Epilogue
KENDRIX
One Year Later
“Travis, can you go tell her to hurry up? We should have been at the party one hour ago.”
He has grown a lot since joining our family. We threw him a birthday pool party, and he even invited his friend Camille. Travis got to talk to his mother a few times throughout the year, and even though she wasn’t consistent with checking in on him, he still loved her. We were still finding our groove as a family, but it has been a fun journey so far.
Phoenix and I started the process of adopting him after we all realized we didn’t want to break up our little family dynamic. He came out of his shell a lot and attended family counseling sessions with us .
“Why you tryna set me up like that? I don’t want to get yelled at like you did twenty minutes ago.”
He whined but still got up and walked up the stairs to knock on the door.
“Kendrix Morgan, don’t send this baby up here to rush me; I am coming!”
She’s been so moody lately that it was driving me a bit insane. Phoenix quit working at Just Expresso after our engagement; that place held too many bad memories for her. She had been going through the motions of planning her next step in life.
She came downstairs in a pair of jeans with a massive hole from the thigh all the way to the knee. What was the point of those? Her hair was in my favorite style, a curly afro.
When she tried to walk past me, I grabbed her and pressed my front into her ample ass. “So, you were gonna walk past me like that?” I kissed the sensitive spot behind her ear.
Phoenix melted into my hold, and I thanked God for her; over the years, God had heard more prayers for her than for me.
“Travis, tell him to get off of me since he wanted to rush me.” I let her go.
“Do I need to separate you two?” He quipped.
Phoenix laughed at him, “Yes, babe, he’s annoying me. Come on, we gotta go.”
Our destination was a little over twenty minutes away. The car ride was filled with laughter, teasing jabs, and love that filled my heart more than I ever imagined.
“I guess they got tired of having parties at the house. I can’t believe Genesis is already one year old. Did Kay send you the video of her trying to walk? It was too cute.” Phoenix cooed over our Goddaughter. She is the sweetest addition to our family.
I pulled into the parking lot and saw everyone else’s cars.
“She is an amazing baby. Come on, they are waiting for us to sing Happy Birthday.” Travis got out and opened the door for her. He had been paying attention. Phoenix linked arms with us both, and we walked to the door.
“Kendrix, you should have told me that at the house; hurry up.” I opened the door, and she walked in first.
“Surprise!” Shouts came from every direction. Phoenix looked around, confused, with a smile on her face.
“What is going on here, baby? You told me we were going to Genesis’ birthday party!” She tried to hit me, but I grabbed her hand and kissed it.
“When did he get so soft?” Levi was talking shit as always.
“Leave my baby alone.” My momma and Gran Lucy said at the same time .
I laced our fingers together and walked further into the space. The building was huge, and she could manage everything she said she wanted.
Leading her to the center of the room, I pointed toward the bar. “That is where you will serve the people who need a drink after the longest workday.” We walked to the divided space with a platform big enough to hold a few people.
“Over here, you will host karaoke for the people who need to blow some steam off.” Camera clicks went off, but I continued through the entire building until we reached the state-of-the-art industrial kitchen.
Phoenix let go of my hand and slowly touched every surface. She tried to fan the tears away.
“And what will we do in here?” I smiled at my tender-hearted fiancée.
“You will cook to your heart’s content, using every piece of information you received throughout your life. This building is yours to do whatever you want with. We talked about you branching off on your own for a long time now, so I finally made it possible for one of your lifelong dreams to come true. I didn’t order any furniture because that’s not my level of expertise. What do you think, do you like it?” I didn’t want to assume she loved it, but the impact of her running to jump into my arms confirmed it.
She kissed all over my face, “ Is this what I have to look forward to? You buying me buildings and giving me everything I ever mentioned wanting?” Kissing her never felt the same, no matter how many times our lips fused together. The swipe of her tongue tangling with mine and the sweet love bites generated a new perspective on how I could keep us like this forever—anchored together with no space in between.
“Auntie Sabrina, you might want to come get your son; he’s trying to test how sturdy this new white marble counter is!” Asha screamed from the doorways, and Phoenix pulled away to giggle into my neck.
“If we ditch them, we might be able to make that statement a reality.” My Jewel was always ready to be wild and free with me.
PHOENIX
We all drove over to the McClain’s house for Genesis’s party. She was starting to look more like Brian now.
She had the same dimples as us, and her hair was growing fast. There weren’t any other babies in the group, so it was mostly us adults.
Parents always had the biggest celebration for the 1 st birthday and didn’t skip out on the theatrics. There were vast cut-outs of Genesis along the backyard.
Brian hired a caterer from one of the restaurants in town. It felt good to be with all of my family and friends.
Johnathan and his mom, Ms. Shelbey, were cutting up on the dance floor. Skylar and Makayla were dancing in a circle around Genesis; her sweet cheeks had cupcake frosting all over them.
“Here you go, Ms. Phoenix.” Travis handed me a water bottle and joined me in my party-watching behavior.
“Thank you, love. Are you okay?” He wore this torn expression on his face.
“Can I ask you something?” I turned to give him my undivided attention.
“Of course you can; lay it on me.” Smiling at him eased his anxiety.
Travis took a deep breath. “This might be strange, and you don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to. But only if it is okay with you. Can I call you Mama Phoenix? I know you aren’t my mother, but you guys are the closest thing I have to a family. If you think it would be too weird, it’s cool.”
Do not cry, do not cry, play it cool.
I pulled him into the biggest hug I could muster, “Of course you can, Travis; I would love that very much.” He hugged me back just as firmly.
“See, I told you were nervous for nothing, kid.” Kendrix held my hand after I finally let Travis up for air.
Travis tried to discreetly wipe his face while mine was a mess, this boy who came into our lives at the worst possible time. But his sharp wit and kindness fit right in with our family.
“I’m going to go and grab some chips; thanks, guys. I love you both.” That sent me over the edge. Kendrix didn’t crack any jokes at this time; he held me while I got myself together.
“Come on baby, let’s go inside for a minute and relax in the cool air. I don’t want you getting yourself too worked up.”
Granny Lucy, Ms. Sabrina, and Brian were in the kitchen sneaking some of the party treats that Makayla told us not to touch until after we sang Happy Birthday.
We sat on the couch in the living room and snuggled up. A crash from upstairs caught our attention, though. The party was downstairs, so who could that be?
I told Kendrix I would check it out; my hand held my gasp in. There, Levi sat in the lounge area with Asha in his lap.
I pulled out my phone and snapped pictures of them because Makayla wouldn’t believe me if she didn’t see them with her own eyes.
“I told you my conditions, Ash. If you want my help, you know what to do.”
Asha looked hypnotized, and I’m sure it had something to do with the way he touched her body. Levi had one hand on her waist, and the other was wrapped around her ponytail, exposing her neck. He placed kisses there that made her putty in his hands. Her head was thrown back under his love spell, and I recognized it all too well. Kendrix gave me the same potion every day.
They were so caught up in the feeling of each other that they didn’t see me a few feet away, hiding near the stairs.
Levi must have been tired of waiting for her to be ready; he was determined to get his woman back.
I crept back down the stairs, careful not to make any noise. Kendrix raised an eyebrow at my bewildered expression.
I told him to follow me outside because I had to show Brian and Makayla, too. We have been rooting for them to be together.
“Look at what I saw…”
Makayla started jumping up and down, squealing at the picture.
Asha’s face was pure ecstasy, and there was no way she could deny that.
Brian pointed to something over my shoulder, and Levi came out of the patio door with a satisfied wolfish grin. Three minutes later, Asha appeared, adjusting her ponytail.
I can’t wait to see how this unfolds.