Balancing Acts

Chapter 9: Choux Pastry Heart

            "Thank you so much for helping me out," I said to Andre as he entered my office with Jeremiah and Elijah. "I wouldn't have been able to pick them up from daycare and head to the mall in time to catch the kids program at Barnes & Noble. It's closer to here than the daycare."

            "It's no problem," he told me. "You know I love being around these two angels." He pushed down the wheel lock on the double stroller so that it wouldn't move. "How do you and Brandon manage to work these big jobs while also taking care of two babies?"

            "It gets difficult but we're both dedicated. Well, at least we try to be."

            "I am going to be staying home for a while whenever me and Rayshun decide to adopt a baby. I am not working around the clock shifts at that hospital while also taking care of a baby." He looked around and said, "I still can't believe how amazing this office is. You truly are doing it big now, Julani."

            I smiled and admitted, "Believe it or not, I still haven't wrapped my mind around it all. Yesterday I received the list of master's degree candidates that are hoping to graduate this semester from my department, and the reality sunk in that I have this huge responsibility that now goes beyond teaching. I remember how stressful it was waiting to see if I'd done everything right and would be getting my master's. Now I'm on the other side and while it's not as stressful, I do feel some pressure."

            "Well, you know what they say: with great power comes great responsibility. Just be glad you're not dealing with rowdy people all day. We had a few gang members come in to the hospital late last night after a shootout. I must've been called a fat ass about a thousand times." He laughed and continued, "But even though the work me and the other nurses do goes unnoticed during the day-to-day chaos, it's all worth it when you see the gratitude in the face of someone you helped. A couple of those gang members apologized to me as I made my rounds before the end of my shift."

            It was crazy how good Andre could make me feel inside. No matter how upset I was about something or how bad my day was going, just his presence and aura were enough to lift my spirits. After what I'd been going through recently, I needed his comfort more than ever. Two weeks had gone by since the night I learned of Brandon's indiscretion. The reason why I was considering it an indiscretion and not full-on infidelity was because I was still confused on how I should handle the entire situation. Making him leave our home didn't make me feel any better, it just made me miss him. And as much as I wanted to and needed to tell my friends about it, the embarrassment of it all kept me from saying a word.

            "Well, I'll get out of your hair," said Andre as he headed back over to the door. "I can put the boys' car seats in your car while you finish up in here."

            "Actually, I'm done here," I told him as I logged out of my work computer and stood up from my desk. "I'll walk down with you." I packed my things up and left the office with him and the boys. When we got onto the elevator, I asked, "Dre, what would you do if you found out Rayshun was cheating on you?"

            "I'd leave him."

            "Seriously?"

            "Yes. As much time and effort I've put into our relationship, I'd walk away from it because him cheating would mean I wasted all that time and effort."

            "Even if he was just getting head from someone else?"

            "Okay that's a little different than going all the way while cheating. Still, it wouldn't sit right with me that he'd do something like that behind my back. I'd rather him tell me it's on his mind so we could at least talk about it before he acts on it."