Still In

XXVI

Tanya

I tapped my foot, nervously while waiting in the bowling alley. A few days after Cherry gave Omar my number, he texted me. We texted for a little minute before scheduling a date. He offered to pick me up, but I didn't need him knowing where I live.

"Hey." I heard causing me to turn my head.

"Hey." I said, smiling and standing up.

I hugged him and nearly melted. He smelled sooooo good.

"How you doing?" He asked.

"I'm good, you?"

"I'm great, thank you."

"You ready to lose?"

"Ohhh, we got us a big talker."

"Yessir and I back it up too."

"Oh yeah?" He said, putting his shoes on.

"Yeah."

"Well, let's see then."

An hour later...

I laughed as Omar failed to catch the fry that was supposed to land in his mouth. After bowling for about an hour, we decided to stop and go get some food. Of course, I whooped him in every game. He claims he 'let me win', but everybody says that when they lose as bad as he did.

"You can't throw." He said, picking the fry up from his chest and eating it.

"No, you can't catch." I said, biting a chicken strip.

He chuckled. "So, how long you been modeling?"

"Not too long- few months."

"What made you start?"

"I hadn't been working before and I needed money to support myself and my kids."

"You have kids?"

"Yep, two and a half."

"A half?" He questioned, eating a fry. "Oh, you're pregnant."

"Yeah."

"Congratulations."

"Thank you. You have any kids?"

"Yeah, one. My little princess, Nali."

"Awww, how old is she?"

"Turned 6 the other day." He said.

"That's how old my oldest son, Daniel, is. Maybe they can have a playdate or something."

"Didn't you say you were 19?"

"Yeah. Okay, basically Daniel is actually my ex's son but he's mine too in my eyes."

"That's amazing, Tanya. Most women your age probably wouldn't even think about taking on the responsibility of someone else's child along with their own. I'm sure he and your ex are extremely grateful."

"I'm really the grateful one. When Danny came into my life, I was already pregnant with my actual first-born. I would always say that I was ready to be a mom but Danny really prepared me and I loved him immediately." I felt my eyes watering. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." He said, handing me a napkin. "I can tell you really genuinely love and care for him."

"I do and it hurts me to even think about how he's feeling with this change."

"You know, even though he's fairly young, he's still old enough to express his feelings. You may need to sit down and have a conversation with him. When me and Nali's mother ended things, Nali started to change. Her teacher would call and tell me how she became more violent towards her classmates and even the teacher. When I spoke to her about it, she said that she thought it was okay because that's what she would see when she was with her mother and her mother's boyfriend. Of course, she didn't use those exact words. My point is-just ask him and try to talk to your ex. On weekends, you guys can try taking the kids out to the park or something just to make this feel a little more like how they used to be. Even if you have to pretend to get along, you'd only be doing it for the sake of your children."