Chapter 37
A Month Later
“Damn, Ju. What did you eat?”
I frowned as I changed the shitty diaper. Baby girl had a damn blowout that went up her back. I knew I smelled something when I went to check on her after seeing she was awake on the monitor, but I wasn’t expecting that.
I settled into daddy mode rather quickly. These girls had a nigga out here making lunches, fixing bottles, changing diapers, helping with homework, and all kinds of other shit. I couldn’t say that I didn’t love it.
Juri was doing well, given her premature birth. I’d been doing a lot of reading on premature babies and their milestones to make sure our girl was on track or if anything felt off with her. Even though she was five and a half months old at this point, her corrected age was more like two and a half months.
Korri was still my sweet girl. She’d taken to this country living like it was nothing. Every day when she came home from school, she’d do her homework, spend a little time with Juri, then she was ready to go see the horses. I’d been teaching her how to ride, and she was getting the hang of it. Baby girl wanted to go fast, but I had to tell her we had to take it slow so she didn’t get hurt.
She loved spending time with my grandmother, who had her in the garden on weekends. Grams was also teaching her how to bake those cookies she loved so much. I still had to beg them to let me have one.
Korri was also spending more time with my siblings. She recognized them as her aunts and uncles. Of course, Jaeda was her favorite aunt because she finally let somebody other than herself go into her basement to see her Lego collection.
Steel was her favorite uncle because he was the one that played her childish games the most. She had that big ass man playing hide and seek, hopscotch, jump rope, and a bunch of other shit. He loved it. I think it was finally hitting him that he was ready to settle down.
I didn’t bring it up to him, but I saw the changes.
“Oh my God,” Romi said, coming into Juri’s room.
I looked back to see her covering her nose, and chuckled.
“I know, right? Who knew someone so little could smell so bad? She had shit all up her back. I’m about to give her a bath.”
Romi came over to stand beside me. She smiled as she looked down at our baby.
“Good morning, princess,” she said.
Juri’s eyes lit up when she saw her, and she smiled.
“You got daddy good, huh? Yes, you did.” She giggled as she looked up at me. Standing on her toes, she leaned in to kiss me. “Good morning, my love.”
“Good morning.”
Romi was doing much better. After having to pull the trigger on Dana, she had a lot of guilt until she finally accepted that she had to choose herself and her kids over anybody, even if it meant taking a life. She and Salima had a long talk about that. I didn’t know what my sister said to her, but it snapped her out of the funk she was in.
“I’m gonna go wake Korri up, then I’m gonna start breakfast while you get Juri situated.”
“Okay.”
We shared another kiss before she kissed Juri and left the room. I finished cleaning the mess my baby made, then took her into the bathroom to wash her up. She absolutely loved bath time. I mean, if someone were pampering me, I’d love it too. She had it made in this life. Once I was done, I swaddled her in her towel and carried her back into her room to get her lotioned up and dressed for the day.
Noticing she was dozing off, I carried her into our bedroom and placed her in the middle of the bed, with pillows on either side so she didn’t roll away. I made haste in taking a shower and getting dressed myself. Baby girl woke up just as I was done, so I scooped her up.
“Can you keep a secret, Ju?” I asked, kissing her cheeks.
I went to the dresser and pulled open a drawer. This particular drawer had a false bottom where I kept important shit. Once I got it opened, I pulled out the box I’d been hiding for two weeks now.
“Look at that,” I said, flipping it open. “You think mommy will like that?”
She grinned at me as I spoke to her.
“Yeah, I think she will.” I closed the box and tucked it into my pocket. “I know you guys have been through a lot, but you’re safe with me. I promise I’ll never let anything else happen to you. You, your mom, and your sister have no idea how much I love you. You’ve given me a love I didn’t know I was capable of having outside of my family. I forever got you.”
I kissed her little cheeks and held her close to me.
This shit was crazy, but in the best way. If I’d ever pictured myself settling down, it didn’t include a ready-made family. Then these three came along, and a nigga fell head over heels in love. So much so, I was about to ask this woman to marry me… me… Smoke Dillinger.
Life was crazy.
Juri and I left the room and headed downstairs. Romi was whipping up breakfast, so baby girl and I settled on the couch to watch TV. Romi brought me a bottle to feed Juri, who greedily sucked it down. Korri came down shortly after. She made her way over to hug and kiss me and her sister before going into the kitchen to help her mother. Thirty minutes later, we were all seated at the table, eating breakfast. Korri was dominating the conversation, as usual, talking about what she wanted to do for summer since it was coming up.
“And I wanna go to Disney World,” she concluded.
Romi laughed. “You got money to pay for all these activities?”
“No, but Mr. Devin does.”
She said that so confidently. I had to laugh.
“You just gon’ run my pockets like that, lil’ bit?” I asked.
“You said I could have whatever I wanted, remember?”
“I don’t remember saying exactly that, but you know I got you. It’s your world. I just live in it.”
She smiled big. “In that case, can I have a pony?”
“Korri!” Romi exclaimed.
“Mommy, a pony would be my size. You and Mr. Devin said I can’t go fast on the big ones.”
“You could still get hurt on the pony, Korri. No going fast until you fully learn to ride.”
I nodded. “I agree with mommy. If you wanna go fast, you can ride with me. How about that?”
“Deal.”
Romi shook her head. “You spoil her.”
“’Cause she’s my baby. Right, KoKo?”
“Right.” She looked at me curiously. “Mr. Devin?”
“What’s up?”
“You call yourself Juri’s daddy, but you aren’t really her daddy, but you take care of her. You take care of me too, so should I call you daddy?”
My eyes glanced over at Romi. She was looking at me just as hard, waiting for a response. I set my fork down.
“Well, Korri. I know I’m not yours or Juri’s biological father, but I think of you as my own children. Mr. Alec isn’t my biological dad, but he’s always been a second dad to me. He loves me and Uncle Maceo, and he’s never treated me any different. That’s what I want with you and Juri. You don’t have to call me daddy, but if you want to, I’d be happy to answer to it.”
Korri tapped her chin for a moment. “How about I call you Papa Devin?”
I grinned. “I’m cool with that, lil’ bit.”
“Are you cool with that, Mommy?” she asked.
Romi swiped a tear from her eye and nodded. “I think it’s perfect.” She reached out and cupped my face, then kissed me. “I love you,” she whispered.
“I love you too.” I grabbed her hand. “Since we’re giving each other different names, I wanna ask you something.”
I stood and pushed back my chair before dropping to one knee. Romi gasped.
“Devin…”
“Just hear me out. I know we haven’t been official long. I know there is still so much we have to learn about each other, but I love you. I love you, and I love these girls, and I want y’all with me… always. I’m not gonna drag this out, so I just have one question.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the box, presenting her with the three-carat, princess-cut diamond ring.
“Will you marry me?”
She looked down at the ring, then at me. “You… you mean it?”
I chuckled. “Of course I mean it, woman.”
She looked over at Korri, who was grinning from ear to ear.
“Say yes!” she whispered loudly.
Romi giggled. “Yes,” she said, nodding. “Yes.”
I pulled the ring from the box and slipped it on her finger. She threw her arms around me, hugging me tightly as she cried. Pulling back just a little, she kissed me passionately. Off to the side, Korri was jumping up and down, cheering. Juri was just looking around, oblivious to what was going on.
“Oh… my… God,” Romi whispered, looking down at the ring. “We’re getting married… We’re really getting married.”
“I told you I was giving you my last name.”
“You did… You really meant that.”
“I mean everything I say to you. Haven’t you learned that by now?”
She smiled. “I have. Thank you for always being true to your word.”
She kissed me again, this time with so much love.
A nigga was getting married.
I didn’t know what our forever looked like moving forward, but I did know one thing… I couldn’t wait to see it.