“Shit, Mom!”
I’m hustled to a chair in the shade where I place my head between my legs.
“Breath Ruthie.”
“The fuck?”
The sound of Skull’s voice is a soothing balm to my frazzled nerves.
“Ruthie? Mama, look at me.” His hands touch my thighs and I look up. “You with me?”
I nod.
“Come on, let’s get her out of the heat,” Shadow says.
I close my eyes and focus on keeping down my lunch as my family moves in around me. I clutch Skull’s cut and bury my face in his neck. “My father. He showed up.”
“Don’t worry about that. Let’s just get you calm and cooled off. All this drama isn’t good for our bean.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You don’t apologize to me. You did nothing wrong, Mama.”
The newly acquired nickname makes me cry. His hold on me tightens and the storm gate inside me breaks. My shoulders shake and I’m choking on disappointment, anger, and betrayal. How could she call him? Did Rochelle know? What secret is she hiding? Do I even care?
“Don’t fall apart on me, girl. We’re in this together, remember? Me and you against this fucked up world. I’ll hand you this motherfucker’s heart still beating if that’s what you need.”
I shake my head no. I don’t want to see harm come to my own father because of me. I just want him to go back into the wind. Skull is my refuge, strong, unyielding, and pouring every ounce of caring he has into me. I latch onto that offering like a leech and use it to pick myself up. We step inside the air conditioned church and he carries me into the sanctuary then takes a seat in the last pew. I blink to adjust to the dimness. The cool air revives me. I take in deep breaths and focus on his dark eyes.
He places a hand over my belly. “How’s my baby?”
“I think she’s good.”
“She, huh?” He bends down and nuzzles my nose. This is the man who made love to me with a slow sweetness that felt like our wedding night in his childhood home.
“I think so.”
“Nah, we need a boy first to protect his baby sister one day.”
“We’ve moved on to multiples?”
“Never liked being an only child,” he whispers. “You feeling better?”
“Yes. I just think I was overwhelmed.”
“Understandable. You have to step back and slow down. Let me and the boys do the heavy lifting. You’re a tough little bitch when you need to be. We all know that. Now isn’t the time to stand alone. I didn’t realize how much I wanted this baby until I saw you damn near do a header behind that booth.” His voice wavers, and his eyes dilate. “I’m not going through that again.”
“You want her?”
“I want that life we talked about. You won. I’m yielding to you. I’m all in.”
I blink. Just like that? “Why?”
“Cause seeing you like that was a wake-up call.”
Maybe something good came out of this cluster fuck after all.
“She all right?” Stone asks from the doorway.