Page 83

Lourdes

“How you feeling, doll baby?” Armias asked.

“Fucking amazing,” I answered after taking a long swig of my strawberry lemon drop. We were at our favorite restaurant, Chophouse, after the most perfect day out ever. We started with brunch this morning at Monty’s on the Square in the French Quarter. After eating good we headed over to Woodhouse Spa where we had life changing facials and deep tissue massages. We made our way back to the house once we were done at the spa and I assumed that was it for our day out. I was completely okay with that too because we both needed that relaxation. But when we got home I was met with the most wonderful surprise. Fendi was in our living room and had all her hair supplies laid out along with four long curly bundles. She took down my braids with me and Armias’ help. Then she washed my hair and gave me my favorite hair style, a flip over. It took a few hours, but it was so worth it. I already felt so much better about myself but then an mua and nail tech who worked with Fendi came over to further transform me.

I was in desperate need of getting my nails done and a pedicure, so I was grateful to get both done at home. I kept it simple with light pink tapered square nails and of course I got the same color on my toes. I got my makeup done last although I didn’t understand why I needed it done. Armias had gone through the trouble of securing a house call for the service, so I offered no objections nor did I question it. I was actually happy to go along with it since my hair was done. I was ready to take pictures because I felt so good, so I knew I looked even better. When it was all said and done, I was looking like a black Barbie. I opted for a natural pink makeup look which consisted of neutral eye makeup and short lashes, light contour and highlight, a lot of baby pink blush on my cheeks and nose, and brown lip liner with Anastasia Beverly Hills Cotton Candy lipgloss.

I felt like such a bad bitch and I was eager to go somewhere to show it off. Unbeknownst to me, that had been the plan all along. After everybody left my man told me to get ready for the dinner reservation we had at Chophouse. It had been a warm day and the temperature hadn’t dropped once night fell, so I decided to dress for the weather and not the season. I pulled out a blossom pink bandage mini dress I’d been dying to wear. I paired it with sparkly platform peep toe heels, the Hello Kitty clutch Aspen had gotten me for Christmas, and a diamond tennis necklace that came with the matching bracelet and studs. The jewelry set was something waiting on me when we brought Alouri home from the hospital. He claimed that was just one of my push presents, implying that there was more to come. I was so wrapped up into getting adjusted to motherhood that it slipped my mind and I really wasn’t concerned with material things anyway. All I could focus on was my baby and how much I loved her.

Tonight Armias had shown me that he hadn’t forgotten about a damn thing. I wanted to take pictures with him before we left for dinner because we looked good as a unit. As always, he was willing to match my energy and he decided to wear something in the same shade of pink as me. He wore a pink Marni polo, light brown Amiri jeans, and brown and pink Louis Vuitton sneakers. He’d gotten a new chain with me and Alouri’s name on it that he paired with a pink face diamond Rolex. I felt like I could proudly take credit for the influx of pink in his wardrobe. I was prepared to ask my mom to take our pictures and we weren’t going to leave until she got a few shots I was satisfied with. Thankfully, that wasn’t necessary because Kiyor was downstairs waiting for us. It was evidently a last minute thing with booking her because she was dressed up for a night out with her man who had accompanied her to our house. I was aware that Kiyor’s husband, Bishop, was friends with Armias because they were from the 10th ward and had been in the streets together. Bishop was well into his 30’s though, so he was a big homie to Armias. While they were greeting each other I learned that Armias had hit Bishop up to see if Kiyor was available for a late night photo session. Our reservation at Chophouse was for 9 pm, so Kiyor had to be at our house for 8 pm at the latest. Her “pull up” photo shoots were quick and only 30 minutes long. She was ready and waiting when we came down at about 7:55, so we had enough time to work with.

She took our pictures on the staircase in the foyer. Then she demanded that I get some solo shots and I was eager to do so. I even made my mom give Alouri to me for a few pictures. She was looking so cute in her Hello Kitty onesie and short set that came with a matching headband bow and socks. My baby didn’t go a day without putting on a cute outfit. She was my real life baby doll. Of course I was never going to miss an opportunity to take pictures of or with her. After getting a few shots with Louri, I handed her off to my mom and Kiyor insisted that I take some pictures outside.

“Are you sure?” I asked. “It’s already dark outside, so the lighting might be bad.”

“Y’all porch lights are on, so it’ll be okay,” she insisted.

“Yea, come on,” Armias took my hand and led me to the front door. I noticed my mom and grandma following us outside, but I didn’t think much of it. They’d been watching us take pictures the whole time with proud smiles on their faces, so I figured they wanted to continue looking on.

When I stepped through the door and saw my brand black G-Wagon topped with a pretty pink bow, I knew everybody was in on this surprise. I hooted, hollered, and jumped up and down before throwing my arms around Armias. I pecked his lips repeatedly before running to my new truck. Armias had the keys, so he hit the locks for me when I tugged on the driver seat door. I opened the door and was greeted with nothing but pink interior. For a few seconds I thought I’d died and gone to heaven. This was my dream car!

“Didn’t I tell you this would be your push present?” Armias asked from the passenger seat. He’d gotten in the truck with me while I was screaming in excitement and thanking him repeatedly. Up until he asked me that question I totally forgot that he did promise this truck on our babymoon in Hawaii. I also forgot that he said I had more push presents.

“Thank you so much, baby,” I cooed before throwing my arms back around him. I didn’t want to keep kissing him because my pink lip gloss was already all over his face, but he didn’t seem to care because he caught my lips before I pulled away.

“You got something in the backseat, too,” he grinned. I turned around and saw a Chanel box along with a Hello Kitty bouquet that consisted of pink roses wrapped in money. I squealed yet again and when I got out of the car to retrieve my gifts I noticed Kiyor recording me. Knowing I would have top notch footage of this moment only made it better. I unboxed my gift right there in the driveway and I almost cried when I pulled out an exact replica of my bedazzled Chanel Hello Kitty bag. I was so upset that I never got a chance to wear my purse before it got stolen in the robbery. Armias gave it to me as a birthday gift and we fell out right after that. With me being sad and depressed, I wasn’t in the mood to go out so I never even thought of wearing the purse. Then I learned I was pregnant and that really set me down for the rest of the year. I could have still worn my bag, but I was waiting for the right time. I instantly regretted that when it was no longer in my possession. Now that I had it back I was already thinking of places I could go or how I could style it because I was going to wear this bad boy very soon.

“Have you enjoyed today?” Armias asked, while cutting into his rib eye steak.

“I don’t think there’s a word good enough to describe how amazing this day has been,” I smiled. “Thank you so much for everything, baby.”

“No, thank you.”

“What are you thanking me for?” I marveled. “You treated me to a relaxing morning at the spa, you got my girls to come over to glam me up, and you got me a car and replaced my favorite purse.”

“All of that is nothing compared to you carrying Alouri and bringing her into the world.”

“Okay…that may be true,” I smiled. “I wonder what she’s doing right now.”

“She’s okay with Mama and Granny, Lo,” he chuckled.

“I know she’s okay. I just can’t help myself. That’s my baby.”

“She’s my baby, too.”

“Yea, but you didn’t push her out of your body. It’s different for mothers.”

“I don’t know about that, cause my mama ain’t never been attached to her kids. She’d give birth one week and be at the club the next week.”

I bursted into laughter. “You’re right, I guess it does vary for everybody. Butttt, this is my first baby. Maybe Rahesha was overbearing when it came to you, but after having so many kids she got used to it. Like I think if I make it to baby number four or five I probably will be so much more relaxed.”

“Four or five? That’s how many you want?”

“No indeed no,” I laughed. “I think three is a good number. But if we get a boy next time then we can just be done.”

“Nah, I don’t believe in that.”

“Believe in what?’