“I see that skirt you’re wearing, and it’s Wednesday...noon-day prayer at your church, right? The high cut of it is a whole ‘nother fucking mode to me.”
Ruth sucked her teeth and rolled her neck, begging my pardon. She then opened the door.
“My nephew is in his nursery with this nanny you sent over. I don’t think it’s a good idea, but what say does the auntie get in his life?” She turned to leave out.
“Bye, Ruth,” I bade casually before laying the flowers on the hall-table there in the foyer then headed towards the back of the apartment for the bedrooms.
My first stop was to JR’s room—Jordan Rogers had turned into JR, as we affectionately nicknamed him. I dumped some of the bags against the wall in the hall and slid out of my sneakers before I entered. His room was fairly large. So large that I had to look around once inside to find its dwellers. There they were, near the bay window, in the rocking chair.
Eligia’s eyes lit up once they recognized me. “Mr. Rogers!” she gasped quietly.
I placed the bags down, out of the doorway before crossing the room.
“Eligia, I’m glad you were able to show on such short notice—”
Jordan’s little head popped up in search of me and then he wailed loudly. Shit. In all my excitement of seeing him, I forgot how much my presence roused him. Eligia gasped again, not able to hide her amusement about my son’s keenness. It was crazy and I enjoyed it, though this time I was hoping to divide my time between him and his mother.
I held my index finger up, gesturing to hang on for a bit. “I need to wash my hands,” I whispered before taking off for his bathroom there in the nursery.
When I returned to them, Jordan was still fussing, wanting to get to me. Almost the moment I took him from Eligia and gathered him in my arms, he quieted.
“Hey there, lil man. I got you,” I murmured to him.
His little eyes gazed into mine a while before he made the sniffling face and sound, resembling more of a stinky face. He then brought his hands and mouth to my face discoordinately and landed a wet kiss on the left side of my cheek. It was more like his warm milky breath hit my face first, panting wildly, then his wet tongue followed like a soft smack.
“Hey, kid, you’re going to have to get your kissing game up for the ladies. That was sloppy!” I giggled. Only my kid could make my grown ass giggle like a woman.
I loved his attempts at affection towards me. By all accounts, he wasn’t this demonstrative with anyone else, and knowing it brightened my heart.
Eligia handed me his pacifier. “I was just putting him down for a nap. Are those bags for him?” She pointed to the small pile I’d dropped. I nodded. “Would you like for his mother to put them away to see what you’ve bought or should I do it?”
I’d guess she asked because for some single parents, it can be important for fathers to show off what they contributed to their children for appearance sake or accountability. In my case, I had to hide most shit. I spoiled this little guy to my heart’s delight. I’d had his nursery packed here, at my apartment and up in Alpine. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for him.
“You can put them away. I don’t want to get in any trouble while I’m here,” I answered Eligia as I adjusted Jordan in my arms to start putting him down for his nap. I could tell he wanted to play as we usually did, but I didn’t want to prolong his crankiness and needed to put him out of his misery. Plus, I had his mother to tend to.
In less than five minutes, Jordan was out. I laid him in his crib and cracked the door behind me when I left his nursery. I headed out to the kitchen where I knew Eligia was. I could smell the seasoning of her cooking.
“He’s out,” I informed her as I clicked on his monitor.
She nodded and I looked for a vase for the flowers I brought. I left the sole black rose out of the bouquet and headed out of the kitchen.
“Everything set?” I asked before stepping past the threshold.