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The timing was perfect and would be right before the summer that she wanted to spend out of the city and one with nature. I could see her now, frolicking around the never-ending grounds and utilizing that green thumb she seemed to have. Looking at the pictures on the screen, my heart smiled, imagining my wife and daughter, hand in hand, saving the lives of ladybugs and fetching fresh honey from the bees she dreamed of raising one day.
The excitement led me to dial the number on the screen. I was sent straight to voicemail. After leaving a detailed message, I packed up my desk and headed back upstairs. It was time to join the gang and try to get some shuteye.
There she goes. I warmed inside as I stepped into the bedroom, realizing my daughter was awake, sitting up next to her mother as she tried stuffing her exposed breast in her mouth. I crept up behind her and gently touched her back, scaring her in the process.
“Caught ya,” I whispered.
Her eyes bulged and her hands spread wide with lots of space between each finger. Once she identified me as her father, the astonishment on her face softened into a smile. Her arms reached in my direction. I scooped her into my arms as I felt for mushiness in her diaper simultaneously. Surprisingly, she was still dry, letting me know she was due for a feeding and wasn’t tugging at Anna’s chest in vain.
“Here you go, baby girl.”
I laid Aussie beside her mother and softly positioned them both for nursing. Feeling as if my plans for napping were canceled until Anna was awake and could care for Aussie, I decided to pull up the notes she’d left me and send the sellers of the property I’d called about an email from my cell.
* * *
Nightfall rolled in rather swiftlyfor a predictably slow Sunday. The uneasiness in my spirit hadn’t settled. In fact, it had grown during the nap I’d taken. Now, staying home and not attending Milo’s celebration wasn’t an option for me. There was something in my gut telling me that my presence was needed tonight.
“Straighten your face,” Anna warned. “You’re going to be fine for a few hours without us.”
“I just can’t shake this feeling, love. Something is on the horizon. Discernment has never failed me.”
“You’re still worried,” she sighed, kissing my cheek.
“I’m still worried but I don’t know why.”
“I think you’re just trying to think of an excuse to stay home.”
“I’m not. I just hope nothing pops off while we’re out.”
“Pack two,” Anna suggested, referring to my guns.
“My type of thinking.”
“And one for the road.”
She mentioned a third one for the car.
“In addition to the one that’s already there?”
“Yes. The more, the merrier, right?”
She kissed my lips.
“Yes.”
“I’ve already put them by the door. All of them.”
Her sinister smile had the ability to stop and restart a nigga’s heart. And it did.
“Reason 1,289,398 why I love you.”
“One day, maybe, you’ll teach me how to use—”
“Anna.”
“It doesn’t hurt to try.”
“It doesn’t, but those things don’t belong in your hands and not in your world, either. Those are for me to carry.”
