The Baby They Bonded Over

Nadia thought about the proposition for a moment. This was the end game. This is why the plan was enacted in the first place. How could she not meet with him? This was the nail in the coffin. She told Megan that she would meet Paul in front of the shop later that night and to tell him that she won’t be alone. Paul heard her and nodded his head that he was okay with that. He just wanted to see her, even if it was for the last time.

Megan breathed a sigh of relief once Paul finally left her office. The next time he would show up to Babes and Bosses would be around eight that night.

The shop was closed and the street lights lit up the street as he waited patiently for Nadia to arrive. A car pulled up and it wasn’t hers but he recognized the first face that got out.

Sylvia was dressed like a dude ready to fight. Her boots were laced up tight and her hair was slick back in a ponytail. Jeremy got out of the driver’s seat and Amy slid out the back. She was there to support her girlfriend but mostly serve as a lookout in case things got out of hand. Paul huffed and puffed as he saw that Nadia was nowhere in sight.

“Yo what the fu*k is this sh*t man?” Paul moaned. Every time he saw Jeremy, he got an instant headache, “Where’s Nadia? This sh*t is between me and her. I don’t care to talk about this sh*t to none of y’all!”

“You really need to stop this Paul,” Sylvia stepped to him. “She ain’t here because she’s scared of you. The way you’ve been acting has her afraid to even be in the same room as you! You need to back off.”

“Sylvia, I know how hard you ride for your sister but if you don’t back up out of my face I will hit you like the man you’re posing to be!”

Jeremy pulled Sylvia back and got in Paul’s face himself, “So hit me then! You were gonna bust my ass that night outside her house. Do it now!”

“Jeremy don’t!” Sylvia yelled.

“I got this,” Jeremy held his hand up telling them to stay back. “Anything you got to say to Nadia, you need to say it to me. She don’t want nothing else to do with you, brother. I’m her man now and she’s got my baby. There isn’t nothing you can change about that. I make her happy. She don’t ever gotta worry about me running around on her.”

“I find it funny how she’s pregnant when she told me she couldn’t get pregnant while we were together,” Paul sucked his teeth waiting for a good moment to swing on Jeremy.

“Think about it man!” Jeremy shouted, “Think about how smart she is! If she knew you were out here constantly cheating on her, why would she let you get her pregnant??! She knew deep down inside that you wasn’t good for her and a baby would keep you around for a lifetime.”

“I can’t believe she lied to me,” Paul caved realizing that he’d been wrong about Nadia all along. “She wasn’t ever supposed to be happy after me. She was supposed to forgive me and we’re supposed to get back together and live happily ever after.”

“Let me show you something,” Jeremy pulled out his phone. He showed Paul a video of him and Nadia in a doctor’s office.

“Man what is this?” Paul tried shoving the phone out of his face.

“Just shut the fu*k up and watch it,” Jeremy commanded. Paul did as he was told and watched the video. It was a bit shaky but it showed Nadia and Jeremy in the obstetrician’s office. They were laughing and joking at first but the doctor comes in to do their first sonogram. The doctor goes over the progress of the pregnancy and when they can expect to know the s*x of the baby. The glow in Nadia’s eyes was enough for Paul to know what they had was real. He shook his head in defeat and pushed the phone out of his way. He almost let a tear fall but didn’t want to add that image to this loss. He started walking away down the street.

Sylvia called out to him, “Where are you going?”

“Home,” Paul shouted without turning around. “I’m going home. I’m done here. And one last thing…”

“What’s that?” Jeremy asked.

Paul turned around briefly, “Truthfully, I never thought I was going to lose her. Especially not to some square ass dude like you. Don’t fu*k it up. Don’t string her along and make her love you if you not really with it. I haven’t seen that look in her eyes in a very long time. She used to look at me with eyes wide open, but I fu*ked that up. Don’t fu*k it up.”

“I won’t,” Jeremy nodded.

“Whatever,” Paul waved his hand at them, turned around, and kept on his way.

Jeremy and Sylvia stared at each other as smiles began to creep across their faces. The back and forth with Paul was finally over. They had managed to convince him that Nadia was happily pregnant and happy to be with Jeremy. Her crazy ass plan had actually worked. Jeremy couldn’t wait to get to her house and let her know.

The car ride was silent for the first few minutes while the three of them adjusted to the fact that this entire Paul issue was over with. The only thing left was to get through the rest of the pregnancy and give the baby up for adoption. That was the only part of the plan that Jeremy started to think was wrong.

Sylvia could tell something heavy was on his mind. When she asked him what was wrong, he told her. He didn’t want to keep any secrets from his best friend. He wanted her to know exactly how he felt about Nadia. Sylvia listened to Jeremy spill his guts about what he wanted to do next. The only question he needed an answer for was what did Nadia want? He knew what the plan was and trying to get her to stray away from that was going to be difficult. At least, that’s what he thought. Sylvia told him to be honest with her sister in hopes that he would be able to convince her to keep the baby.

Jeremy pulled up to Sylvia’s house and Amy hopped out first. Sylvia stared at him for a moment and rubbed his shoulder, “I’m proud of you and how you handled Paul. I’ve never seen you ready to fight over anyone. I’m glad it was about my sister.”

Jeremy shook his head laughing, “I can’t believe I was ready to get into a fist fight with him. He wasn’t even worth the press that would’ve come out about that. I can’t believe he gave up that easy.”

“Easy?” Sylvia was confused, “He’s been trying for weeks. Honestly, it’s probably been going on for months. I don’t know how long Nadia was dealing with him before she had this brilliant idea, but if he’d tried any harder this could have ended badly.”

“I’m glad it didn’t. At least we know he’s done with this nonsense. I would have had to really hurt him if he put hands on Nadia and our baby,” Jeremy admitted.

Sylvia’s face twisted in confusion, “Our baby? You really think you’re going to be able to convince her to keep this baby. You know how hard headed she is.”

“I don’t know, Vee. Some of the conversations we have and just some of the things she says and does, I think she wants to keep this baby too. I know she cares about me.”

“Of course, you guys have known each other for a very long time. She should care about you, even though I question that a bit.”