Chapter 32
“Mama!” Devin yelled as we walked into his mother’s house.
We’d just gotten to her house for Sunday dinner. The moment we stepped inside, my mouth watered at the smell coming from the kitchen. We’d been here a few times, and Ms. Allison could cook her ass off. Every time I ate, I needed a good nap.
She came from around the corner with a frown on her face.
“Must you do that? You can announce you’re here like regular people.”
He chuckled. “Ain’t nothing regular about me.”
She rolled her eyes as she came over to hug him. I giggled as she pushed him away to hug me, then picked Korri up.
“How are you, my babies?” she asked.
“We’re good. You have it smelling amazing in here.”
“Thank you, baby. I’ve been working on this all day. Maceo and Shar are gonna join us. They should be here soon.” She kissed Korri’s cheek. “I missed your pretty face.”
Korri blushed. “I missed you too. You know what else I missed?”
“What’s that?”
“Those chocolate chip cookies.”
Granny Dillinger told me that shared her special chocolate chip cookie recipe with all of grandkid’s mothers because she wanted to share in the aggravation of them begging her to make them. The way I saw Devin’s brothers grabbing them up at her birthday party, I was inclined to believe her.
Ms. Allison laughed. “You know, I think I might have made a whole batch just for you.”
“Hold on now, Ma,” Devin said, waving his hand. “She’s gotta share that.”
“My baby doesn’t have to share her cookies with you.”
He turned to Korri. “KoKo, you gon’ leave me hanging?”
Korri snickered. “You can have one, Mr. Devin.”
“Just one?”
“Maybe two. But that’s it.”
He playfully mushed her head. “See if you get another Lego set outta me.”
Ms. Allison winked at her. “Don’t worry, baby. I got you on the Legos.”
She stuck her tongue out at her son before placing Korri back on her feet. Deja came trotting downstairs with a smile on her face.
“Hey, y’all,” she said.
She embraced me and Korri before going to Devin. They started play fighting before embracing each other. When she pulled away, she held her hand out.
“I need some money.”
“Doesn’t your man have a job now? And didn’t I give you money last week?”
“So.”
“ You need a job.”
“Devin, please.”
“Deja. I’m not gonna keep spoiling you?—”
She laughed in his face, and so did his mother. I covered my mouth and snickered. I’d quickly learned that gifting was his love language. He loved dropping a bag on the women in his life. He knew as well as we did, he would never stop giving her money, even if he said that statement with his whole chest.
“Y’all take me for a joke,” he said, pulling out his phone. “One of these days, I’ma show you better than I can tell you.”
Deja’s phone chimed in her hand, and she smiled. “Well, today isn’t that day. Thank you, brother.” She kissed his cheek and reached for Korri’s hand. “You wanna hang out until dinner is ready?”
“Can I, Mommy?”
“Go ahead. Be good.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
They disappeared upstairs while we followed Ms. Allison into the kitchen. Devin headed straight for the pots on the stove to see what she was cooking. Ms. Allison came behind him with a dish towel, swinging it at him.
“Get out of the pot, Devin!”
“I’m just trying to see what you cooked, Ma. Dang. You stay abusing me. I’m calling CPS on you.”
“They would take one look at your big ass and turn right around.”
“See, Romi’s mama doesn’t act like that. She willingly gives me samples.”
“Trust me. If you’re around her long enough, that will change.”
I fought back my laughter. I loved his relationship with his mother. They play fought like siblings all the time, and she was always getting in his ass. From what I’d seen at Granny Dillinger’s birthday, all his brothers were the same way with their mothers. It seemed like they lived to work their nerves.
Mr. Alec came in through the back door, smiling as usual. After dapping Devin, he came to hug me.
“Hey, Romi. Where is my little friend?”
“Upstairs with Deja.”
“Alec, tell your wife to stop hitting me,” Devin snitched.
Mr. Alec chuckled. “Allison, why are you hitting my son?”
She scoffed. “I’ll hit you too.”
He shrugged. “I tried, man.” He turned back to me. “How is the little one?”
“She’s doing amazing. They are talking about letting her come home this week.”
“I know you’re happy about that. It’s been a long time coming. I uh… I actually have something for her. I wanted to have it ready for the baby shower, but I knew there was no time for that. I finally finished it, so you can take it home today.”
He disappeared down the hall, returning shortly, rolling something covered in a cloth. With a huge smile, he placed it in front of me.
“I know she has one for her room, but I figured you’d be keeping her with you for a while. I’m sure you don’t want the hassle of moving it from room to room.”
He motioned for me to remove the covering, and when I did, I gasped. There was the most beautiful wooden bassinet. It was painted pink with “Juri Angel” across the front panel.
“Mr. Alec… you made this?”
He nodded. I knew he was a carpenter, but I never expected this.
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a tearful hug. “It’s beautiful.”
“You’re welcome. We know how much you and those girls mean to our Devin. You’re family now, and you’re stuck with us.”
I smiled. “I don’t mind being stuck at all.”
“Good,” Ms. Allison said. “Hopefully, one of these days, we’ll earn the title of mother and father in-law and grandma and grandpa, but we’ll be patient with that.” She looked at Devin and winked. “My point is… we love having you around, and we hope you’ll stay around.”
I returned her smile. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”
I hugged the both of them, soaking up their love. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Being welcomed by this man’s entire family was overwhelming in the best way. We had an overflow of unexpected love, and it was more than I could ever ask for.
“Mama!” Maceo yelled, coming through the front door with Shar and her baby bump on his heels.
Ms. Allison rolled her eyes. “I can’t escape it. Maceo… for the love of God, please stop yelling in my house.”
He kissed his teeth. “Don’t act brand new, Ma. Give me some love.”
She huffed and smiled as she went over to hug him. Devin smirked as he sandwiched her between the two of them. I don’t think they would ever admit it, but both of them were mama’s boys. Devin spoke with her almost every day and saw her at least once a week. I loved it.
Ms. Allison’s little arms flung about as she fought to squeeze from between them.
“Y’all are too big for this!” she exclaimed.
They reluctantly broke their embrace, causing her to smack them both on the arm. Beside me, Shar laughed and shook her head.
“Ma, did you ever imagine they’d be this much bigger than you?” she asked.
“No, chile. They were such little babies. Now they’re giants and don’t know their own strength. Almost broke my damn rib.” She came over to hug and kiss Shar before stooping to kiss her belly. “Hi, Grammy’s baby! How are you, sweetness?”
“ He is doing just fine.”
Ms. Allison’s eyes widened. “He? It’s a boy?”
Shar nodded. “We found out Friday.”
Her mother in-law scooped her up in another hug and motioned for Maceo to join them as the rest of us offered our congratulations.
“I’m so happy for you both!” she exclaimed. “My baby is having a baby!”
Maceo beamed with pride. “Since you’re so happy, I guess that means we have a free babysitter, huh?”
“I would never charge you to watch my grandson. Romi, baby, if you ever need a sitter, I’ve got you.”
“Thank you, Ms. Allison.”
Maceo came to hug me. “We’re really stuck with you, huh? So can we get a hookup on a facial or something? You’re already doing Deuce and Smoke’s?—”
“The hell!” Devin looked from him to me, making Maceo laugh.
“Yeah. I know about that. My wife loves to pillow talk.”
I covered my face. “Sorry, baby,” I apologized. “We were talking, and it just slipped out.”
Maceo jokingly reached out and touched his face.
“Smooth as a baby’s bottom.”
Devin slapped his hand away. “Just for that, you gotta pay her double. Touching my damn face.”
“I’ve told y’all about cursing in my house,” their mother said, smacking both of them with the dish towel.
“Ma, you curse like a sailor sometimes,” Maceo reminded her.
“I’m grown.”
“We grown!”
“You might be grown, but you’ll never be more grown than me. Now, leave me and my girls alone. Outta my kitchen. I’ll call you when dinner is ready.”
Her sons shook their heads. Both of them gave me and Shar kisses before following Mr. Alec outside.
“How about I make us some drinks?” Ms. Allison offered. “Cocktails for us, mocktails for the mommy-to-be. Go on, have a seat.”
She moved around the kitchen while Shar and I took a seat at the island. It wasn’t long before we were gossiping about our men. There was nothing but laughter filling the room as Ms. Allison shared some of the most embarrassing stories about Maceo and Devin.
At one point, they must have sensed she was talking about them and tried to come back inside, but she locked them out. They’d run around to the front, but she locked that door from her phone. It was hilarious watching them act like little boys around their mama.
I guessed with the life they lived, she was their safe space. I mean, they were chill with the rest of the family, but with her, they had a certain vulnerability. It was beautiful to see. That was the type of mother I always wanted to be. No matter how old my children got, mama was always their safety net.