The Other Side of the Pillow

We both came and I curled up into his arms and fell asleep.

* * *

The next morning, Tevin was in the kitchen bright and early cooking breakfast. The man really knew how to throw down. Turkey bacon, egg whites with spinach and fresh garlic, grits, and buttermilk biscuits.

He had the morning news on and, as usual, it was nothing but bad news. The world was truly going to shit. Parents killing their own kids, men killing their pregnant wives, child molesters raping kids in school classrooms, school shootings at least monthly, and drugs like meth and bath salts turning people into animals.

“Do you mind if I turn this off?” I asked, pointing at the TV as I entered. They were showing a story about a teenaged girl who stabbed her mother to death in the shower because she had placed her on punishment for missing curfew. “After such a relaxing and stimulating night, I don’t want to wake up to this.”

“Sure, turn it off. Change the channel. Whatever you want,” Tevin replied as he started plating the meal. “The last thing I want is for you to get upset, not while you’re carrying our baby.”

I chuckled. “Well, then I need to take the year off from school. There will be drama in my life between now and when I go into labor. I just don’t want to hear it this morning.”

Instead of turning it off, I opted to tune into Jerry Springer. There were two women on there fighting over the same man.

Tevin smirked as he set my plate in front of me.

“What?”

He shrugged. “You said you don’t want to watch any drama but then you turn to a talk show?”

“This isn’t drama to me,” I replied. “It’s funny. The people on these shows want their segment of fame, not even fifteen minutes. Anyone with common sense wouldn’t go on one if a producer called them up and said they were invited to be a guest.”

Tevin sat beside me and started digging into his plate. I got up to get two glasses and to grab some orange juice from the fridge. It was packed with food.

“I thought you said that you were low on groceries, since you were in Florida.”

“I was,” he said. “I went to Whole Foods at six AM.”

“Wow, I was really knocked out. I didn’t even hear you leave out or come back in.” I sat back down at the table and poured both of us some juice. “The island must’ve worn me out.”

Tevin rubbed my thigh. “Don’t give Saint Thomas credit for the magic that only my dick can do.”

We both laughed.

“I kind of recall being on top last night and putting in most of the work,” I stated jokingly. “But your dick was my sleeping pill last night. I haven’t had my medication in a hot minute.”

“So when are you moving in?”

I almost choked on my juice. “Moving in?”

Tevin stopped eating and stared at me. “Jemistry, I can understand if you’re not ready to get married yet. And honestly, I don’t want to go to the justice of the peace. I want a big wedding. You deserve that. But I’m drawing the line at us living separately while you’re pregnant. Anything could happen and I need to be there in case it does.”

“Tevin, I still have to go to work and so do you. You make it sound like you’re going to be on watch around the clock.”

“I may not be able to do that but I can damn sure be around you as much as possible, and that means you moving in here.”

“I told you yesterday, I’m subletting from Tiana for the next month. I promised her that I would rent her place for three months, and I plan to keep my word.”

“So pay the rent. Better yet, I’ll pay her the rent and you can still move in here.” He paused. “Where’s your stuff?”

“In Public Storage on Bladensburg Road.”

“Then we need to figure out what furniture we want to keep of mine and what we want to keep of yours. I’m not emotionally attached to any of my furniture so I’ll defer those choices to you. The only thing I care about is you being here.”

“How can you make those kinds of decisions off the cuff and act like I don’t have any say in the matter?” I was getting irritated but tried to remain cognizant of the fact that my hormones were changing. “I’m used to being independent. It’s been a long time since I was under the same roof with a man.”

“I’m not a man. I’m your man, and the father of our child.”