Page 99 of Certified to Handle You 3

I rubbed the back of her neck and kissed her again before pullin’ her closer. There wasn’t shit either one of us could do about whatever that test was about to say, but I could hold my wife while we waited on it.

A few minutes later, Toni turned her head toward the counter.

I felt her move in my arms before she pulled back enough to reach for the test. She picked it up and looked down at the screen, and I watched her face while I waited for her to say somethin’.

Her hand flew over her mouth. Her eyes lit the fuck up, and before she even turned the test around, I knew.

I let out the breath I had been holdin’ and rubbed my hand down my face as Toni looked up at me with tears already fillin’ her eyes. She turned the test around, and right there across the screen was the one word we had been waitin’ months to see.

Pregnant.

“Come here,” I said as I reached for her.

Toni came straight into my arms, and I wrapped both of mine around her before kissin’ the side of her face. She was smilin’ and cryin’ at the same time while holdin’ on to me, and I closed my eyes for a second as some of the pressure I had been carryin’ these past few months finally left me.

“My baby pregnant,” I said low near her ear.

Toni smiled through her tears and held me tighter. “Finally.”

I pulled back and looked at her, then wiped the tears from her face with my thumbs before kissin’ her. She was still smilin’ when I moved away from her lips, and my eyes dropped toward her stomach as my hand followed.

I laid my palm over it and rubbed her soft through the gown. There wasn’t a belly there yet and we ain’t know how far along she was, but knowin’ my baby was already in there had me lookin’ at Toni different. She had been walkin’ around this house tired as hell and sleepin’ every chance she got ‘cause her body was already doin’ what it needed to do.

I looked back at the test in her hand and smiled before kissin’ her forehead again. Months of tryin’ had finally paid off, and now that we knew, my mind had already moved to everything that needed to happen next.

We needed an appointment. Toni needed to start takin’ whatever she was supposed to take. I wanted to know how far along she was, and I wanted to make sure everything with her and the baby was exactly how it was supposed to be.

Eventually, Toni climbed back in bed while I fixed the pillows behind her. I handed her some water from the nightstand and waited until she drank some before takin’ it back.

My mama came by later with a bag full of stuff for Toni. I still ain’t tell her about the pregnancy ‘cause that was somethin’ Toni and me could tell everybody when we felt like it.

I listened while my mama explained what she brought and how Toni could use it, and I put everything where I could find it after she left.

By night, I had my wife back in bed with My’Love laid up in her arms while cartoons played across the TV.

My’Love was comfortable as hell with her back against Toni and one of her lil’ hands restin’ on her arm.

Toni was comfortable with her hair pulled away from her face while she watched the TV with our baby, and I sat further down the bed with one of her feet in my lap.

I rubbed my thumbs over the bottom of her foot while she relaxed against the pillows. Every now and then I moved up to her ankle and rubbed there too before goin’ back to her foot. She kept lookin’ down at me with this soft smile on her face, and I knew exactly what she was thinkin’ about ‘cause I had been thinkin’ about the same shit all day.

There was another baby comin’…

I had already made sure she ate again after her stomach settled, and this time I kept it light ‘cause I ain’t need her throwin’ up twice in one day. She had water beside the bed along with the stuff my mama brought, and I kept an eye on her without botherin’ her every few minutes. If she needed somethin’, I was right there, and if she got tired, all she had to do was close her eyes.

I rubbed her other foot for a while before lookin’ over at My’Love. She was locked in on the cartoon, and I smiled while watchin’ both of ’em.

My’Love had changed everything for us when she came, and now Toni was carryin’ another baby we had wanted for a while now. I ain’t know if it was gon’ be another girl or a boy yet. Either way, I just wanted my baby healthy and my wife good.

After a while, I let Toni’s foot go and moved up the bed. I sat beside her near the headboard and put my arm around her before reachin’ across My’Love and pullin’ both of ’em closer to me. Toni settled into my side while My’Love stayed right where she was between us, still watchin’ her cartoons like we wasn’t botherin’ her.

I leaned over and kissed Toni’s lips, then stayed close enough to look into her eyes when I pulled back. She smiled at me and ran her hand over my arm while I rubbed mine along her side.

“I love you,” I told her soft.

“I love you too,” Toni said before kissin’ me again.

I looked down at My’Love and kissed her cheek until she finally looked away from the TV long enough to look at me. I smiled and rubbed my hand over her head before kissin’ her again.