Page 46 of Tyriq & Teaira
“Not gonna happen.”
“Ugh! Can I at least know? I’ll keep it to myself. I need to start getting the room ready in the house.”
“Room ready?” I ask.
“Yes. I’m turning that second guest room into my grandbaby’s room. I want to start getting furniture but I don’t have a theme because I don’t know if I’m having a grand princess or grand prince.” She shrugs.
“And when I come over and see the room, I’ll know the gender. That’s a no, momma.”
“You don’t have to see it. I’ll lock the door,” she says as if her plan actually makes sense. It doesn’t. She would not know my baby’s gender if I don’t.
“Still no,” I say before taking a sip of my caffeinated caramel cappuccino. I allow myself once a week. The other six days, I have my smoothie or decaf cappuccino.
“I’ll let it go,” she sighs. “This was good. I’ll have to get your daddy to take me to the one in Crescent Falls. He would like the corned beef hash. You know he’s a true southern man. I’m going to get him bread pudding to-go, though. Do you want something else? You only ate half of that omelet.”
“I’m good. I’ll finish it later though maybe with that bread pudding. I’m going to order some too. Oh, and let me see if Tyriq wants something.”
Me: ’Bout to leave Morningside. You want something?
Riq:Thanks, bae but I’m good. Still here with Mick.
Me: Okay. If it’s late, my mom brought dinner. She made smothered beef tips, mashed potatoes, and creole succotash.
Riq:Bet. I’ll smash that. Have fun.
Me::-))
“He wants what you cooked,” I tell her after my last text and she smiles.
“How is it with you two?
“Really good. We have our own little rhythm and it works. We don’t argue or fight. Well, nothing serious anyway. If we don’t agree on something, we just talk it out and squash it. It’s usually me though.”
“I figured because you’re so much like me but your poor daddy just deals with me,” she says I agree by nodding. “Relationships aren’t perfect or always easy but they don’t have to be hard either. Trust and communication are key. You have to trust one another and reinforce that trust with actions not just words. And please talk.
“Communicate, communicate, communicate! If something is bothering you, say it. Tell that man. He will never guess or figure it out. Never. Men aren’t wired that way. You have to be direct with them or you’ll find yourself mad because he didn’t read your mind. That makes no sense. So many relationship issues can be rectified if both people would opentheir damn mouths. If you don’t listen to anything else I say, hear this. Because if you two are going to stay together, life is about to be very different. He’s going into the NBA. The N…B…A. The world is going to be at his fingertips and the only way for y’all to survive and navigate through that world is to trust each other and communicate.”
“That’s the only thing that scares me,” I admit. “Right now, we’re really in our own little world here in Diamond Falls. He’s just Tyriq here ’cause it’s home. When he enters the league, things will change.”
“The outside will change. You two work to make sure that what’s inside, you, him, and the baby, don’t. Keep your rhythm and don’t let anything disturb it. And share that fear with him. I’m serious; always tell him how you feel.”
“Okay. Okay. I will,” I assure her while hyping myself up too.
I love what Tyriq and I are building. My feelings for him grow more and more each day ,and if I’m being honest, I’m falling fast and hard.How can I not?He’s everything and he ensures I have everything I want and need. For me and our baby, he talked to his mom. He’s trying to work through his family shit. He’s living with me in my townhome when he could be living it up in a luxury suite in The Metropolitan. It’s us, in our own little world, and I don’t know what that will look like when he enters his new one.
After I finish my drink, we motion our server over for to-go boxes and to place our dessert orders. Not only do I have some of my omelet and potatoes to take with me but she has leftovers too. Their breakfast bowls are huge and she couldn’t eat it all.
“So have you met his parents yet?” my mom asks.
“No, not yet. His parents are still married but Tyriq and his dad don’t have a relationship.”
“Oh no,” she sighs.
“Yeah. It’s a long history but I’ll be meeting his mom and sister soon.”
“He has a sister? Older or younger?”
“Younger. She’s almost seventeen.”
