Chapter 10 You Remind Me #3
Henna had a point; he did need to establish his rights and find out what they were from an attorney.
He didn’t see himself taking the twins from Giselle, though.
It was obvious having them had changed her.
She seemed more nurturing and humbler. He’d be lying if he said he hadn’t thought about her and wondered how things might have been if she had stuck around.
“It’s been a long day. I’m not about to sit out here going back and forth with you about this. I’m going home.”
“You’re not going to stay here tonight?” Prischa tested him.
“Nah.” Heavy shook his head and rounded the front of his truck. “I’ll just talk to you later.”
“Heavy, we’re not done talking about us.”
“We can talk later. I’m tired, Pri, and I need a minute, aight.” He yanked his car door open and hopped into the driver’s seat.
Standing there on the curb with her mouth partially open, Prischa wanted to cry.
With Henna at her side, embarrassment also hadn’t escaped her.
She’d been thinking about her and Heavy for days.
Ever since that conversation at the hospital.
After Pierre died, she told herself that she wouldn’t get involved with a man like that again.
One who was in the streets and doing illegal activity.
Losing him made her lose a piece of herself that she never got back, and it was Heavy who was able to bring her out of her dark place.
The fear of losing him the same way put her in a vulnerable place.
“I’m sorry, honey.” Henna tossed an arm across her shoulders. “Come on, let’s go have some drinks since P is with my grandparents for the night.”
Heavy’s taillights hit the corner, and Prischa didn’t budge. He really left with everything up in the air. How could he be so careless with her feelings? She thought the two of them were better than that. One appearance from Giselle, and he was switching up.
“I can’t lose him, Henna.”
“You’re not going to. Give him some time.
He just found out he’s got kids. I’m sure his head is still spinning.
You have to figure out how to be there for him like you always have.
You’re his friend first, remember? Don’t worry about Giselle either.
Heavy couldn’t possibly want her after what she’s done.
You just need to wait this out and be supportive.
He will appreciate that more than you flipping out,” Henna assured her.
It all made sense, but Prischa wasn’t sure how she would be able to do that. She did doubt her and Pierre’s safety, but she also trusted and loved Heavy. When she thought about life without him in it, it wasn’t a possibility she was willing to live with.
Saturday morning…
“What are you doing here?” Giselle sipped from her to-go coffee cup and looked Remi up and down.
Today was the day they were all going to Victory Park, and last she heard, Remi was not making an appearance.
“I came to cook for the week ahead.” Remi wobbled inside with her big ass purse on one shoulder and a rolling bag behind her as she looked around.
The place wasn’t complete, but with the furniture Giselle had, she made it work.
She had the basics, and she would figure out the rest. She wasn’t trying to blow through the little cash she had.
Yesterday, she found a job at a furniture warehouse that she was excited about, and she’d come up with a few new designs on her laptop.
At first, it seemed kind of stupid to go through that whole process and not have anything to produce, but she was learning to pace herself.
The idea of having multiple designs to choose from was even more inspiration.
“Auntie, you do not have to—”
“Girl, hush and let somebody help you!” Remi pushed her aside and strolled right past the living room into the kitchen.
The kids were still in their room, but she got a text from Maisie that they were pulling up any minute. It was bound to be an interesting day. Not only was her family going, but when Henna found out, she invited herself, Prischa, and Pierre along.
“You got that new job and two babies who need to be looked after. It’s plenty of us to take up the load, including their daddy!”
“I actually put some pieces up on Etsy that I salvaged from the house. I finally accepted a bid today. I can pay you, Auntie. Petal too. I don’t want anybody throwing anything in my face.”
“Then you obviously ain’t been around here long enough. You are the mother of Heavy’s children. Petal ain’t about to let you pay her a dime, and if she does, she’s putting it in an account for those kids.”
“Okay, but I do have a system. It might not be up to your standards—"
“Then it ain’t a system, Giselle. You just worry about keeping up with them kids at Victory Park, and I do mean the overgrown ones too.”
“I’m sure we will be fine.”
“Hmm. Petal told me that Prischa girl and her child was going.”
“And that has nothing to do with me,” Giselle calmly responded.
“Things have been good with Heavy this week. He comes by every single day to check on the kids, and they already adore him. When he leaves, it’s Heavy this and Heavy that.
I would never take that from them. I’m still kicking myself that I waited this long. ”
“Yeah, well, you beat yourself up enough for everybody else. I see you trying, though. You took that job at Elmo’s.”
“The pay is good, and Elmo is cool. His wife too. They are very flexible, knowing I have kids. And that’s not my last stop. Eventually, I will get back to where I want to be as a designer. This time, I’ll do it myself, and I won’t depend on anyone else for my success.”
“I love to hear it.” Remi dropped her purse on the couch, and Giselle listened to the familiar engine rolling into her driveway.
He tapped on the screen like he always did.
So polite. Before his signature ‘yo’ as he stepped inside.
The twins couldn’t hear her calling from the kitchen, but the minute they heard his voice, they would come running.
She found it pleasantly annoying as she sipped her coffee and remained standing in the living room.
“Heavy, we go to Victoria Park today!” Harlee hugged his neck when he knelt and peered into his eyes cutely.
The attachment was real already.
“Victory Park, Harlee,” Giselle corrected.
“I know. Y’all riding with me.” He scooped her into his arms.
“Mommy too?” Heir swung his attention to me.
“Yeah,” Heavy agreed.
Giselle had the ability to look good on her worst day.
Today, she was on her mid, mommy-mode shit.
Skinny denim jeans, a white V-neck top, and an olive-colored army jacket with her matching Steve Madden sneakers.
Her layered, chocolate brown locks hung past her shoulders in a wavy curl style.
She had already sweated her edges out and didn’t care.
Today was about making sure the kids had fun.
They’d been some real resilient troopers with the move, and she thought they deserved a reward, even though they were already being spoiled by everyone.
Neither of them were aware of who Heavy was to them yet.
All they knew was that he was showing up.
Giselle wasn’t sure how to even break that down to two three-and-a-half-year-olds, but luckily, he wasn’t pressing the issue either.
“We’ll need to get their booster seats from my car.”
“Don’t worry about it. I went out and bought them ones for my car,” Heavy expressed, surprising Giselle.
“Okay. You two go get your bags we packed last night then.” Giselle snapped her fingers and shooed them out of the room.
Heavy watched after them with a rare half smile on his lips before stepping past Giselle into the living room. Her laptop had been left open on the coffee table, and he dropped onto her sofa and picked it up.
“What’s this?”
“Oh, just some designs I came up with.” She took another swallow of her coffee.
She’d designed an entire living room set in a lush blue material, and all the legs were in gold, making it look expensive as hell. Heavy studied the work then lifted his eyes to meet hers.
“These are dope.”
“They are very rough sketches I’m messing around with.” She brushed it off with a shrug.
Heavy scrolled through and saw that it was more than messing around. She’d come up with at least ten designs, all different but with her own personal touch. She had a signature style that he took note of.
“Not like I can do anything with them right now.”
“What you need to do this?” he queried, staring at a brown suede design for a sectional sofa that could be taken apart and arranged in different shapes.
Giselle cackled and set her mug on the table.
“Hmm, a space for one. I could use the extra bedroom here, but I wanted to turn that into an office space, and it’s not big enough for all the furniture and materials and tools I would need.
I also need money to buy the different fabrics and visit these thrift stores around.
I don’t have any clientele anymore or anything like that, but I did talk to Elmo, and he said I could put exclusive pieces in the catalogue and see how they sell.
I don’t know, though.” She scrunched up her nose.
“Why not?” Heavy pried.
“Call it fear, I guess. Knox Interior Designs was my baby. I loved that company and the people I worked with and did interior design for. The minute things went downhill, that all went with it. It’s like they all forgot who I was when everything got stripped away.
I didn’t have any support. These were all Alonzo’s people, and if he wasn’t on board with anything, neither were they. ”