by Vivian Ward
“It’s fantastic to see you smiling. I hope things work out in your favor; you deserve it.” She commended. “I like seeing you so happy.”
“I promised him that I’d call him later,” I said, sipping her coffee. “And I intend to do just that.”
“I think you should,” Lorraine added.
Suddenly, I realized something. “Lorraine, what am I going to do if this actually turns into something? How am I going to explain this to my family? And how am I going to tell him that I might not be able to introduce him to my family?”
Lorraine shrugged. “Sounds like you have a problem on your hands. I don’t even know where to start with ideas on how you could break the news to your family,” she sipped her coffee. “I think Terrance will take it the worst since he’s the baby and all.”
“I know. God, why does this shit have to happen to me? I finally find an amazing man who would be perfect for me, and Nevaeh, but he’s white.”
“I’d say you have your work cut out for you. Maybe you should slowly introduce the idea to him that you might not be able to date him? Maybe see if you can shake him, but I’d hate to see you do that.”
“To be honest with you, I don’t know if I should. Why would I want to fuck up a good thing? It’s not every day a girl has a billionaire who won’t take no for an answer knocking on her door to take her out.” I frowned. Only this would happen to me.
“Well, it’s only been one date. You never know how things will turn out. Maybe he isn’t the right guy for you. Just because he’s got money doesn’t mean he’s the perfect man. You still don’t know how Nevaeh will react to him.”
“I know,” I said contemplating how I was going to work all this out.
After I played with Nevaeh and fed her dinner, I thought about calling him. I couldn’t get him out of my mind no matter what I was doing. Nine o’clock wouldn’t come fast enough.
“Nevaeh, honey, it’s almost time for bed. Let’s get your jammies on so you can go to sleep,” I said. The faster I get her in bed, the sooner I can call Dale.
She didn’t last 10 minutes after she brushed her teeth and laid down. I quietly shut her bedroom door and went into my room to call him. At first I was worried that it was too late to call him but figured I’d give it a shot.
“Hello?” he answered.
It didn’t sound like he was sleeping.
“Hey, it’s Kimberly! Are you busy?”
“Nope, not at all. I just got off the computer,” he said.
“That sounds like fun,” I laughed. “Listen, I wanted to call to tell you that I had a great time today. I know I might not have accurately shown it, but I did.”
“I had a great time, too. What was your favorite part of the date?” he asked.
Talk about putting me on the spot.
“I don’t know. What was yours?”
“When I kissed you in the parking lot.”
I could hear his voice smiling through the phone. “Yeah, I’d have to agree that was a pretty good part of the date.”
“So, does that mean you’ll go out with me again?” he asked.
“Yeah, I think I can swing that,” I teased him.
“Next time, I get to pick what we do,” he asserted.
“What would you like to do?”
“We haven’t known each other long enough to do what I want to do,” he said perversely. “But I’d like to do something special.”
Chapter Four
When I returned to work on Tuesday, I filled my coworkers in on all the details about my date—and who he was. As they listened to my story, they were shocked.
“It sounds like a fairy tale, Kimberly!” Rachel exclaimed.
“I know. It just seems so surreal. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”
“You should go for it,” Sherry encouraged me.
Business was usual; we were painfully slow once again. On my break, I called to check on my daughter, which I typically did anyway.
“Hi Kimberly,” Lorraine answered the call.
“Hi. I was curious what you guys were up to today and was wondering how my munchkin is.”
“We’re not doing much to tell you the truth. She’s just been hanging out with Tyrone. He’s been working on painting the deck red so she’s been his big helper.”
“Oh, I bet he loves that,” I chuckled.
“Actually, he does! She’s a great drink-taker.” She snickered. “When you dropped her off this morning, I meant to ask you if you’ve gotten a hold of Dale since your date.”
“I called him last night,” I said, smiling.
“You did? I was thinking about it. If he really likes you, I say go for it. But if I were you, I wouldn’t keep him waiting too long. With his kind of cash, I’m sure women are lined up waiting to date him.” She raved.
“I’m more interested in an actual relationship and finding Nevaeh a good dad. We don’t need millions or billions of dollars to be happy.”
“Yeah, that’s right.” My friend chipped in.
“You never know. What if he has all this money, but he’s a complete asshole or what if he’s always gone or what if he’s abusive somehow? I don’t want to rush things only to find out too late.”
“I understand. So when do you expect you’ll talk to him again?” She pressed.
“I’m not sure, but.. I figured I’d hold out at least a couple of days. He said he wants to pick our next date. If he’s actually interested in me, then he’ll wait, but I better hang up. My break’s almost over and if Kevin comes in here and catches me on the phone, he’ll flip out. I’ll see you later.”
As soon as it was quitting time, I hung my apron in my locker, grabbed my purse and dashed out the door to pick up my cutie pie. I was glad my shift was over; my tips were hideous and business wasn’t picking up. Thoughts of calling Dale preoccupied my brain during my trip to Lorraine’s house. What if she was right? What if the ladies actually were lining up to date him? Would he take any of them up on it? If we ever became an exclusive item, would he be faithful to me? My mind finally shut off as I pulled in front of the house. Without fail, my sugar bug was waiting and watching through the window.
“Hi sweet pea,” I greeted my daughter, making my way through the door. “I heard you helped Uncle Tyrone paint the deck?”
“Yep, I sure did!” She announced beaming with pride of her accomplishment.
“I bet it looks beautiful. Can we go take a look at it?”
“Oh no, momma. We can’t walk out there. It’s wet!” she proclaimed.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Lorraine teased, walking into the room. “Would you like to tell your mom what else you did today?”
The tiny girl glimpsed down at the floor and shook her head no.
“What did you do?”
“Nothin’.” She lied; smiling as she peered at the walls.
“I’ll fill you in on what she did,” Tyrone interjected, joining the conversation. “She was helping me paint the deck—doing a splendid job—until she had a great idea to pull a prank on me.” He paused, staring at her bright hazel eyes. “Your lovely angel took my paint brush while I came in to use the bathroom to paint her tongue red.”
Nevaeh interrupted him, “I thought it would be funny to trick him into thinking I bit it and made it bleed.”
“Yeah, but there’s more. She realized how awful it tasted so she ran inside and grabbed the mouth rinse to wash her mouth out.” Tyrone began laughing so hard, it prevented him from continuing with the story.
“She took a swig of it and swooshed it around her mouth,” Lorraine continued. “Only except, it wasn’t mouthwash—it was peroxide. Once she started foaming at the mouth, she spit a mixture of paint and peroxide all over the bathroom counter!”
At this point, we were all laughing hysterically.
“Ah, that’s my little Nevaeh.” I boasted as I ruffled my child’s hair.
“I’m just glad she pulls most of her stunts while she’s with you,” Lo
rraine laughed.
After we had gathered up all of her things, we headed home, following our usual nightly ritual of a bath and a bedtime story before I put her to sleep. I laid in bed that night contemplating if I would call Dale the next evening once Nevaeh was settled in for the night. Surely a few days wouldn’t make me seem desperate, I thought. Soon, I dozed off with the remote control still in my hand.
In the morning, I was surprised that Nevaeh hadn’t run into my room to wake me up. Normally she was up before my alarm clock sounded off. She must be zonked, I theorized as I climbed out of bed to go check on her. When I opened Nevaeh’s door, I found her curled up, crying.
“What’s wrong baby?” I wondered as I sat down beside her.
“Momma, it’s my knees again. They hurt so badly, and my back too.”
“Is it as bad as it was before?”
“Yes, but worse! My toes and ankles are sore, too.” She cried as I pulled the covers down to determine if the swelling had come back.
It had. Her knees were the same as before, but this time, her ankles and feet looked swollen too. I placed my hand on her forehead to see if the fever had returned, and it had.
“I don’t know honey. Were you kneeling down or squatting when you helped Uncle Tyrone paint the porch yesterday?” I asked her.
“No, I was sitting next to him on the steps.”
“Hm. I’ll get your ibuprofen. It seemed to help the last time.” I implied, getting off the bed.
When I returned, Nevaeh told me more. “Momma, if I tell you something, do you promise you won’t think I’m crazy?”
“No baby, what is it?” I insisted.
“My fingers hurt too.”
“Your fingers?” I picked up her hand to examine it.
They didn’t appear swollen. I had no clue what would cause all of these different symptoms.
“Okay, you take this and I’ll phone the doctor. Here, open up,” I ordered as I administered the dose of medication.
Before I hopped in the shower for work, I called the doctor’s office. They weren’t open yet, I’d have to wait until it was closer to the time we’d leave. I rushed around, getting both of us dressed and out the door. In the car, I tried once more while on my way to Lorraine’s house.
“Dr. Herber’s office, this is Janice. How may I help you?”
“Hi, Janice. This is Kimberly Harris again. Dr. Herber examined Nevaeh last week and said that he thought it was a bug or something, but her symptoms have returned and now she’s complaining that her fingers hurt. Is it possible to get her in this week?”
Janice looked over the schedule. “Yes, we have an opening on Friday at noon. How does that sound?”
I hesitated for a moment. I knew that I was scheduled that day and my boss gave me hell for attempting to take off the week before. I quickly decided that I would see if Lorraine would drive her to the appointment. “Yes, that’ll be okay. I have to work so can my best friend bring her?”
“Sure, no problem.”
When I dropped Nevaeh off, I told Lorraine how the symptoms had returned and explained the Friday appointment. She agreed that she would take her.
While working, I worried about her all day. I also thought about how much these doctor appointments would affect my bank account. Since business had died down and my tips had dwindled, I was only clearing around a thousand dollars a month. We were barely scraping by as it was. While I was grateful that my friend didn’t charge me for babysitting, I felt guilty that I had her running all over town taking Nevaeh to her doctor appointment. On this particular afternoon, I was glad that the restaurant was slow. I had so much on my mind. There was my sick child, the worrisome bills and the billionaire—whom I couldn’t stop thinking about.
I decided that he would just have to wait—billionaire or not. My baby comes first. She always did and always would. It didn’t matter if he had a woman for every dollar he had lined up waiting to meet him. They could all have him if he weren't patient enough with me. On the flip side of the coin, I didn’t want him to get away either. He was so kind, friendly, funny, smart and outgoing; the complete opposite of the loser guys I regularly fell for.
On my 15 minute breaks and lunch period, I checked on Nevaeh.
“How’s she doing?” I asked.
“She’s been hanging out on the couch. I gave her the medicine that you sent, but her fever seems to come back just as it’s time for her next dose. I don’t think this is a stupid bug or virus.” Lorraine confided in me.
“You might be right. You’ve heard what they say about mother’s intuition, and I suspect it’s something more sinister.”
“All we can do is keep fighting for her and taking care of her. Don’t worry about her while you’re away. She’s in the best of hands here—at least when she’s not with you, I mean.”
“I know she is, but I’m worried about her. I better get back to work. Call me if you need anything or she gets worse.”
When I got to Lorraine’s house that evening, my love bug wasn’t in the window as usual. I frowned sensing something was wrong with my baby. She always watched for me to pull up. As I made my way to the front door and was about to grab the handle, the door opened from the inside.
“Oh, Hi Kimberly. I was heading out to go pick up dinner.” Tyrone explained.
“Hey,” I nodded, trying to muster a smile.
He shut the door behind him so Nevaeh couldn’t hear what he was about to say. “Kimberly, I want to talk to you about Nevaeh.” He began, looking over at the window to make sure she wasn’t sitting in it. “Lorraine didn’t want to worry you while you were at work, but she wasn’t herself at all today. She lied around on the couch the entire time and anytime she moved, her face flinched in pain. She wouldn’t let us touch her or anything.”
“Ugh, I can’t deal with this right now. I’m so stressed out. I just want her to get well.”
“Lorraine was planning on telling you when you came to pick her up, but I was worried that she would downplay Nevaeh’s symptoms so you wouldn’t be as concerned.”
“She told me some of it on the phone. I have a doctor’s appointment for her on Friday at noon. Lorraine’s driving her to it for me since I can’t take her.”
“That’s what I heard, but I wanted to let you know that if you need anything—we’re here for you.”
“You’re sweet Tyrone that really means a lot to me.”
After he had left, I walked into the house. Nevaeh was lying on the couch covered up with her favorite blanket. I smiled at her, hoping to relieve her some since I was there.
“I’m okay momma,” she mumbled as she watched cartoons, sensing I was worried.
“Okay. I’m going to go talk to Lorraine. I’ll be right back.” I kissed Nevaeh’s forehead and called for my friend. “Lorraine!” I yelled throughout the house.
“In here,” Lorraine said as she emptied a cap of detergent into the washing machine.
I walked into the laundry room and asked, “How did she do today?”
“She wasn’t her usual self. She seems frail and exhausted. It was a chore for her to lift her head. I even carried her to the bathroom once.”
“Seriously?” My heart dropped. What was wrong with my little girl? “I guess all we can do is give her ibuprofen until she gets into her pediatrician, and you’re taking her, right?”
“Yes, I am. Could they get her in any sooner than Friday?”
“I doubt it, but I’ll ask.”
I had already tried, but they were booked solid and Friday was the earliest appointment available, which was only because they had a cancelation before I scheduled Nevaeh’s visit.
“Can you help me carry her and her things out to the car?”
“Of course.”
That night, I carefully watched my darling and saw what Lorraine had told me about. She was so weak. Her frail body looked delicate and fragile as I lied next to her in bed.
“How are you doing sweetie?” I asked her.
&nbs
p; “I’m okay momma.”
I kissed her on the cheek and wished her a good night before flipping off the light. A tear rolled down my face as horrible thoughts raced through my mind. I’ve already lost my dad; I couldn’t stand to live without my baby. What if it was cancer? It was more than I could bare. I tried to shut off my mind as I fought to fall asleep.
