Chapter 15
Sasha
What are you doin’?”
“Whatcha mean what I’m doing? You told me to crack eggs for the cornbread, so I’m crackin’ eggs.”
I peeked around her arm to the bowl. “But you got shell pieces in it.”
Courtney cut her eyes over at me before dropping her attention to what she was doing. “I mean, you can just dig them out,
right?”
“Have you seriously never cracked eggs before?”
She shrugged. “No reason, I don’t really like eggs.”
“Wait. What? When I’ve cooked you breakfast, why you ain’t say nothin’?”
Again, she shrugged. “You cooked. I ate.”
I blinked a few times, trying to process her statement and the nonchalance with which she’d said it. I didn’t know whether
to find it annoying or endearing that she hadn’t said anything about her dislike and instead chose to suffer through something
she didn’t enjoy.
“Anythin’ else?”
Court turned to the sink to wash her hands. “Whatcha mean?”
I grabbed a spoon from the drawer to fish out the shell pieces before adding the eggs to the cornmeal mixture. “Anythin’ else that I’ve made you don’t like? I just want you to enjoy the stuff I make for you.”
I found myself wrapped in her embrace.
“I do.” She placed a soft kiss below my ear. “Besides, eggs are a good source of protein, so I probably should eat them more.”
Another kiss and a squeeze to my ass before she stepped away. “What else you need me to do?” It was nice to know she wasn’t
suffering through eating what I’d been cooking, and in true Courtney fashion, she was taking care of me by putting me at ease.
“What y’all up to?” Mya asked, yawning as she walked into the kitchen.
Having her here with Courtney had brought new life into the house that I was enjoying. Listening to the two of them take jabs
at each other strangely made me happy. They had a close relationship, which at times I was a little envious of. Being an only
child, I didn’t know what it was like to have that sort of connection. Mya was the younger sister I never had, and having
them both around made this house feel a lot more like a home. Especially for the holiday.
Vuitton hopped up from his place on the couch and ran over to her. I tried not to be jealous of how much he sought her attention
when I wanted to be his favorite human. But I still had the fact he preferred me over Courtney. Though with her being here,
he’d started following her around more too. And surprisingly, she let him. I’d find her talking to him like I did, but she
would try to deny it when I called her out on it. It was kinda cute.
“Happy Thanksgiving. And your sister calls herself tryin’ to help with the cookin’.”
“Hold up. You woke me up and asked for my assistance. ‘Courtney, I have so much to do, I could really use an extra pair of hands,’” she said, pitching her voice higher to mimic me.
I frowned at her. “First off, I ain’t that damn whiny.”
“You sure sound that way when you’re wakin’ me up from a good sleep,” she countered with a grin.
I swatted at her with the dish towel, but she dodged it while laughing.
Mya sat at the island, a crooked grin on her face. “Courtney, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in the kitchen.”
Courtney scowled at her sister. “Bitch, who kept you alive? You didn’t starve as a child, did you?”
“No. But also, the kitchen was usually stocked with ready-to-go meals.”
“Yes, but still, I kept you fed.”
Mya rolled her eyes. “You popping a frozen meal in the microwave isn’t exactly cooking.”
“Ingrate,” Courtney mumbled under her breath. “Both of ya.”
“Awww, baby, we’re just havin’ some fun.” I tugged her arm so she was forced to lean down, and I gave her a quick kiss on
her pouted lips. “I do appreciate you helpin’ and us spendin’ time together.”
“Good, because I thought the whole point was this being some sort of team-building exercise.”
Both Mya and I laughed. “Team-building, Court, really?”
She shrugged as she picked up the dirty dishes and set them in the sink. “Yeah. We established I’m not a cook, so you waking
me up to play sous -chef wasn’t for my culinary skills.”
“She’s got a point, Sasha,” Mya said on her way to the fridge.
I wrapped my arms around Courtney’s waist and placed a kiss on her back. “My bad, baby. Yes, this is for ‘team-buildin’ and
I ’preciate you being a good sport.”
We’d been doing good since our brunch date, joking around, relaxing at home, and I was fully enjoying the extended time we’d been having.
Denise was irked I wasn’t going out like normal, bitching in the group chat about me not being a girl’s girl, whatever the hell that meant.
Tanisha had been a little more understanding, but still made some slick comments.
But they didn’t understand, and at the end of the day, they’d be fine.
I was enjoying my wife, and feeling like we were actually married for the first time. Hell, I even got her watching Real Housewives with me, which was huge because one thing Courtney didn’t do was sit still for long. She always had to be doing something.
But not now. She was home. There were no games, or practices, or traveling. No next thing she was preparing for or worrying
about. For the first time since saying I do, there was no competing for her time or attention.
“What y’all need help with?” Mya asked as she finished her juice.
Having the extra help was nice. Mya was much better in the kitchen than her sister. And unlike her sister, she actually wanted
to learn. Though the three of us ended up working well. Courtney was good about doing whatever we needed for prep work while
Mya and I handled the actual cooking portion. It was nice working in my own kitchen because things moved faster. It was better
equipped, and I could work with complete freedom of movement, because as much as I loved my grandmother, that woman hovered
whenever someone was in her space.
In past years, since Courtney would be gone, I would go to Big Mama’s the day before so I could do the sides and things and
be out of the way for her cooking the turkey because she only had one oven. However, since Courtney was home, I told Big Mama
that we’d be down day of.
She still insisted on trying to do most of the cooking, but over the years, she’d loosened the reins and had let me start making some of the dishes.
It also helped that of all my cousins, I was the only one who seemed to want to take the burden off her.
The others were content to let her do it since “she enjoyed it so much” and just showed up to eat.
Big Mama letting me take over some of the dishes was bittersweet. On one hand, it let me put all the years I spent with her
in the kitchen to use. She’d taught me everything I knew, and I was proud to showcase that, and to get her approval. On the
other, it was another reminder she was getting up there in age, a fact I liked to ignore when I could, because the reality
of it was not one I was completely ready to face.
However, spending the morning passing some of those same teachings on to my sister-in-law, and to have her eagerly and happily
soak it all up, just felt so right. It was what being married and having family was meant to be.
“We here, Big Mama,” I called out as I entered the house.
It never failed—every time I crossed the threshold, or hell, even pulled into the driveway, a sense of peace always came over
me.
“In here, baby,” she hollered.
Courtney and Mya followed me deeper into the house where we found Big Mama at the stove, stirring the pot of collards. It
was the one side she refused to let me take over. Not that I minded. She made some bomb-ass collard greens and refused to
tell me what her secret was. Always saying a woman had to maintain some mystery.
“Oh, look at everybody. Mya, baby, so good to see you again.”
“Really, Big Mama, there’s three of us standin’ here, and you only speak to Mya?”
“I’m getting to you, girl, hush. But I don’t get to see my Mya as often.”
I watched as my grandmother embraced Mya, who hugged her back just as tightly. I understood though; she and Courtney weren’t
really close with their remaining grandmother, who was on their dad’s side. She lived out of state, so they didn’t see her
often. Their maternal grandmother had died shortly after Courtney was born. Having a grandmotherly figure around they actually
liked had to be comforting. Being witness to how my grandmother poured into them, welcomed them, it warmed my soul.
When she set eyes on Courtney, Big Mama’s smile got even bigger. “Courtney, Sasha told me you’d be here, I couldn’t believe
it. It’s been forever since I laid eyes on you.” Big Mama placed her weathered hands on either side of Courtney’s face. She
held Courtney there, quietly examining her face. “Ya look tired, baby. And stressed. You doin’ okay?”
“Yeah, Big Mama, I’m good. Other than Sasha waking me up before the ass crack of dawn to help her cook.”
I rolled my eyes at her complaining as Big Mama smiled. “You know your way ’round the kitchen?”
“No, she don’t,” I answered.
“Don’t matter, that’s what ya got a wife for.” She paused for a minute as if something just dawned on her from the way her
brow wrinkled. “Well, I guess y’all both wives. Still, ya got ya a good Southern wife in my girl, she got ya covered. I’m
just glad ya could join us this year. I’ve missed ya.”
“I’ve missed you too, Big Mama,” Courtney laughed as she leaned to place a quick kiss on my grandmother’s cheek. She held
up her broken wrist. “This accident has made me, as I’ve been told, ‘sit my ass down somewhere.’” She turned to look at both
me and her sister when she said that, and we both looked at each other before shrugging unapologetically.