Chapter 19 Like I Want You -Tara
A Week Later
“How do I look, Mama?” Raegan asked as she sashayed in the kitchen where I was putting the finishing touches on our dinner, modeling off the dress I picked for her to wear for the night’s occasion.
She was dressed in a simple pink T-shirt dress with a collar, and paired with her big pink bow, she was adorable.
She had just gotten her hair braided into a ponytail at Sassy and Chic Beauty Salon, and whenever it was in such a style, I switched up her bows until it was time to take the braids down.
Raegan’s hair was just as thick and curly as mine, so protective styles were key and essential to our survival.
“You look absolutely gorgeous, baby,” I acknowledged, complimenting my princess.
While Jaedan looked like a mirror image of Jason, Raegan was a good mixture of the two of us, and although she inherited my chocolate skin, you could see hints of Jason in her. Mainly in her eyes and cheeks.
When we were younger, I wanted to continue expanding our family, but Jason was hellbent on the number of children in the household not outweighing the parents, so when I had Raegan, he requested for my doctor to put me on birth control.
I guess the irony of his explanation was how he got with another woman, and according to what Raegan let slip out, they were expecting their second child together.
I guess the children Amber’s ex-husband had custody of didn’t matter in his book.
Just like our children, Amber’s two daughters came to visit them every other weekend. I couldn’t imagine not living with my kids on a daily basis, but when the judge sets a custody agreement in place, more times than not, you fall in line.
Thankfully, in our situation, Jason didn’t fight me when I demanded full custody with him having every other weekend. He could have fought me on it, but it only would have made me fight harder.
“Are you going to change into something pretty?” Raegan asked, throwing the most innocent form of shade directly in my direction.
“What’s wrong with what I have on now?” I questioned, pointing to the black lounge set I had put on after I came home and showered so I could be comfortable while I tidied up the house and got dinner started.
“Nothing, but didn’t you say your boyfriend is coming over? I don’t have a boyfriend yet, but if I did, I would want to look super pretty for him.”
“You’re lucky you’re cute and slightly right, because I’m almost offended,” I teased, running over to where she was standing, and tickling her, making her contagious giggles fill the room.
Mercilessly tickling her for a few more seconds, I ran out of the kitchen and straight to my room so I could get dressed.
While I didn’t look my best, I didn’t look my worst either, and with it being the night Jaedan and Raegan were introduced to Zeke as my boyfriend, and not just Coach Simmons, I wanted everything to be perfect.
Much to my surprise, both of my kids took the news of my new love interest in a positive way.
In hindsight, I was more afraid of their reactions than I had merit to be, but due to everything they had endured because of the divorce and the new dynamics of our family, I felt like it was only right to put their feelings first.
Thankfully, they both like Zeke outside of school so the night was merely our first semblance of a new family-ish dinner.
I knew I’d gone overboard and cooked more than I normally would on a typical Friday night, but I was in a celebratory mood because the kids were with me on a weekend which wasn’t designated as mine.
If they didn’t want to go with Jason, I wasn’t going to make them, and with the way he’d begun to act out, I wasn’t extremely hellbent on them being in his presence.
Skimming my closet, I decided to give Eva a call while I decided on what I wanted to wear for the night.
“Hey, T,” she greeted as soon as the call connected.
“Hey, E. How are you doing?”
“Girl, I would be great if I wasn’t about to fight Alexa.”
“What do you mean? What happened?” I questioned, back-to-back, pausing my quest to find the perfect attire so I could give my full attention to my best friend as she vented.
“She keeps calling me and trying to guilt me into going to the hospital to visit my dad.”
“You haven’t been back since the night he had the accident?” I questioned to make sure I hadn’t missed anything in Eva’s world.
“No. Aside from calling the nurses’ station to check on his condition, I haven’t been involved.”
“What did Alexa say?”
“She thinks me staying away means I don’t care and like I’m selfish for not putting my life on hold because he was dumb enough to drink and drive,” she stated with a sigh, and it was painfully obvious my best friend was emotionally over the situation.
“I don’t know why that girl can’t understand that the daddy she knows and loves is not the one I knew.
True enough, he obviously still has a problem with his alcohol consumption, but he’s nothing like the lush Janet and I had to deal with. ”
“Do you know if the family he hit when he ran through the intersection is going to press charges or not?”
“From what my mama told me, I don’t think they are, but I wish they would because his ass needs to wake up.
If he would have had a few more beers, or if he would have been driving a few miles per hour faster, he could have killed a family who was innocent to his bull crap.
He’s too old to be carrying on like this, and that’s why I can’t see him.
I may mess around and go postal up at the hospital just thinking about what could have happened. ”
“Look, E, I won’t try to downplay how bad the situation is and how much worse it could have been, but I think it’s important to be grateful it wasn’t worse. Maybe this was the wakeup call he needed. Maybe this will be the thing he needs to get sober.”
From the time I’d met Eva, I had probably only seen her dad without his handy can of beer or trusted bottle of whisky maybe once or twice.
Nevertheless, the optimist in me believed more than anything, anyone could change.
For some people it was simply a game of mind over matter for them to fight addiction, while for others, something traumatic had to happen to get them to change their unhealthy ways.
“A part of me was hoping that too, but the nurse I always talk to, Angelica, told me he asked her if the hospital cafeteria had some beer on tap she could get for him, so that is a strong no on this being a much-needed wake up call.”
“Wow.”
“Exactly.”
“At this point, since Mr. Monroe is still on the road to self-destruction, the only thing you can do for yourself is decide whether or not you are okay with the relationship you have with him,” I advised.
“Regarding Alexa, I know how important she is to you, so it may be worth you sitting down and telling her about the dad you know versus the one she knows. I know you and Janet always try to shield her from certain things where he’s concerned, but I think it would help her show some grace when it comes to pushing her perception onto the two of you. ”
“I accepted him for who he was a long time ago, which is why I made the executive decision to leave him wherever he’s at, but I may take your advice on talking to Alexa because she’s two nagging phone calls away from me forgetting she’s related to me,” Eva truthfully noted, causing me to laugh.
“Anyway, enough about my family shenanigans. Are you nervous about your family dinner tonight?”
“Yes! I don’t even know what to wear.”
“You see the man every day, and if I know Zane like I think I do, I’m sure he’s going to appreciate your beauty regardless of what you have on, but remember it never hurts to show a little skin.”
“Oh, no. Jaedan and Raegan are here.”
“Okay, and? You act as if I said show some ass, T. I’m saying to show a little bit of neck and some shoulder, nothing too much, but just enough to look alive.”
Resuming my pursuit to find something to wear, I continued to talk to Eva as she talked to me about her budding romance with Zeke.
Knowing we could possibly become sisters by marriage if everything played out was something to dream about.
I really liked Zeke for Eva, and after hearing how he’d been a part of her support system in confronting the animosity she’d been harboring for her dad, I knew he was what she needed.
Picking up a black short-sleeve romper which caught my eye as it hung on a hanger on the far-right side of my closet, I ran my selection by Eva, and she approved. She was hellbent on not ending the call with me until she knew what I was wearing.
To my surprise, we agreed it was cute without doing too much because after all, I was still at home.
The doorbell rang no sooner than I stepped into the romper, and after a quick once over and approval of my appearance, I was off to answer it, praying on the way to the door that all would go well.