PARADOX

PDX49

April 15th 2023
Dallas, Texas
8:20 am

Amina's eyes were forced open by the light coming from the bathroom, she let out a light groan before sitting up. Instinctively, her hand flew up to feel for her bonnet, hoping that it wasn't anywhere else other than her head. Sporting a silk press made her very conscious of her bonnet placement throughout the night. Luckily, it was still there. A little loose, but as long as it was still there she wasn't complaining. She gracefully slid out of the bed and traveled over to the bathroom where she grabbed the knob and swung the door open to fully expose the light.

Rashad stood at the bathroom sink, brushing his teeth. Amina leaned against the doorframe, in a daze as she closely examined him. His shirt was off, exposing his umber tattooed chest. Internally, Amina went back and forth with herself about crossing the boundary that she put in place. This was the longest they went without touching each other and Amina was battling her ongoing desire for him. He didn't deserve no coochie, but she deserved some dick—decisions decisions. Amina thought to herself.

"You up early." She voiced as she stepped further into the bathroom and grabbed her toothbrush and paste. "Yeah...I think that morning sickness shit skipping you and hitting me." He replied.

"You don't feel good?" Amina questioned. She ran her toothbrush under the faucet for a second before squeezing the paste onto the brush, she ran it under water again and brought the toothbrush into her mouth. "I didn't earlier—that's what woke me up out my sleep." Rashad replied.

Amina nodded her head as she continued with brushing her teeth, following by her tongue. She grabbed her mouthwash and swished it around her mouth before spitting it out. Amina stared at herself for a moment, trying to see if she noticed any changes with her body yet. So far, there wasn't any drastic change. Her stomach was still flat for the most part too.

"When you done, I got something in the kitchen for you." Rashad announced, while his attention was focused on his phone. "Okay." Amina replied before diving into her face routine. Once it was complete, she grabbed her Shea butter lip balm from the drawer and coated her lips, continuing to eye herself while pursing her full lips together to evenly rub it in. Amina cut off the light on her way out of the bathroom and pushed feet into her slippers before walking out to the kitchen where she was faced with a bouquet of flowers and a small shopping bag. Amina smiled as she inched closer and closer to the island. She pulled the note out of the bouquet and fixed her eyes on it.

Dear Mama,

Since we writing notes and shit now lmao, but nah fr. I love you and I really thank you for having a baby with me. I'll forever be indebted to you just for the sacrifices alone that come with this. I feel like I gotta keep saying I love you cause I really do. The way you make me feel is crazy, sometime it feel like you control my heart. Nonetheless, I appreciate you Mama. Right now and forever.

Love,
Pops

Amina exchanged the note for the small bag, pulling out its contents. She could tell it was jewelry due to the box it came in. She opened the box from the top, revealing a gold nameplate necklace. Instead of her government name, it was the sobriquet Rashad faithfully called her, "Mama". Amina chuckled as she gently ran her finger over the 14 karat gold words and heart. Amina figured the gift stemmed from Amina complimenting Rashad's many gold chains and following the compliment up by stating that she likes dainty jewelry for herself, rather than the big iced out chains he had.

"Since I'm not the only one that's gon' be calling you Mama." Rashad announced from behind her, causing her to turn around. "I love it...Thank you Suge." Amina replied as she handed the necklace to him so he could put it on her. She wrapped her hair around her finger and held it up, allowing Rashad to get an uninterrupted view to connect the pieces.