I laughed. “Don’t worry, Jayne. When the time is right, what is meant to be will be.”
“Don’t give me that fairytale bullshit. I want some dick. It’s like he’s not even thinking about it when we’re together. I don’t think I’m his type because he is always flirting with other women when we’re all at Club Elite. He doesn’t dance or leave with any of them, but he does enough to let me know he’s not feeling me like that. He just likes to come over to my house and play Mortal Combat Eleven. I’m about to give his ass the game and tell him to hook it up at his house. Coming over here looking like Justin Tredeau, about to make a sister go intercontinental postal on his ass.”
I began to laugh again, but then I realize that Bruiser and I had been having sex nonstop. Not one day over the past month did we have to stop because of my period.
“Wait…” I sprang from the bed to my feet.
“Don’t tell me to wait! I know I have to wait. That’s why I hate fucking periods,” Jayne sniped.
I peered at the bathroom door. The shower water was running, so Bruiser couldn’t hear me. “No, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about the fact that I haven’t had a period this month,” I said softly, walking out of the room and to the kitchen.
Not once had I missed my monthly, and I was protected at all times… until Bruiser, it seemed. Was our relationship strong enough for what this could mean for us?
“Oh, goodness!” Jayne squealed excitedly. “Are you about to have me a niece or nephew to spoil? If it’s a girl, name her Jayne. If it’s a boy, name him Jamie,” she added.
“Do you really think I’m pregnant?” I asked as shock blanketed over me.
“I don’t know, sis. Only you and Bruiser know what you’ve been doing in the bed, but I bet you two have been going at it like jackrabbits. You’re more than likely pregnant, Alise. You’ve never missed a period, and I call first dibs at godmother. I mean, Tameka and Kemara are cool and all, but you already know I’m the BFFF (best frieny-friend-friend). And I spoil babies too.”
It took this woman to pull a laugh out of me at a time like this. “You don’t have to ask, Jayne. You’re the first person I would offer that honor to anyway.” I paused. Naming a godmother wasn’t what I needed to be doing. I needed a pregnancy test. “Well, let me call you back later. I have to run to the store to get a test.”
“Yes, please do call me back as soon as you find out something,” Jayne said. “Or, I’ll be calling you.”
“I will.” I hung up and sighed. A nervous shiver traveled through me. I never really thought about motherhood and all that it would entail. My career was foremost in my mind. The thought of being responsible for another person overwhelmed me.
Bruiser walked into the kitchen and over to me, wrapping his arms around my waist, pulling me close to him. “Damn shame we had to get up this early. Now, what should we do with this extra time we have found ourselves with?” He slid his hand down my backside and over the rounds of my ass, pulling me close to him.
“I—I.” He grazed his warm mouth over my neck. Despite my little predicament—no pun intended—I shivered under his touch. Palming his chest, I pushed him back gently. “Bruiser, baby, stop. I haven’t had a period this month, so we should go to the store to get a test.”
“What?” He took a step back further and looked hard at me. “But, you’re on the pill.”
“I am, but when I was talking to Jayne, I realized I haven’t had a period all month long. Not one time have I had to tell you ‘not tonight’ because of my period, so something is off.” Bruiser gathered me up into his arms and squeezed me as tight as he had the night before. “Don’t break my back, Bruiser! Besides, if I am pregnant, you’re going to have to stop doing that, or you’ll hurt the baby.” How easily I said that was eye-opening.
“Baby,” he breathed. “Hearing that word is music to my ears.”
I threw on a pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt. Bruiser put on his dress pants and a collared shirt. He grabbed his keys, and we headed out the door to the store. After getting the test, I didn’t even wait to get back home to take it. I rushed into the drug store’s bathroom, opened the box, and followed the instructions.
My foot tapped on the tile floor as I waited for the results. A horizontal line appeared first. My stomach dropped.
Bruiser knocked at the door. “Is everything okay, Alise? Talk to me, sweetheart.”
Then a vertical line ebbed into view on top of the other. A plus. Holy fuck!
“Positive.” I gulped in a breath of air. I was having Bruiser’s baby. I walked out of the bathroom and straight into his arms.
“You’re having my baby,” he said, already knowing the results without me telling him.
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Are you ready for this?” he asked.
A part of me had always been ready for this natural evolution between us. The rest of me would have to get ready sooner by putting some fire behind me so that I could finish my album before the baby arrived. Gratefully, I had quite a few months to get things in order before taking an extended break off for maternity leave. Bruiser and I would discuss the details. We were going to work it out. He wouldn’t let me do this alone. At least, that’s what I told myself.
“Yes, I’m ready to have your baby, Bruiser,” I answered.
“I’m glad to hear that because I would have never had unprotected sex with you, birth control pill or not, had I not been ready for you to be the mother of my child. This news was something I knew was a possibility with the way we’ve been making love. Now that I know you’re pregnant, it just raises the stakes of how much I have to be here for you, and now my child. I will live up to it, Alise. We are going to be alright.”
I didn’t know how much I needed that vow from him until he gave it. The chaotic emotion whirling within settled down as he gripped my face in his palms, dragging my lips to his. We stood in CVS, embracing the moment we found out we created a little one, our little number one, who we would both love and protect forever. It was the best day of my life.