Page 25 of Falling for Autumn
We were walking to J.P. Walker Community Park for the annual autumn festival. There were lots of activities, including a hayride, apple cider, and pumpkin decorating.
October led me to a line where we stood for ten minutes before we paid and then climbed on the large wagon and found a seat on a bale of hay. The thirty-minute ride took us through the park and around a few blocks before we returned.
Just as we pulled back into the park, Auburn stretched her little arms out and yawned.
“Are you ready for a nap, Smooches?”
“No, Mommy. Me wanna wide da hay again.”
“No more hayrides, baby,” I replied as I smiled down at her and bounced her on my lap.
She poked out her bottom lip and pouted.
“How about we go pick you out a pumpkin?” October suggested.
“Punkins!” she shouted and clapped her hands excitedly.
“She’s so cute,” the woman sitting on the bale of hay beside us declared.
“Thank you,” I replied.
“She’s a baby doll. Man, you have a beautiful family. Take care of that princess of yours. They grow up all too fast. Trust me,” the man with the woman stated to October.
I opened my mouth to clear up the misunderstanding, but October spoke first.
“Trust me, man, I will. These two are my loves, and my baby girl means the world to me.”
I stared in awe at October, who smiled at me and dropped a kiss on my forehead. He helped me climb off the bale of hay with one hand, while he held Auburn in his other arm.
“Why did you do that?” I asked, grabbing Auburn’s stroller after we had climbed down. Although she could walk, whenever we walked long distances, I preferred to bring her stroller in case her little legs got tired. And carrying her for too long could become tiresome, because she would get heavy after a while.
“Do what?”
“Claim her.”
“What part of mine didn’t you understand when I asked you to be mine last weekend, woman?”
“I don’t want her to get attached to anyone who might leave and hurt her in the end.”
“What makes you think that I will?”
“My daddy cheated on my mother for years, and it impacted his relationship with us for a while. Auburn’s father didn’t stick around and care for her.”
“Fuck that nigga.”
“Language, October,” I replied, glancing at Auburn in his arms, who thankfully wasn’t paying attention to us. Her gaze was on the pumpkin patch.
“My bad. But I’m here, and I ain’t going nowhere. Matter of fact, consider her mine. I’m gon’ tell you this one time, and we will not have this conversation again. I love that little girl. And if that bitch-made nigga?—”
“Language.”
“If he doesn’t want her, she ain’t sweating for a daddy when she got a stepdaddy right here ready to claim her, love her, and take care of her.”
I slowed my footsteps. “October, sometimes you scare me with the things that you say. I went through a lot with her father, and I cannot spare my heart like that again. Don’t you think you’re moving too fast?”
“Baby girl, I’m at the age where I know what I want. I’m not one of these li’l street niggas trying to figure it out. What I want and need is my wife by my side with her belly filled with my seed. Ain’t no heart-breaking type shit over here.”
“You do realize that I’m not your wife, and you have never asked me to marry you.”
