Page 47 of Sunday

“Sit ya ass down and quit whining.”

When she did as I asked, I drew her closer to me and rubbed her back gently. I placed small kisses on her forehead and the top of her head.

“What’s really going on with ya?”

“I’m scared. I want to be the best mama that I can be.”

“And you will be. We’re gon’ learn this thing together, baby.”

“I know, but I’ve also been tired. Being pregnant has taken a toll on me, and it doesn’t help that my family isn’t here for me the way I need them to be.”

“Thought you said you and your mama were talking again.”

“I mean, we do, but not like that. She talks to me a little bit, but for the most part, if my daddy comes around, she ends the call. Just the other day, she hung up the phone in the middle of me talking. She sent me a text saying he’d just walked into the room like my feelings didn’t even matter. I wish she would stand up to him.”

“Listen, you want me to holler at them?”

“No. You know that would only make things worse.”

“Yeah, I feel you. I don’t like to see you moping around here, though.”

“I know. I’ve made up my mind that I’m gonna call my daddy and talk to him. Nils told me the other day that Daddy admittedthat he missed me. I just wished he wasn’t so stubborn, you know?”

“Man, I get it. You know my peeps mean the world to me, and I don’t know what I would do without ’em. You got my mama and sisters shopping for my li’l homie every chance they get. And the old man stays calling me, offering up advice about being the best pops I can be for our kid. So I know you gotta be missing your family, especially your moms. This is the time you need her most.”

“Yeah. But like I said, I’ll call and set things straight. I have to make a stand for myself, and my daddy needs to see that he can’t continue forcing his wants and decisions on me. I know he’s hurt, and I get it, but still, I’m grown.”

“Well, let me know if you need anything.”

“Thank you, baby.”

She turned her face to me and brushed her lips against mine. I slid my hand up the back of her shirt and rubbed her back before pulling it around to the front. I pinched her nipple, and she moaned in my mouth.

“You make me so horny, but I really do need to lay down for a while to relax.”

“You got it, baby.”

The minute she stood, I called her name.

“Sunny.”

“Yeah, baby?”

“What were you doing at the Perennial Hotel the other day?”

I watched as Sunny’s back stiffened, and she slowly turned around to face me.

“What?”

“Ya li’l ass heard me. Don’t be trying to think of no excuses either.”

“I don’t need an excuse for anything.”

“Well, then explain why I saw you coming out of the hotel in the middle of the day when you were supposed to be going to your doctor’s appointment.”

The day that I saw her at the hotel was the one doctor’s appointment that I couldn’t make. We had a meeting with the city council about some permits they were stalling on. I couldn’t get out of that meeting, no matter how badly I wanted to. The project we’d been working on had already passed certain deadlines, and we were off track. There was no way that we’d be able to move forward without getting those permits.

So, the minute I saw her, I wanted to bolt out of the office that I was sitting in, but I couldn’t. I lost focus on the shit they were telling me, but luckily, Shawn had been sitting right by my side. He sensed the moment I’d zoned out, and while he hadn’t known what happened, he definitely paid attention, took notes, and caught me up later.

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