Necessity

Chapter Sixteen

"What's the name of this again?"

"Mapo doufu."

"What is it?"

"Bahja, if you don't eat the damn food and find out for yourself."

I used my fork to kick around some of the jiggly white blocks in my bowl.

"Is this tofu?"

Jacob sighed in annoyance.

"It is tofu."

"I don't like tofu."

"Have you tried tofu before?"

"That's irrelevant."

"It's not irrelevant. How are you gonna not like something you've never tried before?"

"It's fake meat. I know I won't like it"

"Bahja, just try it, man. It's delicious. If I'm lying, I'll make you something from scratch right now."

I looked at Jacob suspiciously before stabbing a piece of tofu covered in rice and raising it to my mouth. As I began to chew, I was disappointed to find that it was in fact delicious.

"I'm right, huh?" he said watching me as I went for another forkful of food.

"Whatever," I mumbled waving him off.

"Bahja, when are you gonna realize that I am a food connoisseur? You pulled the same shit with the mushrooms and now the tofu and both times you were proven wrong."

"It's not my fault that your favorite foods have a bad rap." I shrugged.

"Yeah, well you should still be open to trying new foods regardless of what other people tell you about them. I would expect that kind of shit from a child, not you."

I rose a brow at him.

"So, I'm a child now?"

"I didn't call you a child, I said your behavior is what would be expected of a child. But it's interesting to see where your mind went," Jacob replied sticking his tongue out at me.

"Now that's behavior I would expect to see from a child. Deon does that shit all of the time."

"Probably for good reason knowing you. I understand where he's coming from completely."

"Yeah, you should meet him. You two would be best friends," I said before I even had a chance to think about it.

Was I really ready for Jacob to meet my child? Was he even willing to? Even though we aren't dating, I can't even front as if all we are is friends because we damn sure don't have the kind of relationship that Nique and I do. And in the short amount of time that I've gotten to know Jacob, he's grown to be very important to me. So what was the problem?

"I would love to," Jacob replied. "But something tells me by that look on your face that you aren't really sure if you want me to, right?"

"Jacob, I'm sorry but-"

"It's ok, Bahja. There's no pressure. He's your son. You have a right to be as protective as you want."

"No, it's not about his protection. I mean, of course that's a big part of it but I'm just...I feel like once you meet my son, then you and I are gonna become..."

I couldn't even figure out how to word what I wanted to say. I wasn't even sure why I felt obligated to give him an explanation but I did. I wanted to give him something but I wasn't even sure what it was.

"Real," Jacob said snapping me out of my thoughts. "You and I are gonna become real."

That was it. That was the word.