The Trade

I could be...

"And did you kiss him back?" Rod asked

"No" I lied

It's bad enough it happened, Im not adding fuel to the fire

"Alright" he said walking off with Krei

Im not sure if that's a good 'alright' or a bad one..

"Come on Jo" I said to him as he was climbing the rock wall. He jumped down and fell onto the molch

"You gotta be careful boo, I don't need you to break your other arm" I joked helping him up and brushing off his pants

"I got it TT, Im a big boy" he said pushing my hands away, once he finished we went up to my truck where Rod was strapping in Krei

"Uncle Rod, you coming to our dinner party?" jojo asked while trying to get inside of his new cast to scratch his arm

"Yeah lil man, I promised TT I'd help out" he smiled

"What time will you be there? " i asked

"I um, I gotta stop to make, then Im gone head back over" he said not looking at me

I grabbed his arm and pulled him closer to me

"Are you mad at me?" I asked quietly

"No"

"Well, why aren't you looking at me when you talk?"

He looked down at me quickly then away again

"Im not mad Railin, I just.. no im not mad"

"Okay" I whispered with tears in my eyes.

He pulled out of my grasp and walked away.

I wiped my tears away and got into the truck

"TT, is Uncle Rod mad at us?"

"No Jojo" I said pulling out of the lott and heading home to get ready for tonight

"Okay,  little boy you can go take a bath, and put on the clothes I have laid on your bed" I said to Jo taking Krei from her carseat and putting her in her on the couch, she was sleeping.

"Okay TT" he said tiredly heading for the bathroom

I headed for the kitchen and started to pull out the food I had made yesterday. Not much. Spaghetti, fried chicked, salad, finger sandwhiches and Jojo's giant bowl of fruit loops.  The smell of the food that usually made me happy, made me feel sick.

I hurried and sat down the bowl before dropping it and ran into the bathroom

"Heyyyy TT!!!" Jojo scolded as I threw my head in the toilet

Once I got myself together I stood and brushed my teeth

"TT, are you okay?"

"Yeah Jo"

"Are you sure? I only throw up when Im sick, maybe you're sick" he suggested as he continued to wash himself up

"Yeah maybe" I said looking in the mirror before leaving out

Time kind of flew by and Rod had shown back up, changed tho. Into some jeans and a button down instead of his sweats from earlier

As soon as he came in he headed to the living room to see Krei

"So you just not gone talk to me? " I asked as he kissed her forehead

he kissed his teeth after looking at me

"Yeah"

"Yeah what?" I asked following him into the dining room

"I don't know Rai" he said picking up a piece of chicken

"Will you tell me how you're feeling please? Cause this is really starting to bother me.. You want me to say sorry? Okay Im sorry Rod"

"What you sorry for? According to you, you didn't do anything" he said chewing with his mouth open, one of my pet peeves

"Im sorry for whatever you want me to be sorry for Rod" I said tearing up again

"And I told you earlier it's alright Railin. It is okay, I know you didn't do anything. But would you be okay with it right away if I told you I just kissed ... Staisha?" he asked seriously

"No" I said wiping a tear that had just fell

"I just wanna be there for you guys, You Krei and Jo, to be the man all of you need. Without any interuptions from Ace" he said pulling me closer to him

Nobody will even understand how much I wish Rod was Krei's father. Jo's not my son, and Krei's not his daughter, but the way he interacts with them, you can't tell him they don't belong to him. Just the other day we went to the mall to get his Aunt a birthday present and the cashier at Saks Fifth said "Your girlfriend and kids are just the cutest, you are such a lucky man" she smiled. He said thank you , and smiled like she made his life a whole lot better by saying that.

"Okay" I said into his chest" No interuptions from Ace"

"What's wrong with you? You been crying alot lately" he asked running his hand through my hair

"Im sick" I said looking at him

"How do you know? Whats wrong exactly?"

"Well Jojo told me" I smiled " And I keep throwing up, may just be food poisoning"

"Food poinsoning? what does that have to do with you crying more than Krei? " he joked

I shrugged playing with the ends of his dreads

"Could it be something else?" He asked lifting my head with one finger

"It could be " I whispered

"What could it be?" He looked like he already knew

"Can we go without it being said? Im not ready to face it if it is true"

"You pregnant?" he asked looking into my eyes

"I could be"

******************************************************************************

Dun Dun Dun....

Baby number 2?