“I ain’t really start liking you until we sat down for the first time and ate together. That was the first time I had actually been around a female, and fuckin’ wasn’t the only thing on my mind. I was actually interested in who the fuck Normani was. I wanted to know shit about your childhood, what you did for a living, what you liked to do for fun, and whatever other shit that niggas are supposed to ask on a first date. At the same time, my shorty gotta be bad as fuck too, and you are. Don’t even sit up here and act like you would have given a nigga the time of day if I was fuckin’ ugly,” he said, followed by a laugh.
“But if everything else was up to par, like your personality, your faith in God, your career, then I would have been able to work around your looks. Looks can always be enhanced,” I told him.
He let out a fake yawn in the middle of me talking, like what I said was boring and a bunch of lies.
I laughed while I playfully mushed him in his chest.
“Yo, I pulled up to the receptionist desk like, ‘go get my woman from the back. Tell her daddy out here, and he bearing all types of gifts.’ She ain’t know who the fuck I was or who I was here to see. She wanted to know who I was here for, and I told her that I was here for you. You should have seen her fuckin’ eyes,” Billion told me.
“That’s because you’re way out of my league,” I told him, and then I stood up from his lap because I wanted to see the gifts he had gotten for me.
“When we have our baby, how that shit going to work? Would you still be the pediatrician for our child?” Billion asked me from the couch.
He skipped over what I said to him and then asked me this crazy question. I looked at him, searching his face for any sign that he was playing with me, but there wasn’t a smirk in sight. He was crazy for real.
“I promise I haven’t even thought that far down the line. Billionaire, I will be a wife before I’m a mother,” I told him in all seriousness.
“I want you to be both, no matter the order,” he said.
I rolled my eyes at him as I went through the first Gucci bag and took out the big box, which was wrapped nicely and had a large bow on it. Although I could buy things for myself, it did feel better for someone to go out of their way to get me something. That’s exactly what Billionaire was telling me a while ago about a man spoiling his woman. I cooed over the purse, which had the traditional Gucci design all over the bag. It was a medium-sized purse, and I knew that I could wear this purse with pretty much anything.
“This is beautiful. Thank you,” I cooed, still holding the purse.
I opened the next two boxes, which were purses as well, and each bag just got better. This man even bought the matching wallets for me for each purse.
“You’re spoiling me so much,” I told him with a smile on my face as I hugged the oversized teddy bear.
“That’s my job. Let me take a picture of you with all your gifts. Sit on the couch. Ima bring everything over,” he ordered as he stood up.
I took a seat on the couch, and the first thing Billionaire handed me was the roses. He set all the gift bags by my feet and then put the teddy bear on the couch right next to me. He took plenty of pictures of me on his phone and then came back over to me.
“Where you going for your break?” he wanted to know.
“I was going to my spot across the street,” I told him, and he nodded.
“Text me what you want, and I’ll go and get it.”
He kissed me a couple more times on my lips, and then he left, so he could go to the restaurant for me. I texted him my order since I wanted something different from the last time.
While he was gone, I used that time to sit in my office and admire all the things he spoiled me with. I felt like it took such a short amount of time for him to go across the street and come back with my lunch. For the rest of my break, Billionaire stayed in the office with me, and we continued to pick each other’s brains to find out more about each other.
I felt a little sad when it was time for him to go, but I didn’t dwell on it because I agreed to go out with him tonight for our Valentine’s Day dinner. This would be our first official date, and I felt a little nervous. This wasn’t my first time on a date with a guy, but it was my first time going on a date with a guy that I really, really liked. I just hoped I didn’t fall into temptation and end up like the majority of the world who would be making love to their significant other tonight.
8:07 P.M.
I was meeting Billionaire tonight at the restaurant because I’ll admit that I wasn’t ready to show him where I lived yet. He didn’t like the idea of us meeting at the restaurant on our first date, but at the same time, he kept stressing how important it was for me to be comfortable tonight. He eventually just gave in and agreed with me driving my own car tonight.
It took me forever to get ready because, for the life of me, I just couldn’t decide what I wanted to wear. I really didn’t have many “going on a date” kind of outfits in my closet. Twinkle and I talked on the phone this morning because I ended up calling her as I was on my way to work. I made it part of my daily routine to call and check up on her because she still wasn’t back to her normal self after the miscarriage. I just felt so bad for her.
Since it happened, I drop by her house at least three times a week to bring her food, just to make sure she’s eating. I also make sure to call every day to check on her. This was so unfortunate. Twinkle has always had a sweet spirit that I just loved about her since we met for the first time. That sweet spirit was gone, and I was sure it had a lot to do with the fact that not only did she lose a baby, but now there was a possibility that Monterius had a baby on the way. That type of hurt right there could literally make anyone lose their mind.
I liked Monterius, and as I got closer to Billionaire, I began to see just how close the two of them were. But if that baby Twinkle was telling me about just happened to belong to Monterius, then I could only hope that she would move on from him. He had been hurting her for years, and I just didn’t think that she should allow someone to have that much control over her happiness.
An hour ago, when I was standing in my walk-in closet, trying to find something to wear, Twinkle called me via Facetime. I was happy to hear her voice and even see her face. She was in her office, working on orders for her boutique. Twinkle was still working at the doctor’s office, but her availability was now part-time, and I was sure that pretty soon, she was going to just quit altogether. I knew how serious she was about her storefront. Not only that, but I knew that once she left Monterius alone for good, she would go into beast mode and really start focusing on the things she loved and what made her happy.
During our conversation, I told her about Billionaire coming to the office today with the gifts. I also told her how I was getting ready to go on a date with him. She had me show her my closet on Facetime so that she could pick something out for me to wear tonight. She wanted to come over so badly with an outfit for me, but I didn’t want her to go out of her way. I ended up choosing to wear a silk spaghetti strap blouse and pair it with denim, high rise jeans. I had all types of accessories spread out on the bed, plus my shoes.
I was sitting at the vanity, doing the final touches to my make-up, and then I would be out the door. The second I stood up from the seat, I heard my phone vibrating on the charger. I raced over, thinking that it was Billionaire calling me, but it was actually my mother. She and I had already spoken on the phone twice today, so I wondered what she was calling me for. Probably doing her yearly call on every Valentine’s Day, just to make sure that I was hanging in there.
Little did she know, I was preparing for my own date. I wouldn’t tell her that, of course, because I was still testing the waters with Billionaire and wanting to see where things would lead. Plus, my father would have a heart attack if he knew who I was entertaining, so I was slowly but surely trying to open the flood gates for that.
“Hey, ma,” I said, answering the phone for her.
“It’s timeeeee. My ha
ndsome baby boy is on the way,” she sang into the phone.
“Noooo. Are you serious?” I said.
I really didn’t mean to say it like that, but all I could think about was the date that I might have to cancel if there was a chance of my nephew making his grand entrance tonight.
“Yes, I’m serious. Liam just called and told me that Naomi’s water broke. He’s rushing her to the hospital now, and your father and I are getting ready to head up there. Liam said that the contractions are coming fast, so that baby may very well be coming tonight. Oh man, a Valentine’s Day grandbaby. How sweet is that? So, are you on your way, or do you have plans tonight?” my mother asked, and then she let out a little laugh.
I rolled my eyes as I took a seat at the foot of the bed.
“I’m going to get ready to head that way now. Where’s Daddy? I called him twice today, and he didn’t answer my phone calls. Not only that, but he didn’t even send me flowers this year. Did he send flowers to Naomi?” I asked, sounding like a spoiled daddy’s girl.
I actually looked forward to coming into my office each year, knowing that my daddy had sent me flowers. Not only that, but it had been hours since I last called him, and he had yet to call me back. I knew he wasn’t that busy.
My mother released a sigh, and I wondered what made her do that.
“Your father has a bone to pick with you, Normani. I would say, but he’s in the next room. Plus, he told me not to say anything to you about it. He’ll talk to you when he sees you tonight at the hospital,” she told me.
“Well, can you at least tell me what it’s about?” I pried.
“Here he comes now. See you in a few, baby. I love you,” she said and then quickly hung up the phone.
I wanted to call her right back, just to find out more, but I knew she wouldn’t answer. For my daddy to not send flowers to my job, plus for him to ignore my phone calls, with no desire to call me back, I knew he had to have been mad at me about something.
I couldn’t help but wonder if he knew about Billionaire and me. He couldn’t have known. I knew my father. Something as big as that, he would have more than likely beat down my door, trying to figure out who this man was that I was hanging out with. I released a sigh, hating that I was going to cancel my date with Billionaire. I couldn’t miss the arrival of my nephew because Naomi would never forgive me for it. Since the second I found out about her pregnancy, I had promised her that I would be right there in the delivery room with her when she brought my nephew into this world.
Still in my robe and sitting at the foot of the bed, I Facetimed Billionaire since I knew that was the way he preferred to talk on the phone.
“I’m walking out the door right now, beautiful,” he said with the camera on his handsome face.
“Wait. Don’t leave just yet,” I said.
He froze in place. I saw the annoyed look on his face as he looked down at me. He looked so handsome in his red dress shirt. I watched as he sucked his teeth and ran his hand down his beard as he waited for me to say what I needed to say. It’s like he knew that I was going to cancel on him.
“Don’t be mad at me, but my mom just called and told me that my sister’s water broke. Please don’t be mad because I actually looked forward to going on this date tonight, just as much as you did. Look, my clothes are laid out right on the bed. I was about to get dressed when my mom called me,” I said and flipped the camera to show him my clothes that were on the bed. I didn’t want him to think that I was lying or just trying to come up with an excuse, so I didn’t have to go out with him tonight.
“It’s cool. That’s family, so that’s more important,” he told me.
“What about tomorrow? Can we make up for it tomorrow?” I questioned.
“Ima have my kids with me for the weekend, shorty. Next weekend?” he wanted to know.
“That’s my book signing. What about the following weekend?” I asked.
“Shit, that’s my grandma’s sixtieth surprise birthday party. Come there with me. I want to show you off to my family,” he said.
He shocked me with that one. I felt like I had no room to say no to him. For one, I really, really liked this man. Secondly, he made my Valentine’s Day so special for me today, even though it looked like we weren’t going to be able to go on our date tonight. He was trying, actually putting in the work. I had to admit that he was the only man to ever get this far with me, even after learning that I was holding out on sex until I was married. It wouldn’t kill me to go with him to his grandmother’s birthday party. It wasn’t like he was trying to drag me to a strip club like his welcome home party.
“I’ll go with you. Where are you going tonight then? I just want to make sure you don’t have other options lined up, now that I changed the script,” I told him.
For me to even say that and to even care, I knew that my true feelings were coming out.
“Normani, it’s all about your ass! My shorty can’t go out tonight, so that’s that! Ain’t nobody else lined up! Nobody comes after you, yo! I really wish that you would get that through your head. I’m not doing all this chasing behind you for nothing. I’m about to go upstairs, change my shirt, and I’ll probably go and get me a drink, then I’m coming back home,” he snapped.
“Okay. Okay,” I said, not meaning to piss him off. He laughed when I said that and then shook his head.
“You act like you deaf, that’s why,” he told me.
“No, I don’t. I’m just taking a chance with you, and I’m scared. That’s all,” I said.
“You ain’t gotta be scared. Call me when you get back home tonight. No matter how late it is. I want to hear your voice before you go to sleep,” he told me, and I smiled.
“Okay. I will.”
“Cool. Yo, I like you,” he said.
I laughed at him trying to be romantic with me. It was too soon for him to be telling me that he loved me, which is why he said like. You would have thought he did tell me that he loved me, though, from the way I was cheesing from ear to ear.
“I like you too,” I murmured, and then we hung up the phone.
At the hospital
I made it to the hospital right at nine o’clock. I’ll admit that I broke a few traffic laws on my way there because I didn’t want to miss anything. My mom had texted me that Naomi was dilating really fast. She didn’t tell me in the text message to hurry up, but I knew her well enough to know that she had implied it. I ended up just throwing a hoodie on, some matching joggers, and a pair of furry slides on my feet. My hair was thrown up in a bun, and I did a light jog into the hospital because I was so eager to make it to my sister’s room and not miss anything.
Luckily, the line wasn’t long for me to get checked in. Before I knew it, I was heading to the elevators to go to the labor and delivery section of the hospital. They played no games on the labor and delivery floor. My name had to be added to a certain list, and my bag was checked before the security guard who was working the doors actually let me in. With all the crazy things happening in the world, I couldn’t even blame the hospital for taking the proper security measures.
Now, if my sister would have had her baby at Memorial, I would have known just about all the staff. I had privileges at that hospital, and most of my new mothers delivered there. My sister and her husband lived in Boca, which was about thirty minutes from where I lived, so this hospital wasn’t one that I was that familiar with.
Eventually, I was let through the double doors, and I set off in search of my sister’s room. I did a light knock on the door and let myself in. The scene in my sister’s hospital room was exactly like the movies portrayed a woman in excruciating pain as she fought to bring a beautiful life into the world. Naomi was lying on her back with both of her legs in stirrups. Her doctor pretty much had his entire hand up my sister’s vagina, trying to check her.
Naomi cried out in pain.
I won’t even lie; the baby fever that I had earlier today was out the window if this was what it took to bring
life into the world. My mother was on one side of my sister, smoothing her hair down and trying to talk her through all the madness. My brother-in-law, Liam, stood on the other side with napkins in his hands, wiping away the sweat that was forming on my sister’s face. My father, who I was surprised was even in the room, was off to the side.
I walked into the room, and all eyes went on me. I rushed over to Naomi, and although she was in pain and crying her heart out, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful my sister was. She was really just an older and a bigger version of me. Her long, curly hair that matched mine was sprawled out on the pillows that were behind her. I squeezed myself in front of my mother, so I could make it over to my sister. I leaned down, wiped some of the sweat that had formed on her forehead, and kissed her a couple of times.
“I’m assuming that you were serious when you said that you weren’t going to ask for any pain meds,” was the first thing I told her.
She laughed through her pain as another contraction ripped through her body. There was a monitor on the side of the bed, which was recording her contractions. The one that just passed was a big one. My sister swore that she would do a med-free delivery, and judging by what was taking place right now, she was serious.
“Alright. You’re at ten centimeters. I can literally feel your baby’s head. This doesn’t have to take all day. I just need a few good pushes, and you can be having your victory dinner in less than an hour. You ready, Mom?” the doctor asked my sister.
His name was Doctor Stevenson, and my sister swore that he was the best OBGYN. He was young-looking, probably in his thirties, if I had to guess right off the top of my head. He was really handsome, with his light blue eyes and short, blonde hair. Two nurses were in the room, and they were getting things prepped for when the baby arrived. I still hadn’t said anything to my daddy, although I could feel the heat from his eyes. Nothing was more important to me right now than my sister bringing my nephew into the world, so I would just find out what he was mad about after this was finished.
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