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The sound of Ahmad calling my name brought me out of my thoughts. When I looked up, I saw him standing in front of us. I didn’t even realize I was still holding the phone. After ending the call, I dropped it back into my purse.
“Hey, baby,” I said as he leaned in to give me a kiss.
He made his way over to Kari who had her arms out for him.
“Hey, Papa Ahmad!”
“Hey, princess.” He gave her a warm hug and kissed her cheek. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. Papa Ahmad, I wanna play all the games at Pizza Palace. You got enough money for tokens?”
He chuckled. “Yeah, baby. I got you.”
“What are you doing on this side of town?” I asked.
“I had business. I was gonna stop by the house, but your location said you weren’t there.”
“Well, after having that boot on for forever, my feet needed some TLC.”
“I wasn’t gonna say nothing—”
I playfully slapped his arm. “Don’t play with me!”
“Rabbit, tell your mama her feet were looking bad.”
Kari grinned. “You have pretty feet, Mommy.”
“Thank you, baby. You could never pit my baby against me. She loves her mommy.”
“I love Papa Ahmad, too, Mommy,” she said, matter of factly.
I playfully rolled my eyes. “I guess.”
Ahmad ended up sitting with us for the duration of our pedicure, and of course he paid for it. We walked out of the salon with Kari holding both our hands. She insisted on riding with Ahmad to Pizza Palace. The man already had a booster seat installed in his car for her.
I allowed her to go, and they followed behind me to the restaurant. I took the liberty of grabbing us a seat and ordering while Makari drug Ahmad to load her gaming card. She suckered him into a few games before the pizza came out. All I could do was smile as I watched them.
They looked like they belonged to each other. I wasn’t crazy enough to think that God had orchestrated this whole thing for me to find love. I never asked Him to bring me a man. I didn’t pray Ciara’s prayer or any shit like that.
But here we were.
Once the food came, Kari and Ahmad returned to the table. We ate while she dominated the conversation as she usually did. We all played a few more games until it was time to get Kari home to do her homework. Ahmad took over helping her while I went to take a shower and get her things ready for her bath.
By the time I got myself together and ran her bathwater, they were trekking upstairs. Baby girl was already yawning, so I knew she’d be out like a light after her story. Ahmad went to take a shower while I took care of Kari.
Twenty minutes later, she was in her pajamas and snuggled under her covers. Her eyes were drowsy, and she kept yawning.
“Are you gonna be able to stay awake for your story?” I asked with a giggle.
“I’m so tired, Mommy.”
“All that playing you did earlier is catching up to you,” I said, pinching her cheeks. “I’m glad you had fun.”
She yawned again. “Can I skip story time?”
“You absolutely can. We can read two stories next time.”
She smiled as her eyes drifted closed. Just when Ahmad walked in, they popped back open, and she looked up at him.
