Page 18 of Falling for Autumn
“Let me find out your ass the next Jill Scott in these streets. I’ma have you crooning to a nigga day and night,” I whispered.
She laughed so hard that the librarian and a few patrons whispered, “Shhh!”
Auburn put her finger to her lips and whispered, “Shh, Mommy.”
I chuckled softly, and Autumn’s eyes widened. “Not you got my own baby turning against me, and you’re going to get me kicked out of here, October.”
“Nah, you’re gonna get kicked out. Ain’t nobody tell ya loud, country ass to be making all that noise,” I teased with a smirk.
She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
She moved around and looked at a few books just as Auburn started struggling to unstrap herself. I jumped up from the seat that I occupied beside her and instantly unstrapped her. The minute that I lifted her into my arms, she rewarded me with a smile that shot straight to my heart. “I wanna book, Toba,” she murmured.
“Mommy’s getting you some books now. But I can read you one while we wait, okay?”
She nodded and nuzzled her head against my shoulder. I patted her back while grabbing a book from the shelf.
“You’re a natural at that. You know that?”
I looked over at Autumn. She held two books in her hands, but she stared at me in fascination.
“Do you have any children?”
I chuckled softly. “Trust me, I’m nothing like your ex. If I had some jits out there, they would be with me all the time, if they weren’t living with me. But no. I don’t.”
“Most men aren’t comfortable with kids like that.”
“I’ve had more practice than most. Told you that my sister has a daughter, and my brother has six kids.”
“Really?” she whispered with wide eyes. “Is he planning to have more?”
“I hope not. He needs to settle down.”
“Is he not with the mother of his children?”
“He’s got three different ones. He’s got two boys with his first baby mama, three girls with his second, and a girl with his third.”
“He must have been very busy.”
“That’s not even the half of it. The first two kids are the same age, and so are the second set.”
“Twins?”
“No. Both mothers were pregnant at the same time in both instances, and they knew about each other. When they finallybroke it off, he got with his third baby mama. She clearly didn’t care about the drama.”
“That’s a lot.”
“It is, but people make their choices. The only thing I’ll give him credit for is taking care of them financially and playing an active role in their lives. They’re all close to him. They call him not just when they need money, but advice or just a listening ear. They trust, love, and respect him. It wasn’t always that way though. The two oldest got to see the wild side of him before he chilled out.”
“That’s crazy,” she replied before she returned to picking out books.
I sat down with Auburn and read to her. When I finished, Autumn had moved on to picking out books for herself. Auburn glanced up and looked around. “Where’s Mommy?”
“Mommy is getting some books for you to read.”
“I wanna wead too.”
“You’re going to learn how to read one day soon. You know why?”
