Page 72 of Sunday

“Soldiers. I’ve been craving their food lately.”

“Gotcha. Whatever you and my little man want, y’all get.”

I leaned in and kissed her lips. After we finished, the doctor came into the room and went over a few details with us about the baby’s progress, Sunday’s health, and what to expect at our next appointment.

We headed to Soldier’s after our appointment, enjoyed a big lunch, and then I took Sunday shopping for some more maternity clothes and some baby items. By the time we’d left the mall, I had spent five stacks, but I couldn’t be happier if I tried.

“It’s a pretty mild day for mid-July,” Sunday remarked after she stepped out of the shower.

We had returned home from our day out, taken a nap, and then she’d showered. She had just pulled on a short set after she lotioned her body.

“You want to go up on the roof and chill for a while?”

“Sounds like a good idea to me.”

I turned away from rifling through my T-shirt drawer and looked back at Sunday when I heard the tension in her tone.

“You a’ight?”

“Yeah. Your son’s just tightening in a ball, is all.”

I moved to where she sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing the side of her belly. I kneeled in front of her, rubbed both sides of her stomach, and spoke to our son.

“Aye, li’l king. Daddy’s gonna need you to chill out on all that extra shit you doing inside my woman. We Jackson men don’t do the most. We a pretty chill bunch of niggas.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Well, we are.”

“You’re hardly chill.” She laughed and rubbed the middle of her stomach. “He’s on the move again.”

“Good. So, anyway, as I was saying, I need you to chill on the extra shit with your moms. We gotta take care of the women in our lives, little G. That’s our duty as men. Ya hear me?”

Sunday and I both laughed when we felt our baby kick. “I guess he did,” I answered myself.

“I think he wasn’t happy with the food I ate at Soldier’s,” Sunday remarked with a groan.

“I’ve told ya li’l ass about eating spicy food.”

“But their peri-peri chicken is sooo good. It’s not overwhelming with spiciness. It’s like a warmth that grows in your mouth. Besides, I asked them to give me just a little of the sauce.”

“Mm-hmm,” I mumbled, getting off my knees.

I took her hand and helped her to stand up.

“What? It’s not. It’s mostly flavorful.”

“That ain’t what I’m talking about. Ya greedy ass reached over and grabbed two large spoonsful of my jollof rice. That shit’s spicy as hell.”

“Well, you wouldn’t let me order my own, and you know how much I love it.”

“I didn’t wanna hear your ass complaining later, and I wasn’t trying to let you fuck up my boy either. Now he up in there with the bubble guts and his ass probably on fire ’cause you can’t control your appetite.”

I led her to the stairs just outside of our bedroom that led to the rooftop.

“Shut up, CJ. You’re being mean to me.”

She pouted and looked so damn cute doing it. I moved behind her as she walked up the steps to the rooftop. I stood behind her to make sure that she didn’t stumble backward.

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