Page 42 - Interior_SPRING SUMMER FALLING_2021

42 | FRANCESCA PE NN

“Stop sounding like one big cliché, and mind your damn business.” I growl
before Sanya inserts the bear and herself between us.
“We’re here for the baby,” she whispers to me in a singsong tone. “What the
fuck is the homewrecker doing here?” Cassie whines and sits up further in the bed,
visually choking Sanya with her green eyes.

Sanya frowns and looks around. “Homewrecker?” she questions under her
breath.
“Very classy. You bring the other woman to see your baby,” Dan mocks after
finding his voice. “You left a pregnant white woman for a –. I am in his face before
he can finish his sentence. Every cell in my body wants to hurt him. He senses the
danger because his words remain in his mouth.
“Dan. Have a seat, and shut the fuck up. Don’t take comfort in being in the
hospital. I will end you.”
Dan sits like a good boy. “Are you fucking serious right now, Cassie? We both
know who the true homewrecker is in this scenario.” Dan eyes her suspiciously,
and she blushes. “Where’s the baby?”
“She’s right here!” a nurse happily announces from the door. She apparently
missed the turmoil moments before me asking for the child. I wash my hands as the

nurse instructs and put a clean blanket over my shirt, then she hands me the girl.
She is tiny, pure, and innocent.
She even smells like purity and innocence. I clutch her fragile body to me and
pose while Sanya takes the picture. As much as I love holding the baby, my instincts
tell me she isn’t mine. I know Cassie feels the same way. She’s named the baby
Amber. I’d told her I hate the name when we were trying to pick baby names. The
name itself isn’t the issue; I had an ultracrazy ex-girlfriend in college named Amber.
Cassie knows I would never name a child of mine Amber. But, Monty would.
Cassie is a bitch, but I don’t think she is vindictive enough to name the baby Amber
if she is mine.
“When are you calling Monty, so he can meet his daughter?”
Cassie eyes the baby and me nervously. Amber is a sweet baby with no idea
that her parents are – I don’t have the energy for more insults. It’s not her fault,
and I won’t take it out on an innocent soul.
I kiss the top of her black hair-covered head and hand her over. “We both know
she is not mine, but I would never hurt her. You should know that about me,