Baby Momma

by Tosha Damaya

  Sydney pushed him against the bed and started taking her clothes off. Zeke was enjoying the show, forgetting all about Ethan. She was almost naked when her cell phone began to ring. Zeke groaned. "You have to be fucking kidding me? Who is it?"

  Sydney walked over to the dresser and answered the phone. "Hey, Sierra."

  "I need to talk."

  Chapter Sixteen

  Tuesday morning, Sierra was sitting at a coffee looking for jobs. She made the decision late the night before that she needed to step up and take care of herself.

  Her conversation with Sydney didn't go well. Her sister spent the entire time telling her how stupid she was for letting Ethan leave. She had called to get some clarity, not to be called names, so she hung up on Sydney. No matter how many times her sister said it, she didn't love Ethan. She enjoyed his company and liked being in bed with him, but that didn't equal to love. Sydney needed to realize that every couple didn't end up like her and Zeke.

  After searching on a hospital’s website and not finding any openings, Sierra decided to take a break and looked onto the street while sipping her coffee. She didn't expect to see Ethan. Why is he still in Austin? He was walking down the street talking with a woman. A white woman. At first she didn't think anything of it until Ethan put his hand on her back to guide her to the restaurant. How the fuck is he going to profess his love for me and then move on the next day with someone else, she thought to herself. She was tempted to go curse him out, but changed her mind. Grabbing her cell phone, she called her sister instead.

  "I thought you weren't talking to me.”

  Sierra ignored her. "I just saw Ethan go into a restaurant with a woman. A white woman! He changed teams!" Sierra yelled into the phone, causing a few people to turn and stare at her.

  Sydney snorted. "First off, technically he didn't switch teams, just players. Second, you've dated outside of your race, so stop sounding so shocked and third, why do you care?"

  "I don't care," Sierra defended.

  "Sounds like you do."

  "I don't, in fact, I have a make-up date with Laurence."

  Sydney sighed into the phone. She didn't have time for Sierra right now. "I have to go, there are customers in the store that need help. Before I hang up, I wanted to tell you that you're foolish for letting Ethan go. He loves you Sierra, and you're going to miss out on something great because you're too afraid to take a leap of faith. Bye."

  Sierra ignored Sydney's words. She erased Ethan from her mind, and she started looking for jobs again. She tried her best, but every few minutes she looked up to see if he had left the restaurant.

  ≈

  A couple of days later, Sierra had her date with Laurence. She had high hopes for a good afternoon lunch with him, but she was let down. The man was a complete bore. She thought at first he was nervous and would eventually warm up. But as time progressed, the date became worse. They weren't compatible, and she couldn't stop comparing him to Ethan.

  Ethan had a way of making her laugh at the silliest things. For example, he would probably be cracking a joke about their waitress or the couple sitting next to them. Laurence probably didn't know what a joke was. Sierra also felt like she couldn't be herself around him. When she mentioned how big the hostess’ breasts were, Laurence got all red in the face. She needed a break from him and his proper demeanor. "Excuse me, I need to freshen up," she said as a way to leave the table.

  Sierra went into the bathroom and banged her head against the wall. She had to find a way to leave before she shot herself.

  "Bad date?" she heard a woman comment.

  "Horrible," Sierra replied, before looking over at the woman. She recognized the blonde but couldn't place her. A few minutes later it clicked. "I saw you yesterday with Ethan," Sierra blurted out.

  "You know Ethan Coleman?" The blonde woman gushed. "Isn't he amazing? I just met him a few days ago, and he's already a major part of my life. I wouldn't know what to do without him."

  It hurt Sierra's feelings. "Really?"

  "Yes. Speaking of Ethan, I'm meeting him in about thirty minutes. What is your name? I'll tell him I ran into a friend of his."

  "You know what don't worry about it," Sierra replied walking away. How could he move on so fast? She didn't even bother going back to the table to say goodbye to Laurence. The tears were already falling before she made it to her car.

  ≈

  Zeke was trying his best to concentrate on the television screen, but a little hand that belonged to Sydney Adams kept distracting him. They were supposed to be watching the NBA finals, but his fiancée wanted to do other things. Zeke watched his favorite player make another three-pointer, and he felt Sydney reach for the waistband of his shorts. He slapped her hand away. "Not tonight. You have a doctor's appointment in the morning."

  "Pretty please."

  Zeke shook his head. "No. We've been going at it nonstop.”

  "I know and I’m hoping we can go nonstop tonight.”

  "No."

  Sydney realized that he wasn't going to budge, but she had a plan B. "Okay how about we try some other things."

  Zeke looked at her with scrutinizing eyes. "I'm starting to think you're a nympho."

  Sydney shook her head disagreeing. "Nymphos get it from any and everyone. I'm only addicted to you," she said, kissing him on the neck. "How about we just do a little smooching, touching, eating and sucking," she suggested, licking his ear.

  Lord have mercy! Fuck basketball, Zeke thought as he attacked Sydney. He could never get enough of her and when he tried to give her time to rest, she found ways to seduce him. He let Sydney take charge and allowed her to kiss down his chest. She pulled his penis out of his shorts and was about to place her mouth over on the tip when they heard banging on the front door.

  “Sydney! Open the door!” They heard Sierra scream.

  Zeke rested his head against the back of the couch in frustration. "I think we need to move," he groaned.

  Sydney giggled. "Go into the room and I'll see what she wants."

  Sierra rushed into the house as soon as Sydney opened the door. "I need to know where Ethan is staying.”

  Sydney was confused. "Why?"

  "I need to see him! I've been trying to call him all day, and he isn't answering my calls. I went to his hotel, but they said he checked out.” Sierra settled on the couch. “I want to apologize for that bullshit with Laurence," Sierra wept.

  Sydney smiled. "I thought you didn't care about Ethan?"

  "Shut up.”

  Sydney was tempted to send Sierra on a wild goose chase. "Ethan is living in my old apartment."

  What the fuck? So all this time she was going crazy and Ethan was only a few feet away from her? "Why didn't you tell me?"

  “He just moved in. He’s relocating from Austin and is taking over my lease. You said that you didn’t want to talk about Ethan," Sydney said, shrugging her shoulders.

  Sierra took a deep breath. She thought she had a few hours to face Ethan to figure out exactly what she wanted to say. "What if he already moved on?" Sierra whispered to Sydney.

  Sydney smiled, "Believe me, he hasn't."

  Sierra left the house and rushed over to Sydney's old apartment. She composed herself before knocking on the door.

  The same blonde woman from the restaurant answered. "This is such a coincidence!” she beamed! "I swear you must be following me."

  Sierra ignored her. "Is Ethan home?"

  "He's in the bathroom at the moment. He told me to get the door. Come on in."

  Sierra walked in and observed all of Sydney’s belongings. Ethan hadn’t done much in terms of decorating.

  "Okay, let's finish this deal," Ethan said, walking into the room. He didn't realize that Sierra was present along with Jennifer. He was surprised to see her. "Sierra, what are you doing here?"

  "I came to talk to you about us, but I see that you've already moved on with Barbie here," she said pointing to Jennifer. "Didn't you tell me you loved me six days ago?"
>
  "It was five days ago," Ethan corrected. "I meant what I said Sierra, but you made it loud and clear that we weren't exclusive and that you didn't make me any promises."

  She snorted. "Yeah you love me so much that you got a new woman?"

  "'That's the pot calling the kettle black. Where's Laurence? The last time I saw you, he was looking pretty comfortable inside of your apartment. Why are you so concerned about what I'm doing?"

  "Ethan, how about we get together tomorrow?" Jennifer stated. She felt uncomfortable standing there listening while they talked. It was obvious that it was something personal.

  "That's fine. Come by around noon."

  Jennifer nodded and walked over to kiss Ethan on the cheek to say goodbye. Before her lips made contact with his cheek, Sierra snatched her by the hair pulling Jennifer to the ground. "Get your nasty ass lips off of him."

  Jennifer screamed, and Ethan stepped in to stop Sierra. "Baby please let go of the woman's hair!" Sierra wasn't listening so he had to lift her hands from Jennifer's head. Ethan was holding Sierra back from attacking her again. "Sierra, I'm not dating her. She's just a client baby, I'm trying to find her a new house," he stated.

  It took Sierra a minute to comprehend what Ethan said. "So you aren't together?"

  "No. I'm Jennifer and her husband's realtor. We aren't involved."

  Sierra felt like an idiot. She was also embarrassed by her behavior. Jennifer was sitting across the room rubbing her head. "I'm so sorry; I thought that you were a couple."

  Jennifer didn't say anything as she got up and ran out the door. Ethan shook his head in disappointment. That deal is obviously not going to happen. He moved away for Sierra. "That could've been handled in a different way. What if she wanted to press charges against you?"

  Sierra shrugged her shoulders. "I just reacted with emotion. I don't know what I was thinking," she admitted.

  "Why are you here, Sierra?" Ethan asked again. "Let me guess, you saw me with another woman, and I hurt your feelings. It doesn't feel good, does it?" he said, referring to when he saw her with Laurence.

  "I can't lie; it did hurt to see you with her. Ethan, I can’t make a commitment to you, but I can promise that you’ll be the only man I’m involved with.”

  "I would never hurt you, Sierra. I love you. I can honestly say that you're the first woman I've ever loved.”

  “Take me as I am,” she offered. She cared for Ethan, but she wasn’t willing to explore her feelings. “It’s all I can offer right now. Say yes, I don’t want to lose you.”

  Ethan pulled her into his arms and held her tight. "You need to learn how to let me in, were not going to work if you don't."

  Sierra nodded her head, agreeing with him. "I’ll try," she stated before kissing him. She missed being in his arms and kissing his lips. She missed him period.

  After the kiss ended, Ethan continued to hold her in his arms. It felt incredible to have her back.

  "Sierra."

  "Yeah."

  He cleared his throat. "I'm only attracted to black women."

  Sierra laughed. "Thanks for letting me know."

  ≈

  The next morning, Zeke held Sydney's hand as they traveled to their second prenatal appointment. She was a mixture of nervous and excited for this visit. She knew that it was too early to learn the sex, but she was anxious to see what her baby looked like so far in her uterus.

  When they arrived, she rushed inside, leaving Zeke outside by the car. He chuckled and slowly followed. He found her sitting in the waiting room, bouncing her leg up and down while biting her nails.

  "Relax baby," he crooned softly. Sydney took his advice and took a deep breath. Zeke wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her shoulders. He didn't want her blood pressure to rise just because of an appointment. "What are you so worried about, Syd?"

  "I'm worried that something is wrong with the baby. We don't have the greatest luck, Zeke."

  He shook his head disagreement, "I think we have incredible luck. Besides the morning sickness, everything has been going well for your pregnancy. Our baby is strong and was able to handle what happened at the store and will be able to handle anything that comes to his or her way. I believe that Syd, I need for you to be positive and believe it, too."

  She loved this man and was appreciative that he was in her life. Every woman needed a Zeke. Sydney gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. "Thank you for being so amazing and for lifting my spirits.”

  He smiled. “No, problem."

  Sydney's name was called a few minutes later, and they were escorted to the back by a licensed nurse practitioner. Zeke waited outside of the bathroom while Sydney provided a urine sample and held her hand afterward while she completed blood work. Her weight was also measured, and her blood pressure was checked. Everything so far turned out okay. The last thing that was completed was the ultrasound.

  "We won’t be able to find out the sex of the baby, but we do an ultrasound this early to rule out any ectopic pregnancies or any potential problems like birth defects or placenta issues. When you're further along, we'll do another ultrasound to determine the sex," Dr. Miller stated.

  Zeke helped Sydney get comfortable on the examination table and then the doctor put the gel on her stomach before placing the transducer on top of the gel. Sydney stared at the image produced on the screen and tried to decipher what she was seeing. None of it made sense to her. She looked to Zeke for answers, but he looked just as confused as she was.

  "What did they say after your ultrasound at the hospital?" the doctor asked. She was aware of the incident at the store and Sydney being checked out at the hospital afterward.

  “They didn’t do one. I didn’t have any signs of trauma.

  "They said that everything seemed fine," Zeke commented getting worried.

  "Why is there something wrong?" Sydney asked immediately.

  She shook her head. "No, there isn't anything wrong."

  Dr. Miller continued moving the device across Sydney's stomach not saying anything. It made Sydney troubled. After a few minutes, the doctor took the machine off of her stomach and wiped the remaining gel away with a washcloth. "I printed some pictures. Give me a moment and we'll review them together," she said leaving the room.

  "Something is wrong," Sydney stated. Zeke helped her off of the table and rubbed her arms in a soothing manner.

  "Nothing is wrong Syd, we're going to have a healthy baby," he stated. He just prayed to God that it was true.

  She came back into the room a few minutes later. "Have you guys started buying things for the baby?"

  Sydney snorted. "This man has gotten everything. The only thing we need is clothing, but we're waiting to know the sex."

  "Well, I think you may need to do some additional shopping for furniture as well. I suggest getting another crib, car seat, and stroller, also some extra pampers."

  "Why would a baby need an additional set of everything?" Sydney questioned, feeling lost.

  Zeke had caught on right away. "Because they're two babies Syd," Zeke stated. Two babies? He had mentioned the possibility of it happening, but didn’t think it ever would.

  "What!”

  Dr. Miller handed them the ultrasound photos. They couldn't believe what they were seeing.

  "This is amazing," Zeke commented.

  "It's certainly a blessing. You two are very lucky."

  Chapter Seventeen

  Sierra and Ethan arrived at the store and found Zeke and Sydney in the office.

  "Hello, my peoples!" Sierra greeted. She gave Zeke a brief hug and kissed Sydney on the cheek. Ethan did the same. "So why did you two pull us out of bed?"

  Sydney was confused. “I thought you two were over?”

  Sierra shrugged her shoulders. “We’re just fucking. That’s the agreement. Nothing more, nothing less.”

  Zeke knew that Ethan wanted more, but he held his tongue. “We have some good news."

  "Sydney’s pregnant!" Sierra exclaimed sarcastically.


  Ethan covered her mouth with his hand. "What's the good news?"

  "We're having twins!" Zeke stated with a smile.

  "Shut the door."

  Sydney laughed, "It's already shut, we're having twins, and we want you and Sierra to be the Godparents."

  Sierra bit Ethan's hand. "Ouch, Sierra!"

  "Well, you shouldn't have put your hand on my damn mouth."

  Sydney looked at Zeke. "You're sure you want these two to be Godparents to our children?"

  Sierra was offended. "We're going to be amazing Godparents! We're going to take them clubbing and give them alcohol."

  "I think I made a mistake," Zeke stated.

  They all laughed.

  "Sierra and I have good news also," Ethan announced.

  Sydney got excited. "Are you pregnant?"

  "Hell no!" Sierra exclaimed. "I never plan on being pregnant."

  That got Ethan's attention. "You don't want kids?"

  "No."

  Ethan decided to not approach that subject. He didn’t want to ruin the little progress he’d made with her. He cleared his throat, "I sold my first house in Austin.

  "And I have an interview," Sierra stated.

  Zeke and Sydney congratulated them.

  "We should celebrate! Let's make dinner reservations."

  Sierra didn't like Sydney’s idea. "Booooo. Let's go out to the club. When was the last time we went dancing? We can call Jonathan to join us."

  “I’m pregnant, what do I look like going to a club?”

  "Pretty please! It'll be fun. You’re barely showing.”

  Sydney looked at Zeke. "What do you think?"

  He shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you want babe."

  "Fine, we can go dancing."

  ≈

  Later that night, the four of them arrived at a club downtown. The group skipped the line and walked to the front of the club.

  “Sierra and Sydney plus two,” Sierra stated to the bouncer.

  The large man looked over the list and allowed them inside of the club. They got escorted to VIP, and their orders were taken right away by a server. Zeke and Ethan stared at the girls with disbelieving looks. Ethan was the first to speak. “Should I be concerned that you can get into one of the hottest clubs in Austin without waiting?”