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I was at a loss for words. If this is what he meant when he said he wanted to be involved then I definitely wasn’t going to stop him. If I did then I’d just be making life harder for myself.

___________

My day had turned around tremendously in the past hour and a half. Never did I think I’d be inviting Armias into my house, but after he showed up with goodies I figured it was only right. He led me to my couch and elevated my feet before putting on the compression socks and putting the heating pad behind my back. He then lectured me to never put the heating pad directly on my stomach. The way he was so passionate about it had me googling it the moment he stepped away and he was correct. I guess he would know better than me considering he’d seen more pregnancies in his lifetime than the average person ever would. Once I was comfortable on my couch, he moved over to the kitchen to pop my food into the microwave. He informed me that it was cold because it was purchased about two hours ago. I could care less because Voodoo Rolls were good fresh, cold, room temperature, or reheated. While I happily ate and watched tv, Armias excused himself to my bathroom. I normally didn’t eat all my Voodoo rolls in one sitting, but I’d been in rare form for the past month. I could eat a house and still have room for more. My salad was calling my name, but the Voodoo rolls were going straight through me so I excused myself to my bathroom. Upon walking in I saw a bubble bath already drawn in my freestanding tub. Getting spoiled like this was something I could get used to and I wasn’t sure if I should. Armias had come through today, but it was because he heard me having a breakdown. He wasn’t about to be over here everyday waiting on me hand and foot, and I didn’t want him to do that. Not that it wouldn’t be nice, but I’d get delusional real fast and start thinking he was my man again. He’d been going hard to have access to me lately, but that was because of the baby growing in my belly. Not because he wanted me back. I had to keep reminding myself of that so I could remain grounded in reality. Romantically, that man wasn’t fucking with me at all but he did want to be a present father. That’s all I could ask for at the end of the day.

After taking a quick shower and then soaking in the tub for about an hour, I felt like a new woman. I washed my face, let my hair down from the messy bun it had been in, rubbed my body down in vanilla body butter, and then I threw on a modest Hello Kitty pajama set that consisted of flowy pants and a tank top. The pajamas I actually wore to bed were skimpy, but I kept it PG because Armias was still in my house. I thought maybe he’d up and leave when I was taking my sweet time in the bathroom, but nope, I heard him loud and clear on the phone. As I walked down the hallway that led to the living room and kitchen that was at the very front of my house, I heard him on the phone with Aspen discussing UBR homecoming.

“Yea, the whole family coming to see you. I was just talking to Kyree about it and we thinking about booking some party buses from Qaylo.” He was staring at his phonescreen, so I assumed he was on Facetime. As I walked past him to the kitchen to get my salad, his eyes followed me.

“Sit down, Lourdes.” He demanded while standing up like my sofa was on fire.

“Why? I can get my own food.”

“Because I’m looking at your feet and they’re still swollen.”

“They don’t hurt as much anymore though.”

“Man, sit down,” he ordered so sternly that I immediately complied with no back talk.

“Hey, Lourdes!” Aspen spoke to me while laughing. She was undoubtedly getting a kick out of her brother ordering me around. I’m sure it wasn’t anything she wasn’t used to herself.

“Hey, Aspen,” I yawned as I got comfortable on my couch.

“Look at you, can’t even sit down without getting worn out but you was over here doing the most,” Armias fussed.

“Nigga, all I was doing was getting my salad. You’re being dramatic.”

“Nah, you being dramatic. Working yourself like a dog like you not five months pregnant. You need to sit down somewhere and relax. ‘Cause we both know that money is no issue.”

“I don’t know shit,” I rolled my eyes. “And because I don’t know I’ma keep working. I have bills and a baby to prepare for.”

I was just running my mouth because I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of thinking he was really in charge. When really, today showed me that I wouldn’t be working as much during this pregnancy as I thought. I loved my job and I didn’t want to leave my clients high and dry, but I didn’t have the strength mentally or physically to have more days like today. I’d come to this realization before Armias had said anything about it, so he needed to relax because he wasn’t running shit.

“Alright, I’ma let you say whatever you want right now.”

“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I’m going to show you what it is and what it will be for the next few months, so you can run your mouth right now. ‘Cause we both know that you not tryna be in discomfort everyday.”

That shut me right on up and I rolled my eyes.

“Look, just bring me my salad,” I muttered, making him and Aspen laugh.

“Yea, alright. You want me to warm this chicken up for you?”

“Yes, please.”

“Give her the phone, Bubby. I want to talk to her about what I was just telling you about.”

“Man, she don’t want talk to your messy ass.”

“Yes I do,” I sat all the way up. “Bring me the phone or I’ma come over there and get it.”

I could tell he didn’t want to, but he stopped what he was doing and brought his phone over to me.

“Okay, Miss Dancing Diamond! You look so pretty,” I raved while smiling at Aspen. She was in practice attire, but her slick back bun and natural makeup was still gorgeous. Bandheads always said that you couldn’t be anything less than a 10 to be a UBR Dancing Diamond and Aspen definitely fit the bill. She was drop dead gorgeous and I was hoping my baby girl got some of her features.

“Thank youuu,” she grinned. “You look pretty, too. I can’t wait to visit for Fall break this week to see and touch your little belly. I would suggest that we go somewhere and eat, but my brother said you gotta sit down somewhere. So I don’t know…”