Page 34 of Tap In

All the roles were reversed. It was Chance who dapped Joston this time and left to sit in the lobby. Now it was my turn to give natural birth, which was against my birthing plan.I blame that fucking clam chowder.My mother and Lark were on one side of my bed, and Joston was on the other. Tana was between my legs with Xena beside her, ready to assist.

Unlike my best friend, our baby girl wanted out almost immediately. Five pushes later, my daughter lay on my chest with loud cries. Joston leaned down, put his hand on her back, then spoke to our daughter. “Ssh, baby girl. Daddy is here, lil Lachelle Lark Broughton.”

There were two gasps heard in the room. My eyes shifted from my mama to my best friend. Joston and I went through so many name ideas, but Lachelle Lark felt right.

Tana and Xena wore smiles as they moved around the room. Our daughter weighed six pounds, two ounces. Her little ass felt like she was a whole ten pounds, but I digressed. After our baby girl was cleaned up, she was put on my breast to eat. I couldn’t stop looking at her. She had her father’s eyes but my lighter skin complexion, which wasn’t much lighter than Joston’s. With a head full of hair, she was perfect.

I’d just finished feeding my daughter. She latched on with no problems, thank God. Joston held her now to his bare chest while she slept. He wasn’t too far from falling asleep himself in his reclined position.

“Where is my baby girl?” My daddy’s voice boomed through the hallway. When my mama called him to tell him that I was going to rest tonight and everyone could come see me tomorrow, he had a whole fit. He firmly said that he would never fit in witheveryone.

His feet stopped in the threshold of the door. His eyes darted around the room to scope the scene. I thought that he would go over to his granddaughter, but he didn’t. He came to me, cuffed my face, then looked at me with so much love. He kissed my forehead, then said, “My baby girl is a mama. I’m so proud of you, lil Cobia.”

Something about his words tiptoed on all of my emotions. My tears flowed from my eyes freely as my father continued to speak life into me. From the whimpering heard on the side of me, I knew that my mom and Lark were crying more than likely. The love of a father was nothing short of amazing. My daddy didn’t play about me. He made it known to everyone that I would always be his little girl, no matter how old I was. “I love you, Daddy.”

For the rest of the night, my father focused on me. He told Joston to focus on our baby girl while my daddy focused on me. He carried me to the bathroom, where my mama and Lark helped me get into a bath. Once I was done with my bath and dressed, my father came to carry me back to my bed. When I was a little girl, my daddy used to tell me the best bedtime stories. “Daddy, can you tell me a bedtime story, please?”

From his seat beside me, he rubbed his hand through my twist out. “Of course I can, baby girl.” He shifted his body to face me. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Jacobia Justina…”

I settled in for what I knew would be the best story that he ever told. I peeked around the room to see that everyone was tuned into story time. Joston was still lying back in the recliner, but I still saw the smile that rested on his face. Peace settled over me as I listened to my daddy’s voice tell me a story that was all about me. Before I knew it, I was out like a light.

* * *

A FEW WEEKS LATER…

There were so many rewards when it came to being a mother. There were also a lot of things that people didn’t really tell you. If they did, it was glossed over like it was no big deal. I wished someone would have told me more about breast engorgement. The pain I felt last week was excruciating. Joston had to massage my breasts to help me hand express some milk. I thank God he was attentive when the lactation consultant went over different feeding positions and other things around breastfeeding.

Our baby girl was greedy as hell too. It took everything in me to stop my mama or one of my aunties from putting cereal in her night bottles. The schedule Joston and I had was that I breastfed during the day, and he bottle fed at night so that I could rest. One of my cousins, Tana’s friend, had a cleaning service. Youme gifted Lark and me two free deep cleanings, and if we needed weekly cleanings, it included laundry at 60 percent off for a year. Chance and Joston made sure we subscribed to that service. They tried to take as much as they could off our plates.

I sat on the couch in my living room. I had just finished feeding my baby girl. We all decided to call her Chelly since everyone naturally called my mama Chelle. Chelly slept comfortably in her bassinet, which wasn’t too far from me.

“Alright, ready for movie night?” Joston asked when he walked into the living room. He walked over to the bassinet, then stared down into it. A smile took over his face as he gazed at our daughter. I loved the way he loved her.

Chelly was a good baby who didn’t fuss unless she was hungry, wet, or had gas. She slept three to four hours at a time. In one of those sleep times, Joston and I always watched a movie, well as much of a movie as we could before we fell asleep ourselves. “I’m ready. What are we watching tonight?”

He plopped down next to me, wrapped his arm around me, then pulled me into his side. His lips pressed against my temple. “Let’s watchThe Goonies.”

That made me perk up because it was my favorite movie, and he knew it. “Oh, if we’re going to watch my favorite movie, then I need to get my favorite snack. Do you want anything?”

He chuckled when I jumped up from the couch. “Just bring me a beer, baby. I’ll queue up the movie.”

I walked into my massive snack pantry to get my favorite snack in the world. When I spotted my homemade trail mix, I got excited. My eyes tightened, and my face scrunched a bit.What the hell is that?I walked over to the airlocked, covered container to see what sat on top of it. With a tilted head, I picked up the small box, looked at it, then opened it. My mouth dropped at the contents.

“Um, Joston!” I abandoned my mission for my favorite snack to return to the living room. My body froze when he came into view. He was on one knee.This is really happening.“Wh-what are you doing?”

This was the sexiest position that I’d ever seen him in. “Remember the night we got lifted and talked about everything under and above the sun? I asked you what your dream marriage proposal was. Do you remember what you said?”

Tears filled my eyes as I thought about that night. There was nothing like West Coast weed and edibles. It would have you higher than a giraffe’s pussy in heaven. That night, Joston made his oath that he would show me that he could be a faithful man. As much as I screamed that I wasn’t ready for a relationship, I knew that night that I wanted him to be my end all. From his oath came my comfortability. I opened my heart to him that night.

“I told you that I wanted my proposal to be intimate. I wanted it to be just me and my man, watching a movie.” When he asked me what movie I wanted to be on, I giggled. “I wanted it to be my favorite movie,The Goonies.” My eyes traveled to the large television that hung on the wall.The Goonies.I took another look at the perfect princess-cut diamond engagement ring inside of the ring box.

“Come here, baby.” He reached out for my hand. Once it was inside of his, he kissed the back of it. “Jacobia Justina, I think I’ve loved you since the first night you walked into my club with that bitch boy. I knew that night that I wanted you to be my forever. It took us years and a baby, but we’re finally here. Will you let me change your last name, Jacobia?”

EPILOGUE

SOME TIME LATER…

“Me, Daddy! Do me!”Chelly’s hands were raised in the air for her father to pick her up and toss her in the bouncy house. When Joston picked her up and threw her in the air, her little arms extended like an airplane. Her body bounced when it hit the bouncy house floor, causing her to erupt in laughter.

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