Page 131 of Smoke

“What’s wrong?” I questioned, sliding around the corner.

I found her on the floor, holding her chest and crying.

“Baby? Baby, what’s the matter?”

She was hysterical as she handed me the phone. I saw it was the hospital.

“Hello?”

“Mr. Dillinger?”

“This is he. What’s going on? Is Juri okay?”

“Yes. Juri is perfect, actually. I was just telling Ms. Mitchell that she was all clear to come home.”

“She can come home?”

“Yes. She’s doing well. She met her weight goal, and there are no presenting problems. I don’t see any reason to hold her any longer.”

I felt my damn self tearing up. I had to swallow hard and get myself together before I could speak again.

“Thank you. We’ll uh… we’ll be there in a little bit.”

“See you soon.”

I hung up and placed the phone on the counter. Stooping down, I picked Romi up from the floor. She clung to me, not giving a damn about getting wet.

“She’s coming home.” She wailed, her shoulders shaking. “She’s coming home!”

“I know, baby. We’ve been praying and waiting for this.”

“I need to pray.”

“Go ahead. I’m right here with you.”

She pulled away and grabbed my hands before bowing her head.

“Lord… I thank You. Thank You for covering my baby girl. Thank You for keeping Your blessed hand on her as she fought to be here. I know You give the toughest battles to the strongest soldiers, but this one almost broke me. With faith, my family, and this man… this… wonderful, beautiful, loving, and caring man, we’ve made it through our toughest battles. I don’t know what I did to deserve him, but thank You for sending me Devin Dillinger. Thank You for the added love and support of his family. Thank You for love and life. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.”

“Amen.”

She looked up at me and cupped my face. We leaned into each other, sharing a sensual kiss.

“I love you, Devin.”

“I love you too. Come on, let’s go get ready.”

We headed back down the hall to her room. I finished my shower and cleaned up all the water before getting dressed. Romi decided she wanted Juri’s homecoming to be a surprise, so we kept the news to ourselves.

Thirty minutes later, we were leaving the house and heading to the hospital. The whole ride, Romi kept looking down at the outfit she’d picked out for baby girl. She went from smiling to crying to smiling again. I could only imagine the emotions she felt in this moment.

Twelve long weeks had passed since the day Juri was born. Life was moving, and things were changing… mostly for the better. There had been a lot of heartache, a lot of tears, and thankfully, a little happiness sprinkled in. This was long overdue.

We pulled up to the hospital and parked. I reached for the door handle to get out, but Romi didn’t move. For a moment, she sat there, I guessed coming to terms with the reality of things.

“I can’t believe she’s coming home,” she said, staring at the front entrance.

I grabbed her hand and kissed it. “I know, baby. I’m excited too. You know y’all are stuck with me for the next couple of weeks, right?”

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