Page 8 of Raising Love
“Kendra and Tyrell?”
“To Kendra and Tyrell,” I’d said in front of my best friend and her husband, holding up a glass of mimosa. “May your mommy and daddy years be your best years yet.”
Everyone cheered behind me, making me smile even wider as I raised my glass along with the rest. I grinned behind the rim as I took a sip.
Kendra’s baby shower had been a hit. Everything went as planned and without a hitch, just the way I liked it. Making sure we got the cake ahead of time and checking on the hall before the shower began had been excellent planning and execution. I was starting off this godmother gig pretty well.
“Okay, girl,” Kendra said as she waddled up to me, pulling me into a tight hug. I held her just as tightly back, leaving enough room between us for her belly. “You did that!”
I tossed my head back in a laugh. “Did you like it?”
“Liked it?” Kendra grinned. “This is the best baby shower I’ve ever attended—and I’ve been to too many.”
I giggled. “This was my first one, so I was a little worried?—”
“You did great.” She nodded. “You worry too much.”
“Worry too much, work too much, avoid men too much,” I listed, recalling all the things she’d always told me. “Did I get them all?”
She kissed her teeth. “I’m not even getting into it with you.”
I snickered.
“Ready, baby?” Tyrell, Kendra’s husband and Leo’s best friend, said as he approached. He wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on her belly. “We want to get on the road ahead of traffic.”
I glanced out the window at the view of New York City through the thick pane glass. Flurries were starting to fall, resembling sprinkles of sugar drifting from the sky.
I pointed toward the window. “Y’all sure you want to drive all the way upstate today? It looks like it’s starting to snow, and the newscasters have been saying this is going to be a big storm.”
Tyrell tightened his arm around Kendra. “I tried to tell her, but she insists on this damn baby moon.”
I looked at her and shook my head.
“And whatever my big baby wants, she gets,” he added with a smile.
I sighed, glancing out the window again, my brows furrowing the longer I watched the flurries.
“We’ll be fine,” Kendra offered. “There you go worrying again over nothing.”
I rolled my eyes, turning back to face them.
“This baby will be here in two weeks,” she reminded. “I want to enjoy as much of my free time as I can. I need this baby moon with my man.”
Tyrell leaned forward to press a kiss to Kendra’s cheek.
These two had been annoyingly cute from the start of their relationship in college. Almost made me want one of those “things”—but I knew better. I worked a lot, but at least my work yielded results that made my life better. Dating, on the other hand… I couldn’t say the same.
“Speaking of the baby being here in two weeks,” Leo said, approaching us from behind me, “can we get a name now?”
Kendra and Tyrell looked at each other before laughing.
“For real,” I added, folding my arms. “Why do the godparents have to wait like everyone else to find out their godchild’s name?”
“Because we want it to be a surprise, so hush,” Kendra stated. “And no more about it. In two weeks, you’ll not only find out if it’s a boy or girl, but you’ll also find out the name in due time. Patience people.”
I was in my car and headed to the medical center in no time. I didn’t bother getting presentable—no makeup, none of it. I didn’t do any of the things I insisted on doing when preparing to face the world. I still had my bonnet on my head, throwing on a white tee and jeans beneath my cold-weather coat.
All I could think about was getting out of my apartment as fast as I could and to the medical center.
