Page 104 of Crash: Love in Scrubs
“What now?”
I pulled her toward me gently by her shirt, my voice getting softer. “You’re having my baby, and I want us under the same roof. Soon. Immediately, actually.”
I slid my hand under her shirt and placed it flat against her stomach, before sliding my hand up to rest around her neck. The simple touch sent a wave of calmness over both of us. I rested my head on her forehead. “Please. I miss you, baby.”
“I met Moneice. She almost got her ass pepper-sprayed in Wal-Mart. Is she going to be a problem?”
“Fuck no and fuck Moneice bruh. I’m here because I love you, and I want to marry you. I’m not worried about another woman. I want what I got right here.”
I kissed her lips softly, tasting the tears, she’d been holding back. When I pulled away, her eyes were still closed.
“You hurt my feelings, Malik.”
“I know, and I’m sorry. I fell in love with your strength, not your struggle. But I want you kicked back with your pretty ass feet up. I told you that already. It comes from a pure, genuine place. I hope you know that.”
She paused, searching my eyes, and I hoped she felt how sincere I was. I hadn’t done this before, so I was learning. I’d learned my lesson.
“I’ll see you at the appointment,” I whispered against her forehead before heading toward the door. I just wanted to lay eyes on her and see if there was still an us. There was. “Or you can come through later.”
“Malik,” she called out just as I reached for the handle.
I turned back, hope flaring in my chest. “Yeah?”
She looked at me for a long moment, her hand unconsciously moving to where mine had just been. “We need to tell Samajtogether. About Ashe. And I’ve been craving Elote, with lots of jalapenos, we’ll need lunch after our doctor’s appointment.”
“Whatever you need, baby. Whatever you want.”
“Stay for dinner. I know you could use a home-cooked meal. I forgive you, I hope you learned your lesson.”
“Time without you taught me that this life ain’t worth shit if you’re not in it. I thought I’d lose my mind.”
I felt like we’d turned the corner. Soon we’d be looking at houses together, planning nurseries, arguing about baby names. I just wanted to be back on the right side of a love song with her, the kind where the man gets the girl, where love wins, where families stay together. Not that side where the sun loses the fight to the rain.
As I walked back toward our table, I could hear her footsteps behind me, softer now, less angry. When we sat down with her family, I caught her stealing glances at me between conversations.
We were halfway through our plates when Sametra set down her fork and cleared her throat.
“I have an announcement to make,” she said, looking at me and then at her parents. My heart started racing. I didn’t know she was telling them tonight, but I could see the determination in her eyes. It didn’t matter one way or another to me. It was always going to be our business. She could pull a Halle Bailey and never speak on it until the baby took its first breath. It was her world.
“I’m pregnant. We’re having a baby.”
The silence that followed was exactly what I expected. Both John-Dale and Lorana sat frozen, forks suspended halfway to their mouths. Samaj grinned. He was going to be an amazing big brother.
This was a very vulnerable Sametra, stripped of all her usual ease and confidence. I could see her hands trembling slightly asshe waited for someone to say something. She was afraid, afraid of judgment and disappointing her father. I didn’t like that, but we weren’t married. I hadn’t even proposed yet. John- Dale was a traditional man with values. I knew enough to know this news was going to require a conversation between us. But for now, I had her back. She wasn’t alone in this; we’d both acted carelessly.
I pulled her close to my side, my arm wrapping around her shoulders protectively. “We’re excited about it,” I added, my voice steady even though my heart was pounding.
John-Dale’s eyes moved from his daughter to me, and I could see him processing everything. The timeline, the implications, and the fact that his baby girl was having a baby with a man she wasn’t married to.
“How far along?” Lorana finally asked, her voice gentle.
“About seven or eight weeks, I think. I don’t know. We go back to the doctor next week,” Sametra replied.
“Eight weeks,” John-Dale repeated slowly, his gaze never leaving mine. I knew exactly what he was thinking, calculating back to when this had happened, probably remembering our conversation about my intentions.
“Daddy,” Sametra started, but he held up his hand.
“Malik,” he said, his voice calm but carrying agitation. “Can I speak with you privately?”
