14. Keondra Daily
Our families were starting to arrive, and I had the grill going.
Music was oozing through the speakers while drinks were being passed out.
I had Q and Alex agree to come and help me cook, so I’d invited their families and Alivia’s as well.
Colony invited the girls from the day care, and what was supposed to be a small family get-together turned into a full-blown cookout.
I wasn’t mad at it, especially seeing the smiles on my girls’ faces.
“Damn, Key. You’re going to burn the food from staring so hard.” Sedrick nudged me with his elbow, careful not to spill his beer. “It gives déjà vu.”
“Don’t it?” Dawson chimed in, chuckling. “I thought we were over the puppy love phase.”
Q laughed and threw his arm around my shoulder. “Stop being hard on him. He’s found the love we’ve all prayed he’d find. Let him stare all he wants to. I got the food.”
When Q jokingly shoved me out the way and flipped the ribs over, we all laughed because I did almost burn them, but they turned out good.
I couldn’t help myself.
Colony was working the party, making sure she stopped and talked to everyone.
The smile I would pay money to see on a rainy day seemed to be brighter than the sun.
Her hair was pulled into a messy bun on top of her head, giving me a better view of that beautiful face.
Kehlani picked out their outfits for the day, and them matching was the cutest thing.
They both had on the trending tennis skirts with the matching tops.
Kehlani’s was purple, and Colony’s was orange.
If Kehlani was going to do anything, she was going to make sure they had on their favorite colors.
She tried her hardest to get me to wear black, but I told her it was too hot, so she made me wear orange too.
Someone walking through the back door caught my eyes. Demetria stepped outside with two containers in her hands. Kehlani beat me to her, almost knocking the containers from her hands as she attacked her legs.
“Be careful, KeKe,” I warned, taking them from Demetria.
“Yes, sir. I’m just happy to see her.”
Demetria picked Kehlani up and kissed her cheek. “Hey, pretty girl. You look so cute. Did Colony do your hair?”
“She did. I wanted it to look like hers. Do you like it?”
“I do. She did a great job.”
Kehlani’s head swiveled around before her gaze landed on Colony. “Colony! Colony!” Their eyes met, and Kehlani waved Colony over.
“Hey, Demetria,” Colony greeted with a smile. “Thanks for coming.”
“Thanks for inviting me. Kehlani has talked about it all week, and I can see why. I brought a side and dessert, but I know it’s nothing compared to what the men are cooking.”
“At least you did that. Colony didn’t step foot in the kitchen,” I teased, gently yanking Colony over to me and kissing her temple.
It was her idea to invite Demetria, and I wasn’t opposed to it. We agreed that Kehlani deserved to see all of us together to ease her little mind. The Chesire catlike smile on her face as her eyes bounced between us let me know she was beyond satisfied.
Seeing her cling to Demetria reminded me of when she was younger. To witness their bond becoming stronger had me silently thanking God. I swallowed the lump in my throat. It wasn’t the time or place to show any emotion, but man . . .
Colony must’ve sensed my mood change because she snaked her arm around my waist and gave me a light, reassuring squeeze. I loved how she could read me without me needing to express myself. The way our hearts and souls were in sync was confirmation for me every day.
“Oh, I don’t blame her.” Demetria snickered and adjusted Kehlani on her hip. “The way y’all men get down, I’d be afraid to compete with that as well.”
“Exactly my point.” Colony cosigned.
My parents and Aunt Faith came over to talk to Demetria.
Once I told them I’d agreed to give Demetria a second chance, they wanted to sit down and talk to her as well.
To my surprise, it went very well. Like me, they expressed their concerns about Demetria’s actions and how it would affect Kehlani.
By the end of it, the women were hugging and in tears while Dad and I stood back.
Later that night, he told me how proud of me he was for making such a detrimental decision and how he felt it was the right one.
So far, I believed so too.
It wasn’t long before Kehlani whisked Colony and Demetria away to play with her friends and cousins while we finished cooking. About an hour later, the food was done. My father and Mr. Martin blessed the food, and the place was silent as everyone cleaned their plates.
After that, the party was on. The music was loud, and everyone was dancing, drinking, and simply having a good time. If that was what life with Colony would look like, peaceful and lively, I couldn’t wait to live more years with her.
The alcohol was flowing well, and somehow, all the adults ended up on the patio while the kids wildly ran around the yard.
“So,” Dawson started, wrapping his arm around his wife and pointing his beer toward Martin. “How did the two of you fall in love?”
“Oh, that’s a story he loves to tell.” Serenity giggled, melting into her husband.
Colony agreed. “It sure is, but it’s beautiful.”
All eyes were on Martin as he grabbed Satin’s hand.
“Well, I fell in love with Satin when I first laid eyes on her. It was over thirty years ago when I walked into the diner and saw her. I was on my lunch break and decided to go eat with a few of my work buddies. After seeing her, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.
My eyes were locked in on the beauty working the room with ease.
“My buddies teased me when I asked if we could switch servers. I didn’t care. All I wanted was to be close to her. She must’ve known I’d been watching her from the way she came switching over.”
Satin pinched his arm, and everyone laughed.
“I did not, Martin,” she defended.
“Oh, you did, baby. You think I don’t remember how that thang was moving? It almost had me in a trance the way it does now.”
“Daddy!” Colony and Serenity simultaneously yelled, causing everyone to laugh harder.
Martin hunched his shoulders. “I’m just being honest. Anyway, as I was saying, Satin came switching over there, and she smelled so sweet that I wanted to take a bite out of her.
She spoke, making eye contact with me and only me.
Since then, we’ve been locked in. Before we left, I gave her a hefty tip and gave her my pager number.
She hit me up that night, and when I called her, we talked on the phone for hours.
I went to sleep that night and dreamed we got married.
Everything in my dream came true. It was no question for me that she was the one from that very moment, but we took the time to get to know one another.
We got married six months after meeting one another, and here we are, almost forty years later. I love you, Satin.”
“And I love you, Martin.”
They kissed. Everyone cheered them on. That started a round of all the couples talking about how they met and fell in love. Their stories were inspiring, making me realize that Colony and I weren’t moving fast. We were simply moving at the pace that worked best for us.
I pulled Colony in closer and whispered in her ear, “So, we’re not crazy for falling in love so fast, huh?”
“Nope. I never thought we were. Timing is everything. Ours just so happened to work a little faster from the time we met.”
“If it keeps going any faster, you’ll have my last name before you know it.”
She turned to face me and beamed. “I’d love nothing more than that too, Keondra.”
“Give me some time, babe. It’ll happen.”