Epilogue
Over a Year Later . . .
“Happy birthday to Halo! Happy birthday to you!” the partygoers sang joyously to the little girl who sat in her highchair with high cheeks and a wide smile.
Halo Collin McLeod was the light of everyone’s existence, especially her parents, Scotty and Blake.
Six months after Blake announced to Scotty that she was pregnant, they were married in an intimate wedding, surrounded by their family and friends.
There was no way that he would let his child come into the world without her mother being his wife.
“Blow out your candles, baby girl.” Scotty egged on his daughter. He imitated a person blowing so Halo could follow his lead. At one year old, she was in a copycat stage.
Halo got all her mother’s attributes and all her father’s freckles.
When Blake was pregnant, everyone wondered what color Halo’s eyes would be because of her father’s grayish eye color.
Her mother, on the other hand, had the most gorgeous brown eyes that enchanted many.
God decided that Halo’s eyes would be the same enchanting brown as her mother’s.
One thing that no one counted on was that Halo’s beautiful toffee, freckled skin would be complemented by natural ginger hair.
Scotty’s hair had a hint of ginger, but the mix of Lashonda dulled it to a point.
The proudest person in the family about Halo’s ginger hair trait was her grandfather, Killian.
He too was a full ginger head. He thanked God that He saw fit to add a little of him into his granddaughter.
Halo leaned toward her smash cake to mimic her father, then blew.
Blake was thankful that it was her smash cake because spit accompanied the air in her lungs that came out when she blew.
It wasn’t enough wind to blow out the single candle, but that was alright.
That was what daddies were for . . . to do the things for their daughters that they couldn’t do for themselves.
When the candle extinguished, Halo’s little hands fanned the smoke. “Hot! Hot! Hot!”
She was taught that where there was smoke, there was fire, which was hot. Scotty chuckled before he took the candle out of the cake. “Daddy’s got it.”
That was all that she needed to hear to grip both sides of the cake with her hands. When her hands pulled away, she had cake in them to offer her mommy and daddy. Without reservation for the germs that could be in her hands, they happily ate the cake from her hand.
Next, Halo stuck her hand out to her grandma. Marla’s face turned up. “Now, Haico, you know grandma loves you, but I’m not eating cake out of your nasty hands. I’ll cut me a piece.”
Halo thought her grandma was so funny. She laughed at the antics. Marla was the only one that called Halo by the nickname Haico, which was a mixture of her first and middle name.
Kids waited for their slice of cake to be cut while Blake cleaned her baby girl’s hands. After she was done, she lifted her from the highchair and cradled Halo on her hip. This was the baby that she prayed for.
Scotty’s lips warmed her cheek where he kissed. His arms wrapped around her middle, and his hand rubbed her protruding belly. “My son treating you right today?”
Blake’s head tilted back so that she could put eyes on her husband. “Just like you, your son is giving me happiness and a tiny bit of hell. I wouldn’t have it any other way, though.”
Chuckles caught their attention. Killian stood there with his favorite beer in his hand.
When Blake and Scotty announced their engagement and pregnancy, Killian finalized his decision to make his move to Charlotte permanent.
He had already missed out on his son’s youth and young adulthood in a way that he shouldn’t have.
He refused to miss any unnecessary second with his grandchild.
There were a lot of regrets about his earlier decisions around fatherhood, but he knew there was nothing he could do about those decisions now.
“Son, don’t tell me you’re stressing my daughter-in-law,” Killian jested. Scotty and Killian’s relationship had grown over time. There were still issues of abandonment that Scotty dealt with, but what was important was that he actively worked on them.
Scotty tittered. “You see how she does me. That’s alright because my baby girl loves me. Right, Halo?”
Halo lifted her head from her mother’s shoulder.
Her one-year-old attention span was over the celebration of her year on the planet.
She was ready to fight sleep until she couldn’t anymore.
When she looked in her daddy’s direction, someone else caught her eye.
Her arms extended before she tried to wiggle out of Blake’s arms. “Pop-Pop!”
Halo did not play about her granddad, Killian.
He made it his business to see her at least five out of the seven days of the week.
It had been like that since the day she was born.
Scotty had confused feelings about it initially because it triggered his abandonment issues.
Derrick, of all people, suggested therapy.
Blake sucked her teeth before she allowed her daughter to slide down her side with her help. She watched as Halo skedaddled over to her grandfather. “Traitor.”
Killian set his beer down on the table next to him to receive his grandbaby.
Every time she saw her Pop-Pop, she gave him the same reaction of love and excitement.
Halo’s laughter was invoked when he lifted her into the air and tossed her a little.
Her arms were wide on the way down so that she could try to fit them around his neck.
Kisses were delivered all over her beautiful face.
She was the perfect person that God created not only for her parents, but for Killian as far as he was concerned.
“Bonnie Lass (beautiful girl), how are you today? It’s your birthday.
” Killian’s accent was a mix of his Scottish roots and his American upbringing.
He immigrated to America with his family when he was six-years-old but spent a significant amount of time in his home city of Oban, Scotland.
While his family lived there, their operations were centered in Glasgow, Scotland.
There was a plan after the birth of Blake and Scotty’s son to take a family trip to Oban.
It would be the first time for either of them to go there.
It would also be the first time that Scotty saw the inheritance that was his if he wanted it.
His placement in Killian’s life was now bigger than just a father-son relationship.
Logan had officially taken his nephew under his wing to have a higher position in the organization.
Scotty watched Halo kiss her grandfather’s cheek before she laid her head on his shoulder then gripped his beard. Yeah, that was it for her and this party. “Your daughter is just like your sleepy ass.”
Blake did a slow turn to glare at her husband. In a low voice, she said, “Did I hear you say that you didn’t want any more of this pregnant pussy? That’s what it sounded like you said.”
That shut Scotty right up. Just in the nick of time, Stitch came over with news that they could use. “We got that. We’ll hold it until y’all ready.”
Blake wasn’t in the business of holding things or people for too long. That was how people got caught. She glanced at her father-in-law, who gave her a simple nod. “She’s about to be down. I got her.”
That was all that Blake needed the hear. After Q’amie agreed to wind the party down, the crew left to handle a little business.
Tossed Like a Frisbee . . .
The warehouse was cold and void of color. Most importantly, it was soundproof. That was what was needed for a time and task like this.
There were some issues that needed to be handled before they became a bigger problem.
At this point, the problem was a person that rode Blake’s nerves and patience in the worst way.
Through her first pregnancy, she was overly forgiving to bitches who ran their mouths because of jealousy.
Jealousy was expected when you had a man like Scotty.
Not only was he fine and what the silly bitches called exotic, but he was also about his business.
This young ho had taken her shit talking too far when she wished harm on their daughter and death on their unborn. Blake wanted to handle the situation before it got to this point, but Scotty didn’t want her to handle shit while she was pregnant. Now, there was no choice but to put this to an end.
“It’s so nice to see you again. How has life been treating you?” Blake asked Megan, who sat in a seat, tied up.
This bitch had been a problem since she walked out of Touch of Gold Autobody Shop. It was quiet and petty at first, so to Scotty’s point, it was not worth the hassle or words. After Blake’s first pregnancy was made public, it seemed like Megan’s delusion set in.
Megan couldn’t believe that she was here in this situation. Yeah, she popped shit and said things that she probably shouldn’t have, but that was what she did. She was a natural shit talker. The problem was that she never believed the hype that was around Blake.
At first glance, she looked like she wouldn’t hurt a fly.
Little did most know, Blake was the Venus trap herself.
When Megan’s friends told her to be cool, she refused to listen.
Slowly but surely, her friends distanced themselves from her.
There was no way they would catch a stray on behalf of a dummy.
“Blake, Scotty . . . this is not that serious. You know that I was just talking shit. I would never hurt a child,” Megan pleaded. Shit, if the truth had to be told, her ass couldn’t fight, period.
Blake’s hand rubbed her belly where her son kicked.
“How are we supposed to know that, silly bitch? In this day and age, we have to take every threat to our family serious. You allowed that alligator pussy to get you into some shit that you can’t get out of.
How the fuck are you mad about dick that you’ve never had? ”
She was spoiled. That was the answer to the question.
Megan was spoiled. When she didn’t get her way, this was how she reacted.
This was by far the first man that had rejected her advances.
What took the cake was that she technically had a man.
She found a simp that saw all the things that he wished she was.
Megan’s head dropped. “I’m sorry. I won’t say shit else. Is this necessary because I talked shit? I mean, you had me kidnapped. That’s crazy.”
“Bitch, when a ho says that she wishes my daughter gets hit by a car and that I miscarry, I don’t take that as just talking shit!” Blake glanced over her shoulder at Scotty. “Baby, please let me know if I’m overreacting.”
This was her show. Scotty stood back with Stitch, Grady, and Seneca to watch it. It was his job to make sure his wife was safe. “Nah, love, you are not overreacting at all. Handle this so we can get back to our baby.”
Often, he had to reel her in because her villain monologue could be extensive if he didn’t. She knew that it got on his nerves. She would save the theatrics for another day.
“Yes, baby.” She reached out to him for the gun that he held for her. It was locked and loaded, so there was nothing that she had to do but aim and shoot.
Megan’s eyes bulged. “Wait! Just beat me up. I’ll learn the lesson. You don’t have to—”
Pop!
Blake knew the one thing that annoyed Scotty more than her speeches was the sound of death-fated niggas and bitch’s begging. With a satisfied sigh, Blake handed the gun back to her husband. “I feel better and safe. We can go.”
Blake would always be a complex woman. Now that she was a wife and mother, she had a concentrated reason to sit in that complexity.
Yeah, her halo shined brightly on most days.
That was what made her so good at the business that she cultivated.
There were those days that the halo that shined brightly needed to be set aside.
Those were the days that Blake had no problem when she took it off and tossed it like a frisbee.
All Scootched In