AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her expression was sheepish as she handed him back his card. “How did you know?”
He gave her a ‘duh’ look. “I didn’t get an alert.”
“Sorry, force of habit.” She winced. “I don’t like to use other people’s money for our stuff.”
Tazeem watched her for a long drawn-out moment before murmuring, “I’m not other people.”
That sentence played in her head as she drove them home. No, he wasn’t other people. He was her child’s father. She’d need to get used to that.
Darkness had already set in by the time she parked in his building’s underground parking lot. She gently shook Tazeem’s shoulder. “We’re here.”
“Mm mm?” He woke up with a grunt and lots of stretching. While she carried the shopping bags up to his condo, he carried Jay.
Chess hadn’t had a chance to look around his place the last time she was there. She took note of how the whole house seemed to have been professionally designed. The beige drapes that covered the large windows in the living room matched the large stripped, beige, white, and black rug. The navy throw pillows that sat on his gray sectional perfectly matched the two navy armchairs flunking the sectional. The circular coffee-table had a working clock beneath its top glass, and she was sure that must’ve cost a pretty penny.
A long TV unit ran from one end of the wall to the other side. It had beautiful sculptures and plants that were artfully interwoven with his gadgets (a play station, projector, and speakers). It took a while for her to even realize that there was a TV above the unit because it was disguised as a painting (it even had a wooden frame) and was flanked by smaller paintings.
The rest of the house was just as exquisitely decorated. The guestroom that Tazeem carried Jay looked like it belonged in Architectural Digest. It had a plush light-wood bed, white comforter, glass nightstands, checkered drapes, water plants… Everything looked luxurious and quite expensive.
“We should get those nightstands out of the room,” Chess said as she nervously eyed them. “Jay might break them.”
“Who cares?” Tazeem set Jay gently on the bed. “They can be replaced.”
“Uh… I care.” She added, “Those look like they cost a lot. And I’m broke. If he breaks anything, I can’t replace it.”
“Why would you pay for something he breaks in this house?” Tazeem chuckled. “I’m his dad, remember?”
“Oh yeah!” She chuckled sheepishly. “Forgot that.”
She’d gotten so used to bearing the burden of anything concerning Jay alone that it was hard to adjust to this new status quo. She wasn’t alone anymore. Jay had a dad now.
“Are you hungry?” Tazeem asked once they’d tucked Jay in. “I can order something. Maybe pizza or Chinese…”
“I bought stuff for burgers while I was in the store.” Chess proposed, “Why don’t we have that?”
“Umm…” Tazeem winced. “…that might be a little tricky.”
“Why?” she asked. He just silently led the way to his kitchen.
As soon as she got there, she immediately realized why it would be ‘tricky’. The kitchen looked like it had just come off a shelf. Almost everything was brand new. The pots were still in their box as were the plates, cups, and cutlery. Heck, some of his stuff still had its price tags.
“I just order food if I need to eat,” he answered her silent and disbelieving look.
“Well, that will have to change if Jay will be visiting you. He’s a growing boy. He needs healthy, home-cooked meals.” Chess asked, “Please tell me that in the years we’ve been apart you’ve learned to cook something other than Ramen and boiled eggs.”
He offered a guilty, “Huh?”
“Tazeem Khan.” She laughed. “You big baby. How are you gonna feed our baby?”
“I can learn.” His mouth twitched in restrained amusement. “You can teach me, and there’s always YouTube.”
“Well, today will be your first lesson.” She asked, “Where’s your skillet?”
“Um.” He hesitantly pointed to one of the cupboards. “There?”
The skillet wasn’t ‘there’, but they found it in another cupboard. Together, they started on the burgers.
“See, it’s not that hard,” she complimented him when he loaded a perfectly cooked patty onto a bed of vegetables that sat on a bun.
