October
TWO YEARS AND ELEVEN MONTHS LATER
“It’s almost time for our livestream, baby.”
“Okay. Let me finish this movie, and I’ll be ready.”
“A’ight, I’m going to put these kids to bed, and you should be ready by the time I’m done with that.”
“Thank you.”
“Come on, Auburn. It’s bedtime.”
“I don’t wanna go, Daddy,” she whined.
“Come on. You’re going to bed. We let you stay up two hours past your bedtime. Ya li’l ass been yawning for the last few hours, and I caught you dozing a couple of times.” I reached for her hand as she pouted and threw her blanket off.
We had been watching movies all evening. She climbed off the couch and took my hand.
It was funny how, at five years old, she often got comments about how much she looked like me. I bounced one-month-old Roux in my arms as I climbed the steps of our four-bedroom home.
“Daddy, I wanna sleep with Roux,” Auburn whined, rubbing her eyes.
“You can’t sleep in the bed with Roux, but how about you sleep on the beanbag?” I suggested.
“Okay.”
We had an oversized beanbag chair that we kept in Roux’s nursery. We stopped in Auburn’s room first. I waited while she grabbed her favorite blanket and pillow. We headed to my son’s nursery, and I placed him in his bed and covered him.
He stirred just a little, and I patted him back to sleep. Turning around, I watched my pretty princess drag the stepstool to the beanbag chair and climb onto it. She was growing up so quickly, and she had such an independent spirit like her mother.
Once she was on the beanbag chair, I grabbed the pillow and repositioned it underneath her head. I then covered her.
“Daddy, can you read to me, please?”
“Sure, baby. What do you want to read?”
“Please, Baby, Please.”
I grabbed the book by Spike and Tonya Lewis Lee from the bookshelf before I grabbed the rocker and pulled it across the room closer to her. Before I started reading, I pulled out my phone and sent a text message.
ME: I’m ready. It’s unlocked.
SIL: Okay. Getting out of the car now.
I turned my attention back to the book and started reading. No sooner than I passed the first two pages, Auburn’s head had tilted to the side, and she was snoring softly.
I ran my hand across her beautiful, long auburn curls and kissed her forehead. I then moved to the other side of the room and leaned into the crib. I pressed a kiss to Roux’s chubby cheek and inhaled his powdery scent before I returned the book to the bookshelf.
“I was just coming to find you,” Autumn stated as she walked down the hall toward me.
“Auburn’s sleeping in the nursery tonight. She wanted me to read to her.”
“She’s such a good big sister. She loves watching over and protecting her baby brother,” Autumn professed as she leaned against the doorjamb to watch our children.
“She does. She has that same love for family that her mama has.”
“And her father,” she whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Baby, you have come a long way from when I first met you. The fact that you agreed to attend counseling with your dad and sister speaks volumes about the love that you have for your family. You love them so much, and anyone can see that.”
“I do,” I admitted.
There had not been nor would there be any reconciliation between Kevin and me.
My family had started opening up and reaching out to me again.
Apparently, Kevin had told them the truth about what happened.
It was part of his twelve-step program. I was cool on all that though.
They weren’t there for me when I was down, and I didn’t need them to be now that I was up again.
I didn’t need fake people in my life. I had learned that family isn’t always the one you were born into.
I had built a family with my woman, kids, and the workers at my shop.
It conveniently included my father, sister, and cousin.
“But you’re being cautious, which is okay and expected.”
I wrapped her in my arms and kissed the top of her head. “Are you ready to go live?” I asked.
“Yeah,” she said softly.
“All right. Go ahead and get ready. I’m going to go set up.”
“Okay,” she replied sleepily.
I headed downstairs and to our lanai. I had leased out a shop close to mine, where Autumn could attend to her clients, and she also had a space for the kids in the rear of the shop.
Auburn had a full playroom when she wasn’t in school, and there was space for Autumn to nurse Roux and lay him down to sleep.
We had a room outfitted as a nursery just for him and her in between clients.
When we weren’t at our shops, we were spending time with our families and doing lives on our Mixtube channel.
We had started a lifestyle channel that showed us building a family.
She made sure that she scheduled her clients around his feeding times. Although I told her that she didn’t need to work anymore, she was determined to be independent. I couldn’t knock my big baby because she loved what she did for a living, and she enjoyed the relationship she had with her clients.
We had bought a house and rented out our brownstones as another source of income. The camera had already been set up on the lanai earlier. When I stepped onto the lanai, I spotted Wynter adding the finishing touches.
She had scattered red and gold leaves dipped in glitter all over the floor, and vases of chrysanthemums, dahlias, asters, and cock’s comb mixed were all around the lanai.
I had carved six pumpkins into hearts, and they all had tea candles lighting them.
Fairy lights were strung around the lanai. It was the perfect autumn setting.
“Thanks, sis.”
Wynter gave me a big, warm hug. “You’re welcome. You know I’d do anything for you guys. I’ll be rooting for you.”
“Thanks, sis,” I replied nervously.
She waved and disappeared within a matter of seconds. No sooner than she cleared the backyard, Autumn stepped onto the lanai. “I thought I heard voices. Were you out here talking to someone?”
“No. Just watching a video on my phone.”
“Baby, you did this superfast,” she declared, looking around the lanai.
We often held themes for our videos that we created, but tonight’s was a little more special than normal.
“I thought with autumn being our favorite season, we’d give them a little something special tonight. After all, it’s the first weekend in October.”
“I remember you carving the pumpkins. But when did you do these leaves?” she asked.
“Over the last few weeks at the shop, when things slowed down.”
“Oh.”
She sat beside me on the bench seat as I fired up the camera. After everything was ready to go, I looked at her and then asked, “Ready?”
“Yep.”
I hit the button to send us live, and we immediately greeted our viewers. The number jumped from fifty to a hundred and kept climbing until it settled around a little over ten thousand viewers.
“Hey, guys. Sorry, we’re running a little late tonight.
We just put the kids to bed. Now, we want to pick up the topic of date night with a newborn that we talked about last week.
As I told you, it’s hard having date nights when your baby is only one month old, but you don’t have to rule it out,” Autum explained.
“We still implement date nights, but we do them here at home. We put our five-year-old down for bed and the baby in his crib, and then we spend time watching movies in the living room, or we come out here on the lanai for a catered or cooked meal. We might make it a picnic and step out onto the backyard,” I added.
“The monitoring app that’s on our phone provides both audio and visual for our comfort,” Autumn explained, holding up her phone.
“But you all already know how to do that. Besides, I put a list of ideas for at-home date nights up on our channel, and you can find them in the comments section below. Tonight, I want to talk about something else.”
Autumn’s head jerked as she stared at me. She didn’t like going off script. It always made her nervous. I grabbed her hand and smiled at her.
“Y’all know the story of how Autumn and I met.
For those of you who don’t know, look back at our first video.
Anyway, I always knew she was something special from the day that she moved into the brownstone next door to me.
She’s always been extremely independent, and it’s hard for her to rely on others.
But I have watched her over the years grow stronger, mature, and learn to encompass the help of others in her life so that she can rise and let her star shine.
“Autumn has a big heart of gold, and she’s always looking out for others’ best interests.
She gives without expectation of receiving anything in return.
She takes good care of her clients, her family, and she keeps our home organized and in order, running smoothly.
I don’t know how she does all that she does, but I appreciate her because she makes me look good too.
The day that I realized I was falling for Autumn, I knew that she was my person.
“Y’all know I came in the door with intentions of being the best stepdaddy, but that little girl immediately claimed me as her daddy.
Two years ago today, I claimed this woman as mine.
I became her man, and she became my woman.
You guys have been here with us for the last year and a half as we’ve built this channel, strengthened our family, and grew it.
Y’all have watched me falling for Autumn again and again.
It’s only fitting that y’all are here tonight as I fall deeper. ”
“What are you talking about, baby?” Autumn asked.
I kissed her forehead. “Patience, woman. I’ve been called a lot of things in this life, but the one thing I’ve never been called is a fool. I know when I’ve got a good thing on my side, and I’m not willing to risk it for anything. So tonight, I’m about to claim one last thing.”
I turned sideways on the seat and looked into Autumn’s confused face. “Baby, reach underneath the pillow you’re sitting on.”
Autumn reached underneath the pillow and felt around. Her eyes bulged, and her face reddened.
“Now hand it to me,” I instructed as she stopped feeling around.
She pulled her hand from underneath the pillow and held the box out to me. I took it and slowly opened it as she covered her mouth, and her eyes widened. I kneeled in front of her, careful not to block the camera.
“Autumn Meshaun Woods, you have taught me what healing and forgiveness mean. You have shown me true love and accepted my love in return. You welcomed me into your family of two and embraced the idea of a family of four. You didn’t look at me the way that the world did, but you opened your heart and took a risk on me, even at the detriment of your own heart.
I am so grateful for your love. I have spent the last two years falling in love with you repeatedly.
Would you do me the honor of claiming the title of Mrs. October Rasaun Patterson? ”
Tears fell from her eyes as she nodded quickly and then swiped at them. I pulled her hand from her face as she declared, “Yes, October. Yes, I’ll be your wife.”
I slid the ring onto her finger and pulled her closer for a kiss. She whimpered against my lips, and I stood up and sat back on the bench seat. I lifted Autumn onto my lap and kissed her neck.
“Y’all, this is what you get when you make her heart a priority. You have a beautiful person who loves you unconditionally. Good night, y’all.”
I clicked the camera off.
“Baby, you didn’t respond to any comments.”
“We have all day tomorrow to respond to their comments. Tonight, I’m about to celebrate with my big baby. I’ve spent the last few years building your heart back up after having it broken. Everything else in the world can wait.”
“I love you so much, October.”
“I know you do, girl. I love you even more, Autumn.”
And I did. She was the definition and the picture of perfect beauty and love for me.
THE END