An Unconventional Love: A Novella (9 page)

jasmine.

It better be a girl.

That’s all I kept thinking as I popped a few carrot sticks soaked in ranch into my mouth one after the other. I was supposed to be waiting for our few additional guests to arrive so that we could all eat together but...baby got what baby wanted.

Already spoiled ass.

Rich and I were talked into throwing a gender reveal party - which was actually more of a small gathering - by our sisters who hadn’t met each other but apparently shared the same agenda. Neither one of us knew if the baby was officially a boy or a girl since the doctor handed the results right over to Bailey who made all of the arrangements. My nerves were on their last waiting to find out.

The doorbell rang and since I considered myself a slow-moving penguin by this point, I yelled for Rich to answer it. He jogged inside from the backyard through the hall, whisking past me smelling like a fresh shower mixed with burning charcoal that was surprisingly a pleasant mix. He was only a few steps beyond me before he turned around to plant a quick kiss on my lips. It felt so...husband and wife-ish that it almost scared me. So instead of giving him a smile, I swiped my lips with my arm making him laugh.

“You must’ve forgotten how well I can read you, Jasmine. Your damn knees almost buckled.”

“Just go answer the damn door, Rich.” He gave another little chuckle as he continued on his original mission.

Once the door was opened, I could hear Ariel and Jamison’s muffled voices heading my way. When they finally made it to the kitchen, Ariel rushed over to me. “There’s the oven carrying my precious little niecy or nephy bun.”

“Shut up Ariel,” I replied, as I grabbed a celery stick from the veggie tray before giving her and Jamison each a hug.

“Ya’ll, there’s beers in the fridge. Steaks and chicken should be done in a minute, and then we’ll get to the main event.” Rich was a little too into the whole hosting thing like he’d just been waiting for the moment to pull out his ‘grilling sandals’ that were usually reserved for older dads and uncles.

“Wait a minute.
Beers?
That’s a negative. Ya’ll gotta drink water. Or Kool-Aid.
Or somethin’
. No way I’m gonna be the only one going without.” I wasn’t even a beer drinker but just the idea of other people having something I couldn’t was a no-no.

“Rae can’t drink so you won’t be the only one,” Rich replied, as he gave me a teasing pat on the shoulder. I was just getting ready to rip into him when the doorbell rang again. Considering it was a gathering and not a party, I had a pretty good idea of who it was so I volunteered myself to answer the door since everybody else was so busy cracking open their beers and shit.

I opened the door and found Bailey, who I figured it would be, on the other side. What I wasn’t expecting was to see her standing next to a guy; a guy I would definitely try to holla at if it weren’t for my bulging baby belly.

He was tall...really
really
tall. So tall that I automatically assumed he was in the NBA…or the circus.

You go Bailey!

He was carrying a huge box but that did nothing to hide the majority of his frame considering how tall he was. He gave me a pleasant smile while Bailey spoke about some stuff I wasn’t paying any attention to.

“Did you hear me, Jaz? Where should Tyler put the boxes?”

“So his name is Tyler huh?”

I was trying to get her to admit without words who the dude standing next to her was, but only got a look of confusion before she questioned, “That is what I said, isn’t it?”

Oh, so now she’s gonna act shy about it?

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tyler. I’ve heard so much…”

Bailey’s face turned panicky as she interjected, “Tyler was such a gentleman. He saw me struggling to bring the box in from across the street and decided to lend me a hand. You can probably just leave it at the door, Tyler.” I gave her a look, sending my question of, “
So he’s not bae?
” with our sister signal. She quickly shook her head no before leading him into our home.

I mean...
Rich’s home
.

Tyler sat the boxes right next to the entryway and Bailey quickly thanked him before sending him on his way. I couldn’t help but notice the little bit of flirtation I heard in her tone and immediately began to tease her about it once he was long gone.

“Damn Bailey. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you actually have the juice.” There was no mistaking his lingering looks on her ass before he left nor his happy little strut as he walked back to his house.

“The juice?”

“Yeah. Like...some game. He would’ve given you his number if you asked.”

I expected Bailey to at least give a little giggle, call me crazy,
something
. Instead she instantly seemed really uncomfortable as she whispered, “Umm...Jaz...can we...not talk about that right now? Or ever for that matter? I made a mistake and God has forgiven me so that I can move on in my marriage.”

Wait what?

“Move on in your marriage? God’s forgiveness? You told mom didn’t you?” She gave me a pleading look to let it go but I couldn’t. “How dare you let mom ruin your life like this? Bailey, you said yourself that you want a divorce so do that shit. Don’t let mom’s twist on religion make what should be your best days your worst. She just wants you to be in a miserable marriage like she was.” Though I loved my father to death, it did hurt a little bit to see the bitter woman he had turned my mom into. But in the same, she made the decision to stay around while he did his dirt so it was some of her fault too.

“Jasmine, you have got to stop disrespecting our mother like that.”

“I’m not disrespecting
her
; I’m giving
you
factual information. I thought you were smarter than this, Bailey.”

“I’m not talking about this anymore. I love Chad and we will be fine. I will ask for his forgiveness and we will move on.” Her statement was so forced that I would’ve guessed my mom wrote it herself. “Anyway, Mom says congrats on the baby.”

Really?

A message sent through my sister like she doesn’t have my number her damn self?

Queen Petty.

I didn’t even bother responding, just headed to the backyard with Bailey in tow.

rich.

Everyone had their phones out, ready to capture the moment Jasmine and I found out what we were having. She had been acting annoyed with just about everything ever since her sister showed up so I could only hope for the sake of her attitude that it was in fact a girl.

“Open the box!” Rae shouted with her phone in one hand and my phone in the other, simultaneously recording the moment on each device. I looked over to Jasmine and saw the glimmer of anxiety in her eyes before we pulled open the tabs of the box. First white balloons flew out but they were immediately followed by blue ones which could only mean one thing.

We were having a boy.

We were having
Rich Jr.

Even with all the celebration going on around me, I could only hear my own heartbeat. I wasn’t usually an emotional guy, but something about this moment struck me to the core.

“Oh my gosh, Rich. Are you crying?”
I didn’t think I was crying but now that she had mentioned it, my face did feel a little wet.
“He is crying! Oh my gosh, what a lame!”
Rae was clowning me while the other ladies were giving an, “
awwww
”
,
having a better, more mature understanding of the heartfelt moment.

I turned to Jasmine who was laughing at me but wiped my tear then gave me a little kiss on the cheek before whispering in my ear, “Congratulations, Daddy.”

I pulled her into a hug then put just enough space between us so I could give her a kiss eliciting another “
awwww
” from our audience. Unlike any other time, she actually acted like she was enjoying it which made everything all the better. In fact, I felt like the happiest dude in the world.

I had my son cooking in the oven of the most beautiful mother surrounded by what I considered
our
family.

Life couldn’t get much sweeter.

)~o~(

I was in my zone.

I literally couldn’t wait for the little gathering to be over so I could get to work.

We were having a boy which meant the nursery could finally be painted. Though I was sure Jasmine would hate it just because I was doing it without her input, I couldn’t help taking control of the matter. Rae was out with her friends so I had the house to myself, with my music blasting, a little glass of Hennessey and my paintbrushes.

Painting was one of the few things that gave me absolute peace of mind. When I wasn’t so wrapped up in making everybody else’s lives a little easier, I used painting as my getaway. It was a skill I had learned from my father, the man of so many trades there was no way I could catch up even with my whole life ahead of me.

I remember being a little sprout and when I couldn’t sleep, I would go hang out with him in his studio, watching him paint ‘til I fell asleep. As I got older, he finally started to trust me with his equipment and I would paint all types of stuff until I practically fell asleep at the canvas.

The arts really weren’t popular though so of course I played sports and shit to balance it out. But at home, I could be me and do art and not give a damn. For a minute, that attitude landed me in culinary school, where I could use my eye for art plus the cooking skills I had picked up from my mom to create masterpieces. But my priorities switched over once I started noticing my father’s health dwindling. Culinary school seemed more like a dreamer’s route rather than a doer’s so I dropped out and enrolled in
“real”
college, earning my degree in business in three years thanks to summer school.

The rest is history.

I was so focused on finishing up the first of many murals I planned to deck the walls with that I didn’t even notice someone had came in until I heard a faint,
“Wow.”
It initially scared the shit out of me but I quickly relaxed, recognizing the voice.

“Jasmine, what are you doing here?”

“I left my phone. I tried calling you from Ariel’s before I just showed up but now I see you were...busy.” From the edge in her voice, I could tell she was only a few exchanges from going off on me.

“I take it you don’t like surprises?”

“No, I like surprises. I mean, not the finger in my ass without permission kind; but heels and flowers and dope ass murals are always nice.”

So she does like it?

She came a little closer to where I was sitting on a small stool to observe my work. Since art was a personal expression, I usually didn’t care about other people’s evaluation of it but something about watching Jasmine with her skeptical eye made me uneasy.

“I mean, I know you said you paint but I would’ve never guessed you were
this
good at it.”

I shrugged off her little compliment, replying, “Only the best for my son.”

And of course, she corrected me, “Our son.”

“Excuse me,
our
son.” She gave me a nod for getting it right. I observed the mural for a moment myself, giving it a few touches as Jasmine watched me from above.

“Rich Jr., huh?”

“Yeah. I mean, if you like it.”

Since Jasmine had a way of trying to make everything a battle, I figured the name for our son would go on that list until she said, “I think it’s perfect.”

I couldn’t hide the hint of surprise in my voice when I questioned, “You do?”

“I do.”

I raised my eyebrow at her, before I teased, “
You do?
”

“Not like that, Rich! Quit tryna twist my words into a consent to marry you.”

“Gotta get in where I fit in. But since I see your phone in your hand, I guess you can get going now.”

She looked down at the ground for a long moment, before she brushed her curls to the side and said in the softest voice, “What if I don’t...wanna go? What if I wanna...stay here...with you?”

“Jasmine, don’t play with me. I know you put up with my antics but you aren’t tryna be official about anything. I get it.”

“I never said that. This is just…” She released a long sigh before continuing on, “Rich, I don’t
do
relationships and apparently, neither do you so you have to understand how…”

“Different this is? Trust me, I know exactly what you mean. The crazy part is, as much as I don’t do relationships, as much as I didn’t see myself settling down anytime soon, as much as you drive me crazy, and as fucked up as this little situation could’ve been, I’m still here. Willingly as hell might I add.” I had no intentions of laying it all out like that but there was no use in holding back the truth.

She needed to hear it.

I could tell when my words had finally digested for her when a little smirk came to her face as she asked, “Willingly as hell huh? You do realize what you’re signing up for right?”

“A happy life with a happy…”

“Don’t push it.”