Yellow Lines

Chapter 37 - Testimony

Jerry's Point of View

I couldn't believe she opened up to me. Leila had finally opened up after been emotionally closed off since I disappointed her back in Miami. I regretted every day after what I did to her. I wanted to be with her—make her mine, and love her with everything I got, but my priorities were messed up. To add to the torment, Siena and her parents made it worse.

I didn't blame Leila for being heartless because I knew it was my fault. I was the one who treated her terribly. I was the one who destroyed her heart. The moment Julian told me she'd moved back to Grenada, I knew I had fucked up badly. I bought a one-way ticket and decided then and there I wouldn't return without her. Living another day without her by my side wasn't an option. I loved her without a doubt.

Finding out she was pregnant was the next best thing that could have happened to us. There was no other woman I would have loved to mother my child and firstborn. Leila was perfect. Perfect for me. And after learning that her pregnancy had started off rocky with countless doctor visits and miscarriage scares, it gave me joy to see how resilient she was. She was a queen and a warrior to endure it all and still wanted me after everything.

Leila was due in two weeks and I planned a surprise party for when she returned from the hospital. She had no idea what I had in store for her. And with all the chaos over the last month to get everything in order for the baby, I got too excited and ordered a million baby items, added to the ones she'd already bought. I couldn't care less whether it was a boy or a girl. I bought clothes and toys for both sexes. She went ballistic, of course, because I spent unnecessary money. But it wasn't unnecessary when it came to our child.

I told her if it were a girl we could always try for a boy and then they would be happy with the toys. She didn't take the joke lightly, but I couldn't be more serious. I wanted a ton load of babies with her. Mostly girls that looked just like her.

Then there was the issue with Siena who called my phone every day. She bothered me about the legal papers but I knew she just wanted me back in Miami. I told her I'd moved on but she had been a pest ever since. She sent me baby pictures and tried to remind me in a desperate way what she believed I missed. I was finished with her and her nonsense. I couldn't wait to go back and sign the papers, so it would be the last of her and her family.

"Are you finished packing, hun?" I asked as Leila paced the bedroom.

"No... I don't think so. Suppose I forget something or... or I packed too much pinks and then it was supposed to be blues?"

"Relax..." I rubbed her shoulders. "I can always come back and get the colors you want."

"Girl, you worry too much. All I had was diapers and two vests for you. I was never bothered. A baby is a baby. Deh jus' need diapers and ah piece of cloth." Her mother wobbled into the room with a walking stick.

"Mom!"

I broke out in laughter. She was too funny. I loved her just as much as Lei. She allowed me to stay in their home and even wanted me to call her mom. It was a blessing. Leila and I searched for homes to buy in Grenada before the year ended but she mentioned that we would go back to Miami once her mother recovered fully. But the longer I stayed, I didn't want to go back.

"What am I going to wear!" Leila held her forehead.

"I think you'll be too busy to care." I pulled the chair from her computer desk and sat her on it.

I knelt between her thighs and held her hands in mine. "You need to relax or this baby will come sooner than we think."

"But what if I have visitors? I can't look crazy."