My decisions didn’t make me weak. They made me a mother who protected her child from the second she knew those cells were multiplying inside of her. If the situation would be stressful for the baby and lead to them having a life where they were smothered and not free to find out who they truly were, or even one where their physical or mental health was in jeopardy, then I wasn’t doing what was best for them.
Ergo, today I was a single mom with a daughter who was tenacious, hilarious, a diva, and the most loving little girl I’d ever met. Well, aside from my best friend, Naomi’s, niece. Holy hell, Shanti could give a beauty queen a run for their money.
“Aun-taaay Say-laaa,” Nemi squealed, still at the stage where she liked to over-enunciate words.
Some kids had a lisp, and some kids couldn’t quite get them, others did it first try. Nemi was a perfectionist, and if she couldn’t get the pronunciation right, she added in some sort of exaggeration to the word that got the message across.
“Yup, baby, we’re heading to see her. You got your purse?” I asked as I got out of the car and moved around to the back to get her out.
Reaching across, Nemi picked up her little black purse with a silver buckle on it, while I picked up the big ass diaper bag I had to cart around everywhere. Sure, it wasn’t a fabric one and was one of the cute leather versions, but the fact it was a diaper bag while my not-even-three-year-old had a proper classy purse?
Yeah, the irony wasn’t lost on me at all. Just to add to it, Nemi wasn’t in diapers anymore, but she had a tendency to drop food down her clothes or rub against things and get dirty, so I had to carry at least two changes of clothes with me. It also never hurt to carry around a cap for her so the Texas sun didn’t burn her soft skin, so I added that in. And a snack and drinks—God forbid there weren’t any of those when she got hangry—and medications and a small first aid kit. I was paranoid about things like that.
Technically, it wasn’t a diaper bag anymore, it was a moderately anxious parental one.
Nemi dropped out of the car as soon as her restraints were off and stood smiling and waving at whoever was walking past us.
Bumping the door shut with my hip, I hit the lock button on the key fob and held my hand out for my diva to take. “You know all the folk you’re waving to?”
Instead of answering me with words, she just shot me a sassy smile and a wink.
“You’re old before your time, girl. How about you dial it down and act like a toddler instead of a teenager, huh?”
I was so caught up in making sure no cars were speeding toward us as we crossed the road that I didn’t see who was standing watching me on the opposite side—the gladiator. Nemi, though, had seen something she wanted to get closer to, so she darted across it, almost giving me a heart attack.
“Hey!” I heard Nemi squeak as I caught her. “You big.”
“You know full well you aren’t meant to cross the road without holding onto an adult’s hand, Miss Du Plessis.”
Looking somberly up at me, she whispered, “Sorry, Momma.”
Helping her up the curb and onto the sidewalk, I prayed what she’d said to the stranger wasn’t an offensive comment to them from her. No one wanted to be called big, but sometimes that comment was worse than other times. I did my best to prevent her from innocently saying rude things, but sometimes, it was impossible to stop her in time.
I heard some muttering and was just in time to see Bond squat down, as his three brothers remained standing behind him, all smiling softly down at my daughter.
“Yeah, I grew too fast,” Bond murmured. “My brother’s taller than me so he’s a giant, but I’m older than him, so really I’m bigger.”
If he’d said that to an adult, we’d be wondering what the hell he was talking about. Yeah, it made sense, but it was just weird. But seeing him saying it to my daughter? I kind of wanted to make him a cake out of gratitude because she loved and understood every single word.
Nemi leaned to her left and looked around him at the Kleins standing watching her. With a wave, she took them all in and finally decided that Jarrod was the tallest out of them.
“You a real giant?” she asked him, and I swear a little sigh came out of her when he grinned back at her.
Now, let me just say, I’d had all of maybe six instances when I’d bumped into one of the brothers before this. I didn’t get out much, and when I did, I was usually in such a hurry or so focused on what I was doing that I didn’t pay much attention to who was around me. But I’m sure I’d remember if I’d ever seen all four of them together—no woman would forget that. It was just impossible. They packed that big a punch, it felt like I had no saliva in my mouth.