Epilogue
EPILOUGE
FOUR YEARS LATER
I shifted my daughter from one side to the other and a huge smile took over my face when I caught sight of my fine ass wife wobbling her ass down the stairs of the home we now shared.
She looked so damn good I would get her pregnant tonight if she wasn’t already pregnant.
She cut her eyes at me like she could somehow hear my thoughts.
I couldn’t believe there had been a time when I’d told this perfect fucking woman I didn’t want a whole bunch of babies with her.
“Is Kiano home?” she asked.
“Nah. He should be here any minute now though.” I quickly walked over to help her down the stairs but she ignored my hand.
“I can walk by myself, Stone.” She rolled her eyes with a big smile on her face.
“I know, baby.”
“Where’s Joss?”
“He’s up and dressed. I think he’s just playing the game until Kiano gets here.”
“Is the baby’s bag packed?”
“Yep and I double checked it.”
“Okay.” She smiled. “Thank you, daddy.” She tiptoed and I quickly put a hand to the small of her back and leaned down to kiss her. “Say thank you daddy,” she told Rocky, who smiled at her mama happily.
Jiselle wore motherhood well. Rocky had been created intentionally, and a blood test proved I was the father of our family’s firstborn.
Our second daughter, however, was supposed to be Kiano’s.
She and I had purposely refrained from unprotected sex while she was ovulating and she and Kiano had done the opposite.
We were hopeful the baby growing inside her would be fathered by Kiano but we’d also agreed that no matter how the paternity test came back we were done having children.
Jiselle made it clear that she’d only wanted to go through childbirth twice.
She’d told us from the beginning she would even be fine with hiring a surrogate but her uterus was locked.
Of course, we’d both been fine with that.
Shit. We were down with anything Jiselle said, just like we’d always been. She ran shit around here and knew it.
Plus, while we only had two children between the spiritual marriage we’d entered as a trio, I’d legally married Kiano at Jiselle’s insistence and the two of us adopted my younger siblings.
There was no age limit on adoption, and honestly, it made sense.
They would be taken care of if something happened to us and the entire family, down to Leann and Junie, had been able to get on Kiano’s company’s insurance.
As if on cue, the front door opened and he sauntered in, loosening his tie.
“Just give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
Kiano walked over and kissed Jiselle, me, and baby Rocky, then rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Jiselle started toward the kitchen and I headed around the staircase to Joss’s ducked off bedroom.
He and Xy both technically lived with us. Xy was a full-time college student and lived on campus but he was home nearly every weekend and liked living in the pool house. So it was untouched, exactly how he’d left it.
Joss, our high school sophomore, was still figuring shit out.
He’d gone to work with Kiano a few times and was thinking about going into computers, knowing he’d be guaranteed a job if he finished.
But he’d also picked up basketball and was good; so a lot of his free time went there.
I wasn’t mad at that, even if I knew he’d never go pro or make a career out of it.
I was just glad he was doing shit for himself because there had been a time where we didn’t have the support or finances for him to even think about extracurricular activities.
I was happy he wasn’t still functioning in survival mode.
I knocked on the top of his door frame and waited for a beat before I pushed the door open. He was playing video games, a headset covering his ears.
I walked over and collapsed at the foot of his bed, watching as he played a mission-based game with his friends. Rocky reached for his headset and I pulled her back and made her squeal as I flipped her upside down.
“Don’t do that, Rock.” I shook her lightly then flipped her back upright.
She giggled as she wrapped her arms around me and I patted her on her back.
As soon as the game finished and Joss’s stats popped up on the screen, he looked at me.
“What’s up?”
“Kiano’s home. We’re about to head out.”
“Alright. I’m ready.” He tapped buttons on his controllers.
“I’m getting off,” he declared to his team.
“I’ll be back online in a few hours though.
Yeah. Alright.” He snatched his headphones off, looked over at me, and smiled at Rocky.
“Come here.” He opened his arms to her as he climbed up and I handed her over.
“Who’s your favorite uncle?” He shook her side to side until she laughed loudly and I pushed myself up.
“You spoke to Xy?”
“Yeah. He’s about twenty minutes out. He may beat us out there.”
“Alright, cool.” I clapped my hands. “You got her?”
“Yeah. Tell Big Rock your uncle got you.” He shifted her closer and she lightly pushed me away with her little hand.
I chuckled.
Stone and Rocky. Jiselle thought she was fucking hilarious when she’d pitched the name in relation to mine. Unfortunately for her, I’d loved that shit.
I trailed out of Joss’s room back toward the kitchen to check the baby bag for a third time. The last thing I wanted was to forget anything, especially because Kiano would be on Rocky duty. I was confident I would be drunk off my ass by the end of the night.
“We’re ready,” Selle called and I grabbed the bag and a bottle of water and headed to meet them.
Kiano was standing beside her, staring at his phone as he texted quickly.
“Who’s driving?” I asked.
“I figured you could drive there and I’ll drive back.”
“Cool. Let’s do it.” I grabbed the keys to our family car from the bowl by the door. “Joss!” I yelled out. “Come on, man.”
“I’m right here,” he grumbled as he rounded the corner with Rocky bouncing in his hands.
I nudged my head toward the door and we got a move on. Joss sat in the passenger seat so Selle and Kiano could sit on either side of Rocky’s car seat.
The drive to my old family house was easy, and when we got there, there were already plenty of cars outside. I stepped out and helped Selle out of the car while Kiano grabbed Rocky.
The front door was thrown open and music blasted from inside.
Morocco and Leann lived in our childhood house and it was paid off now.
I’d paid it off after I got my mechanic shop off the ground.
Morocco was in the process of trying to pay me back.
I accepted all the payments and told him they were going back to the loan I’d taken out, but honestly?
I was paying that loan off on my own and the money I got from Morocco went into a trust for Junie.
I looked back to make sure Kiano had settled noise canceling headphones on Rocky’s head then headed inside.
Leann and two other women stood in the kitchen and I did my rounds, hugging her and dapping her friends.
I took two shots then made my way to the backyard where the party was already in full swing.
A huge smile took over my face the moment I looked at the card table and saw Elijah. He was playing a game of dominoes with Morocco and two other men.
He’d been out of jail for a total of three hours but Morocco and Leann plotted his welcome home party the second we knew what day his bid would be over.
“I know that ain’t Elijah!” I yelled.
He looked over, smiled widely, and hopped up.
“Free at last, free at last!” He lifted his hands in the air and cheered as he walked toward me.
“About fucking time, nigga.” I closed the space between us and dapped him.
“What’s up sister-in-law, brother-in-law?” He hugged each of them briefly. “Is that my lil niece?” He looked at Rocky.
“Yeah. That’s baby girl.”
He cursed and shook his head. “Fuck. You a father and husband in this bitch.”
“You already know.”
“Welcome home, Elijah,” Selle offered. “I hate to love you and leave you but unfortunately I’m here for the food.” She smiled and Elijah laughed.
“Nah. I feel you.” He gestured to her large stomach and she giggled as she settled her hand there.
“I’ll come,” Kiano offered.
I watched the two of them walk toward the large table stacked with different desserts even though there was actual food in the house and shook my head.
“You look good,” I told Elijah.
“You think so?”
“Yeah, nigga. It’s good to not be looking at your ass through a glass.”
“You ain’t fucking lying.” He exhaled. “Ay. I know I’ve told you this before but I appreciate you looking out for our brothers and shit and I’m proud of you.”
“I know and I don’t mind. I got y’all.”
“But I had to let you know anyway.”
“I feel you.”
“Here, man. Catch up.” He offered me a shot from a red solo cup and I took it back without question.
“Ay!” Morocco called. “We gon’ finish the game or what?”
Elijah and I walked back to the table. Elijah collapsed into his seat and picked his dominoes up while I walked around the table and put Morocco in a headlock, making the rest of the table laugh.
I looked at the backdoor as more people filed into the backyard and did a double take before I realized it was my in-laws.
I liked Mika and Ronald. They were cool people and they genuinely cared about me, Jiselle, and our family.
They’d also been the ones to give me the loan I needed to open my own mechanic shop.
Morocco and Drake both worked at the shop with me and I often took women from the shelter Mika and Ronald invested in to either clean the shop after it was closed or work reception just so they could get a little extra cash.
The plan was to have Elijah join the team too.
I let Morocco go.
“What’s up? What’s up?” I dapped the other players.
“What’s up, man? How’s business?”
“Shit. It’s cool,” I said and whistled to get Kiano’s attention.