Chapter 29
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Rellianah
Cream had put it down on me so good the other night that I’d been walking with a damn limp for two days straight. I wasn’t even mad about it either.
“Mommy, can we make Princess cupcakes?” Christina stood in the kitchen doorway staring at me with those big ocean-blue eyes that she knew damn well melted her daddy every time.
“Me too, Tee Tee!” Angel chimed in right behind her.
I sighed, already knowing where this was about to go.
Angel was my niece, but if you didn’t know better, you’d swear she was my child too. That little girl stayed with me so much that her parents, Joel and Bella, sometimes had to remind me she actually belonged to them.
Angel looked just like me. Same brown skin, same sharp eyes. Next to Christina she could’ve passed as her older sister. I crossed my arms and leaned against the counter.
“Y’all not about to tear my kitchen up,” I said flatly. “Go draw some princess cupcakes and make it look cute on paper, y’all can get a bowl of cereal.”
Angel rolled her eyes like she had grown woman bills to pay.
“That’s what you got maids for, Tee Tee.” She frowned.
I slowly turned my head toward her.
“You talking back to me, little girl?” I raised a brow.
Her doe-shaped eyes instantly filled with tears and she shook her head.
“No…”
I wasn’t moved one bit by her theatrics. Christina stomped her tiny foot on the floor like the spoiled little brat her daddy made her out to be.
“I tell Daddy!” she yelled.
She kept chanting that shit like a broken record.
“I tell Daddy! I tell Daddy!” She stomped her feet with it for emphasis.
Pop.
I popped her lightly on the thigh and this dramatic little actress threw herself to the floor like I had beat her with a damn belt.
After seconds of having a full fledge tantrum, she gathered herself up, grabbed Angel’s hand, and ran out the kitchen crying loud as hell.
Angel sniffled behind her like she had been through war.
I shook my head.
“Oh yeah… they going straight to Cream with that bullshit.” I murmured under my breath.
Sure enough, I already knew how this was about to play out. Cream was a straight sucker when it came to his kids. By the time they finished whining, his big ass would be in my kitchen destroying it trying to make them whatever they asked for.
Life had changed a lot for me.
I loved my husband and my kids more than anything, but being a wife and mother took some serious adjusting.
I was still learning how to not be selfish.
There were days when I just wanted Cream all to myself…
but our kids came first which wasn’t a problem.
It’s just that Cream went overboard. He struggled with adjusting to make the proper time for me.
No parent was perfect. But sometimes I felt like Cream tried to be God when it came to our kids.
I saw nothing wrong with being a parent and devoting most of your time to the kids.
How were we supposed to keep our marriage strong, if we didn’t create early boundaries though?
I wasn’t asking for much when it came to time.
I did my motherly duties with pride swelling in my chest. All I asked was for the kids to sleep in their room, so that him and I could have quality time at night.
Cream was the soft parent. I was the stern one. Cream had never told Christina and Christian no. Meanwhile I had given out so many little pop-pops that I lost count.
Christina especially tested me. That girl had my attitude all day long. Tell her no and she’d act like the world ended. Every time she called herself throwing a tantrum, I showed her I could be an even bigger brat.
It was barely the middle of the day, and my nerves were already shot. I rubbed my forehead and looked around my massive kitchen.
“I need a damn drink.” I mumbled.
Cream and I had agreed to give each other one day a week where we could go do something for ourselves. I really wished today was that day. Because these kids were working my last nerve.
I had planned a fun day for all three of them and a movie night later… but right now I was questioning all of that. I walked over to my liquor cabinet and quietly opened it. I pulled out a bottle of Remy then quickly looked around the kitchen as if I was committing a damn crime.
“One little sip.” I told myself.
I tilted the bottle and took a big gulp. When I saw that I wasn’t interrupted, I took another two gulps. The burn slid down my throat and settled warm in my chest. I tried to set the bottle back… then immediately grabbed it again.
“Just one more.” I giggled carelessly feeling good now.
I used to pop pills heavy back in the day. When I finally quit that, alcohol kind of took its place. I tried not to drink every day, and most days I didn’t, but when my nerves got bad… I needed something.
Weed was a whole different story, that was an every-hour-on-the-hour situation. Luckily Cream smoked just as much as I did, so he never complained about that.
I screwed the top back on the Remy bottle tight and slid it back in the cabinet.
“No more today,” I muttered to myself.
The second I turned around; I nearly jumped out of my skin.
Cream was standing there… with Christina right beside him, arms folded like she was the damn police. Angel stood behind them looking nervous like she didn’t want to be involved in the snitching operation.
I took a second to look my husband over. Every single day that man somehow looked finer. His brown skin was flawless. His fresh tapered fade was sharp as hell. He rubbed a hand down his waves while staring at me with those serious eyes.
Cream had on white Levi’s that sagged just enough to show the band of his royal blue boxers, a crisp Polo shirt, and a pair of peanut-butter Timbs.
Lord have mercy! He was thuggishly handsome. He didn’t even look at me when he spoke.
“Go tell Christian to put his shoes on,” he told the girls calmly. “Grab your coats too. We going to the store to get stuff for princess cupcakes.”
Christina smirked at me like she had just won a court case and ran off with Angel right behind her.
My face twisted instantly.
“Oh hell nah.” I spat, rolling my eyes hard at Cream.
“Let me tell you something—”
“Nah,” he cut in, voice low and dangerous. “Let me tell you something, Rellianah.” He stepped closer.
“Let that be the last time I catch you sipping liquor in the middle of the damn day. You trying to make me fuck you up?” He rolled his jaw then clenched it.
“We trying to have another baby and you still can’t put the bottle down.” He walked around the island until he was standing right in front of me.
His dominant ass tone was turning me on but I still had something to say. I planted my hands on my hips.
“Look,” I snapped. “I won’t be having another baby until you get control of these kids. Every time I tell them no, your soft ass turns around and say yes.”
His jaw clenched.
“Watch your mouth, Relli. I ain’t been a soft nigga a day in my life.” He warned.
“Oh you ain’t soft in the streets,” I shot back. “I’ll give you that. But these kids turning you into a soft bitch—”
He grabbed my arm quick. I snatched away from him and walked around the island so I could keep talking. I was sick of him letting the kids play us against each other. We needed to be on the same accord no matter how small a situation was.
“I’m sick of this shit! Rules, rules, rules! I’m not one of your kids, Anthony. I’m your wife. My word stands in this house too.” I grated out.
“I’m the man of this house. What I say goes.” He shrugged.
I laughed dryly.
“I already do whatever the hell you say most of the time, nigga, so don’t start that bullshit with me.
You know exactly where I’m going with what I’m trying to say.
” I pointed in his direction. “Every time I tell Christina spoiled ass no, you turn around and say yes. That’s why she think she don’t gotta listen to me.
” I exhaled hard tired of having this same argument with him.
“She about to be four. I’m trying to fix that now before it gets worse. We supposed to be on the same page with this parenting shit.” I rubbed my temples.
“I know I was wrong for taking a sip of liqour. It won’t happen again. But this thing where you do whatever she say? That’s over. Today.” My chest was rising and falling fast.
“I shouldn’t feel like I’m walking on eggshells because my three-year-old snitching on me like you my damn daddy. I’m not having that.” I warned.
For a moment the kitchen went quiet, I braced myself for him to say some ignorant shit back to me. Instead Cream sighed roughly.
“Come here, baby.”
I rolled my eyes again, already knowing what he was doing and my weak ass still walked right over to him.
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me tight against his chest, burying his face into the crook of my neck. His lips brushed my skin then he gently nibbled my ear.
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “You right. I hear you.”
His hand rubbed slowly up and down my back.
“I been wrong for that. I’ll work on it. We learning this parenting thing together, baby.” He placed a gentle peck against my temple.
That was one thing about Cream that I loved the most. When he knew he was wrong… he owned it. He was big on accountability.
Being a parent gave me crazy anxiety sometimes. I always wondered if I was doing a good job. I knew I wasn’t perfect, but I gave it the best that I had. A few minutes later the kids came running down the stairs sounding like a herd of elephants.
Christian ran straight to me and wrapped his arms around my waist before reaching up with his short arms. He was a mommas boy for real. After a few minutes they all headed out to the store with Cream, leaving me alone in the quiet house.