Epilogue
Some Time Later . . .
“Da-da! Da-da!” Regardless of how loud the music was in & Ish Restaurant, Gift Merayla Seasons’ voice could be heard over it all by her father. The world stopped when it came to his family.
Tafari turned toward the voice of his fourteen-month-old daughter. His body lowered to receive her as her little body ran toward him. “Come here, lil girl.”
Gift’s little giggles were like angels singing. She was the perfect combination of her mother and father. Tafari kissed her all over her face. “I love you, Giffy.”
She offered back to her father, “I wuv you, Da-da!” Now that she’d greeted her father, she wiggled out of his arms to greet the rest of some of her favorite people.
There were patrons and staff of the restaurant that were like family to the Seasons. Tafari and Pril’s daughter was a staple at both of their businesses.
“Your daughter is a little bad,” Pril said as she approached her husband. “That little girl sat on the couch at the studio and continued to say crab until I told her that we were coming here.”
Gift proved herself to be the bossy, drama princess that she came into the world as. Her name, Gift was selected long before they knew she was a she. It was a unisex name, so had she been a boy it would have been the same name.
Tafari laughed at his wife when she rolled her eyes. He leaned forward to kiss her lips as well as take the car seat carrier out of her hand that held their two month old son, Tafari Junior (TJ). Now, TJ was all his father.
Tafari was serious when he said that he wanted his wife pregnant shortly after Gift was born. It took Pril no time to get pregnant again. The fear that was with the first announcement did not exist with the second.
This pregnancy was more taxing than her previous pregnancy, but it was all worth it. Pril was unable to have a natural birth with TJ because of the complete placenta previa. A C-section was needed.
Pril and Tafari had the conversation while she was pregnant with their son about whether they wanted more children. They both decided that they were happy with the son and daughter that God provided. After consulting with Dr. Frog, the decision was made that Pril would have a partial hysterectomy.
Pril’s hysterectomy changed her life for the better. Gone were the heavy, painful periods. She was able to get her quality of life back in the best way. She didn’t have to stop being the mother and wife that she wanted to be because she was in too much pain.
Tafari set the car seat on the table, then moved the covering. There he is. TJ’s bright eyes and smile showcased at the sight of his father. He was the first face that TJ saw when he opened his eyes after birth. Much like when Gift was born, Tafari held his children more than anyone.
He had it set up that his wife would not have to lift a hand if she didn’t want to.
That was to be expected since she was pregnant so soon afterward.
He reached out to a family friend whose wife owned a cleaning service.
Youme Strong owned Freshly Done, one of the best cleaning services in the city.
She had a New Mom Package that included weekly cleanings that included laundry for six months and one deep cleaning during that time.
As it stood right now, Freshly Done had a paid contract with the Seasons family for the next two years.
“Hey, Son. You hear yo’ mama talkin’ ’bout yo’ sista like dat?” He took TJ out of his car seat. “We ga have ta tell her dat she can’t talk ’bout our Gift like dat.”
Pril giggled. “Whatever. You and your children are not going to get on my nerves. What the hell was I thinking having children with your blood in them?”
Her joking tone laced her words. Tafari’s eyes tightened when he looked at her before a smirk rose on his expression. “You had my babies because you love a nigga.” His free hand smacked her ass. “Stop ackin’ like you don’t love it here.”
She laughed, then moved to kiss his lips. “You know I love it here. There’s no place I’d rather be.”
“You fuckin’ right you do,” Tafari said after he wrapped his free arm around her waist. He looked down at TJ. “She loves it here, lil boy. Let’s go see ya Gran mama.”
Pril watched as her husband walked off with their son after he gave her another kiss. She headed over to the booth that held her best friends. “Hey, bitches! What y’all over here doing?”
Nicole stopped eating the blue crabs that were on her plate for a moment to gawk at Pril. “Um, I’m feeding this leech inside of me. All he ever wants is crabs.”
Lacie chuckled. “Girl, don’t act like you didn’t eat those garlic blue crabs like that before you were pregnant. Now you just have an excuse to eat it multiple times a week.”
Jordan and Nicole had four months until their first son was born.
Another baby in the Seasons family was just what the family ordered.
Pril and Tafari blessed the family with the first two grandchildren, and next it was Nicole and Jordan.
Troy still had some ways to go when it came to finding the right one.
Everyone was just happy that he took all of the precautions needed so that he didn’t get anyone pregnant.
“Mama! Crab!” Gift found her way over to her mother and God-aunties. She had a very tunnel visioned agenda.
Pril reached down to pick her baby girl up. Gift got comfortable on her mommy’s lap. Seconds later, Tafari appeared with a small plate of blue crabs that were partially de-shelled. “Here you go, baby girl.”
He set the plate in front of her. Gift leaned her head back to look at her mother. “Crack! Crack!” She is so pushy.
Tafari chuckled. He sat down in the booth next to his wife and daughter. His mother snatched TJ out of his arms the second Tafari brought him into the kitchen. “You want Mama or Daddy ta crack ’em, Giffy?”
He was the only person that called her Giffy. Others tried, but she didn’t respond to anyone else. Giffy was their daddy-daughter thing.
Gift’s head bounced between her mama and daddy before it settled on her mama. “Mama, crack. Bye, Daddy.”
The entire table erupted in laughter. There was nothing that would come between Gift and her crabs. Apparently, the same was true for Nicole.
These were the small things that Tafari loved. He didn’t need all of the extras. All he needed was God, his family, and friends.
Pril thanked God daily for His unannounced plan in her life.
That was how it worked though. He made the plan and you just went with it or not.
It became clear to Pril that God’s plan in her life was to free her hands of a man that was less than so that they could be filled with a mighty good man. And, oh, what a mighty good man he was.
All Scootched In