Page 62 of Certified to Handle You 3

Kay’Lo pulled away from me without even thinkin’ about it and reached for My’Love. The nanny passed her over, and she went straight to his chest, holdin’ on to his shirt like that was the only place she wanted to be.

“I got her,” Kay’Lo told the nanny.

The nanny nodded and stepped back, and Kay’Lo kissed the side of My’Love’s face while she cried into his neck.

“You tired, mama?” he asked her, rubbin’ her back. “You been fightin’ that sleep again?”

My’Love sniffed and pushed her face closer to him. Kay’Lo kissed her cheek again, then her forehead, and her cry started breakin’ down into lil’ soft sounds while he held her. All his attention had shifted to her like what we did by the bar had never happened.

I stood here watchin’ him, feelin’ too many things at one time.

Kay’Lo turned down the hall with My’Love on his chest, rockin’ her as he walked. “Daddy got you. Come on, mama. You good. Go to sleep.”

His voice got lower the further he went, and My’Love quieted under it like she knew he was the one who could settle her. I watched him disappear around the corner, still kissin’ on our baby, and movin’ like everything else in the house could wait ‘cause his daughter had reached for him.

And here I was, left standin’ by the bar with my lips still warm from him and my body still achin’ for everything we ain’t get to finish.

I leaned back against the bar and rubbed my hand over my stomach before I could stop myself. That same ache from earlier came right back. I wanted another baby with my husband. I wanted the baby we was supposed to be makin’ before everything got fucked up.

I missed my husband, and I missed the way we had been lookin’ toward somethin’ together. I missed feelin’ like we was on the same side without all this tension pressin’ between us.

I picked up the bottle of liquor and poured myself some in the glass he hadn’t finished and took a sip even though I knew it was gon’ burn.

Down the hall, Kay’Lo’s voice stayed low.

“That’s enough cryin’, mama. Daddy got you. Lay yo’ head down.”

I closed my eyes for a second. I loved that man. Even when he was mad at me, even when he was makin’ me sit in what I had done and even when he pulled back enough to make me feel the space, I knew there wasn’t no love or protection like the kind I had with him.

I wasn’t gon’ find that shit nowhere else. I wasn’t gon’ find another man who could check me, love me, cover me and make me wanna climb inside his skin all in the same night. I just needed to get him all the way back.

I stayed by the bar, listenin’ until My’Love’s cries faded completely, and all I could think was that my cousin’s heartbreak had found its way into my house, my marriage and the baby me and Kay’Lo had been tryna make…

Over an hour passed and Kay’Lo was still with My’Love while I was sittin’ in bed scrollin’ my phone, tryna act like I wasn’t listenin’ for every sound outside the damn door.

I wasn’t even readin’ half the shit on my screen. My thumb kept movin’ out of habit, but my mind was still downstairs, in My’Love room, on the way Kay’Lo had kissed me, touched me and walked off with our baby in his arms before the moment could turn into what both of us knew it was tryna turn into.

My body still couldn’t shake that shit ‘cause it had been over a week since I felt my husband’s dick.

Downstairs, I still remembered his hand on my ass, his mouth on mine, the way he looked at me while he sipped from his glass and the way he knew exactly what I wanted without me havin’ to say it had me layin’ in this damn bed with my thighs pressed together and my attitude somewhere between needy and annoyed.

I had on a short cream gown that barely covered anything, and I ain’t put no panties on after my shower ‘cause I knew my husband.

Kay’Lo could be quiet, and he could move slow. He could make me wonder what was on his mind for a whole hour if he felt like it, but that nigga wasn’t comin’ back to our room after all that downstairs just to go to sleep. I stretched my legs under the blanket and looked toward the door again, feelin’ my stomach dip before I even heard him.

A few seconds later, Kay’Lo walked in.

He stopped in the doorway with a fresh glass of liquor in his hand, and his eyes found me over the rim before he took a sip. He ain’t say nothin’. He just stood there lookin’ at me, calm as hell, with his body leanin’ against the frame and that cup tipped to his mouth.

The room was dim, but I could still see him good enough.

I locked the screen and sat it facedown next to me.

Kay’Lo’s eyes moved to the phone, then came right back to my face.

“What?” I asked, even though I already knew better.

He lowered the glass from his mouth. “You been waitin’ on me?”