After I ate, I laid down and exhaustion washed over me. A couple of hours later, a soft knock on my door woke me up. Figuring it was YaYa, I said, “One minute.” I climbed out of bed and opened the door to find YaYa standing at my door with Wes behind her.

After a restless night, I got up early Sunday morning, packed an overnight bag, got dressed, and left the house. Sitting around the house waiting for Wes to show up at my door didn’t appeal to me at all. I knew he was scheduled to fly back early Monday morning, so I just needed to avoid him one day.

We arrived at the storage facility ten minutes before Jackson’s mom arrived with her sisters.

“Well, if it isn’t the two women that ruined my son’s promising life. It’s a pity he couldn’t see he could have done so much better.”

After a Sunday morning spent in bed with Wes, we came up for air in time for me to rush and get ready to catch my flight. He tried to convince me to stay another day, but I knew it would be even harder to leave if I stayed. We rushed to the airport, exchanged a quick hug and kiss, then I rushed to make my flight. I made it with only minutes to spare.

We arrived at the restaurant to meet his friends with ten minutes to spare. We were told that the others had already arrived, and I had expected to see one man and one woman sitting at the table. But there was an extra woman, and both of the women looked alike. I guessed they were sisters.

Three days later, I was packed and loading my suitcase, garment bag, and carry-on into a car service. This would be my first time traveling to LA. I arrive at LAX at 8:00 p.m. and Wes would be picking me up. To say I was nervous would be an understatement.

I stayed up late trying to process my thoughts and emotions until finally exhaustion kicked in and I was able to go to bed and get some sleep. The next day, I’d taken the day off so I could leave once my parents arrived. We started the morning with our normal routine with Chelsea showing up to take care of Joi and me making breakfast. My parents arrived around 11:00 a.m. looking tanned and refreshed. Both smiling like Cheshire cats.

On Monday, Mel, Joi, Chelsea, and I fell back into our routine. The paternity results were expected on Tuesday and my parents would be back on Wednesday. I just had to make it until they got back. To say the Mel’s stress level was on ten on Tuesday wouldn’t have been accurate, because it was off the scale. One minute she was cranky, the next she was crying, and I had to use all that was in me to not scream or wring her neck.

After a restless night, Sunday morning still felt like it came too soon. Puttering around the house all morning, I decided to take myself out for lunch before heading over to my parents’ house. On the way to my favorite Caribbean restaurant, I spotted a bookstore and impulsively decided to stop. I used to love to go to bookstores and get lost for hours in them. It had been years since I done so, but the thought of getting away for even an hour was too tempting to pass up.

Wes, Mel, and Joi had an early morning appointment at the lab where the paternity test had been scheduled. Chelsea had been given the morning off and Wes was left to deal with an agitated sister and a cranky niece on his own.

Three days in and we all had fallen into a workable routine. To make things easier for both Mel and me, my parents paid to have her physical therapist come to the house.  Her strength was slowly building, but her slurring didn’t seem to be improving.  Thursday was the only day I had to take off work, so I could take her to her follow-up appointment with Dr. Adonis.

The moment my parents pulled off, I heard Joi’s footsteps pattering down the hall. I’d already been warned that she had learned how to climb out her crib. “Here we go,” I muttered, looking down at my watch. There was still thirty minutes before Chelsea would arrive and I could log into work. I was on my own until then.

She went into the living room to find out what my father wanted and Wes came into the kitchen to find me. “Are you ready to head home?”

“Yeah, I’m ready.” I grabbed my purse and said good-bye to my parents.

Wes had barely pulled out the driveway before saying, “Well, were you able to find out who the guy is from Mel?”

I was crossing the hall to the room Joi was in when I thought I heard my dad say my, or Joi’s name. I walked towards the living room and listened to see if he was calling me or not. That’s when I heard an eye-opening conversation between Dad and Wes.

Later that night, I once again found myself sitting at my mother’s table, only this time Mel was with us. Wes had come by exactly at 5:30, called to let me know he’d arrived, and waited until I came out to the car. On the car ride over to my parent’s house, I asked him how his project was going, made small talk about things that happen when we were younger, and kept the conversation away from the buddy kiss we had shared earlier that day. Wes played along which had me leery about the ride home.

How did he find out where I live? I thought, looking at Mr. Hazel-Amber eyes standing on my front porch. Knowing he wasn’t going to stop at one press of my bell, I rushed into my office and picked up my noise cancelling headphones. I scurried over to Joi and gingerly placed them over her ears. Her head was so small that if she turned at all, they would probably fall off.

When I finally headed home, I nearly jumped out my skin as I was letting myself in the front door when my cell phone started ringing. I quickly stepped inside and locked the door before answering.

“How did it go with Mel?” My mother didn’t bother with hello.