Epilogue #2
Aniyis nodded his head, respecting the request because his father did the same with him.
He walked off toward the cement path of the cemetery, allowing his father to speak to Cassie alone.
A deep sigh drifted out of Kross as he squatted down to be closer to her headstone.
Things got easier, but losing her would forever be a hard pill to swallow.
“I handled it like I said I would. I put that nigga down, and now, you can rest peacefully. He’ll never walk the same earth as our baby boy ever again.”
Getting justice for her was something he had to do. He owed it to her after everything she did for him. Blowing Scrap’s head off put an end to all the anger and turmoil he had manifesting inside of him since he lost Cassie. He finally had peace.
“Shit been different lately, and I apologize for letting life get in the way of us coming to visit you. I’m trying my best to get ‘Niyis acclimated to this new life while still honoring your beliefs and how you wanted to raise him. We have our good days and bad days, but we’re getting through.
I just had a baby girl a month ago, and it took me a minute to step out of the guilt I felt for moving on with the life I planned to live with you.
Remedy’s amazing, though, especially with Aniyis.
At times, I really think you and God linked up in heaven to place her in our lives.
She respects you and gives me and Aniyis the space to honor you ‘cause she knows how much you mean to us. I’m saying all this to say I wanna marry her, and after talking to my mama, she told me the first thing I gotta do is to step out of the guilt I feel and realize that you would have wanted me to move on instead of mourning you my entire life.
It’s been a year, and I can finally say I’m happy now, Cassie. ”
Admitting to Cassie that he finally found happiness felt so liberating and refreshing.
He experienced loss after loss and had been knocked down more times than he could count.
This era of life was dedicated to everything that was taken from him, and he was determined to just be at peace.
There was a set of blue wind spinners Aniyis set on Cassie’s grave for decoration.
They began to spin as a light brush of wind graced over Kross.
He couldn’t contain the smile on his face. Cassie had just given him her blessing.
“I love you, shawty,” he professed to her before sitting a kiss on her headstone. After saying goodbye, he stood up so he and Aniyis could make their way to the car.
Once they arrived back at home, they made their way up to their high rise.
The move from the condo was timed perfectly since Remedy and the baby were coming with them.
Kross copped a posh high rise located in the affluent neighborhood of Brickell.
It was something temporary until he and Remedy finally agreed where they wanted to relocate to.
Upon entering, they were greeted with the cries and whimpers from their new baby girl.
“She’s always crying,” Aniyis sighed with a shake of his head, prompting Kross to chuckle.
“She’s a baby, fool. What you expect?” Once he kicked off his shoes, he went straight to the sink in the kitchen to wash his hands so he could relieve Remedy of the baby.
Aniyis was a great big brother. He took the news better than Kross thought he would.
The only thing he was bummed about was the fact that he didn’t get a little brother.
Instead, he was blessed with a bratty and spoiled rotten little sister.
Kross could tell he cared for his sister deeply.
He just wasn’t with all that crying and whining. In Aniyis’ words, the crying blew him.
Aniyis made his way to the sink as well, washing his hands since he knew once baby girl stopped all her crying, he would want his few minutes of snuggles with her too.
“You do all that fronting just for you to be wrapped around her finger too,” Kross teased his son with a laugh.
Together, they followed the sound of the crying before landing in the nursery where Remedy was making a bottle.
“Before y’all come in here to save her, I’m almost done. She needs to be patient,” Remedy warned the boys, knowing they were going to swoop in and pick baby girl up from her crib so she could be coddled while waiting for her bottle.
“You’re tripping. My baby don’t need to be patient.” Kross smacked his lips as he walked straight to the crib and scooped her up in his arms.
Remedy rolled her eyes while shaking her head. She wrapped up making the bottle before handing it right over to Kross so he could do the feeding. “You’re the reason she’s the way she is now. You turned her into a velcro baby. I can’t put her down for a second.”
Kross let everything Remedy was telling him go through one ear and out the other.
His baby girl Demi Isai Hunter was his kryptonite.
She had her father’s heart in ways that was indescribable.
From the moment he laid eyes on her, he just knew his baby girl was gifted to him by God so he would change his life.
She was as beautiful as could be with her rich umber skin she inherited from him, her plump pouty lips she got from her mother, and a set of big doe eyes that had the power to open anybody’s heart.
Kross spent all his time just gazing at his baby. She was perfect to say the least.
“Remedy, she’s just a baby,” Aniyis piped in as he followed his dad to the rocking chair so he too could gaze at Demi while she had her bottle.
Remedy threw her hands up in defeat. There was no winning with the boys when it came to Demi. The quicker she came to terms with that, the easier her life would be. “I see it’s me versus everybody in this damn house,” she muttered.
Remedy went ahead and cleaned a few things around Demi’s nursery while Kross took her off her hands for a little while. “How was your visit with Cassie, ‘Niyis?” Remedy asked while wiping down Demi’s changing table.
“It went good! Daddy thinks she loved the gift we got her. I think you should come to the next one.” He smiled while extending an invite to Remedy.
Visiting his mother had always been a thing that was reserved for just him and his father, and Remedy respected that.
She was blessed enough to experience them Earth side, so the time they had with Cassie was special, and she didn’t want to wedge herself into it.
His invite prompted Kross and Remedy to exchange glances with each other.
From behind Aniyis, Kross offered her a shrug, indicating he had no idea where Aniyis’ idea to invite her came from.
“Why you say that, ‘Niyis?” Remedy asked.
“Well, I asked her,” he shrugged. “Daddy said when the wind blows that’s her speaking to us. When I asked can you come next time, the wind blew.”
Kross kept his attention fixed on Demi. Remedy was on her own with this one. Remedy squatted down to Aniyis’ height and opened her arms up to him. He fell right into her embrace, basking in the feeling of her wrapping her arms around him.
“If it’s something that you’re certain you want to happen, then yes, I will come next time.” She kissed his cheek. “I would love to visit your mommy. Maybe she can give me the secret of how she bleached her hair so good without ruining her curl pattern.”
Kross couldn’t help but to laugh at how lighthearted Remedy kept everything. She knew how to take the pressure off any and every situation.
“Remedy, you do know she can’t really talk back to you, right?” Aniyis bumped his brows together while eyeing her oddly.
Remedy laughed while nodding her head. “It was a joke, ‘Niyis. Duh.”
“Oh,” Aniyis said before letting out a series of forced laughter. His humor was one that always kept Remedy and Kross on their toes. The boy was funny as hell.
After Kross successfully burped Demi, he sat her in the bassinet to allow Aniyis to wheel her out to the living room so they could watch whatever he wanted on the television.
“You handled that well,” Kross praised her while wrapping his arms around her waist.
“You weren’t any help,” she scoffed jokingly.
“I know, but it’s better that way. You’re building a bond with him that I really don’t have no parts in.”
A smile graced Remedy’s face at the thought of Aniyis. He was such an amazing kid. Never in a million years did she think she would be a stepmom and a mother of her own child, yet here she was. “I love him.”
“He loves you too. He’s comfortable around you.”
“That’s all I ever wanted.”
Kross craned down and kissed her lips. The pecks he was peppering onto her lips intensified into a passionate kiss that prompted him to slip his tongue into her mouth while gripping her ass.
“Stop it. You’re always trying to be nasty,” Remedy laughed while parting from the kiss.
“You always walking around looking so damn good. What you expect?”
“Two more weeks, then we can have all the fun we want.” She cupped her hands around his face with a smirk etched on her lips.
“Bet.”
“We have to get ready for the grand opening. I still have to cut your hair and Aniyis’.
” In hopes of stepping out of the street game and legitimizing himself, Kross opened a bar and restaurant on South Beach.
The restaurant business was very lucrative, and Kross was ready to take over.
He partnered with a phenomenal chef, and they turned what used to just be a vision into a full reality.
Remedy was so proud of Kross for doing what was best for himself and their family.
Kross could hear the stress in her voice, which made him secure his arms around her tightly and begin to rock side to side. “Chill out, love. Everything gonna be perfect.”
“How are you so damn calm all the time? It’s your grand opening,” she asked him.
Kross shrugged. “‘Cause God doing everything right in my life right now. If shit go bad, then oh well. As long as I got my lady, my son and baby girl, I’m good.”