Page 52 of A Hood Wife And A Rich Goon 2

Bull glanced at the clock beside his bed. The bakery stayed open until nine, so he had plenty of time.

“Okay, bet,” he agreed.

“See you soon, sweetheart.”

Downstairs, Toni found Lotus folding laundry in the living room with Breeze on the. floor building with his large Lego blocks, and Jou Jou stretched across a pillow on her back, feet in the air while she played with them and tuned in to Ms. Rachel on the TV. Sauntering into the room, Toni paused, and Lotus looked up at her.

“Hey, what you doing here?”

Shrugging, Lotus finished folding Breeze’s shirt and set it in a pile.

“I needed to do laundry. I knew I needed to do the kids stuff too, so I decided to just come in. The walls in that apartment were starting to close in on me.”

Toni sensed sadness in her tone and posture as Lotus bent to pick up another piece of clothing. She knew she was stressing over things with her and Eazy. Lately she’d been out of it and highly emotional.

“So, how did the appointment go? Did Eazy show up?” Toni sat on the arm of the chair beside her.

“He did.” Lotus nodded.

“I told you he would. That man is obsessed with you and that baby.”

“It’s a boy,” Lotus revealed.

“Really?” Toni shrieked. “Oh, Lo, congratulations!” She pulled her into a hug, and Lotus broke down in tears. “Ohhhh, what’s wrong?” Toni held her tight and stroked her back.

“He’s so… distant. I don’t know how to fix it. I fucked up, but I didn’t think he would be this cold.”

“Shhh, it’s okay, Lo. He just needs some time. He can’t be that mad if he’s still showing up. He cares,” Toni assured her.

“Maybe, but he’s still just… not there. He won’t touch me. Barely looks at me. He did kiss me today after we found out the sex. For a minute, it felt nice. Like I remember. But he won’t let me in. He pulled away the minute we were in the parking lot.”

“Okay, so he wants to let you back in. He’s just being stubborn. You need to be patient and let the man cool off. He’s doing everything in his power to make sure you and this baby are taken care of. It’ll get better.” Toni nudged away from her friend as Bull’s footsteps descended the stairs. He grabbed his keys off the table in the hall, and Toni eased off the arm of the couch.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to meet somebody.” Bull strutted over to her and knelt to kiss her lips. “I’ll be back soon.”

“Okay.” Toni watched him walk away and listened to the door close. “Something is going on with him.”

“Yeah. Eazy and Jewel too. Rhema so much as said Jewel has been extra attentive and on high alert with her and the girls.”

“I’m starving.” Toni rubbed her belly.

“I left your lasagna in the microwave. The kids already ate.”

“Hey, if you don’t want to be alone tonight, feel free to sleep in the guest room,” Toni insisted.

She decided to warm herself up something to eat since she hadn’t eaten since lunch that day. Her cell was left on the counter in the kitchen from earlier. She remembered being so tired all she could do was lie down and go to sleep. Bypassing her phone to heat her food in the microwave, she noticed she had a few recent notifications on her screen. Once she put the timer on for two minutes, she went to check it. Several local numbers popped up when she scrolled, and then a few from Rhema with a text minutes later telling her to call her. The timer on the microwave went off, so she gathered her plate and sat at her island to eat. After a quick prayer, Toni dug into her food, and her phone rang again. This time it was one of the same numbers that appeared about twenty minutes ago.

“Hello.” She picked up.

“Good evening. This is nurse Fredricks at Prospect Pointe Memorial. I’m trying to reach Antonia Chambers.”

A slight frown furrowed her brows as Toni took a bite of her food.

“This is she.”

“Toni? Oh my God, you are listed as the emergency contact for a Onika Taylor-Chambers.” She recognized Rhema’s voice on the other line.