Ilara: Chapter 7
All the rest of the way into town, I tried to convince him that we didn’t need to go shopping for me or Hope. He wouldn’t listen, the damn stubborn man! “Donovan, unless we’re going to shop for you, turn this truck around and take us back to the compound! We don’t need anything!”
“Bullshit! I saw what little you two have in that car. You’ve been doing without and that stops today.”
I stiffened to hear him criticizing what little I had. It was all I could take with me when we lost the apartment. I tried my best to give Hope what she needed. In my mind, love was most important, not things. He pulled into the parking lot of a big store. I sat there with my arms crossed, looking out the window, not at him. He shut off the truck.
“Baby, I’m not mocking what you have. I know you’ve been doing everything you can for Hope. She’s happy and healthy. That’s what matters. But you also haven’t been taking care of yourself. When was the last time you did something only for you?”
“Donovan, I don’t have that luxury right now. I take care of her. She’s loved and happy. She doesn’t need a million clothes or toys for that. When I get a job, then I can think about getting her more things.”
“You don’t need to wait until you have a job. We can get those things now.”
“I don’t have the money, and I’m not going to spend your money! I can take care of myself. I don’t need a man to do it. Don’t let my present situation make you think I need someone to take care of me!” I told him hotly.
He threw back his head and laughed. I stared at him stunned. He thought this was funny.
“Wait, don’t blast me. I wasn’t laughing at you. I was laughing at how strong and badass you sounded. You’ll fit right in with the other old ladies. They don’t take much shit either. However, let’s get something straight. I am the man in this relationship. As your man, I have some things I will and must do. One of those is to take care of my woman and daughter. I’m in this for the long haul, Ilara. I want Hope to be my daughter, to call me daddy one day. I was raised to believe that a real man takes care of his family.”
“You mean I stay home and wait for you to come home with dinner on the table and sex whenever you want it?”
“No, though I won’t object if you wanna cook and the sex is a plus too. I’m not locking you in the house. You can work if you want, as long as we’re not letting someone else raise Hope. You can have a career if you want. However, I will be the main provider. It may be old-fashioned, but that’s the way I was raised.” I could tell he wasn’t going to budge on this. What did I do? Stand my ground on principle or see what it was he wanted to do and then veto anything I disagreed with? I sat there contemplating for a minute or two then I nodded.
“Okay, let’s say I agree until I don’t on this subject. Let’s go in here and you show me what you think we need. I’ll tell you if we do or not.”
“Fine, we can try that, but you’re not saying no to everything, Ilara. I want to pamper my girls.” He got out and unhooked Hope, who barely moved. He came around and opened my door and held onto my hand as I got down. We walked inside with him carrying her and holding my hand. It was nice, more than nice. People were turning to look at us. I realized they were probably wondering what this biker was doing with this woman and her kid.
He’d put his cut when he got out of the truck. It had been hanging in there when we got in it at the house. I saw that some people were wary and gave us a wide berth, while others seemed to be fascinated and would stop and stare. I nudged his ribs. “Why are people staring at us?”
“Because I have two beautiful ladies with me. They’re trying to figure out how I got so lucky.”
“Yeah, I bet that’s it. I think it’s because they’re wondering what this sexy biker is doing with me and my kid.”
“Baby, I hate to tell you, because I want you to think only of me, but those men aren’t looking at me with interest. They’re all imagining what they’d do if they had a beautiful, sexy woman like you at home. They want to know what I have that they don’t. They’re wondering what you see in this old man.”
“For the last time, you’re not old! Shush your mouth about that. If I don’t care about our age difference, why should anyone else? It’s none of their damn business and if anyone says something, I’ll tell them that,” I told him heatedly. He smiled and pulled me closer, after he put Hope in a cart. She was awake now and looking around in interest.
“God, that was sexy as hell. Don’t do that or I’ll be walking around all day with a hard-on.”
I couldn’t help but glance down at the front of his jeans. I blushed when I saw he wasn’t kidding. He had an erection pushing at his zipper. “Keep it under wraps, honey. I’ll try to be good,” I said. He threw back his head and laughed, which had more people stopping to watch us. He started to push the cart.
?????
Two hours later, I was about to kill him. He had thrown a million things in the damn cart. I kept putting them back, and he’d snag them again. He insisted that I or Hope needed them. It was clothes, toys, shampoo, facial wash, you name it. If I even glanced at it, he grabbed it. I made the mistake of going down the makeup aisle to see what they had. It had been a long time since I’d bought or worried about makeup.
He was insisting I get what I wanted, though he said I didn’t need any of it. When I put things back after looking at them and the price, he’d grab it. I was about to murder him when he got to the baby aisles. We were in the one where you could get strollers, car seats, high chairs and stuff like that.
He started to study the car seats. “Bear, I have one for Hope in my car.”
“I know but what about my truck? When I have to pick her up, it’ll be a pain to move it all the time. We need another one.” I didn’t argue with his logic, though I had no idea when he’d be picking her up and not me. Once he found the one he thought was rated the best, he moved over to the high chairs.
“She’s almost big enough to be in a booster seat. Don’t buy one of those.”
“Okay, where are the booster seats?” he asked. I pointed at them, knowing he’d find them anyway. He got one of those. Once he did, I thought we were done. I was wrong. He then found a fancy stroller he insisted I get.
“Bear, she walks. I don’t need this,” I protested.
“She’ll get tired and then what, you carry her? She’s too heavy for you to do that, Ilara. She’s only going to get bigger. We need this,” he insisted. By the time he was done, we had two carts of stuff. He’d also gotten her toys, diapers, wipes, and other things on top of clothes. I dreaded to see what it was going to cost. I made a mental note to check how much and I’d pay him back. It would take time, but I’d do it.