CHAPTER 43
Thanks to Axel , we arrived at the restaurant late. I was minding my business, putting on some makeup in the bathroom when he came inside, pulled up my dress and, in his words, found his way home . And I was with it like I always am. The man is addictive. It’s a good thing he’s mine.
After the workout he’s given my body over the course of the last three days, I’m good and hungry. I think I could finish a steak and shrimp dinner with a potato on the side and still have room for dessert.
Saluda’s is a fancy restaurant, so I opted for a simple black dress. I had on a longer one, but Axel messed that one up, so I found a shorter one in my closet. Axel put on some black slacks and a black button-down. We weren’t trying to match. It just happened that way.
“Hey, everybody!” I say, filled with joy to see my family all together. The last time we were together, I was down in the dumps. Now, my mood is elevated to an all-time high. I have the man standing next to me to thank for that.
“Hey, Ma,” I say, walking over to her. It’s the two seats between her and Zavier that look to be reserved for us. After squeezing my mom around her neck, I sit next to her. Axel is between me and Zavier.
“Y’all finally made it,” Zander says.
“Hush, Zander,” I tell him. “Yeah, we made it.”
“We already ordered appetizers for the table,” Zavier says.
“Cool,” Axel says. “It’s good to see everybody again.”
“Same, man,” Zavier tells him. “It’s always a good time when we can sit down as a family and break bread together.”
I lean over to look at Nykendy, noticing that Kaden is missing. I ask, “Hey, where’s my lil’ man?”
“He’s with my mom,” she answers. “It’s just us grown folk tonight.”
“Yeah. We have grown folk business to discuss,” Zander says.
The server brings two appetizer platters. There’s a blooming onion and fried shrimp. It smells heavenly.
I grab a shrimp, pop it in my mouth, and ask, “What grown folk business do we have to discuss, Zander?”
“You know—how you took it upon yourself to marry this man without allowing us to fully vet him.”
Axel grins and says, “I thought we were cool now, man.”
“We are,” Zander admitted to my relief. He continues, “But Zimyra has always been an active and very special part of our lives. I’m not just her brother. I’m her daddy.”
“Lord have mercy,” Mom says. “Zander, if you don’t stop your mess.
Nykendy and Alyssa are in stitches.
“What’s so funny?” Zander asks.
“Just wondering why you said daddy like that,” Alyssa says. “And why does Zimyra need a daddy when she got a Zaddy .”
Zayda leaned back in her chair and released a good, hearty chuckle.
Zavier says, “All jokes aside, I would like to officially welcome you to the family, Axel. I don’t know all the circumstances surrounding your relationship with my sister, but what I do know is she’s happy and therefore I’m happy.”
“You are happy, aren’t you, Zimyra?” Zander asks.
“You can’t tell by that smile on my baby’s face?” Axel asks.
Smiling, I say, “Yes, I am happy.”
“Now, here’s what I want to know—when did this marriage take place, and why did y’all run off like hot-in-the-tail teenagers and do that?” Mom asks.
“We got married in Hilton Head, Ms. Zayda, about a month ago. And I know we’ve only known each other for a few months, but I love your daughter very much and she knows that, don’t you, Zimyra?”
“I do,” I say, feeling my face tighten with embarrassment. I’ve never been in a position where I had to talk about my significant other in front of my family but now, I have to. I want to. They should know how much Axel means to me.
I say, “Yes, I’ve known him for a short time, but in that time, I’ve found something I’ve never encountered before. I mean, I wasn’t necessarily looking. I wanted to do things, be accomplished, start my business and finish so many things before getting married, but when it’s right, it’s right and I couldn’t let that go—couldn’t let him go. I love him that much.”
“That’s beautiful. My baby and her maintenance man. You got yourself your own live-in handyman.”
“That’s the thing, Ms. Zayda. I’m not a maintenance man.”
“He’s the head negro in charge,” Zander says.
“Wait—what did I miss?” Nykendy asks.
Axel explains, “It’s a long story, but I don’t really work in maintenance. I was posing as a maintenance worker to get close to Zimyra.”
“Why would you do that?” Mom asks. “Because you wanted to date her? Is that what men are doing these days?”
“No, Ms. Zayda. I work for the company that owns the property Zimyra works at. The reason I had to get close to her was to find out some things about how she was running things because she does it so well.”
Alyssa says, “So, if you’re not in maintenance work, what exactly do you do?”
“I told y’all…he’s the HNIC,” Zander says.
“Acually, I’m not. My father is. I’m—”
“He’s the chief operating officer of one of the largest property management companies on the East Coast,” Zander explains before Axel has a chance to. “He lives in Bridgeport, Connecticut in a two-million-dollar home. His mother and stepfather also live in Bridgeport. Yeah, I looked you up. My question is, where are you and my sister planning on living?”
“Oh, we haven’t had time to talk about that yet, Zan,” I respond, eating more shrimp.
“We really don’t need to talk about it,” Axel says. “We’re going to live right here in Columbia.”
“Axel, you don’t have to—your home is in Bridgeport. Your entire life is there.”
“My life is wherever you are, sweetheart.”
“Ax—”
“I will never take you away from your family. The thought never even crossed my mind.”
Tears fill my eyes. I close my eyes and bow my head trying to keep them at bay.
“Aw,” I hear Mom say.
Axel’s arms close around me. He whispers in my ear, “It’s okay, baby. I thought you knew that already?”
“What about your job?”
“I’ll just work down here. All I need is an office and a computer.”
“And your family?”
“They’re accustomed to the way I forge my own path. They’ll adjust.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, sitting up and no longer whisper-talking, but talking outright, not concerned if the family hears me.
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”
I feel a smile grow on my face while a single tear falls.
Zander says, “Okay, enough of all that. The server has been standing here waiting to take our orders and there’s a fat, juicy steak with my name on it. I say we order.”
Alyssa giggles.
“I second that,” Axel says.
And just like that, my husband is an official member of my little family.
I feel so much love in my heart for this man. While he talks with my brothers, I take his left hand into my right and bring it to my lips. He stops mid-sentence to look at me. I stare back at him and smile. He lowers his mouth to mine and kisses me softly before plowing through my lips with his tongue, kissing me thoroughly. His tongue bathes my mouth and my throat. I moan. I tried not to, but it couldn’t be helped.
Zavier clears his throat.
Mom says, “Well, alrighty then.”
Even after that, I don’t stop kissing my husband. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just us at this table. I will happily forego dinner just to have him to myself instead.