chapter 4

For 29 years old, Shawn was a hulking man. He must have been 6'3" and 250lbs of pure muscle. His arms were as powerful and as thick as pythons. When he smiled, it's like the Earth cracked open and revealed a shining light. He was one of those guys who walked into a room and almost caused an accident with whipping necks and double-takes. Well dressed, well spoken, and well, well, well...

Dani told me she met him online. He made the first move apparently, and was one of the few messages on her profile who weren't looking for a round in the bedroom with her backside. I would sit and listen to my girl gush for hours.

"He's so kind. He listens, he never complains, he doesn't rush me. And have you seen his back?! He could lift a Mack Truck!"

I could sense that Dani was confused why Shawn had taken a liking to her. I wasn't. It was clear that my little sweetcorn was exactly the kind of wife material that a bigshot like Shawn was looking for.

Shawn worked at one of those big eff-off corporate buildings downtown. When you stepped off at Union, you basically walked into his office. The way he dressed, spoke, and spent all showed that he made good money but did not take it for granted. Dani told me his job title, but it was one of those inner-office money-making hoohah that you could never quite fully pin down. Whatever it was, he was doing just fine.

Dani started sending me photos of their date night escapades. Fancy restaurants, bottles of booze, crazy club ragers. She was living her crazy city life with a man who was coveted by every person with a brain and a libido. I was happy. They say that life has ups and downs, and neither last for too long - but for Dani, it seemed to just stretch on and on and on.

I remember when she finally brought Shawn back home. She was basically living at his condo now, waiting for her lease to come up until she could make the permanent switch. When my girl crossed that threshold, she had the same shining, golden light that I recognized from her college years. The world was at her feet, and there was a man beside her to see her through every step of the journey.

I could see on her waist that she was settling into that confident relationship zone. She was rounding back out again, that was for sure. It was different than last time though - before, all that plumpness settled like an hourglass. It boosted out her booty and boobs, keeping a tiny snatched waist in between. The first thing I noticed on my baby girl was this belly that was starting to peek out. She probably had put on 15lbs in the first few months of their relationship. It was nice to see.

I loved seeing that Shawn couldn't keep his hands off her. His deep voice and trash-bin-lid hands wrapped around Dani with a deep, foundational desire. It was a thing of beauty.

For that first night back, I cranked out the Caribbean works. I wanted to impress Shawn and give my girl a taste of what she was missing (it was nice she was in love and all, but she weren't coming around to see her mama no more!)

Dani put back more in that night than I had ever seen before. Shawn ate like a brick shithouse too, but he stopped at two packed plates. I watched as she got up and loaded up a third. When she finished off her own bottle of wine, she started making tequila mixed drinks for everyone. She was tipsy and taught as a drum! I watched as my green-freak-gym-girl mopped up an entire tray of jerk chicken with a fried chicken thigh, then sucked it back like it was a lollipop. I had made enough to leave them with leftovers, but it seemed she was determined to make this a one-time meal!

Shawn kept his hand on her thigh the whole time, his eyes drinking her in. He loved her, I could tell. Who doesn't love a girl that can eat?

We drank way too much that night, and Shawn and Dani shared some of there good kush with us. We lay there high as a kite and singing songs and sippin' tequila sodas. He fit right in.

When we was cleaning up, he told me how grateful he was that I raised a girl like Dani and that he had been waiting his whole life for someone like her to come along. I'll never forget what he said:

"I know I'm a few years older than her. I hope you trust me with your girl. I never want to waste another moment without Dani."

I nearly broke down right there. This boy wasn't going anywhere if I had anything to say about it.

He helped me cleaned up and went upstairs to settle in for the night with my wild ass girl. I had a chuckle at the thought of Shawn and Dani squeezed into that tiny childhood twin bed. I don't even know how my girl fit both of her cheeks in there in the first place.

I remember hearing Shawn get up in the middle of the night. I'm a bit of a restless sleeper, out of habit. He went down to the front door and I heard a murmured conversation. I checked the window, out of pure suspicion.

I saw a car drive away. It was 1:30am, we'd been in bed for only 45 mins. What was this man doing?

Then I smelled it come down the hall.

Pizza? Hadn't I made enough food? I was almost insulted.

Then, the door closed and I heard Dani's giddy, muffled laugh.

It wasn't for him. It was for her.

I remember dozing off, thinking about how lucky Dani was that she found a good man to spoil her. A rich, handsome, wholesome man.
If you had asked me that night what I thought would come of it all, I probably could have told you. We all know what happens in a situation like that. When we happy, we let go and chase pure happiness, all the time. When the world is your oyster, we eat the damn oyster.

I knew she was gonna get big. But I ain't never seen it happen so fast.