Page 39 of Our Mother's Sons

Both Baela and I jumped at the sound of a voice. Standing in the living room was fine ass Jovani. Usually, when I saw him, I had butterflies in my belly, and my panties flooded. Today, I just looked at him with hope. I needed someone to tell me something. Someone to tell me that I hadn’t been in a relationship with the devil. I needed to be assured that Dutton did not set it up for our baby to be taken. He wasn’t that evil. What was the gain?

“The door was unlocked,” Baela asked herself because she was the last one to walk in. Jovan stood looking delectable. He was dressed in all black from the hoodie to the jeans to the black shoes. It was too hot for all that but damn, he was fine in it. I was confused about why he was here, and then I remembered that I hadn’t replied to his text from yesterday. I loved him too. I love him and would want nothing more than to wake up and fall asleep beside him. I deserved not to be the one to carry the relationship, and knew that Jovani was more than capable. But, I missed my daughter so fucking much. I couldn’t stomach seeing him love on his daughter when mine was out there somewhere.

“Aye.”

Jovani took a step and paused.

“That nigga really did that? Is that what really happened?”

How long had he been standing there?

“I heard you. I heard everything. That nigga secluded you from your people and erased all traces of you having proof she existed.”

His question posed as an answer, and that had me confused.

“He sold her, Voyage.”

“Wait. How do you know this?”

Jovani licked his lips and ran his hand down his handsome face. He looked stressed to the max—not the normal cheery Jovani that I was used to.

“He sold her to some human traffickers.”

Baela gasped, and at the same time, my chest panged.

“But how do you know all of this? Is my baby…is she dead?” My lips trembled as tears fell.

“I know because….fuck.”

Jovani looked over his shoulder, “Girl. Come on in here.”

I looked at Baela, who was just as confused as I was. We were expecting another person to come in, but when I heard scoots, I looked to the floor and nearly had a heart attack. The prettiest little baby was crawling into the room. On her body, she was wearing a coastal-themed halter dress that went around her neck, and a matching bow was on her head. The print on the outfit was nearly identical to the one she had on when she was taken.

“Oh my god!”

Standing, I rushed to Jovani’s side and scooped the baby up. She smelled so good, like baby powder and baby lotion. She looked exactly like I knew she would, beautiful. I gently grabbed her hand and saw that she was indeed mine. I then checked her toes too; sure enough, they were fused.

“Oh my god! Oh my God!”

“Cousinnnn! She’s so pretty!”

I hugged her body close and snuggled my nose in her neck. I could feel Jovani staring at us as I loved all over her. I then leaned back to check her for marks and bruises. When I was content, she was good, I studied her intricate features. She shared my brown skin, but her round eyes were all Baela. Our hair, though, our big, fluffy curls were nearly identical. She’d been taken care of, and even though it made me sad that she’d been out of my life for eleven months, I was glad to hold her again.

“I busted up a human trafficking ring, and for some reason, I just couldn’t turn her over. That was a little over a month ago. She been with me ever since,” he confessed.

Kissing my baby, I looked up at him.

“You’ve had her this whole time. This is the child you said was yours? You had her and took her?”

“Baby. Believe me when I say I only took care of her. The only reason she hadn’t been sold was because of her fingers and toes. If you ask me she’s perfect but them niggas was holding her until she was old enough to get the surgery. I had a doctor look her over and she’s healthy and hadn’t been messed with or nothing.”

I believed Jovani. But this was all just too much. The man I was sleeping with had my daughter. I’d just seen her when I got caught by his granny on the beach, and since it was the back of her head, I didn’t know. Had I had a clear view, I would have known immediately.

“Jovani. Thank you. Thank you so much. I’m sorry for not telling you. I should have told you I had a daughter-”

Jovani pulled me to his chest and sucked my lips in his mouth. He kissed me with so much passion that I nearly dropped my daughter, but he was there holding his arm around us.

“It’s all good. Ima handle that nigga. Ima handle him and then, I’m coming back to get y’all. I swear to God. You and Girl are my top priority. When I get back, I want you to let me adopt her. She’s mine too, Voyage.”

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