Page 16 of Going for Three

I unconsciously began to stroke her hair. The need to protect her was prominent and overwhelming within me as she slept peacefully. Seeing that bandage only made me want to shield her from the world even more—to be that sanctuary she was searching for.

Six Weeks Later…

“I think it’s time, best friend,” Vari whispered from behind me while holding my hair back.

For the last week, I found myself constantly feeling nauseous to the point of vomiting. I couldn’t keep anything down, and I was feeling more fatigued than usual. Vari noticed first after I kept getting extremely winded during my workouts. I was typically the type to push through, having a real love for the burn that came from lifting weights. This week, I was giving “fuck this, fuck you, and fuck doing all of that.” I didn’t know, but I might’ve actually said those very words once or twice…

I sniffled, trying to contain my tears but they slipped into the vomit in the toilet bowl.

“I’m scared,” I admitted hoarsely. With a deep breath, I backed away from the toilet to plop down on the floor, resting my back against the wall. Vari flushed the toilet then came to sit next to me. His arm went around my shoulders, pulling me deep into his side. That’s where I broke.

“I can’t be pregnant, Vari. What the fuck am I going to do with a baby?”

He gave my arm a comforting squeeze. “I don’t know, but at least you will know the truth so you can decide on how to move forward.”

I gulped, knowing what he was saying was true. There was no point in pretending something wasn’t off with me. I was at least two weeks late for my cycle and needed to get this taken care of as soon as possible. I was not going to be anyone’s baby mama, especially not for Kianis Kinga.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.”I cursed, seeing the words pregnant in digitized letters on the tiny screen of the pregnancy test. My fears had materialized right before my eyes.

“Bitchhh,” Vari said excitedly from behind me. He jumped up and down, clapping his hands. I could literally feel his joy and it sickened me. “I’m going to be an uncle.”

I couldn’t stop staring at the word on the screen. Nothing would be the same after this. I was either having a baby, getting rid of it, or losing it. Any of those scenarios would surely change me for the rest of my life. Not knowing what I wanted to do turned my mind into mush that was impossible to sort through. When the ringing in my ears became too much, I burst into tears.

“Aww, come here, baby.” I was pulled into Vari’s arms. He soothingly ran his hands down my back. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Is it really? My mama is going to kill me, and if she doesn’t, her parents surely will.”

“Forget about them. This is about you. No matter what you choose, I’ll have your back and love you the same.”

I pouted, lifting my head to rest my chin on the center of his broad chest. Looking up into his chestnut-colored eyes helped to calm my nerves.

“Thank you, best friend. I was hoping for anything but this.”

He cracked a smile. “It’s not the worst thing in the world, Charmony.”

I shook my head as I stepped away from him. “Easy for you to say. You’re not the one that’s going to be ripped a new asshole in the media if this gets out. They are already on my ass about every little thing. They are going to eat this up, especially once they find out who the father is.”

Kianis’s dimpled smile appeared in my mind, releasing a dose of oxytocin into my bloodstream. I shuddered as I remembered his hands on my body… his lips dragging across the surface of my skin… the look in his eyes when he was stroking in and out of me with expertise…

“Fuck him for being so damn fine and irresistible with good dick.”

Vari burst into laughter while wiping away my tears. “Those hormones are already turning you every way but loose.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know how this could’ve happened. We were careful.”

“Girl, the only thing you were careful about was making sure you were on the tip of that dick every night. You know exactly how this happened and probably remember how good it felt when he was putting that baby in there.” He started whininghis hips all dramatically. “You probably was like ‘Ouuu, Kinga. Yessss… Fuck me… Put a baby in me.’”

He just kept going and going, reminding me of exactly how I’d sounded since that trip to Punta Cuna. We couldn’t get enough of each other, and anyone close to us could see it.

I gave Vari the finger and stuck out my tongue because what else could I say? He was right. I knew what I was doing, I just wasn’t expecting to have to face any consequences for doing it so soon, especially nothing long term like a baby.

“Are you going to tell him?”

Almost on cue, Queen Naija began singing the chorus of “Butterflies” from inside of my bedroom. Vari gave me a knowing grin because we both knew who it was. I’d created a ringtone just for him, considering how often we saw each other over the last month or so. This was our karma for fucking like we’d just discovered it for the first time as horny teenagers.

I figured it was now or never. Marching into my bedroom, I picked up the FaceTime call just in time.

“What?” I snapped while plopping down on the bed.

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