10. Blessing
“Hey, Moo.” I greeted him as I opened the front door. “The kitchen is this way.” He followed me into the kitchen and set the food and bags down.
“Hey, Bless baby, you feeling better now?” He asked, pulling me into a hug. I nodded, resting my head on his chest.
“Yeah, I just need to get this kitchen cleaned, feed the girls, and get the baby in bed. Then I can finally relax. Today has been so stressful. Thank you for coming through for me. I really appreciate it.” I gave him a quick kiss on the lips before pulling away.
I heard little feet padding toward the kitchen.
“Here comes the troublemaker.” I scooped Sage up into my arms and strapped her into her highchair.
“Wassup, princess?” Saint said, holding his hand out to Sage.
She gave him a broad smile, slapping her hand against his.
She responded to him by babbling a few words no one understood.
Once she started babbling, it was hard to get her to stop.
I grabbed one of her plates from the cabinet and placed it on the counter.
I grabbed a slice of pizza and cut it into small pieces.
When it came to pizza, my baby got down.
She only has about four teeth in her mouth, but that never stopped her from enjoying real meals.
“Oh! I didn’t know you had company, Sissy.” Journey said, taking a seat at the island. “Hi, Mr. Saint, I’m Journey.” She smirked, holding her hand out for him to shake. I knew she was about to grill me. She’d been questioning me about him since our video went viral on social media.
“You can just call me Moo.” He chuckled, shaking her hand.
“He came by to bring us dinner. How much food do you want?” I asked, grabbing another plate from the cabinet.
“I’ll take two slices and two wings, please. Thanks for bringing us dinner. So, do you two like date or something now? I knew it! I told Serenity y’all had something going on! This is so cool. So, does that make us sisters-in-law? OMG. She’s gonna be so happy when she finds out.”
“Okay, girl, first of all, I don’t think it works like that. We’re not even married. And we’re just friends, calm down. Don’t go being messy, telling Serenity that we go together. Dang.” I plated her food and passed it to her.
“Tuh. If you say so, sissy. I’m gonna eat in my room. Thanks again for the food, Moo.” She grabbed her plate and headed back upstairs to her room.
“You know she’s about to go up there and call your sister, right?” I said, passing him his plate. I grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge and took a seat next to him. Sage was in her own world, enjoying her tiny bites of pizza.
“Yeah, I already know. She’ll be texting me in a few, getting all in my business.” He picked the pineapples off his pizza before taking a bite. “I don’t know why you like warm fruit on pizza. It’s disgusting.”
“Nah, you trippin, pineapple on pizza is literally the best. You clearly don’t know good food.”
“Girl, I probably cook better than you. Those cookies you baked were fire, though. You made them from scratch?”
“I make almost everything from scratch. Bagels and bread are my favorite things to make. You should see my sourdough starter collection.”
“I expect samples of everything you bake from now on.” He took a swig of his water, then finished the rest of his food.
Sage began to whine, interrupting the conversation.
I knew she was tired and ready for bed. She’d already had her bath, so she just needed to be cleaned up.
She still needed to take her medicine, and I knew she was going to fight me about it.
Giving her medicine has always been a struggle. She gives me a hard time every time.
“I’m about to get her cleaned up and down for bed. I’ll be back down in like 30 minutes to clean the kitchen. Make yourself at home.” I pressed my lips against his before making my way upstairs.
Putting Sage to sleep took more than 30 minutes. I couldn’t wait until the teething is over. When I made it back downstairs, Saint was on the couch, watching a football game.
“Sorry about that. She fought her sleep until she couldn’t anymore.”
“It’s cool, Bless. I cleaned the kitchen for you and started the dishwasher. Come relax.” He held his arms open to me.
I climbed into his lap, relaxing against his body. “Thank you so much, Moo. I’ve been so worried about being overwhelmed that I haven’t even asked you how your meeting went. Did everything go well?”
“I asked you what I could do to make it better, and came through for you. As long as you’re feeling better now, that’s all that matters.
I wanted to take the load off you. My meeting was great.
I signed a collaboration deal with BodyAde for 1.
5 mil. I have a meeting with AmourFit next week to discuss a future deal.
My interview with OCSN went well, too. Seeing you just solidified my perfect day.
” His hand caressed my thigh as he looked up at me, smirking.
“I’m so happy for you. See, I knew your injury wouldn’t stop your bag. Everything is working out exactly how it’s supposed to. You look good today, too. I only ever see you in active wear. You clean up nice.” He was dressed in a pair of slacks and a designer sweater.
“You’ll get to see me dress up again next week at the Thanksgiving game. You still coming right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I got me and the girls matching jerseys.”
“I hope it’s my number.” He side-eyed me.
“Nope. We’re Tatum Brown fans over here.” I giggled after he smacked his lips and attempted to push me off him. “I’m kidding. You know, Journey and Serenity have to match, so we’re all wearing your jersey.”
“Good. I’m a jealous nigga. I like my shorty head over heels, obsessed with me. What you got planned for that weekend? I would love to take you out on a date. I know you don’t want to end up on the blogs, so we can go somewhere lowkey and out the way.”
“Sage’s first birthday is that Friday. We’re not doing anything big.
I don’t have many friends with kids. Just two.
So, we’re just going to that new soft play place they put in Premier Plaza.
I invited your mom and sister. You’re welcome to join them.
You can take me out on Saturday. I can have Chanel or Journey babysit. ”
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll definitely come through to her birthday party. I gotta grab her a gift. You okay though? I know it’s gonna be hard for you to celebrate her first birthday without her father.”
I blew out a breath of air and shrugged.
I debated whether I should open up to him about my relationship with Seven before he passed.
We were taking the steps to get to know each other, so telling him made sense.
“I’m more upset about Sage growing up without her father than I am about him being gone. ”
“What you mean by that?” He asked, confused.
“Seven was abusive… things had gotten worse right before he got killed. When the abuse first started, it would only happen occasionally—like a push or grab. He’d apologize and promise it wouldn’t happen again.
Then the abuse just escalated. He started punching, slapping, and choking.
It got so bad that I began to fear for my life.
The one time I tried to leave, he choked me so badly I passed out.
He promised he’d kill me, my brother, and my sister, if I ever tried to leave again.
” I didn’t realize I’d started crying until Saint swiped his thumbs across my cheeks.
His jaw clenched as he shook his head. “I wish I could dig his ass up and shove bullets down his throat. Why didn’t you tell Messiah?”
“I didn’t want anything to happen to him.
Regardless of their history, Seven was a trifling ass nigga.
I knew that if he found out that Messiah knew about the abuse, he would probably try to kill him first. He was really sneaky.
He had an entire family he kept hidden in Brindleton Bay.
I didn’t understand why he wouldn’t let me leave if he had another family to go home to.
He didn’t have a loyal bone in his body.
I’ve been in so many fights because of him.
Please don’t judge me for staying… I’m just happy to finally have peace in my life. ”
“I would never judge you for staying to protect your family. You didn’t deserve that shit.
That nigga was a coward. I’m glad you survived the relationship.
I swear I’ll never put my hands on you. I’ll leave before I hurt you.
You won’t have to worry about me cheating or lying.
I want to show you what it’s like to have a real man.
” He gently kissed me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my body to his.
He pulled away, pecking my lips a few times.
His eyes were locked on mine. “I don’t know what it is about you, but I’ve been drawn to you since the first time I met you.
I can’t wait to take you on a date. I’m glad you allowed me to come to your rescue today.
From now on, when you have a bad day, just swipe my card until you feel better. ”
“Don’t tell me that. I’ll swipe that damn card ‘til the strip disappears. I love spending money that doesn’t come from my pockets. I’m sorry I killed the mood by talking about my trauma.”
“Don’t apologize for opening up to me. The vibe wasn’t killed. I love talking to you.. I’ve been thinking about our conversation about my pops, and I’m going to reach out to a private investigator to see if they can find anything.”
“I think that’s a great idea. Have you talked to your mom about it?”
He shook his head, tugging at his beard. “Nah.. she’ll try to talk me out of it. I know it’s been over a decade since he disappeared, but I think I need closure about the situation. Once I get the closure I need, I can move on from it.”
“I understand, Moo. You deserve some closure. Maybe you should keep it to yourself unless you come across some information that would change what your family already knows.” I yawned, standing. “If you wanna spend the night, I still have the t-shirt and shorts I stole from you the other night.”
He shrugged. “Aight, I’ll stay the night. Come on.” He stood, grabbing my hand. I led him upstairs to my bedroom. The smell of warm vanilla and cinnamon immediately filled our nostrils as we entered my room. Thank God I cleaned my room earlier because it was a mess.
“Welcome to my sanctuary. Would you like to join me in the shower?” I asked, shedding my clothes.
He nodded. I entered the bathroom and turned on the light.
The master bathroom was what made me fall in love with this townhouse.
It features heated marble floors and a spacious glass-enclosed shower that can fit at least five people.
The double sinks, that sat on a granite counter, were my favorite part.
The mirror has a built-in Bluetooth speaker that I need to use more often.
I turned on the shower, and water flowed down like rainfall.
I stepped in, letting the warm water cover me.
It felt so good against my skin. Saint came in behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. The steam swirled around us.
I pressed my back against his chest as his fingers traced my slick skin.
His touch felt so familiar, as if it were meant for me.
No words were spoken as the water washed away the day’s stress.
“You’ve really never been to the drive-in?” I asked, snuggling closer against him. We were now in bed, cuddled up, watching the newest season of Criminal Minds. Well, the TV was watching us because we’d been talking since the first episode started.
“Nah, I didn’t really get to be a kid. I spent most of my time in the hospital. When I wasn’t in the hospital, I was home, too drained to even want to leave the house.”
I sighed, looking up at him. “How about we make a list of all the things you never got to do as a kid. Every weekend we can choose an activity to do. Like a bucket list.”
“That’s a great idea, baby. I have a tattoo session at my house this weekend. You should come through. You can bring the girls with you. I’ll have Serenity come over, too.”
“You just want me under you, huh? I guess we can come through. I know Journey probably wants to see Serenity anyway. Like they don’t see each other every day at school, they’re me and Chanel all over again.”
He chuckled, “It’s hard not to want to be around you, Blessing.
I tried to ignore the feeling you give me, but we can’t fight fate.
I knew I wanted you since the first day I saw you.
The time wasn’t right, but I won’t miss out on my blessing this time around.
” He placed a kiss on my forehead, pulling me closer to him.