Analise sat at the island pouring milk into her cornbread. She could feel Daniel's eyes on her from across the island, making her look up at him. Daniel had his eyebrows furrowed while he watched her, and she expected the same reaction she'd gotten from Rae'Lynn and Kenzo.
"That's nasty as fuck," he said.
"According to your child, it's not," Analise mumbled, twisting the white cap onto the milk.
"Why don't you eat nun else? Didn't you have this yesterday morning?"
Analise shrugged and picked up her spoon. "I had really bad morning sickness, and after I started eating this, I was able to keep my food down in the morning. It's also been helping me gain and maintain my weight."
"I guess I gotta keep that shit in the house then. You stayin' here tonight again?"
"Probably not. I feel bad you're not sleeping in your bed."
Daniel ran a hand through his curly afro. "Shit still kinda weird between us."
"Exactly. It's still tense."
"I feel like you scared of me."
Analise shook her head. "No, but I feel like you're still mad at me, so I don't want to smother you. We can't jump back into normal like we did the last time."
"I'm not mad anymore. It's still just a lot to process, ma."
Analise's heart swelled at the use of the nickname she'd gotten so used to him calling her. In the three days since they talked, he only addressed her by her name or nickname. The lack of the pet names made Analise realize how different things truly were. Even when they argued for the first time and they needed a break, he still used the usual pet names. This time they were actually fighting, and it would be much harder to bounce back to normal. Part of it was her fault for leaving, and the other half was because Daniel wasn't prepared for the new life they had ahead of them.
Honestly, she couldn't blame him. After their talk, she realized how unprepared they were for children. In the financial department they were set. However, in the mental and emotional one, they weren't ready. Both of them had many demons they hadn't conquered, which could possibly affect their parenting styles. The only thing Analise could pray for was that they'd start getting through their trauma before the baby was due.
