Taj POV

The start of finals weeks in his second to last semester of college. As it was, his grades were decent. He was nowhere on the boy genius grades. With the change of his major last year, he had to overload his courses to graduate on time. That meant more classes to study for.

He would be happy with all Cs. Didn't need a 4.0 GPA to get a decent job. He still had no idea if would he stick around in the Bloomington-Normal area or go back to Chicago. There were other options. If he wanted to continue to work in the field he was doing for the last four years, in an admissions office, he could move to any college town.

He would start looking at that soon.

Then he had Faye to think about. Things were going great in their sexless relationship. It was a good thing they were not having sex right off the top. They could get to know each other.

"Are you going home for break?" she asked him while they studied at her place sitting at the dining room table.

"For Christmas, I'm stopping by my mom's. I got gifts for her and my sister and brother. She might cook or something, we don't do it up big in my family."

"Why not? Hell, my family celebrates Christmas like two times. My mom's side, my dad's side. That's two family dinners."

"Well, my father never was in the picture. My younger sister and brother have a different father, and he was around for a bit, then not. And my mom never had much to buy us a ton of gifts, so she did what she could."

"Oh."

"Yeah, we were...hell, are, poor, poor. Like state assistance poor. Like barely had a roof over our heads poor. Like, go to the soup kitchen to eat a meal sometimes poor."

"Damn. I didn't grow up that poor, but my mother struggled a bit when she first divorced my father. By struggle I mean we moved from a nice big house to a smaller one. She had to get a job instead of being a stay-at-home mom. She didn't buy me a car at sixteen, but she did help me get one when I went off to college at eighteen."

"Yeah, you were not poor." Everything he had he got for himself, and when he had extra, he sent it to his mother. He knew she did the best she could. The struggle was real for a single parent. That was why he never wanted to be in that situation. He only wanted kids with his wife.

If something were to ever happen that they divorce, he would take care of his kids fifty-fifty. Men that made babies and ran off were the worse.

That's why he respected Faye for doing what she did with her daughter.

"Both your parents were in your life though, even after the divorce?"

"Yeah, I stayed with my father a lot, but all credit to my mom for raising me. My father kind of checked out and wanted to continue to play the field. Never remarried, while my mother has remarried."

This was an interesting conversation and he ignored his studies for now.

"So, you're interested in remarrying at some point?"

She chuckled. "I barely count this first time as one, so yeah. No time soon. Like I said, my focus is on my daughter."

No time soon? What did that mean? She was still young. He was young, but he knew he wanted to get married. And why wait five years into the future? He needed to know her timeline.

"So after you finish grad school? Another two years or so."

"Huh? No, maybe once my kid is self-sufficient, teenage years maybe."

Teenage years? She was four now! That was at over ten years away. And that was if her daughter turned out to be a kid that didn't wild out as most teens did.

"So you don't think you could get married now...I mean, in two years...because of your daughter?"

She shrugged. "I really can't say. I know being a parent is my everything right now. It's why I came back to school. It's why I work so hard. It's why I can't think about myself, I have to think about her."

He respected all of that, but still, he did not understand it. They were not even that serious in the relationship, but he liked to think about the possibility of ending in marriage for them. Ten years of dating someone?

Maybe he was tripping.

"What about us?"

"What about us?" she repeated to him.

"You know...one day getting married."

"Aaw!" She leaned over to kiss him. "I like you but damn Taj, can a sister figure out exactly what she wants before we discuss that?"

"I'm just asking because...you know I don't date around. I'm looking for something serious that can lead to, you know, forever."

"Damn Taj, every girl wants to hear things like that." She paused to think. "Hmmm...I just can't say, Taj. I mean, I just got divorced from jumping into something too quick."

"I understand."

"But I can say this...you seem cool. You seem...damn near perfect. Sexy, have the looks and all. Smart, have the brains. A strong work ethic, that's important. Sweet and romantic."

He grinned, liking all that she said.

"I would be a fool to let a guy like you go...that's all I'm saying."

That deserved a good, long kiss which he happily gave her. He thought Faye was the type he could settle down with as well. He needed to be patient, and let the relationship take its course. He could not be afraid of getting hurt again. They always said nice guys finished last, he hoped not in his case.

"Come on, we have about thirty minutes to get this studying in before Kelz wakes up from her nap."

They did not get in another ten minutes and in stormed Kelandria.

"Mommy! Hi Taj!" She crawled onto Faye's lap, and immediately went in on the laptop sitting in front of her, trying to type on it but Faye stopped her. "Can I play a game?"

"No."

"Can I watch Ryan?"

"No!"

"I need to watch sumthin'!"

Faye squeezed her and hugged her, kissed her cheek a few times. "Mommy has work to do. You want a snack or something?"

She jumped off Faye's lap and walked over to him. "Can I watch Ryan on your 'puter?"

"What's Ryan?"

"Some lame lil YouTube mess she's obsessed with. No!"

She pouted, arms across her chest. "I never get to do nothing!"

"I know you didn't!" Faye stood up from the table. "I will make you a snack and then you can watch something educational, not a social media influencer trying to sell you something."

He had to look up who this Ryan guy was on YouTube. He clicked the app, typed in Ryan and kids, and pop came a bunch of videos.

"It's Ryan!" Kelandria was still at his side, so she climbed on his lap. "Want to watch with me?"

"Sure, come on. You have to tell me what's going on. Does he teach you things?"

"Yeah, he-"

Faye came out of the kitchen. "Didn't I say no Ryan? I thought that's what I said. Taj, you can't go and do something I specifically told her no to."

"We're just going to watch a bit while you make her snack." So far the video seemed harmless. A kid and his father playing with a toy.

"But Taj...I just said no."

Okay, maybe he was wrong. It was not his kid and whatever Faye said should be law. "Sorry, kiddo." He cut YouTube off. "I can find something your mother approves of on TV and we can watch it together."

"OK." She jumped off his lap and headed to the living room.

Faye stood, still angry at him.

"I'm sorry Faye. That was on me. Be mad at me, not her."

"Oh, I know who to be mad at. Taj, just so we're clear, that is my child, not yours."

"I'm sorry, okay, I won't do it again." He hugged and kissed her cheek. "Is it okay if we watch something more appropriate on TV? I'll make sure it's so educational, that she can go take my final and pass."

She laughed at him. "Boy, stop."

A/N: Is this relationship doomed or what? I want to make them work but I don't know.