Chapter 17
Seventeen
K ept
While Xarielle was in the bathroom, I shot Nehemiah a text, and he assured me that everything was everything. I tried to both slow and quiet my pounding heart as Xarielle and I rode up to the rooftop in the stillness of the elevator because I was sure she could hear it.
The sun was close to setting, which was excellent. The semi-darkness of the sky perfectly set off the glow of the candles and lanterns that were everywhere.
“Uh, it looks like it’s closed to the public, baby,” she said to me. “Maybe it’s set up for a private party or something. All of these candles and,” she looked down at the ground, which had been strewn with hundreds of rose petals, “and petals are giving romantic interlude.”
“The website didn’t say nothing about it being closed today.”
“But there’s nobody up here, Kept.” Her voice was more forceful. “I’m not trying to meet my death for a drink I don’t even really want.”
I chuckled. Some of my nervousness dissipated because she was so nervous.
“I thought you just said it was giving romance. Now, it’s giving The First 48 ?”
She giggled and allowed me to keep leading her. I stopped at the wooden arbor that was draped with bunches and bunches of aromatic flowers and fairy lights.
“This is so pretty,” she whispered.
I knew she still hadn’t caught on to what was happening, so I dropped to one knee.
She looked down at me, her face still a mask of confusion. Then suddenly, understanding bloomed in her eyes right before me. Her hand went over her mouth, and tears sprang to her eyes.
“Xarielle—”
“Wait, Kept. Wait.”
I waited while she stood there still covering her mouth with her hand.
Finally I asked, “Wait for what?”
She giggled and tears poured from her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t believe this.”
“When we were young, I used to see you around the way always carrying some random baby in your arms or on your hip. I’d never seen nothing like that before. The last thing the girls I knew would do was take on some baby that didn’t belong to them.
“I used to think to myself that you had a good heart, and that you would make a good mother one day. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would be the recipient of the love that comes from your good heart, nor did I ever imagine that my girls would reap the benefit of your maternal instincts. Every time I think about it, I wonder how I got so lucky. Lucky is not a word I would use to describe myself. Actually, I’ve always thought of myself as being very un-fucking-lucky.
But then God dropped you in my house, into my life .
. . into my heart, and I don’t know, man.
It’s like you shook everything up. Now, I’m out here in life holding all four aces. ”
She gulped.
“You are so fucking beautiful to me, Xari. I look into your face, and I think that it’s unfair to other women just how damn pretty you are.
But for all of your physical excellence, nothing can compare to your spirit or the way you care for me and the girls, the way you handle us, the way you love us.
I don’t ever want to be without that. Xarielle Nicole Simpson, will you marry me?
” I extended the ring that Yahirah helped me design for her.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh. My. God.” She sniffled. “You had this planned all along? Oh my?—”
“Xarielle,” I said gently, bringing her back into the moment.
Sometimes, she reminded me of Destin. Maybe that was why I fell for her so quickly.
She came back to me.
“Yes.” The smile on her face was the sweetest thing I’d ever known. “I’ll marry you.”
I slipped the platinum, three carat, three stone, vintage art deco styled ring onto her finger. She stared down at her hand.
“It’s gorgeous,” she muttered.
The clapping startled her, and she yelped before turning around to find Yahirah, Ayden, Nehemiah, Cecily, Gannon, Vivienne, and Trinity behind her.
“What?” Her jaw dropped. “I can’t stand y’all! You all tricked me.”
She walked over to Nehemiah and thumped him in the chest.
“Talking about you were hungry again.” She turned her gaze on Cecily. “And you pretending like you were so tired and needed to get ready for your flight home tomorrow. I can’t believe you did this.”
“Boo,” Yahirah began.
Xarielle cut her off. “Don’t boo me. Didn’t we put you and your husband in a limo so you could start your staycation honeymoon?”
“You did. You did,” Yahirah confessed. “But we couldn’t miss this.
Listen, I wanted Kept to propose at the house.
I wanted to bring in a gazebo and have it decorated with flowers, candles, and fairy lights.
I wanted to make it an entire moment.” She cut her eyes to me.
“But you know Kept. He’s way too reserved for that.
He didn’t want the spotlight on him. Plus, he said he didn’t want to steal me and Ayden’s thunder on our special day.
But I wanted to share my special day with two of my most favorite people.
The day I’ll remember as the day of my reception, you’ll get to remember as the day of your engagement.
” She started to tear up, and I figured it was the pregnancy hormones.
They hugged.
“Did she say yes? She better have said yes. Take me closer, Nee.” Aunt Reese’s voice came from Nehemiah’s phone. “Yo, your second mother is on video chat,” he explained to Xarielle.
She released Yahirah and took the phone from Nehemiah. “I said yes, Mama Reese.”
She flashed the ring at the screen, then she noticed Dakota and Destin’s faces.
“Hi, babies. Are you two being good for Auntie Reese?”
“I’m being good,” Dakota said.
“I be good,” Destin lied.
I had to laugh.
Xarielle blew them kisses, told them good night, that she loved them, and that she couldn’t wait to see them in the morning. What I couldn’t wait for was to get her in that hotel room.
We ate the light finger food I’d ordered in advance and drank the signature cocktails that Yahirah insisted we have the bartender create—the “Something Old Fashioned” based on my affinity for Old Fashioneds and the “Marry Me Margarita” for Xarielle.
We laughed and joked around until we all really were exhausted.
As we said our goodbyes for the night, I called out to my father. “Pops, let’s do breakfast in the morning. You, Vivienne, Xarielle, and me. Nine o’clock sound good?”
Vivienne looked completely shocked.
Gannon nodded easily. “Yeah, June. Text me the name and the address of the restaurant. We’ll be there.”
We chose to have breakfast at a little restaurant across the street from the hotel that my father and Vivienne were staying at.
After all the niceties were out of the way and we’d ordered our food, my dad spoke.
“June, I’m glad you asked to talk to us, because we have a few things we wanted to share with you and Xarielle.”
I appreciated him including Xarielle since she was a big part of my future.
“Vivienne and I have been talking and going back and forth about relocating. Londynville has been our home for all of these years, but we’re looking for something different.
We considered several places. The first of which was, of course, New Orleans.
We considered Central Florida and even Texas.
But at the end of the day, life is about family.
I have four children, and you’re the only one who has given me grandchildren.
” He eyed me sneakily. “And I feel pretty confident that you’re gonna give me at least a few more. ”
I was definitely with him on that tip. I couldn’t wait to see Xarielle’s pretty ass all filled up with a life that I put there.
“We want to be close to our grands and see them grow up. We’ve decided to move to Jackson Island,” he continued.
“Wow,” I said.
At the exact same time, Xarielle said, “Yay!” and clapped her hands.
“Wow,” I repeated.
“Kept, I know how you feel about me—” Vivienne began.
I cut her off. “That’s what I wanted to talk about.
Vivienne, because neither you or my dad ever talked to me about what the real situation was or what the circumstances of my birth and young life were, I heard bits and pieces from other people.
I’m sure you know this, but a couple of months ago, I was finally able to sit down with my dad and hear firsthand what actually went on.
I’ve been making inferences and having judgments about you based on things that turned out to be bullshit and lies. ”
Gannon chuckled. “He thought you were my favorite groupie. The one I couldn’t get enough of.”
Vivienne’s jaw dropped before a scowl covered her otherwise pretty face.
“Groupie? I don’t have to imagine who said that.
If anybody was a groupie, it was Miss Pass-Around Susie, Priscilla Ragland.
” Vivienne huffed. “Gannon and I were a couple. We were in a relationship. She was the one laying it low and spreading it wide for anybody in a uniform and cleats. The nerve of that heifer to tell my son that I was the groupie. Me? Vivienne Russell. Your father was my first, Kept?—”
I held up my hands. “Hey. Whoa. Hey. You’re taking it too far, Vivienne. I don’t need to know all of that.”
Everybody at the table fell into laughter, and just like that, the tension eased.
“Look.” I gave my mother direct eye contact. “I would like to create a space for us to get to know each other. But I gotta be honest, I have a lot of resentment and just…”
“Hurt,” she whispered with what I knew without a doubt was love in her eyes. “You have hurt, Kept. I know men don’t like to admit to being hurt, but I understand what a mother’s absence does. I grew up without my mother’s love or even like. I understand the kind of void it leaves.”
“Yeah, so I feel like it would be best if we tried to figure out how to navigate a relationship under the guidance of a trained therapist. I’m seeing somebody. If you’d be willing, I’d like for you and my dad to come to a group session with me.”
“Oh, Kept.” Vivienne clasped her hands together as tears formed in her eyes.
“I’m definitely open to that, June.” My dad nodded his head. “Just tell me when and where.”
“Yes. We’re definitely there,” Vivienne agreed.
“When are you guys thinking about moving?” Xarielle asked.
“We close right before Thanksgiving, and we’ll move right after that. We wanna be settled by Christmas so Dakota and Destin can come over and make cookies, decorate the tree . . . all the things you look forward to enjoying with your grands,” Gannon replied.
“Will you be close by?” I wanted to know. My dad smirked at me. “What?”
“We’ll be in the Dakota Sky subdivision. We chose the Strawberry Cottage model.”
“The ranch floorplan,” I said.
“You should’ve seen how proud your dad was to tell the sales rep that you’re his son. He was strutting around like a peacock.”
We all laughed again.
I turned to my dad and gave him a genuine smile. “This is good news, Dad.”
Gannon smiled back at me. “I’m glad you think so, June. I was worried for a minute.”
“Nah. I’m excited about having my pops so close by. I’m excited that Dakota and Destin will get to grow up with their grandparents close by. Having Granny Bernie be such a prominent figure in my life was a blessing I didn’t understand until I got to be an adult.”
“Same,” Vivienne said. “She raised you and me, Kept. I miss that lady something awful. And like you said, I didn’t appreciate exactly what she was in my life until I was mature enough to see the bigger picture.”
“So, Vivienne . . . when’s the wedding?” Xarielle asked, lightening the mood, which had gotten a little heavy. “Will you be a Boudreaux before I become one?”
Vivienne laughed before playfully pushing Gannon’s shoulder. “He’s ready to do exactly what his niece did and just fly to Las Vegas.”
“What do we need a big show for? As far as I’m concerned, if I want to burn money, I can just light it on fire. I’d rather take my woman on a nice trip and do it there.”
“Oh, a destination wedding,” Xarielle said.
Vivienne pointed at her. “Yes, that’s what he wants.”
Xarielle and I looked at each other. That sounded good to me.
“Some place we can take the girls,” she said, seeming to read my mind. A smile broke out on her face. “The happiest place on earth?”
I thought about it. The girls would love it. I nodded.
“The happiest place on earth. I’ll have Dawn start planning it.”