Chapter 17
Sometime later ….
Patience
My eyes lived on my daughter, a toddler with every piece of her father in her.
She looked nothing like me except those storm-colored eyes.
Everything else was Hondo Dominic Carter.
I had absolutely nothing to do with it and I knew it.
Then, to make matters worse, she wasn’t a mommy’s girl or even a daddy’s girl.
She was the apple of her uncle’s eye from the moment he first held her and Hondo told him he was also her godfather.
Shoot, who was I kidding? Honey was everybody’s love, including her grandparents.
Long story short, they played tug of war with my baby, because they all wanted to keep her and nobody wanted to share her.
The idea that I had gone from nearly passing out when I found out I was arranged to be married to obsessed with everything about this man was kind of baffling. Then all the other factors came into play.
“Do you want me to take the cupcakes out?” Alysia asked.
“Uh yeah, thank you. Someone is in diva mode.” I tossed my head in the direction of my toddler. Today was her first birthday and her father elected to throw her a small backyard party. Small meant family and a few others.
Alysia smiled. “Pretty little princess.”
I grinned. “And the fact that she knows that is the problem.” I once again tried brushing her now wild mass of curls to the front of her head.
“Don’t be talking about my niece like that, Pat,” Paige cut in, entering the area between the kitchen and the patio doors.
“Girl, bye. Then you come do her hair.”
She shook her head. “Nah, I’m good. I pick my battles and that’s definitely not one I’m up for.”
I laughed at my sister because she was right.
Honey’s personality was as strong as they came, and funny enough, reminded me of her.
Paige ended up staying with us and building her life here in Briar South.
I loved having her here and her being a part of the family I built.
As for my father, I never heard anything else about him, seeing as Hondo told me he didn’t kill him.
“Hurt, Mommy, hurt.” She pulled away from me dramatically.
“Honey, I’m not even really touching you, baby.”
Paige laughed then left the room, headed toward the front. “She gets that dramatic mess from you,” she tossed over her shoulder.
Honey folded her arms across her little chest just as the patio door opened again. It was none other than her uncle who, at this point, had a sixth sense when it came to her.
“You in here pissing my niece off, Patience.”
“If you mean trying to give her one more ponytail, yes.”
He laughed.
She laughed as well. I swore this nigga was her favorite person.
I took advantage of her reaching for him and popped that last ponytail into her head. She didn’t like that shit at all, but it was done and fussing would be futile.
“Go ahead and take her. I know that’s why you came in here.” I sent a fake mug in his direction.
He laughed and did exactly that, catching her father on the way out who she thoroughly ignored because she was in her uncle’s arms. Nobody topped Uncle Otto and I loved that.
She had a necessary bond with him. Even in his more silent moments, when he was obviously in his head, she pulled him out.
Of course, she was a child and didn’t know it, but when she handed one of us that tablet and said, “Unktoo Otto”, it always worked.
“Yo, you seen your daughter ignore me?” Hondo asked.
“Did I? She gave me hell until he came in here. Let her little funky tail stay with her unktoo.” I mimicked the way she said uncle.
He chuckled, pulling me into his frame. “You’re in here working when I’m sure the doctor said you needed to take it easy.”
I laughed.
“You’re gonna remind me of that every time?”
He chuckled. “Hell yeah. I came in to see if you wanted me to hand that box to my mama.” He threw his head in the direction of the pastry box marked specifically for Alora.
I laughed. “Yeah, you got it, because you know I can’t or I’m gonna give it away.”
“Bet.” He walked over, grabbed the pastry box from Best Kept Secret, and went toward the door. Instead of following him out of the door, I stood at the doorway. It was too hot out there for me right now, so I tried to stay inside until that damn sun went down.
I watched Hondo hand his mother the box and stand there. The last time we found out I was pregnant, I taped the sonogram into the box. This time I had done the same, but it was a little different.
Confused but anxious to see what was in the box, Alora accepted it. Then she looked up at her son before she looked across the patio at me.
She must’ve taken too long because Hondo’s impatient ass pointed back at me.
When she finally opened it, I saw her smile from across the patio. Inside the box was yet another sonogram, but with more than one baby this time. The sonogram had clear cut labels pointing out Baby A and Baby B. Twins.
Even though I never saw this for myself, that didn’t mean it wasn’t meant for me. Being loved unconditionally by a man who just wanted me to be happy was not on my bingo card, then boom…
The impossible, an arrangement with my soulmate.
The End… For Now.
Other Titles by Kennedy B.