Chapter 9 #2
We left the suitcases in the foyer because Vivienne insisted that she couldn’t wait a moment longer to meet the girls.
I really wished that my dad had let me know what was up because Dakota wasn’t the type of person you could run to and snatch into a hug while yelling about how happy you were to meet her.
“Uh, before you meet the girls, I want to let you know that Dakota is a lot like me.”
She looked at me with a tenderness in her eyes that caught me off guard. It was both an unfamiliar and foreign expression to me.
“Aww, is she just shy, or does she deal with stranger anxiety?” She must’ve peeped the bewilderment on my face because she kept talking.
“I’ve been making Gannon show me every picture and every video he has of them on his phone repeatedly.
I’ve asked him every tiny detail about them at least a million times. ”
“A billion.” He corrected with a grumble.
“And I’ve been in therapy, June. Do you mind if I call you that?”
I shrugged my shoulders. I wasn’t sure of too much at the moment. My head was still all over the place.
“I’ve had lots and lots of therapy to try to figure out how to get out of the self-sabotaging cycle that I’ve been in my whole life.
I understand that Dakota will need to get to know me before she opens up.
” She gave me a small smile. “Her dad was the exact same way, though I never got the opportunity to have him open up to me. Hopefully, we’ll get there.
” She sighed. “Anyway, I also understand that Destin is a live wire and my best shot at making a quick grandmotherly connection.”
We found them on the deck with Xarielle.
They were standing in front of the sensory table that was filled to the brim with a white foamy substance, and the girls were spreading it around on themselves, tossing it into the air, and smashing it between their hands.
But what really captured my attention were the shrieks of happiness and laughter.
Both of my girls as well as Xarielle were giggling up a storm.
“Hi, Daddy!” Dakota smashed her hands together, sending white foam flying.
“Hi, Daddy!” Destin parroted.
“Hi. What are you doing?”
“Hey, Kept.” Xarielle fought to dry her hands on the apron she was wearing, but the foamy substance wouldn’t turn her loose. She giggled before responding to me. “We’re playing in shaving cream.”
“Shaving cream?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “So, these are my . . . parents.”
I didn’t know why that was so weird for me to say outside of the fact that I had never said it in life. I couldn’t remember a time that I’d ever introduced them to anybody together. To be honest, I couldn’t really remember a time when I introduced Vivienne to anybody.
“You’ve met my dad before.”
“Yeah, at Mama Reese’s house. I’m Yahirah’s friend, Xarielle.”
My dad studied her for a few seconds. “I remember you. You lived with Reese for a little while, right?”
“For all intents and purposes. She’s like a mom to me.” Xarielle grinned.
“And now you’re doing this? Watching my grandbabies?”
“Um, Yahirah told me that Kept needed a nanny, and I have a degree?—"
“Oh, no need to explain yourself to me. It seems like my son is probably lucky to have you.”
Xarielle blushed. “I’m the lucky one. I get to nanny the two sweetest girls ever and live in this beautiful home.” She gestured around her. Her gaze met mine. “I’m gonna clean up then get the girls ready for their swimming lesson.”
“Oh, June, let me and your dad get the girls ready for their swimming lesson. I want to bond with them,” Vivienne pleaded.
Xarielle gave a genuine smile. “I won’t worry about the girls. I’ll just concentrate on cleaning up this shaving cream.”
My father and I lounged in deck chairs watching the girls have their swim lesson.
“Xarielle sure grew up to be a pretty little thing,” my father commented.
“Facts.”
“You having any trouble keeping things professional with her?”
“I wasn’t. At least not until I insisted that she take swim lessons.
She’s scared of the water, and I told her that we live too close to the ocean for her not to know how to swim.
I hire this dude,” I gestured toward the pool, “and he’s fucking ogling her.
Not to mention that he offered to take her out and show her around the island . I know he’s just trying to fuck.”
“Fire that negro.”
I had to chuckle because he was so cut and dry with it.
“Ain’t nobody laughing but you, June. And is your monkey ass gonna be laughing when this dude walks off with my future daughter-in-law?”
I choked on my bottled water. “Your future daughter-in-law? What are you talking about, old man?”
“I got your old man. If there’s one thing I know, it’s dudes.
Been an athlete all of my life and been around other men all my life.
I know ’em. I saw you seeing your nanny, Son.
You look at her and see more than somebody who watches your girls.
You like the way she handles them. Cares for them.
You like the way she handles you. Me and you .
. . we’re naturally attracted to beautiful, confident women.
For whatever reason, we’re also attracted to deeply flawed women. ”
“For whatever reason?” I screwed up my face into a frown.
“It’s not a mystery. I was attracted to a deadbeat woman because that’s what I saw growing up.
Jayla looked like home. She looked exactly like what a woman should look like to me.
And that’s because the women I saw the most were Vivienne and Priscilla. ”
“You’re right. I did set a piss-poor example. I had children by two women who never wanted motherhood. Well, Vivienne wanted it at one time, but the abortion they made her get, it changed her.”
“What?”
He waved me off. “Nothing. Anyway, Xarielle is more like Reese. She’s pretty, smart, nurturing, maternal and probably a homebody.”
“Yeah.” I snickered. “Your baby sister is the exact opposite of you.”
“Even as a young adult, Reese didn’t have any use for the streets.
She hated clubs, bars, and lounges. Couldn’t stand loud music.
Got sick from the smell of cigarettes. It’s no wonder she met Nehemiah and Yahirah’s daddy at work.
All she did was go to work and go home. And it was also no wonder that while he had a good woman by his side making his house into a comfortable home, he was out in the same streets she hated fucking everything that moved. ”
Xarielle walked out of the house and onto the deck. Both my dad and I watched as Sanders’s gaze left my girls and followed Xarielle.
“Fire that negro.”
I left my father out on the deck during Xarielle’s lesson.
Something about watching dude touch her body and talk all sweet and soft to her made me want to beat his ass.
Gannon was right. I needed to fire old boy and hire a white boy, but I really hated spending my money outside of the black community.
Maybe I could hire a grandmotherly type black woman.
A chime came through on my phone, alerting me to the fact that somebody came on the property.
When I checked the screen, I saw a truck that I didn’t recognize.
I checked the time and figured it was probably Trinity, Yahirah, and Ayden.
They flew in from Atlanta together, and their plane had landed about an hour ago.
I walked out to the driveway as the truck pulled to a stop. Yahirah and Trinity jumped out almost immediately.
“Your mother is in there?” I could read the shock on Yahirah’s face.
I nodded. I’d sent them a text message the second we made it to my house.
“Wearing Gannon’s what?” Trinity questioned with her hands on her hips like she was about to kick my ass. “Engagement ring? Wedding band? What?”
“Engagement ring. According to Vivienne, they’re getting married. They haven’t gotten married yet.”
“Oh, you’re about to be a flower girl,” Yahirah teased Trinity, giving her a small push on the shoulder. “And Kept’s about to be a ring bearer.”
“I’m the best man.”
Yahirah seemed to think about it. “Yeah, you are his only friend.”
She and Trinity cracked up.
“They’re each other’s only friend,” Trinity said through her laughter.
I shot both of them the bird. “Shut up.”
Ayden came around the truck and gave me dap. “You okay? Ma Dukes and Pops back together again?”
“Lawd, if my mama finds out, she’s going to kill both of them,” Trinity said.
“Speaking of mamas, did anybody tell my mama? She’s going to show up here and have the shock of a lifetime. You know how she feels about Vivienne.”
While we were talking, another vehicle entered the property. I checked my phone. “That must be Nee.”
We referred to Yahirah’s brother, Nehemiah, as Nee.
He climbed out of the truck with a smirk already on his lips. “So, I hear that the shit is about to hit the proverbial fan.”
I walked over and gave him a one-armed hug followed by dap. “Let’s get out of this hot sun,” I suggested. “And let me show you where you’re staying.”
My house had a total of six bedrooms. There were five on the upper level—the primary bedroom, the room my girls shared, and three additional bedrooms. I walked my guests upstairs.
“I hope you’re cool bunking with your nieces,” I told Trinity. “I’ll put them both in Destin’s bed, and you can sleep in Dakota’s bed.”
“Fifth-wheel life,” she grumbled. “I can’t wait until I get a man.”
“Well, there’s always an air-mattress in the family room. I was gonna take it since I gave Gannon and Vivienne my room. But you’re welcome to it.”
“I’ll sleep with my babies,” she said.
Nehemiah’s eyes widened as he wrapped his arm around his wife, Cecily’s, waist. “That’s crazy work, cuzzo. Your mother and father fucking in your bed? You’re gonna have to burn the sheets.”
I didn’t comment, because I pushed that thought as far out of my head as was possible. The list of things I couldn’t deal with was growing by the minute.