Epilogue
Symphony
Ten years later . . .
“Papa!”
Lifting my hand, holding the remote, I lowered the volume on the TV. “Yes?”
“I’m ready now!” Doodle yelled from her bedroom upstairs.
I laid the remote on the couch and hopped up quickly.
Even though I was a ball of nerves, I knew there was no stopping what came next.
It was the way of life. Walking to the staircase, I motioned for the photographer I hired to get into position.
He had been wasting time, scrolling on his phone while we waited.
Standing off to the side, I tried to level my breathing, but this was my baby getting ready to go to her first homecoming dance.
When I came to Solaire ten years before, I never saw myself nervously standing there to see how beautiful I knew she would be.
Then there was a date on his way over here, making it all just a little too real for me.
The second her foot hit the top step, my eyes began to water.
Valleigh stood off to the side of her with her hands over her mouth.
She was already bawling and likely had been the entire time she helped Doodle get ready.
Even though my baby was officially a teenager, I still saw that four-year-old little girl walking toward me.
Her first pair of glasses was long gone, but you couldn’t convince me that she wasn’t wearing them right then.
I swiped at my tears and opened my arms for her when she reached the bottom step. She groaned when she realized I was crying. “Oh my goodness, y’all are being so dramatic right now. I’m going to homecoming, not getting married, Papa,” she fussed, stomping her foot for dramatic flair.
Completely ignoring her statement, I hugged her tightly to my body.
Seeing her in a full face of makeup was so unordinary, but that occasion was the only time I’d allow it.
The short, golden dress paired well against her brown skin that sparkled like they’d oiled her down with shimmer.
I was not in a rush to see my baby girl grow up.
“First, it’s homecoming; then, it’s marriage.
” I shook my head dramatically. “It’s scary how fast you’ve grown up. ”
Doodle had long ago ditched calling me Unca Sym for Papa.
I felt no way about it because she was my daughter in every way that mattered.
Doodle dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t know what I’m going to do with you two.
Y’all are always crying. Mama, get down here so we can take these photos already,” she said as if she was the boss of somebody.
Leigh came down the stairs with our four-year-old daughter, Harmony, hoisted to her hip.
Baby girl was our miracle baby. We were under the impression Leigh couldn’t have children, which was what made our bond with Iylah so special.
But low and behold, a few years ago, God showed us the beauty in destiny.
Whatever He deemed, so would come to pass.
Harmony was the spark all of us needed. She literally made Doodle seem like a saint in comparison.
The second they got downstairs, Leigh placed her on her feet, and she came racing toward me. I scooped her up before kissing her little cheek. “Papa, no,” she complained, trying to ball my lips up. She swore she was a big girl. I laughed at her before we all huddled together for some pictures.
Sometime during the middle of our photoshoot, the doorbell rang. I went to check it out, only to find Rhap standing there with Doodle’s date. He was mugging the little boy without blinking. I could tell the little guy was nervous by the way he kept pulling at his collar.
“Hello, Mr. Sinclaire. My name is Destin,” he introduced himself.
I chuckled. “I know who you are, Destin. Come on. She’s waiting on you.” I stepped aside to allow him access inside. Rhap remained in place, watching him go. “Why you giving Urkle a hard time?” I joked.
“’Cause lil’ nigga think he safe just ’cause he wear glasses and shit. I’ll knock a nigga with glasses out too. I never gave a fuck.”
I started cracking up as he finally stepped forward to dap me up. “You ain’t right,” I joked.
He shrugged nonchalantly. “About my baby girl, it can get like that.”
I tossed an arm over his shoulder before we headed toward the back of the house, where everyone was. “Daddy!” Doodle screamed when she saw her father. I removed my arm so he could go hug his baby girl. I always loved to see them together.
For the last few years, Rhap was finally in a good place with his mental.
It took time to find the proper regimen for his meds, but once he committed to taking them, he made significant improvement.
Doodle still lived with us, but he was very active in her life.
As a matter of fact, he would be picking her up from the dance to keep her and Harmony for the night.
I was taking my baby on a little date to the rink since she hadn’t been in a while.
After another twenty minutes of taking photos, it was time for the kids to head out. “Harmony, grab your book bag, mama!” Leigh called out to her. She shook her head with a pout. Her little arms were folded over her chest in defiance. “Girl, you didn’t hear me?”
“I don’t want to go, Mommy,” she replied, refusing to move from where she stood.
Leigh turned to look at me. “You better get your daughter before I do,” she warned me.
I walked over to Harmony and bent down to her height. “What’s wrong, baby girl? I thought you wanted to stay at Uncle Rhap’s house with Doodle.”
“I want to wear makeup and heels too. Mommy said I can’t,” she whined.
I heaved a breath and shook my head. “No, you can’t wear all that, baby girl.”
Our daughter was a diva in the making. She loved getting her hair done and religiously went to the salon with her mother for manicures and pedicures.
Oh, and when we were in the stores, she liked to pick out her own clothes.
She’d begged for these little pink baby heels that she was obsessed with.
She would literally wear them with any and every outfit because she liked the sound when she walked.
Those were the heels she was currently pissed that she couldn’t wear.
Valleigh loved having another daughter, so she kept Harmony’s bathroom stocked with little lip glosses and blushes because she got tired of her always playing in her very expensive products.
My baby would spend hours at her vanity, playing dress-up.
It was a headache for me because it felt like she was growing up too fast.
Leigh appeared beside us with Harm’s bookbag. She handed it to her, but she refused to take it. “Harmony Renee, cut it out. You don’t need those heels or any blush.”
“But, Mommy, I do,” she argued.
Leigh shook her head. “No, you don’t. Now come on, ’cause you’re making your sister late to her dance.”
The little diva plopped down on the floor and began to cry. Leigh looked to me for help. I chuckled while going to pick Harm up, but she saw me coming and crawled away, screaming bloody murder. You would think we were in the house, whooping her ass by the way she was carrying on.
“Harmy, come on. You don’t need it,” Iylah said, trying to help convince her to head toward the door.
That didn’t work either. I frowned at Rhap when I heard him giggling behind me.
He was leaning against the wall, thoroughly enjoying the show unfolding.
Walking over to where Harm was sitting on the couch, crying, I tried to pick her up, but she slipped through my grasp.
When I finally caught her, she stiffened her body straight as a board before flailing wildly. By the second punch, I was over it.
I placed her down. “Okay, okay. Go get the damn heels.” She took off running toward her bedroom before I could fully get the words out.
Leigh gave me a disappointed look. “Look. I’m not about to be getting my ass whooped by a baby behind some kitten heels and blush.
Rhap going to be the one cleaning up whatever mess she makes with it, baby. We good.”
“Oh, wait. . . What?” Rhap said, leaning up from the wall.
I chuckled while closing the distance between my wife and me. “Yeah, it’s not too funny now, is it? Good luck, playa.”
I wrapped my arms around her waist, placing a kiss on her forehead. She glanced up at me with her beautiful ass, making my body all warm and fuzzy. After all these years, she still had that effect on me. If anything, it was stronger than ever before.
“You can’t always give in, Sym. She’s going to be a nightmare when she gets older,” Leigh warned for the thousandth time.
I shrugged. “So what if she grows up to be spoiled? I think that’s a compliment. It’s an honor to be able to spoil my baby.”
She mushed my head to the side. “You say that now until she’s asking you for a Bentley for her sixteenth birthday.”
I started chuckling because I could see that.
I glanced at the wedding photo of us behind her.
It was crooked, so I straightened it out, feeling pride bloom from my heart center.
Leigh went out of her way to hang my awards from my time as a recording artist, but that photo was what I was most proud of.
Father and husband was the reverse uno card combo no one was expecting.
We all glanced up as Harm came racing back down the steps. “Slow down, baby!” I called out to her.
She stopped running so she was less likely to trip herself up.
I shook my head, looking down at the little princess heels.
They weren’t much of anything, but my baby loved them.
Bending down so we were eye level, I chuckled at the red blush on her cheeks.
She was too serious. “You look pretty, baby. You ready to go now?”
She nodded with the most adorable grin on her face. “Yes, sir.”