Her phone vibrated, and she was sure it was Alexis replying to her text. In no rush to pull her eyes away from her husband’s, Siara waited for his response.
Silky’s head shook as his free hand slid down his face. “I still can’t wrap my mind around that. When we were still married, I tried to get her to have a baby again, but she didn’t want to. Maybe she just needed time to fully grieve and heal. I don’t know why she’d want to have my baby, though.”
Siara’s face covered with confusion before she chuckled. “I can. Who wouldn’t want to have Sylvester Silky Watson’s baby?”
She squealed when he lifted her in the air and twirled her around. “What I tell you about calling out my government name?”
“I’m sorry,” she yelled through her laugh, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck. “If I throw up on you, it’ll be your fault.”
“It’ll be my son’s fault,” Silky countered, gently putting her back on the bed.
“You’re so sure it’s going to be a boy. What are you going to do if it’s a girl?”
Silky shrugged as he finished getting his clothes together. “I guess we will find out in two weeks, huh?”
Siara sighed as she absently ran her hand over her stomach. The vibration of her phone reminded her that she had a text. As she expected, it was Alexis confirming she was free to go out tonight. Even though she didn’t really feel like going out, Siara wanted to do as much as she could before the baby came. They’d been wanting to expand their family their whole marriage, and Siara was sure nothing would be able to tear her away from their baby when he or she made their arrival.
“Do you have names in mind yet?”
It was honestly a trick question. Siara was curious to see if Silky remembered the list of baby names they made the night they gave each other their virginity.
“Didn’t we already do that? Like a million years ago?”
Her smile turned into a giggle when Silky took her phone out of her hand and laid her back on the bed. As he kissed his way around her neck, she wrapped her hands around his.
“If you don’t leave soon, I’ll want you to stay.”
His eyes met hers, and he licked his lips, as if he was unsure of if he needed to say what he wanted to say. “Then I’ll stay.”
Lord knows she wanted him to, but she didn’t want him to feel forced to. Knowing that he wanted to stay just as much as she wanted him to made Siara feel warm inside.
“I should text Lex and cancel.”
“Nah, you don’t have to do that. Go out with your girl. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“Are you sure?”
Instead of answering her vocally, Silky lowered himself and captured her lips, showing her that it didn’t matter how long she stayed out or went away… he’d wait for her… like always.
Their stare down was filled with a few different emotions. While Silky was feeling embarrassed and like shit, he could see the hurt and anger in Herbert’s eyes. Herbert was one of his regular students, and he was visibly upset. Silky couldn’t blame him. He didn’t remember what they were discussing their last time meeting, and by Herbert’s reaction, it was obviously important.
“I knew you didn’t really care about me. It was a lie… just like with everyone else.”
“That’s not true, Herbert. I do care about you. It’s just been a lot going on. We last spoke about…” Silky grabbed Herbert’s file, quickly scanning the paper on top for some hint as to what they were previously discussing. In his mind, it made perfect sense for him to not remember a conversation from four months ago, but Herbert was obviously expecting more from him.
“How can you forget, man? It’s all we ever talk about when I come down here!”
Silky thought it over briefly before snapping his fingers in remembrance. “College. College!”
Pride was short lived. Even though he knew he was right, Herbert wasn’t impressed. With a shake of his head, Herbert stood, grumbling under his breath as he walked out.
“Herbert…”
“Save it, Mr. Watson. I’m out.”
Silky cursed under his breath, shoving the files that were in front of him away. He’d made such progress with Herbert over the years. Even getting him interested in going to college was a huge step. How could that have slipped his mind? It was obviously filled with too much other bullshit.
He stood and closed the door then called Siara, hoping she wasn’t too busy that she couldn’t answer. It took about four rings, but eventually, her sweet-sounding voice filled his ear.
“Everything okay, baby?” was her greeting, automatically soothing his troubled soul.
“I forgot the last conversation I had with Herbert. Pretty sure he hates me now.”
Siara sighed. “That’s the one who you were able to convince to leave Memphis for college?”
Silky nodded. “Yea, that’s the one.”
Herbert had come from a troubled home. No one in his family had gone to college, so he would be the first one. On top of that, his parents both struggled with drugs and abused each other. It was in Herbert’s best interest if he got out the moment he could. Herbert’s younger brother was the only reason he had been considering staying, and Silky was able to convince him that he wasn’t his responsibility. He was still a child himself. Their grandparents could look out for his brother. It was more beneficial for them both if Herbert went away.
The more he thought about it, the more he remembered. Herbert had agreed to leaving for college if Silky could help him look into adopting his brother.
“Shit,” he growled, standing and heading down the hall in search of Herbert. The last thing he wanted was for his fucked-up memory to make Herbert believe he had one less person in his corner.
“Babe, that was months ago. He can’t be mad at you for that.”
“Well he can, and he is. And I don’t blame him. I had one fucking job, SiSi. One. And that was to make sure he knew he had someone in his corner. I fucked that up today, and I have no one to blame but my-damn-self.”
“Silky. Are you going after him?” He didn’t answer her. “Stop walking right now.” Even though he didn’t want to, he did. “Close your eyes and take a deep breath.” After looking around the empty hall, he did. “Exhale. Then take another.”
He did. It took three deep breaths before he began to simmer down.
“I don’t feel like myself, bae. Not all the way.”
“But you’re working on it. That’s all that matters. What did I share with you from my last therapy session?”
Silky leaned against the lockers. Kicking his foot up on them, he shoved his free hand into his pocket.
“Trust the process. Honor your progress. Practice patience.”
“Yes. You’re better than you were a month ago. Be proud of that. And don’t be so hard on yourself. You’ll get there, and I’ll be with you, every step of the way.”
“I know, and I appreciate that.”
“I love you.”
“I love you more.”
“Give Herbert some time to calm down. Maybe call him into your office tomorrow?”