Something Different

Chapter 7

Malcolm

I am going to be a father. The woman of my dreams is pregnant with our child. I have to admit when I saw the pregnancy test sitting at the top of her bag I got a little scared. A million thoughts went through my mind but knew that I needed to talk to her before I jumped to conclusions. Waiting for the results was a bit nerve wracking I kept asking myself if I was ready to be a dad. Although I had a close relationship with my mom, my dad and I never got along. He was always more of a coach than dad and it caused a major strain in our relationship. It wasn't until a month after I got drafted that I reached out and tried to fix things between us.  We weren't close but our relationship was a lot less strained than it was. Now that I know I'll be around Sophia and AJ more, a conversation needed to happen between Amari and I. Our beef only started because we were at rival colleges but words were exchanged on social media and just kept going once we got to the NFL. I was over all the bullshit and wanted for us to be able to act cordial with one another for the sake of Sophia, AJ, and the baby.

I was surprised he agreed to meet up with me but wanted to get the shit over with as soon as possible. To avoid any unnecessary attention we agreed to meet up at Sophia's while her parents took AJ out for a few hours in case things went left, Sophia stayed behind to mediate. I could tell from the moment Amari walked into the living room that he did not want to be here but I didn't care, we needed to talk and it was happening wether he liked it or not.

"Thanks for agreeing to meet with me."

"I'm only here to let you know that if you think that you're about to have my daughter start calling you daddy, you have me all the way fucked up. I don't care what you and Sophia have going on but you are not about to act like my daughter's father. I didn't like the fact that you met her before I got to speak to you but I'm letting you know now that if you fuck with my daughter I'm fucking you up."

"I'm not trying to replace you or have AJ call me daddy. I respect you as her father and was hoping that we could be cordial with one another for her sake. I wasn't planning on meeting her that day but it happened and I would never want to mess with her. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon and despite what you may think I love Sophia, which means that I love  AJ as well. If you can't respect that then you will have to suck up whatever ill feelings you have for me out of respect for both of them whenever we're around each other."

"I don't respect that fact that you're dating my ex and it's only fair for me to assume that you went after her because of me." at the moment he decided to stand up from the couch he was sitting on and I did too from my spot next to Sophia

"I didn't know Sophia was your ex until she told me and even after I found out I didn't care. I feel for Sophia because of who she was as a person and to be honest with you, I think that you're a complete idiot to let her go. But I'm glad you did because now she's mine."

"You may think she's yours now but remember that she was my woman first and that AJ is my daughter."

"Okay, you both need to calm down. Amari, it shouldn't matter that we were together first. I'm with Malcolm now and he wanted to meet with you so that you both could end this beef y'all have had. If you don't want to do it for me that's fine, but think about AJ, she shouldn't have to witness the two of you going at each other every time you see one another. Don't make her have to choose between you two because it wouldn't be fair to her. And another thing, not everything is about you, I had forgotten about your issue with Malcolm when we first started dating. It wasn't until we got serious and I told him about AJ that you guys' past came up. We started dating because we were mutually attracted to one another. It had nothing to do with getting back at you." Sophia said stepping in between us, we both stared each other down until Amari finally backed down

"I'm still not okay with you two being a couple but for AJ's sake I'll act cordial but this means that you have to be nicer to Ginger." He said looking at Sophia who rolled her eyes. I had met Amari's wife Ginger at a few parties and could understand why Sophia didn't like her much. She was the definition of a WAG and made sure to let everyone know how much her man makes while also flaunting the expensive things he bought for her.

"I don't have to do shit Amari, I respect Ginger as your wife and that should be enough."

"It would be nice if you were a bit nicer to her and do the show with us."

"No, I don't want cameras following me around everywhere and having people all in my business. I let you guys have permission to film AJ, that should be enough."

"Limited filming, that has to be approved by you first."

"I don't see the problem with it."

"If I have to act nice to Cunningham you have to do the show."

"That's not fair Amari and you know it."

"It would be a great opportunity for people to see how we co-parent and show that your more than my baby mama."

"I've always been more than your baby mama and my answer is still no. I have a lot going on right now and a reality show will be adding too much stress that I don't need." I nodded in agreement thinking about the baby, we had just gone to the doctor for her first appointment and although the doctor said everything was fine with little bean there was still a chance for miscarriage. Filming a tv show was not something that Sophia wanted to do and I knew that pressuring her to do it was only going to stress her out.

"Stress? You literally get filmed doing whatever. There's no stress in that."

"For you it may seem that way but it's more to it and I never wanted to do reality television."

"Why do you always have to be so difficult Sophia?"

"I'm not being difficult Amari."

"I agree with Sophia, you shouldn't force her to do the show. That's stress she doesn't need. If you can't be cordial with me then fine." I said not liking that the fact that he was trying to pressure her to do the show, it wasn't sitting well with me and I wanted to know what his motive was.

"I'm not forcing her to do anything."

"Bullshit. Why are you trying to get her on the show? Is it for the money? A storyline that makes her look like a desperate baby mama? Why?"

"None of that, Ginger wanted us all to do the show to show that it's possible to be a solid family unit. Kinda of like The Smiths."

"We are nothing like the Smiths, I don't get along with Ginger and I definitely don't go on vacation with you or with Ginger as a family. I'm not going to lie for television. Please leave, you're starting to give me a headache."

"Alright but I'm not done talking to you about the show Sophia." After Sophia walked him out I went in the kitchen to start on dinner for us.

"That went a lot better than expected, what are you cooking."

"I'm making AJ's favorite, spaghetti."

"You really are her new best friend."

"Yep, that's my little homie. When are your parents bringing her back?"

"They should be here soon, AJ will probably take a nap before dinner because they took her to the zoo and that usually wears her out."

"That's fine, it'll give us a chance to tell your parents about the baby."

"Have you told your parents yet?"

"Yes, they're planning a trip to come meet you and AJ."

"They're okay with the fact that I already have a daughter?"

"Yeah, my parents are understanding people and they've been pressuring me to give them more grandchildren since Liz has my niece. So they're happy that they're getting two more."

"That's really sweet that they already consider AJ one of their grandchildren and they haven't met her yet." I looked up from the pit I was stirring to see her crying.

"Why are you crying?"

"I'm just really happy."

"Being happy makes you cry?"

"It's the hormones, I was like this when I was pregnant with AJ."

"Well as long as they're happy tears I'm not going to complain."