Jaylen and Jessica 3: We'll Make It Through by Shaquanda Dalton

Author:Shaquanda Dalton [Dalton, Shaquanda]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Romance, Urban, United States, African American, Genre Fiction, Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 1495374920
Amazon: B00GPQSAUA
Published: 2013-11-17T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

I haven’t talked to Jaylen since the fight we had last night. He hasn’t called me to apologize, and I haven’t called him. I try not to let it affect my mood as I wait to talk to James, but my mood could definitely use a pick-me-up.

The Italian restaurant downtown is crowded today even though the lunch hour ended two hours ago. I’m sitting in a booth next to the window with a great front-row view of their parking lot. I walked here from campus, and now I just have to wait for James to show up so I can tell him I’m pregnant. It didn’t go as well as I expected with Jaylen, but I’m hoping with James it’ll be different. Why? I’m not sure, but I’m sure as hell hoping.

I tap the lip of my coffee cup and stare out the window. I told him three p.m. It’s already twenty-five minutes after. I look at my phone once to make sure I sent him the right time. I did, and he even responded with “okay.” Hmm, he wouldn’t be purposely standing me up, would he?

“Sorry I’m late.”

A tingle runs down my spine, and I jolt my attention back to the room. James has scooted into the booth across from me with his thin trimmed glasses and book bag.

“Got caught up in a project for school and lost track of time. Jogged right over.”

“No problem,” I say quickly, brushing off his tardiness with a wave of my hand. “Hey, listen, I wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Okay, but, hey, did you order yet? I’m starving. Who’s our waitress?” His head sweeps back and forth as he scans the room for anyone in a uniform.

“Our waitress hasn’t come back yet. I told her I was still waiting for my other party. I had to order a coffee for me to hold the table for us,” I say, resisting the temptation to roll my eyes. He must be trying to avoid my conversation since he thinks he’s still in trouble. Which he is, in fact, but, well, I’m in more trouble than he is with me, so in all fairness we’re kind of equal right now.

“Oh,” he says, sinking back into his seat like a kid told no. “Well, let’s talk, then.”

I stare at his hands on the table, then at his face. I take a deep breath. Now is as good a time as any. “I’m pregnant. I found out about a week ago and—”

“What?” He cuts me off. His voice is now rusty and I can’t tell if it’s full of shock or horror until his eyes are wide, and his mouth falls down to the table. “We’re . . . we’re having a baby? For real?” Or he could be happy.

“Well, um . . .”

Before I can finish, he stands and comes to my side of the booth and kneels down. “Oh my God, Jessica. I never thought me not telling you about those broken condoms would come back and be a blessing in our lives.

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