The Unusual Suspects Book 2

Toya

I was sitting up in the bed holding my son as he began to drift off to sleep. I was still in awe of him. But here he was though. I feel like everything that I have gone through up to this point was so well worth it. It's only day 2 and everything has changed completely. This was the first bit of time I've had with him by myself. I couldn't wait for Tony to get back to have our family moment. I was for sure going to have a close relationship with my son, but I was more excited that he would have the opportunity to have that with his father too. Just then Tony walked in, always on time.
"He awake?" he asked me.                
"Yeah, probably not for long though." I said as he came in and sat down on the bed and took him into his arms. We both looked down at him. I promise he was the spitting image of his father.     "I hope those are happy tears." Tony said and before he did, I didn't even realize that any tears had formed at all. 
"They are, trust me." I said as I began to dry my face and pull myself together. It has been one emotional whirlwind since Baby Anthony had come into the world. 
"That's okay, I welcome those. I love you." he said as he leaned back and I leaned down to kiss him. After, he stood up and placed the baby in the crib and came back to me. "How are you feeling?" he asked me.                                    
"A little sore, but I'm okay though. How are you?" I asked him.                                     
"I'm great! I feel like my life is complete now. I got you, we have him, we're about to walk that stage in a couple of days. I mean, what more could I ask for?" he said sounding as if he was in a state of complete satisfaction. I loved to see it. Everything came together.               
"I don't know. Hopefully nothing." I said. "Believe me when I say, nothing else is needed. He's great. You're good. So I'm even better." he said with a smile.           
"Any regrets?" I asked him.                           
"In terms of us and our child, absolutely not! I do regret the hurt I caused you though. I know it's hard holding back emotions during a time that's meant for you to be emotional. I never wanted that for us for real. SO much had happened and it just..." I cut him off.        
"No, that doesn't all fall on you. I played my part and that's the reality of it. You reacted. Sometimes I wonder how we ever really made it back right. Not that I had doubts, but I know it was a lot for us to overcome. You just wanted to make a way for us and I couldn't see it any other way but my own. I'm sorry about that, that's not okay. So...I wasn't the only one going through it either. We seldom talk about the pain that yall as men go through, but I know it's there."                 "Still...I never wished to cause this baby." he said to me sincerely.                  
"I know Love. I mean it's human nature, we all do it from time to time. You were there for me at my lowest and held my hand through it all. That counts for something and I dragged you. I mean...look at Justin and Dom. I don't want that for us." He laughed a little.    
"To be honest, that day D flipped out in class, she said that to me. She said, don't end up like us. I promised myself, I would never allow us to get that far gone." I felt relieved at that.                           "Yeah and realistically, we witnessed his downward spiral. I don't want that for you. Even if we don..." he cut me off.         
"Don't even think of hypotheticals that couldn't be. We are going to make it." he said so sure of that statement. So, I let it be. "But I get what you're saying though. I'm just glad we didn't go that far with it. And Toya to be honest, I had to tie up loose ends with Autumn and I did just that. But truthfully, she can't hold a candle to you. You the one that showed me there was a better way and didn't let up. Autumn was an enabler. You're stronger than that and that's what I needed. See when they refer to a woman as a man's rib, I see you as that. I'm guilty of a lot of things, but the biggest thing is not showing you how appreciative that I am for you. You may come across as stuck up, uncompromising, and difficult at times..." we both laughed. "...but I wouldn't want you any other way." he said to me.  "Likewise. I mean you're the complete opposite of what I'm used to dealing with. But that isn't a bad thing. We typically reject the unfamiliar, not realizing that to get different results, you have to have different actions. I apologize for not seeing it that way and embracing the gray area in the end. But you know what? All those imperfections worked out for you and I perfectly. So what it isn't textbook perfect. So what we didn't do it in the order that I originally saw fit? The path and the steps doesn't take away from the outcome. So...fuck it! As long as we have each other and have him, life is just swell." I said. He smiled.        "Aww baby, you do know how to sound a little hood." We both laughed. Anthony always had a way of making me feel like there was nothing I could do that was wrong. I appreciated that in him so much. Maybe the fact that we both are able to see things differently at this point, will keep this union tight. Whatever comes with it, I just know I'll be ready for it. He laid down in the bed beside me and got underneath the cover. "So you do realize that you're stuck with me, right?" he said to me. I picked up my hand and took a look at my ring and smiled.                                        "I been knew I had that ass on lock." I said to him and he laughed.        
"I think Iris is rubbing off on you." we laughed again.