.

“That doesn’t change the facts. She’s a baby. She doesn’t know you, you don’t know her, and until you do, that schedule won’t work.”

“What would you propose, Ms. Phoenix?” Raaj cut his eyes at me and spoke up, sensing this was about to go left. His tone was calm but firm.

“A few hours at a time, three days a week. No full days, and supervised, until she gets comfortable with him. Then we can circle back to full days and overnight visits when she’s older.”

“You don’t trust me with my own daughter? The fuck you think I’m gonna do?”

“Oh, I don’t know, give her a contact high or have one of your one night stands babysit her while you do whatever it is you do.”

I chuckled dryly. “If I had a one night stand, my dick would be in her. She wouldn’t have the mental focus to keep up with a baby, but that shit wouldn’t happen. I don’t trust you with her so I damn sure wouldn’t let some bitch I was just trying to nut in make sure she was good.”

Makari’s mouth dropped open and she hugged Avi—who had finally tapped out—closer to her chest before I added, “And just so we’re clear, you were a one night stand, baby girl. How the hell you gonna judge the next? You also know firsthand thatwhen my dick is in you, there’s not much else you can handle because you barely handled that.”

“You know what, fuck you and this. We’re leaving.”

“Ms. Phoenix, if you leave, I will have no choice but to handle this with a judge. We have the money and resources to get whatever he wants, even a temporary custody agreement that immediately places the child…” I grilled the fuck out of him for calling herthechildagain. It wasn’t about knowing it pissed Makari off either. It rubbed me the wrong way too. She had a gotdamn name. Raaj caught my annoyance and made a correction. “That placesAviwith my client.”

“You would take her from me?” Her eyes were on me quickly but I didn’t say a damn word. No, I wouldn’t take her. I wasn’t that fucked up, but I wanted her to think I would.

“Can we continue?” I said acting nonchalant.

She glared at me for a moment longer then turned to Raaj who continued, “We can agree to supervised visits. There are multiple services…”

“No, not a service, me. I’m not handing Avi over to him and a damn service.”