20. Sunday & Cedar
Sunday & Cedar
Ten Weeks Later – Sunday
“ M ake sure you give his head the proper support, Nils.”
“I got this, sis. Trust me. Your li’l bro is a pro at this.”
I shook my head as my little brother repositioned Aspen in his arms. He stared at his nephew with awe and affection. I glanced at Sarah, who had a look of pure adoration in her eyes, as Bjorn whispered something to her.
“Are you two ready for your own?” I asked.
Sarah smiled sweetly and pulled her eyes away from Aspen and looked at me.
“That’s what we were just talking about. I hope we have one as sweet as he is.”
“Babies are sweet, even when they’re fussy little bodies like Miss Jay here,” Janae declared, dropping a kiss on Janaya’s head.
“I’m not a fussy bot, Mommy,” Janaya declared.
“Not anymore.”
“But I’ll bet you were a beautiful, fussy baby,” Layla shared.
“Can I hold your baby?” Janaya asked her.
“Sure, sugar. Baby, can you put Amara in her arms?” Layla asked Bryan.
“Here, sit down next to Mommy,” Janae commanded, lifting her daughter onto the couch beside her, and then Bryan carefully placed his baby in Janaya’s arms.
Cedar decided to prepare a large brunch today for our family and friends to enjoy, and it was hosted at his parents’ home. His sisters and their husbands were here, along with my brothers and all our friends. My parents were supposed to be coming, but I hadn’t seen them yet.
The newly turned three-year-old beamed at her mother before she looked at Amara again, who was starting to get fussy.
“Shh, baby. Iss okay. Don’t kwy.”
She planted a juicy kiss on Amara’s forehead, causing the baby to settle down and stare in wide-eyed wonder at her newfound friend. Amara pushed her fist into her mouth before she broke out into a drooling smile.
“They’re so sweet,” I professed. “They almost make me ready for another one.”
“Girl, please. You can have it,” Janae joked.
“I said almost.”
“Well, darling, be careful what you wish for around that son of mine. Because I just heard him talking with the fellows about being ready for his little princess,” Sylvia Jackson, Cedar’s mom, shared as she walked into the room from the kitchen with his sisters, Tiffany and Amber.
“Girl, don’t let that man have you tied to the kitchen,” Tiffany stated.
“For real. Cedar’s a focused and determined thang. When he wants something, he doesn’t stop until he gets it,” Amber shared.
I blew out a breath. “No. As much as I love my little one, I’m not ready to go through all of that again.”
“What? Labor or pregnancy?” Layla asked.
“Neither one just yet. Maybe in time, but not right now.”
“Girl, I know that’s right,” Janae chimed in.
Cedar followed his father, Paul, into the room at that moment, with Chaz, Shawn, Bjorn, and Nils right behind him.
“What’re y’all hens in here cackling about?” Paul asked.
“Watch it, Mr. Jackson,” Sylvia warned, pointing a finger at her husband, who chuckled.
“Our future sister-in-law was saying how she’s not ready to be barefoot and pregnant. She’s too young and has too much life to live,” Amber piped up.
Cedar beelined in my direction, tilted my chin, dropped a kiss on my lips, and then asked, “Is that right, baby?”
“You already know.”
“But making them is only half the fun.”
I giggled. “We can do that without actually making them, you know.”
“I don’t know if I can last six weeks, though, baby.”
“You’d better, Mr. Jackson. Because the alternative is to get it cut off.”
Cedar kissed my lips again. “Or the alternative could be that you just get hemmed up quicker than those six weeks.”
“My doctor said?—”
“Man, fuck that doctor,” he grumbled.
“Hey, I don’t know what y’all over there talking about, but you’d better watch that one. He’s a smooth talker just like his daddy, and he’ll be done talked you right out of them panties,” Sylvia declared, pointing a finger at my crotch.
I blushed and hid my face in Cedar’s shirt. He chuckled, sat on the love seat beside me, and pulled me onto his lap. Nuzzling deep into my shoulder, he whispered, “You know I love you, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“And I’ll do anything for you?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“Don’t you feel the same way, Sunny?”
“You know I do.”
“Then let me bust a nut up in that hot, sweet pussy when your six weeks is up. My boy will look real good with a little sister chasing on his heels.”
“No, sir!” I exclaimed loudly.
Everyone’s eyes turned from their conversation to our direction.
“Told you to watch him,” Tiffany declared.
I giggled, and Cedar shook his head. “Mind ya business. Besides, Emmett is in the kitchen hungry. Go do your wifely duties,” he commanded his sister.
She sucked her teeth, but she got up to see about her husband.
“You’re not right for that one,” Amber stated.
“Don’t get me to hollering for Mark,” Cedar threatened.
“Boy, shut up. If my husband ain’t complaining, I’m not moving an inch.”
Small talk resumed all around us from the different groups. Layla, Janae, and Bryan were still cooing over how cute Janaya looked holding Amara. Chaz was talking to Celine while Shawn was in a deep discussion with Paul about a basketball game, and Amber and Sylvia were having another conversation.
“You okay, baby?”
“I am. Do you think my parents are gonna show up?”
“Yeah. I think they’re running late, is all.”
We made small talk with our family and friends, and Cedar loved on me and made me feel so special. There was no better place than I could be in the moment than surrounded by our family and friends.
The doorbell rang, and I heard Amber’s husband, Mark, call out, “I’ve got it.”
Nils lay Aspen in my arms, and Cedar moved in and kissed Aspen’s cheeks. “Smells like he has a stinky diaper,” Cedar pronounced and got up to grab the diaper bag.
“That’s why I gave him back to his mama,” Nils pronounced.
Aspen’s little brown eyes popped open and rested on my face before he started wiggling and then crying.
“Somebody’s got a good set of lungs on them,” my father pronounced, stepping into the family room.
“Mommy! Daddy! You made it.”
Cedar set the bag down between us, pulled out the wipes and diapers, and declared, “I told you that you didn’t have anything to worry about.”
“She’s been stressing about us not making it?” my daddy asked.
“Yeah. Told her to chill with all that.”
They both laughed, and my mother winked. What the hell was happening? Did they call a momentary truce or what?
“Everybody ready to eat?” Cedar asked and rubbed his hands together.
“Yeah.” A chorus of agreement erupted throughout the family room.
I giggled and shook my head.
“I’ll fix your plate, baby. Go ahead and take care of AJ,” Cedar pronounced before he kissed my lips and headed out of the family room. I noticed that he and my father walked side by side, following everyone else.
My mother hung back as I finished changing Aspen’s diaper.
“What was that about?” I asked as she reached her arms out for her grandson.
“Two men putting their differences aside for the girl they love.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Cedar set his pride aside and called your father.”
“How did he get his number?”
“From your phone.”
“Oh.”
“He called two months ago and had a man-to-man conversation. I didn’t get all the details, but I know there were apologies on both sides. Then he asked your father for your hand in marriage.”
“He’s never said anything to me.”
“You know how men are. They have their pride, and they want to do things their way without women getting involved because of our emotions.”
“I didn’t know that these last two months, they were cool. I noticed that at the hospital, the brief interaction they had didn’t seem tense, but simply cordial. I thought it was for the sake of me and Aspen.”
“Well, it was. Healing doesn’t happen overnight, but they’ll get there.”
I stood and wrapped my arm around my mother’s waist and rested my head on her shoulder. She shifted Aspen in her arms to cradle him with one arm while wrapping her free arm around me. She kissed my forehead and whispered, “You are truly loved, my beautiful girl.”
“And I’m thankful for all those God gave me to love.”
Cedar
I created a smorgasbord of food for the brunch to cater to all the various palates.
My father, brothers-in-law, and I had taken everything outside to the tent and placed the serving dishes on the various tables.
Everyone would fix their plates and then take a seat at one of the tables set up in the backyard.
Bacon, turkey bacon, chicken sausage, link sausage, Canadian ham, Belgian waffles, blueberry pancakes, home fries, hashbrowns, frittata, banana bread, quiche, jalapeno cheese grits, and a fruit platter.
There was more than enough for everyone to have a couple of servings.
We had arrived at my mother’s house at six this morning, and she and I had both got busy in the kitchen.
It reminded me of being a little kid, when I would cook with her all the time.
Looking around at the faces all around me made me feel proud.
Sunday and I had come a long way from being just roommates and from roommates to lovers.
We had blended two very diverse families and groups of friends into one beautiful family who loved and protected each other, even when it created tension amongst the group.
After everyone finished eating and was just sitting or standing around talking, I looked at her father, Raymond, who held his mimosa up to me in a cheer as he chatted with my father.
We might not be the best of friends, but we were men enough to put our differences aside and become amicable for the sake of Sunday and Aspen.
I knew that her father didn’t hate me. I’d even go so far as to say that he understood and respected me.