Take Me to the Water

PART 15 // Love

Spring arrived and it was time for Leah to have her baby. I helped her remodel her room so she could fit a crib and other things she needed in it. We were both excited. I had never been around a baby before and I couldn't wait to show it love. Not a sick love either, but the kind my mother and father showed me. I would hug it, protect it, and sing to it. I wanted to buy it things already but since Leah didn't want to know the sex, I couldn't, so instead I just decided to save up money for a really nice crib.

Leah kept telling me she didn't want me to put a lot of energy into saving for Sunshine because that was her responsibility. She said as soon as she could go back to work, she was going to save up some money and move. She didn't want to raise her child in the same house as Uncle Calvin, and I didn't blame her. I wanted to leave Uncle Calvin's house too, and Leah said I could come with her, but I had other plans. As soon I graduated David and I were going to elope. We had the entire thing planned out. He knew his family wouldn't support him marrying me, and I didn't want Uncle Calvin to know I was marrying him, so we were going to run away together, and I couldn't wait.

Uncle Calvin never said it, but I knew he wanted to be a part of Leah's baby's life. Whenever he was home, the only nice things he did revolved around the baby.

Leah and I were looking through magazines one day for a nice crib. She found one that she really liked and ripped out the picture and put it on the fridge. We were both planning to save for it, but a week later the crib was in her room. She didn't buy it and neither did I so we knew it had to have been Uncle Calvin. Underneath all that evil, I knew that he had a heart, which made it hard for me to hate him.

After we put the crib together and Leah went to bed, I went downstairs to clean up. Uncle Calvin was sitting in his recliner drinking a beer and watching the TV like he did every night.

I walked into the living room and stood a good distance away from him. He didn't even look my way.

"Thank you for buying the crib for Leah. That was really nice of you."

When he didn't respond, I turned to walk off and then he spoke.

"Are you dating that boy? The preacher's kid?"

I turned back to face him, annoyed. I wondered why he cared, but I guess I knew.

"No, I'm not dating him. He's just a friend."

Uncle Calvin still had his eyes glued to the TV. He took a swig of his beer and then said "Don't let that boy touch you again. I mean it."

I was disgusted. Just when I thought that maybe things could be normal between us, he always found a way to remind me that he wanted to own me. I think that's why the next day I purposely went and sought out David.

As Leah got closer to delivering the baby, she could no longer leave the bed, so I spent more time at home and less time with David, which was hard for us both. We had never gone more than a few hours without seeing each other since we started dating, and seeing him was always the best part of my day.

He asked if he could come over and help out with Leah, that way we could spend time together, but I told him no. David didn't understand why he wasn't able to come by the house anymore and I didn't want to tell him the whole truth. I knew that could get ugly. So instead, I just told him that my uncle wasn't ready to see me dating, and that he had a hard time watching me become a woman, which was all true when you actually thought about it.

David insisted on meeting Uncle Calvin and showing him that he was a good guy who could be trusted with his niece's heart, and I told him in time he could, but for now I wanted him to stay far away from the house and not to mention a word about our plans after graduation. He agreed without much push back, and now we'd spend all of our time together at Mrs. Jones's house.