Chapter 16 #2
The thought was so loud and so clear that, for a second, I actually thought somebody spoke it.
I mean, I had known for a while that I loved him and that I was in love with him.
But I never allowed myself to linger there.
It wasn’t safe. It wasn’t safe for me to give my heart to anybody.
My family had taught me that. I’d given my heart and the best of me to them time and time again only to have them use my heart and my feelings as a tennis ball—whacking it as hard as they could to see how far it would fly.
Kept was different though. He understood fragility. He knew how to be gentle and tender.
They made it back over to me. Kept plopped down in the beach chair next to mine then pulled two yogurt parfaits and two spoons from the cooler we’d brought with us. Once he had the girls settled with their dessert, he sat back in the chair.
“Kept,” I said.
“What’s up?” His eyes were on the choppy water.
“I love you."
His head turned to face me. “Just casually like that, huh? While we’re sitting on the beach eating frozen yogurt?” He lowered his voice to add, “Not while I’m deep inside you, tattooing my name on your womb?”
I pushed his arm playfully. “No. Not while you have me distracted and talking outside of myself.”
He laughed and wrapped his arm around me, pulling me close to him. He kissed my temple. “I love you too. Been loving you. And I appreciate you too.”
“Same.”
I floated back to the house on Cloud Nine at the end of the night. My phone rang as I chose pajamas for the girls while Kept bathed them.
“Hello?” I laid nightgowns and panties on each girl’s bed for them to sleep in.
“Bestie!”
I grinned, although she couldn’t see me.
“Hey, boo,” I said to Yahirah. “How was Vegas?”
She, Ayden, Nehemiah, and Cecily had taken Mama Reese to Las Vegas for her fiftieth birthday.
“It was good. Mama had a blast. She was the only one to win money. She won five hundred dollars on the slot machine.”
“Clock it!” I shrieked quietly. “Yes! I love that for her.”
“And…” She hesitated. “Don’t get mad, Xari. Nothing was planned. Everything happened in a whirlwind, but it was perfect.”
“What?”
“Me and Ayden got married in Las Vegas.”
“I know you’re fuckin’ lyin’,” I said before I could stop myself.
Her tone was contrite. “I’m not. Of course we weren’t planning to get married, but everything came together so perfectly. And now, we don’t have to worry about invitations, a venue, a caterer, seating arrangements, flowers . . . all of the stuff that costs thousands of dollars.”
When she put it that way, I couldn’t stay in my feelings. Weddings were super expensive.
“Full disclosure, we decided about two months ago not to have a wedding. We were just gonna go to the courthouse in Atlanta because we found a house that we love. We felt the money we were saving for the wedding would be better spent on some place for us to live than on what was essentially a party for our friends and family. We put a contract on the house, and we close the day after tomorrow.”
“First of all, congratulations! I’m super excited for you and Ayden. Secondly, I think using the money on a house is smart as hell.”
“Especially because I’m pregnant.”
I shrieked in my regular tone. “What?”
Kept, Dakota, and Destin all came out of the bathroom in a hurry.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” Kept asked, his eyes a little wild.
“Hi and Ayden got married while they were in Vegas for Mama Reese’s birthday.”
He smiled brightly. “That’s what’s up. Tell Hi I said congratulations.”
I put the call on speaker. “Did you hear that, Hi?”
“Congratulations, lil mama! I’m happy for y’all, and I’m happy Reese got to be there front and center.”
“Thanks, Kept. And yeah, your auntie cried a river. I thought she was gonna hyperventilate with all the crying she was doing.”
“Are you guys having a reception? Do we need to make travel plans?” He helped Destin into her underwear while I helped Dakota.
“First weekend of November at our new house,” she announced with pride.
“You and Ayden are moving into a new spot?” Kept questioned.
“We’re closing on our very first home next week.”
“Get the fu—get the heck outta here! That’s huge. Homeownership? I’m proud of you, little cousin. I’m presuming you gave up your wedding for the house.”
“I did,” she admitted, not with regret but somewhat sullenly.
“You made the right choice, little mama. Weddings don’t appreciate in value. Houses do. Always choose the investment that appreciates.”
“Thanks, cous. I feel confident in our choice, but I do hope I don’t come to regret foregoing my wedding.”
“You won’t. Just make sure your reception is lit as hell,” he suggested.
“Yo, since I didn’t get you guys a wedding gift, let me chip in on the reception.
” My heart thumped in my chest. I had never known a man with a spirit as generous as Kept’s.
“Nope. Shut up. Since you already have a venue, let me cover the food and the deejay. I’m not taking no for an answer.
Actually, let me holler at Ayden. He’ll accept my gift. ”
Yahirah and I laughed.
“Tell your cousin the other part, Hi. Tell him why you needed a house more than a wedding,” I taunted.
She sighed. “You can’t hold water.”
“Whatever.” I dismissed her.
“You’re gonna be a big cousin. I’m pregnant.”
“Oh, I’m for sure paying for the reception now. Congrats, Hi. You’re winning in life, cuzzo.”
Four Weeks Later
Three weekends in a row, Kept, the girls, and I had driven to Atlanta to help Yahirah and Ayden put together their reception.
That wasn’t the original plan, but morning sickness grabbed ahold of Yahirah, and she was down for the count.
She was barely able to make it to work. She definitely didn’t have the energy to plan and execute a lit and memorable celebration.
She barely had the wherewithal to express opinions about the details. Most of her responses to my questions about what she wanted were met with, “Xari, you know what I like. Just pick whatever you think is best or ask Ayden.”
Ayden was no help whatsoever. Luckily, my man saw that I was distressed and hired an event planner.
So, as I stood in the modest backyard that had been transformed into an ethereal setting that gave both dreamy and elegant, I held my breath.
Since Yahirah and Ayden were both nurses and had fast-paced careers, I wanted everything about their reception to be leisurely and relaxing while also giving upscale sophistication.
“What are you thinking?” I asked Yahirah, silently praying that she loved it and didn’t regret handing over the task to me.
“It’s beautiful, Xari.”
I exhaled a sigh of relief. “I’m so glad you like it.”
“How could I not like it? It’s gorgeous. The draperies on the tent, the flowers, the tablescape, just everything. It’s so . . . it looks like a reception for somebody who’s dignified, not ratchet like me and Ayden.”
We both laughed.
“Our friends and family are gonna feel like royalty.”
“Speaking of feeling, how are you feeling today? Is little Hi treating you kindly today?” I was convinced that Yahirah was carrying another version of herself—a little girl with a feisty attitude and a big heart.
“She is.” She touched her own stomach lightly. “This is the best I’ve felt in weeks.”
The party planner joined us. “Good morning, ladies.”
“Hello.”
“Hey.”
“The guests are scheduled to start arriving in a little less than two hours.” She turned to Yahirah. “How about we start working on hair and makeup?”
“Okay,” Yahirah agreed, grabbing my hand and threading her fingers through mine.
I rested my head on my best friend’s shoulder. “You ready to celebrate your union to Ayden?”
“I am.”
The reception was everything. When they reevaluated the big wedding, they had obviously reevaluated having a large reception as well.
They’d kept the guest list small, consisting mostly of family and a few cherished friends.
The guests danced, drank, and ate well. The backyard was filled with laughter, love, and genuine happiness.
Adults conversed while children played impromptu games.
Dakota and Destin had the time of their lives running around endlessly and also being spoiled by everybody they were related to by blood.
As the party wound down, Yahirah and Ayden disappeared into the chauffeur-driven car that Kept arranged for them and headed for a night at a luxury hotel in Buckhead. Yahirah didn’t trust that she would feel well enough to endure a plane ride, so they were saving their honeymoon for another time.
Kept, Mama Reese, Nehemiah, and I attended to the last of the guests then turned the breakdown of the vendor set-ups and clean up of the backyard over to the event planner and her team.
The five of us with the addition of Trinity, Cecily, Gannon, and Vivienne all crashed on the sofa in Yahirah and Ayden’s neutrally decorated living room.
“They had an afternoon reception. It’s only six o’clock, but I’m exhausted!” Trinity exclaimed.
“Me too, but it sure was a nice party,” Vivienne agreed.
“It definitely was, and the food was absolutely delicious,” Cecily added.
“It was, but I’m hungry again,” Nehemiah told her with a sheepish smile.
Cecily stood from the sofa. “We’re gonna head out.
I need to feed the big guy so we can get to the hotel and get some sleep.
Our plane leaves first thing tomorrow morning.
And no offense to y’all because we love you, but we have burned up almost all of our vacation time this year messing with you guys.
We both have to be back at work on Monday. ”
We all laughed because she was telling the truth. Between Dakota’s birthday, Mama Reese’s surgery, the birthday trip they took to Las Vegas, and the reception, they had missed several days from work.
“Who has the key to lock up?” Nehemiah asked.
“I do,” Mama Reese informed him. “I’m sleeping here tonight, housesitting if you will.
My flight doesn’t leave until Monday. The rest of you can head out.
Oh, and I’m keeping my girls with me. Xari, you and Kept go experience some of Atlanta.
It’s my gift to you for planning my daughter’s reception when she couldn’t do it. You two did a phenomenal job.”
Everybody agreed with her as hugs were passed between all of us.
“You sure about keeping the girls?” I questioned.
“I’m positive.” Mama Reese insisted. “I already have the free-range chicken nuggets.”
We all laughed.
“I’ll give them a bath. We’ll watch a movie. We’ll eat our chicken nuggets. Then we’ll go to sleep.”
Kept and I hugged and kissed the girls like we were going off to war, then we left the house. We walked to the rented truck hand in hand. Kept unlocked the truck’s door for me.
“You hungry?”
“Not really, but let’s explore the city for a little while.”
“Cool, baby.”
I grinned at him. “I love it when you call me baby.”
Kept and I drove around some of our favorite areas of Atlanta for about an hour, then we headed to The Precise, an upscale hotel where, unbeknownst to me, Kept had already made reservations for us to spend the night. He got the luggage from the trunk.
“Ooh, sneaky, sneaky.” I wagged my finger at him. “You hid luggage in the trunk. You already knew we weren’t sleeping in the hotel room with the girls. You already knew Mama Reese was gonna keep them.”
“I did,” he admitted with a sheepish smirk on his face. “I actually asked her to keep them because I wanted some alone time with you.”
I grinned at him, considering them implications of us having sex without the girls down the hall.
“Look at you thinking ahead. I love it.”
He palmed my ass as we crossed the lobby.
“And you already checked us in too? We don’t have to stop at the front desk?”
“Your man stands on business, baby. Everything is handled.”
We took the elevator up to the sixteenth floor.
I shot a glance at Kept. “The penthouse?”
“The Peachtree Suite.”
“Okay, show off then,” I teased.
“I will.” He opened the door to the well-appointed room.
The room was light and neutral with a clean but comfortable aesthetic. The furniture was modern but also over-stuffed. Instead of carpet, the floors were luxury vinyl. And it didn’t have that stale smell that hotel rooms could have. It smelled like the spa—like cucumber, basil, and lemongrass.
“Go pee because I know you have to,” he told me. “Then I want to go up to the rooftop bar and have a drink before it gets too dark to enjoy the view.”
“Okay.” I hustled to the bathroom. He was right. I did have to pee.
After I washed my hands and dried them, the two of us went up to the rooftop bar to enjoy the view.