25. Micaiah
ONE MONTH LATER
“Life was rocky for a while, and nobody said that it wouldn’t become that way again, but the only thing I knew was we were where we were supposed to be for this place and time.” –Crossing in the Night, Mike Jamison
“You are a gift sent from heaven, woman.”
I wrapped my wife in my arms and kissed her long and sweet.
“Eww, Daddy and Mama Myr kissing,” Malachi declared, walking back from the kitchen to where we stood in the hallway.
“Eww.” Malaika mimicked him, putting her hand over her mouth. She had no idea what was going on, but she was in a stage where she mimicked everything that Malachi, Myraj, Mai, and I did, so we were careful what we did around her.
I pulled back from the kiss, and Myraj made tickly fingers at Malachi. “I’m going to tickle and kiss you too,” she declared with glee, chasing him through the house.
He jerked the back door opened and ran straight out there. I shook my head. I didn’t know if Myraj had fallen for another one of his traps, or if she just decided to give in to it.
Myraj had taken me to New York to see August Wilson’s Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, starring Cedric the Entertainer and Taraji P. Henson. We had just returned from New York, and I had placed our luggage in the foyer and kissed my wife as my kids ran through the house like they had lost their minds.
On the ride home from the airport, Malachi had been asking to go outside, and I had told him he could play after naptime. He had whined about it the entire time, and now that we were here, he managed to get his way.
I sighed and closed the front door before I lifted Malaika into my arms and kissed her chubby brown cheeks.
One of her pink ribbons was askew in her curly ponytails, and I straightened it.
She reached up and messed with it again before she said something like “Naba noba nah.” I guess that was her way of telling me that she didn’t want that shit in her head, but her mother said it had to be otherwise.
I fixed it again, and she did the same thing and repeated the same verbiage.
This time, she managed to pull it free, and I took it from her and stuck it in my pocket.
When Malachi and Myraj didn’t return, I grabbed a blanket from the couch in my office and headed to the backyard.
She was still chasing him, and he was shrieking loud and happily.
I shrugged and let Malaika down when she started shrieking and jerking her little body to free herself from my embrace.
I chuckled as she tried to chase them. I unfolded the blanket and placed it down on the grass. I sat on it and watched for about five minutes as their game went from Myraj chasing the two of them to Malachi chasing the girls to Malaika chasing Myraj and Malachi.
“Okay, I need a time out, guys. Mommy’s tired,” she declared, walking toward me.
“Mm-hmm. Looks like you let him trick you again.”
She rolled her eyes and huffed out a breath as she tried to even out her breathing. “No, I didn’t. I’m smarter than you.”
“Is that right?” I asked, reaching up for her hand. When she gave it to me, I pulled her down on my lap and wrapped my arms around her.
“Mhm.”
“How?”
“Because I know that they have a lot of energy to burn after being cooped up on that flight for so long. Therefore, I’m letting them come out here and run off all their energy. They’ll be tired in no time and ready for their naps.”
“We’ll see,” I muttered, nuzzling her neck as we watched Malaika toddle after Malachi.
He was running and then stopping to let her catch up.
Once she did, he would tickle her, she would plop onto her bottom, fall out into a burst of giggles, and then kick her feet.
We had removed her shoes in the car on the ride home, so she was barefoot.
Malachi would tickle her feet whenever she kicked them, and then he would get up and run.
She got up and chased him, and they did it all over again.
Myraj moved from my lap and lay on her side on the blanket with her head resting in my lap.
“This life we live is so blessed and rewarding. I remember there was a time when I traveled to book shows, lounges, and all over the world with just my girls. I recall thinking that although I was surrounded by my girls, at times, I was incredibly lonely. Now look at me, traveling all over the world with my husband and my kids.”
“You still have time with your girls.”
“We do, but it’s good to see us all in happy, healthy relationships and thriving.”
“Even Yashika,” I declared, laughing.
“Yes, with her hood rich self. I’m just glad that Antoine got out of the life and used his money to invest in a business for the two of them,” she stated.
Antoine had gone back to school and gotten a degree in graphic design. He had a consulting and graphic design business, and he had helped Yashika start her online sex toy business.
“Me too. That could have turned out really bad for your girl.”
“Praise God it didn’t.”
“Has she said anything else about quitting her meteorologist job?”
“No. She loves it there. She has no problem earning two incomes, especially since they don’t have any kids.”
“That’s cool. As long as they’re happy.”
“I know that I am,” she mused. “Isn’t it amazing how beautiful life can be when we get out of God’s way and let Him have His way?”
I chuckled and replied, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”
She laughed and looked up at me. “No, sir, you weren’t.”
I leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Well, I’ve been trying to tell you that I love you.”
“You tell me that every day, sir, sometimes multiple times, and I will never get tired of hearing it. More importantly, I’ll never grow tired of you showing me either.”
“And I’ll never grow tired of showing you. In fact, don’t you think it’s time we put those two down for a nap. I’ve got some showing I want to do.”
“Does it have anything to do with that scene you were working out last night in the hotel?”
“It’s got everything to do with that scene.”
She jumped up from my lap so fast and scooted the baby up from where she had tumbled in the grass again. “All right, guys, it’s naptime.”
“I don’t want a nap, Mommy Myr. I’m a big boy, I don’t need naps like Mal. She’s a baby,” Malachi whined, which was expected.
“We all need naps, honey, even Mommy Myr and daddy needs naps, and we’re about to take one, so you have to also. Nobody will be awake to watch you.”
“Can we call Mai?”
“Mai is off today and tomorrow. She will be back in two days. Now let’s go.”
“But I don’t wanna.”
“I know you don’t want to, baby, but you need to. I promise you’ll feel better later. Besides, the sooner you get your nap in, the sooner you can wake up and play in the pool. Then it will be time for your mommy to pick you up for dinner and to spend the night with her,” Myraj explained.
Malachi excitedly pumped the air with his fists and ran toward the house.
“The audacity of you! The woman has no shame,” I teased, laughing as Malachi ran into the house.
“None, whatsoever. Not when it comes to that BDE you’re throwing around.”
I got up from the ground and took Malaika from her. She folded the blanket we had been lying on.
“Hey, while you put that away, I’m going to make sure Chi gets in bed, and I’ll put Malaika to sleep in her crib.”
“Okay. I’ve got some things to take care of while you do that.”
I nodded and headed inside. I grabbed a sippy cup for Malaika before I checked on Malachi, and as expected, he had removed his shoes, and he was lying on his bed with his napping blanket pulled up over him. I walked into his room, leaned over him, and kissed him.
“Have a good rest, my little prince.”
He smiled at me and muttered, “You too, Daddy,” through a yawn.
I headed to Malaika’s nursery and sat in the rocker with her.
She rested her head against my chest and sipped from her cup as I read her a book.
She pumped her chubby brown fist happily in the air as she listened and drank her juice.
Before I got to the end of the book, her little head bobbed forward.
I stood and placed her in her crib after kissing her. Once I pulled the blanket over her shoulder, I turned on the baby monitor and left the room.
When I walked into the bedroom, not only had Myraj washed up, but she had grabbed a bottle of wine and some chocolate-covered almonds and was lying on the bed waiting for me.
“I want to freshen up too,” I replied when she beckoned me.
“But you’re so good when you taste like sunshine.”
I winked at her and headed inside the bathroom and cleaned up. I didn’t want the stench of traveling on me when I made love to my wife.
I wasn’t surprised when, minutes later, she joined me in the shower.
We exchanged no words, just a series of kisses and touches.
My wife kneeled before me and took me to the back of her throat, ensuring that my erection was solid before she stood again.
I lifted her in my arms, pressed her back against the shower, and grabbed the showerhead.
I turned the pressure on a low massage and let her wrap her legs around me.
When she was in the perfect position, I used the showerhead and aimed the spray against her clit.
Her hips jerked upward, and her head went back. Her arms lazily dropped from being wrapped around my neck to sliding down my arms. I continued massaging her for a while before I hung the nozzle up.
When she slid down my body, I kneeled, and she perched one foot over my shoulder and spread her labia for me.
I eased my tongue through her folds along with my fingers as she cried out.
I lovingly teased her lower lips with sucks and licks before I prodded my tongue inside of her and plundered her.
She was whimpering and had completely soaked my lips and beard by the time I stood up.
The kiss we shared was steamier than the mirror as I slowly impaled her with my arousal.
We released a series of grunts and groans, enjoying the rare time that we had to get away from the kids when there was no nanny around.
I made love to my wife, loving how she felt wrapped around me, soaking me, moaning my name, running her fingers through my beard, and creating a cocoon for my erection.
My hand gripped her neck, and I tightened slightly as her eyes flew open and her mouth parted a bit. “Yes,” she pleaded as I thrust up inside of her.
“Myraj.” I grunted.
“Yes, baby?”
“You are my life, my everything. I never want to breathe without you on the other side, waiting to inhale what I have to offer.”
She cried out and covered my lips with hers. Tears fell from her eyes as she released all around my dick. I released inside of her, and I thanked God for her and our two children.