Baby Momma

by Tosha Damaya

  He looked at his watch, it was getting late. "You're not tired?"

  "I’ll be okay. I'm only working a half-day tomorrow." She stood in front of him with three choices. "We have horror, comedy, and romance. What are you in the mood for, Mr. Coleman?"

  He opted to go with comedy, so Sydney put the movie into the DVD player. "I'll get more snacks,” he said, getting off the couch.

  "Okay. I need to change."

  A few minutes later Sydney came back into the room and found that Zeke had gotten them more popcorn and drinks, and had changed into a plain white tee and plaid pajama pants. She had slipped on a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. Walking over to the closet, she grabbed a light blanket to wrap around them. Sitting down, she snuggled up against him.

  "This is nice,” Zeke commented, giving her a brief kiss on the forehead. “This was how I wanted to spend our night.”

  "It is nice.”

  The movie was meant to be funny, but there was a pinch of romance, and it made Sydney think about Zeke’s love life.

  “What’s the deal with you not wanting a wife and children anymore? It’s all you’ve ever talked about. You visit with Gavin every opportunity you can get time off.”

  “I just don’t see it happening for me. I’m horrible at relationships.”

  “You just haven’t found the right woman yet. You still have time. You just turned twenty-nine.”

  "True, but I thought my life would be fulfilled by now. My parents had all four of us before they were thirty."

  Her parents were the same way. "That was a different time-period, Zeke. You have a great life, and I'll help you find a wife, and you can get her knocked up. Just be patient."

  “What if it doesn’t happen? What if there isn’t someone for me?”

  She bumped her shoulder against his. “Then we’ll ask to borrow a woman’s uterus so you can have your baby without a wife.” She was trying to lighten the mood.

  Sydney focused back on the television. After a few moments, she realized that Zeke was staring at her. “What?”

  “You’re a woman.”

  She giggled. “I’m glad you noticed.”

  “You have a uterus.”

  “It comes with the territory of being a woman. Are you okay?”

  The look of frustration covered his features. “Sydney, why can’t you have my baby?”

  She froze, unsure of what to say next. “What?”

  "Have my baby.” He reached for her hand and squeezed it gently. “Listen. We've been friends for two years, and you mean the world to me. I love you, and I would do anything for you... I hope you feel the same way about me."

  "Of course, I feel the same," Sydney replied, looking at him with apprehension. “But do you understand what you’re asking me?”

  "Yes,” he established. “Why would I find some random woman when I have you? You’re the only woman I would trust to have my child. We could have a child and raise him or her together. We could be a family."

  “This is crazy.” She thought that he’d had too much to drink at the party. It was a big deal. “It’s insane.”

  “At first it did sound crazy, but the more I think about it, the more it seems perfect. We can co-parent a child together. Millions of people do it.”

  She guessed he was right, but she didn’t know if they could do it. A part of her thought he was kidding. "You're joking right?”

  “I’m not.”

  Part Two

  The Response

  Chapter Six

  “Twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three-”

  Sydney was at work counting down the registers at the end of a busy day. She and Sierra were the only ones present in the store. Spring time usually meant weddings and a lot of planners came in to order flowers in bundles. After working twelve hours, she was exhausted, but pleased that her business was still thriving.

  She finished the last register when her cell phone started to ring. Since Sierra was closer to it, she answered the call.

  "Hi, Zeke.”

  "I'm busy," Sydney whispered to her sister before she took all of the money to the safe in the back. She wasn't ready to talk to Zeke. After completing her task, she grabbed her things and headed back to the front. Sierra was sitting on top of the counter.

  "Why are you avoiding Zeke?" she asked before hopping off and giving Sydney her cell phone back.

  "It's complicated," Sydney stated while she set the alarm. The two of them left the store and started walking towards the employee parking area.

  “It's a good thing I'm a smart woman," Sierra replied as they settled into Sydney’s vehicle. "What's going on? You always talk to Zeke. You talk to him more than you talk to me. Are you still upset about the Alana drama?" she asked.

  Sydney shook her head and started backing out of the parking lot. Alana was the last thing on her mind. She looked onto the street before pulling onto the road. She tried to talk to Alana about everything, but it didn’t work. Alana felt betrayed that she was choosing Zeke over her. Sydney refused to pick anyone. As a result, her friendship with Alana was non-existent at the moment.

  “Zeke asked me to do something for him, and I'm trying to find the best way to say no."

  "Can you please stop being so vague and just tell me."

  Sydney sighed. She knew Sierra wouldn't stop until she told her. "He wants me to have his baby,” Sydney rushed out in one breath.

  It took Sierra a minute to realize what was said, but once she did, she was shocked. "Shut the fucking door!" she yelled, using a phrase she got from their mother.

  "The door is closed and locked, Sierra. When he asked, I didn't even know how to respond so he told me to think about it for a week. Five days later and I still don't know what to say."

  "Damn, Sydney. He wants you to be his baby momma?”

  Sydney rolled her eyes. “That sounds a little ghetto.”

  “Either way, he wants to skeet his soldiers into you.”

  Sometimes Sydney didn’t believe that she and Sierra came from the same mother and father. “He asked me to be the mother of his child. Not his baby momma.”

  “It’s the same shit,” Sierra replied. "Are you going to do it?"

  Sydney didn't know what to do; she would do anything for Zeke, but having his baby was pushing it to the limit. "I don’t know.”

  She drove into the basement parking lot of their apartment complex. She got out of the SUV, grabbed her things, and went towards the elevator. Sierra was right behind her.

  "Why not?" she questioned as they got on. "Is it because of your age?"

  "No. I’m twenty-five. I don't consider that too young to have a child," she replied, pushing the button for their floor.

  "Are you worried about the baby messing up your business?"

  She had already thought about that too. "No, I figured that mom could watch the baby at first and then he or she can come to work with me. Zeke said that he'll take the baby to work with him also, since his firm has a daycare for their employee's children.”

  Sierra followed Sydney into her apartment. "Are you worried about getting fat?"

  Sydney chuckled. "No, Sierra. I would continue working out."

  They sat on the couch. Sierra kept firing questions at her, and Sydney replied to all of them without hesitating. She wasn't worrying about what her parents thought. She knew they wouldn't be happy if she had a baby out of wedlock, but she could deal with it. She didn't mind co-parenting with Zeke afterward, either. She figured that their close relationship could only benefit the child. Today she even made a schedule where the baby could spend half the week with Zeke, and the other half with her. If Zeke eventually got married, his new wife could be the child's stepmom. She had thought of everything, but for some reason, she couldn't bring herself to say yes.

  Feeling thirsty, Sydney went to grab a drink and waited for Sierra's next question. When it didn't come, she looked back at her sister. Sierra was smiling.

  "What?" she asked after drinking some wate
r.

  "Are you afraid of the dick?" Sierra blurted out.

  Sydney came and sat back down on the couch. "You know I'm not a virgin.”

  "Yeah, but you've never had Zeke's dick in your life, unless you've been keeping secrets from your big sister," Sierra eyed her skeptically.

  Sydney shook her head. "Nope. Nada. Never."

  "Well then, that has to be it. You afraid of it?” she asked good-humoredly.

  Sydney was tired of her sister. "Aren't you ready to go home?"

  "I'm not leaving until you tell me. I don't have classes on tomorrow, so I can stay here all night and day aggravating you. Do you still sleep on the right side of the bed? Because I need the left."

  The prospect of sharing a bed with Sierra left Sydney in a panic. Sierra liked to fight in her sleep. As kids, they shared, and she would wake up with a black eye. Giving in, she finally admitted it.

  "You’re right, I'm worried about having sex with Zeke."

  ≈

  Zeke decided to take a day off from work after spending four days in the courtroom. The defendant ended up accepting a plea deal after Zeke presented his case to the jury. It wasn’t the guilty verdict he wanted, but it was better than nothing.

  He didn’t have any plans for the day. He’d been trying to get in contact with Sydney all week, but she wasn't answering his calls. Maybe he shouldn't have asked her to have his baby. It was already changing their relationship for the worse.

  He rushed through the house when he heard the doorbell, hoping it would be her. He was a little disappointed to see Ethan instead. "You're early.” He watched as his brother walked into the living room. Ethan set his suitcase on the floor next to the couch and sat down.

  "It's three in the afternoon. I've been working since eight, not including the flight." Ethan was assisting one of his clients find a home in Texas and staying the weekend with Zeke.

  Zeke hadn't realized it was that late. He’d been sitting on the couch in front of the television for hours.

  "So what are we doing tonight?" Ethan asked, getting comfortable and plopping his feet onto Zeke's coffee table. "Maybe we can get together with Syd and her sister. Sierra is a goddess, and I've been trying to get with her since you introduced us."

  Zeke snorted. "Sierra doesn't like Coleman men."

  "Correction, she doesn't like Zeke Coleman. I think her likey herself some Ethan Coleman," he said, wiggling his eyebrows and making Zeke laugh at his silliness.

  It sounded like a good time to watch Ethan try to sleep with Sierra, but getting together with the girls might be a hard task to complete. "Sydney and I aren't talking."

  "What did you do?" Ethan asked his brother.

  “Why are you assuming it’s me?”

  Ethan snorted. “Because you can be an asshole. What happened?”

  Zeke came out with the straightforward truth. "I asked her to have my baby."

  Ethan stared at him, confused. He wasn’t comprehending Zeke’s statement. "I’mma need you to repeat yourself."

  "I asked her to have my child. She said she needed some time to think about it."

  "So you two are finally together?"

  Zeke shook his head. "No, were still friends."

  Ethan became heated. "What the fuck?" he exclaimed. "You are such an idiot. Who offers a woman to be a baby momma when she's worth more than that? Sydney should be a wife."

  "She could still be a wife. Just someone else's."

  Ethan got up off the couch and walked away from Zeke. "I'm telling Pearl on your stupid ass," he mumbled.

  Zeke sighed. Ethan was right, it was a bad idea. How could he request that from Sydney? To give her life and body up to a child that he wanted. No wonder she was avoiding him. Zeke then made the decision to take it back. If he were meant to be a father, it'd happen eventually.

  He called Syd one last time to apologize for his stupidity expecting her voicemail, but she answered.

  "Hi, Zeke."

  He got chills from hearing her voice, a voice he hadn't heard in days. "Listen, Sydney-"

  "I'll do it! I'll have your baby."

  Chapter Seven

  "Okay, Mr. Coleman you're going to be inside of room five. It's down the hall to your right. There's already a collection cup waiting for you," the middle-aged female technician informed him. "There's also some videos and magazines that can assist you if you find it difficult to become aroused,” she added with a wink.

  "Thanks," Zeke said politely before walking down the hall to the room. On his way there, he heard a few men already in action providing samples. He walked faster until he reached room five. Opening the door, he examined the small space with four walls. Against the far wall, there was a little television and in the middle of the room was an examining table with a tray sitting on top of it. There was also a chair. To Zeke, it looked like a small hospital room.

  Opting not to sit, he stood in front of the table and grabbed the small cup from the tray. He held it in his hands, examining the plastic container. He couldn't believe that he’d agreed to this.

  When he received the phone call from Sydney, he was elated that she’d decided to have his child. He admitted that he hadn't figured out the logistics of how it would go down, but he didn't expect her to send him to a sperm bank to have his sample collected. He figured that they would do the hokey pokey the traditional way to make a baby. He was open to giving this scenario a try though, because Sydney could’ve said no to the whole idea.

  Zeke decided to turn the TV on, because his neighbor to the left was making some loud groaning noises, and he wanted to tune him out. Once the screen came on, he observed a woman sucking a man’s dick. He wasn’t a stranger to porn, but the image on the screen didn’t turn him own. He watched, fascinated, as the woman put the entire dick inside of her mouth without choking. He continued to watch until when the man featured, ejaculated on her face.

  Zeke looked down at his dick and didn't see any reaction from the pornographic video. Picking up a stack of magazines, he opened one, looked through the photos, and stared at the beautiful naked women. He could imagine himself with a few of them, but he still didn't feel aroused. Sure he had masturbated before, but for some reason, he couldn't force himself to do it now. He picked up the cup and stared at it again. There was no way he could do this. He would have to convince Sydney that it wasn’t going to work this way.

  "Do you need any help?" It came from outside his door. He recognized it as the voice of the nurse from the front desk. What in the hell?

  Zeke went to the door and opened it. He handed her the empty cup. "I wasn't able to do it."

  "Do you need some help?" she asked eagerly.

  "No thank you," he quickly said, maneuvering around her and heading towards the exit.

  ≈

  Zeke called Sydney’s cell phone, and it went straight to voicemail. He made a quick call to the store and found out she was already home. He ended up at her apartment, and after knocking on her door, Sierra opened it for him.

  "Where's Syd?" he asked, walking into the apartment, not waiting to be invited by Sierra.

  “Hello to you too, asshole.”

  He wasn’t in the mood to deal with Sierra. “Hi, now where’s Syd?”

  "She's in the shower," Sierra replied. "Did you have fun spitting my future nieces or nephews into a cup?"

  Sierra always found it satisfying to get in on his nerves. "Don't you have an apartment?" he questioned. It seemed like whenever he came over, she was in Sydney’s place. “You might as well move in and pay half the rent.”

  They started to bicker back and forth, and didn’t notice when Sydney walked into the room fresh from the shower with a towel wrapped around her frame.

  "What’s going on? Sierra why are you here? Shouldn't you be at work, Zeke?"

  "I had the appointment at the clinic,” he responded.

  "And I ran out of food," Sierra announced. "I think you guys need to talk." She went over to Sydney. "I don't think he was successful
at the clinic. Look at him. Does he look like a man that just busted a nut?" she fake-whispered to her sister. It was apparent that she knew Zeke could hear her by the cheeky grin on her face.

  Sydney pushed her sister out of the apartment. "Bye.” She closed the door in her face and locked it before turning to look at Zeke.

  "Are you okay, Zeke?" she asked, walking to him. She sat down beside him on the couch.

  He let out a huff of frustration. "I couldn't do it. I tried, but it was the most unnatural thing in the world. That place was creepy, Syd. I could hear homeboy next to me jacking off, and when I couldn't do it, the nurse offered to help me. It was a mess."

  "Well, maybe we can find another place,” she suggested. “My gynecologist recommended that particular clinic, but I’m sure there are more than one around Austin.”

  Zeke shook his head. "I was thinking on the way over here, and that's not the way I want to conceive a child. Having a doctor take my sperm and insert it into you. It's not normal Syd, and it's expensive," Zeke explained.

  She got off the couch and started pacing around the room. "So how are you suggesting we do this?"

  "You and me in bed or a couch, chair, maybe in the shower," he suggested. He noticed that Sydney’s face became flush. "Are blushing over there, Sydney Adams?"

  She repeatedly shook her head. Water dripped from her hair onto her shoulders. “Black women don’t blush.”

  “You should tell that to the black woman standing in front of me.”

  "I'm not."

  "You are,” Zeke countered, getting off the couch. "Are you this shy about sex?"

  "Yes, since the topic of having sex with my best friend has come up. Aren't you afraid it's going to be awkward?"

  Zeke shrugged his shoulders. "Only if you make it." He then got an idea. "How about we test it out right now." He patiently waited until Sydney hesitantly agreed.

  "Okay.”

  He brought her back to the couch and sat facing her. "Close your eyes," he whispered.