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The Monday after the Fourth of July weekend was Malika’s first day at Gascoyne & Partners. It was also the fourteenth week of her pregnancy. The baby was the size of a peach and she had graduated from calling it Little Growing Baby Person to Maxine. She didn’t know the baby’s gender yet, but assumed she was carrying a girl and was inspired by her favorite Living Single character.
She’d started carts online with a few ruffly dresses, gold sequin Mary Janes, and headbands with fabric flowers. When she had finally talked to her parents about the baby, hours after their stream of texts and voicemails, they shared their disappointment, but told her that they would support her. As expected, they told her she needed to be more intentional with her life, plan it out better. They cited Malinda as a perfect example of what a young woman could accomplish if she really applied herself.
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