Page 9 of Only for Me
Ileaned over Avi while I struggled to fasten her diaper. She was definitely feeling better based on the way she was smiling and twisting away from me, making it almost impossible to get the sides secured. Once I snapped her onesie, I kissed her tummy several times which had her babbling and moving her arms and legs spastically.
This little girl brought me so much joy that I had no regrets about having her. Not once did I ever consider the option of ending my pregnancy, even knowing I would be doing this all on my own. No regrets about leaving a six-figure job or no longer having the support and love of my mother, which had never really been all that profound but at least she presented the semblance of a mother’s love. It was mostly for appearances but there were moments.
Regardless of what I lost, I gained so much from my little muffin that it was all worth it, which was why I had been completely stressed out of the past week. But we survived the week and nothing happened. Omiri hadn’t shown up demanding answers and I hadn’t received any calls or text threatening me to show up for a court-mandated paternity test.
“I think we’re good, muffin. Your daddy truly doesn’t want to be a daddy which means I get you all to myself.”
She smiled at me and began kicking her legs and moving her arms wildly. “Oh you’re happy about that?”
The high-pitched sound she made was my answer and it settled something in me. She was enough, life was good, and fuck Omiri Hayes if he didn’t want to be a part of our lives. He was the one missing out, not us.
While my baby entertained herself by trying to grab her feet, I dug through the hamper of freshly washed clothes that I hadn’t found time to do anything with. Hey, they were clean so a win was a win. I found a pair of flannel pants and wiggled out of my sleep shorts which I tossed on the bed before I tugged on thick gray socks and pulled on an oversized crewneck sweatshirt. It was time for breakfast.
Even though Avi was still on breast milk I mostly pumped and fed her with bottles, but this morning I got a little emotional and needed the connection, so I let her latch on and we had our bonding session while she had her breakfast. Now it was time for me to figure out what I was going to eat.
I carried Avi to the living room and got her situated in her swing while I did a mental inventory of what I could pull together with minimal effort. An everything bagel which I popped in the toaster, cream cheese spread I planned on loading up by sprinkling extra everything topping on. Once I had both halves on the plate, I grabbed a strawberry Greek yogurt and was on my way to the living room. After a peek at Avi, where I found her uncoordinatedly reaching for the small plush toys that hung above her swing, I let my teeth sink into my bagel.
The first bite had me moaning in approval before I placed everything on an end table and curled up in the corner of the sofa, turning the TV on to keep me occupied while I ate. Unfortunately, my happy mood was disrupted when the currentnews story was about how the Crescent Falls Sharks were having contract discussions with their star quarterback after his outstanding performance in helping secure the team’s second consecutive Super Bowl. His stupidly handsome face was all over the screen which had me rolling my eyes before I switched the channel.
For an entire year, there was nothing. Sure, he was on billboards and buses during the season but so were the rest of the team. And of course I obviously couldn’t miss the bad press he received because Omiri’s name was always tied to something scandalous. However, now that I had run into him, his face taunted me.
I was just grateful that his face wasn’t anywhere near mine. I powered the TV off and ate in peace. After I was done, I grabbed my laptop, dragged a blanket over my legs, and decided to get some work done while Avi was occupied. An hour later, I mentally tapped out and my baby girl was getting fussy. She was a good baby and could occupy herself for hours sometimes but when she wanted my attention there wasn’t a toy or activity in the world that could keep her quiet.
Once my laptop was on the charger, I took Avi to the bedroom for a quick diaper change before I spread out her padded mat for tummy time. We got on the floor and I lay down next to her, watching as she swatted at toys until someone ringing the doorbell interrupted our moment. I assumed it was Tiana since she bailed on me this morning. I couldn’t really blame her. She had just come off of a twelve-hour shift and I’m guessing holding my hand while I spiraled did not compete with face planting in bed for half the day in preparation of surviving her next twelve-hour shift.
“Don’t go sneaking off anywhere, Miss Avianna.” She squealed and kicked her little feet which put a smile on my face while I lifted from the floor and made my way to the door. I frozeas soon as I caught sight of the massive body peering through the glass panel next to my door but realized I was in plain sight and quickly hopped out of the way.
Oh, fuck.
What the hell was I supposed to do? Omiri was here, at my house, and that meant I had been wrong. So damn wrong. He wasn’t going to let this go.
Shit, what now. Maybe if I stay out of the way, he’ll leave. He’s not leaving, idiot. Clearly he saw you, but that doesn’t mean I have to acknowledge him or let him into my house.
I could even call the cops and tell them I had stranger danger on my porch.
The media would love that…
Who the hell was I kidding? I wasn’t doing either of those things. I had known this moment would happen from the second I decided to keep Avi. It was inevitable. I dropped my head back, closed my eyes, and exhaled a harsh breath before I pulled my shit together and stepped in front of the door. Omiri was glaring right at me, and shit, he was too damn sexy, wearing dark jeans and a gray Henley that hugged his large, athletic frame.
After sending a quick prayer that Avi and I both survived this man’s fury, I turned the lock, pulled the door open, and positioned my body in the center of the frame.
“Your name is already shit in the media. You probably shouldn’t add stalking women with young children to that list of fuckups.”
I locked my arms over my chest and gave him the same evil glare he was sending my way. He grunted something then looked past me for a brief second before his eyes were on mine again.
“Can I come in?”
“What do you want?”
He looked past me again but this time his eyes dropped to where I knew Avi was positioned on her play mat.
“That baby has my eyes. We need to talk.” The deep tenor of his voice and the harshness of his tone had me tensing but I kept my cool.
“We don’t need to talk. She’s not yours.”
“The way your ass ran up out that store, I would disagree. We can do this here, now, or in front of a judge and trust and believe baby girl, my money is a lot longer than yours. Now you gonna let me in or not?”
It took everything in me to step back and let him by. I fully believed he would throw his weight around with this, and if I tried to be nice, maybe I could convince him to leave us the hell alone and he could go back to his happy little life. I also didn’t want to have this conversation on my porch because my neighbors were nosy as hell.
