Chapter 14 #2
We park and make our way to the front door, Dylan behind us. I’ve been to parties all over the world, ones that define the idea of excess, but nothing is more overwhelming than walking up to what’s going on at my parents’ house.
The front door is open, so I gesture for Jada to go first. Mom did some rearranging and decorating in the short time since I’ve been away, maybe just for this event.
Staff of some kind are in and out of the kitchen.
How the fuck did she get catering on such short notice?
Just peering through the windows at the backyard shows me that we’ve barely scratched the surface.
Bubba comes up to us, his whole butt wagging with his tail.
“So this is Bubba?” Dylan kneels and Bubba loses his mind, prancing around and sniffing him all over. “You’re an even better boy than Ash told me about. Look at that face. Look at that tail going. What a good boy.”
The one thing our families have in common is their love for dogs, so he’s familiar with Bubba already.
Mom appears around the corner in a tailored dress and heels, her hair freshly done. Her frenetic, get-everything-in-its-place energy radiates off her in waves and intensifies when she spots us.
“Ashley!” Mom huffs and pulls me into a tight hug anyway. “You said you’d text me when y’all got here!”
“Well, we just got here.” I step back and let Mom hug Jada next.
“You look so gorgeous, Jada.” Mom steps back, her hands on Jada’s shoulders, and takes her in. “Congratulations, sweetheart. You’ve been a part of the family for years, but now it’s official.”
Jada’s smile is bashful and she looks down. “Thank you.”
“And Dylan!” Mom finally notices Dylan, who’s a few steps behind me. “Goodness, it’s been years, hasn’t it?”
Mom met my bandmates twice over the years, and both times were a mess.
Dylan was the only bandmate she liked, and that was before things went off the rails with the other two.
She was polite enough not to tell me directly, but I could read it all over her.
Like a dumbass, I wrote her off as being judgmental.
She was, but in the exact way she needed to be.
“It has.” Dylan accepts Mom’s hug. “Thank you for having me. Your home is beautiful.”
“Thank you.” She beams. Mom loves compliments on the house almost as much as she loves compliments aimed toward her kids.
She waves us over to the kitchen, where the ample counter space is covered in trays of food and drinks, ready to be served.
“Let me get y’all something to drink. Jada and Ashley, I had Wes and Rose make some custom cocktails in your honor. ”
A bartender hands her two drinks, like they communicated with telepathy, and Mom hands them to us.
I taste mine and fucking hell, it’s strong. I guarantee Wes is responsible for this. I’m going to drink this slowly and stick to one or two—just enough to steady my nerves. Jada sips hers and nods.
“What’s your drink?” Jada asks.
“Taste it.” I hand it to her.
“My lipstick—”
“It’s fine, Jada.” Her lipstick is just the right shade of red. Her lips are exactly what I’d draw if I had to create perfect ones from memory.
She turns the glass a little and takes a sip. Her eyebrows shoot up and she wrinkles her nose.
“That’s…a lot.” She hands me the drink.
“He did it on purpose.” I don’t bother to turn the drink around and sip. “What’s yours?”
“Basically a fancy cranberry Sprite with vodka in it. Rose makes it for me on our girls’ nights.” She sighs through her nose. “I guess they’ll have to go on hold for a while.”
“I’m capable of leaving the apartment for a night,” I say. “I’m not bound there like a ghost.”
Dylan snorts and chooses a cider instead of a cocktail. Once we all have our drinks, Mom waves for us to come outside.
She disappears again, giving us a second to breathe. I’m surprised she didn’t have trumpeters announce our arrival. I’ll take the brief moment of respite.
The backyard is decorated like a wedding venue—flower arches, ribbons, the whole nine yards.
Even though we’re early, a lot of guests have already arrived.
My stomach lurches and turns, which isn’t helped by the drink.
The reality of it finally hits, as if I didn’t just sign a marriage license less than a week ago.
“JJ!” A little Black girl in a light purple dress sprints full tilt at us. I have no idea how old she is, but she’s tall enough to take Jada out if she doesn’t slow down. Thankfully she puts on the brakes just before impact, but Jada nearly loses her drink. “You look so pretty!”
“Thank you! So do you.”
“You’re married, JJ? Like an old person.
” A little boy, who looks just like the girl, runs over, too, and joins the hug.
Her niece and nephew, I’m assuming. Did she say they were eight?
Or ten? I have no idea what kids look like at different ages.
Their names escape me before I remember them in a panic—Maryse and Malcolm Jr.
Jada grins, light coming into her eyes fully. She’s been doing a good job at faking the smiles today, but they’re nothing compared to how she is now. She squeezes both of them tightly.
“Kid, everything I do is like an old person to you. You were practically born three days ago,” she says, letting them go. “You’re still a baby.”
“I’m not a baby.” The kid laughs, like it’s an old joke, then looks at me, eyes narrowed. “You’re her husband?”
I barely contain my laughter. He went from eight years old to middle-aged dad sizing up his daughter’s prom date in an instant.
“Yep. I’m Ash.” I extend my hand to him. “Nice to meet you.”
He eyes my hand for a moment, probably looking at the tattoos, before he shakes it.
“I’m Malcolm, and that’s my sister Maryse.” He nods toward his sister, who’s holding Jada’s hand and eyeing me warily. “We’re her favorites.”
“Just in general?” I ask, smiling.
“Obviously,” Maryse says. “Except for you. I guess.”
My smile widens. I can see the family resemblance between the two of them, but even if she looked completely different, I would have known she was Jada’s niece on her attitude alone. “Yeah, I guess so.”
“You’re getting too big to be rushing Jada that fast, sweetie,” a man says, coming up the porch steps.
He’s the tallest person here, easily, over a head taller than even Dylan, and lanky.
Maryse and Malcolm look like him, especially in the shapes of their faces and the deep brown of their skin, so I’m assuming he’s Malcolm Sr. “You’re gonna tackle her. ”
“Jada’s strong.” Maryse shrugs.
“And you’re a million feet tall for a baby.” Jada puts her hand on Maryse’s head. “Listen to your father so I don’t break a hip.”
“Congrats, JJ.” Malcolm leans way down to hug Jada before turning to me. “We’ve never met. I’m Malcolm.”
“Nice to meet you.” I shake his hand. He has a natural friendliness to him that puts me at ease.
Jada’s sister Kendra comes up next. There’s an obvious sibling resemblance, but I find myself searching for all the little differences between the two of them. Kendra is older, of course, but her face is more angular. It might just be her slicked-back ponytail and lack of glasses.
She doesn’t have her husband’s natural friendliness, but she’s far from cold. She’s sizing me up the same way her children did, and all my nerves come flooding back. She means business.
“It’s been a long time since we met,” she says to me. “I’m Kendra.”
“Nice to meet you. Again.” I don’t remember when we met, but apparently I was memorable enough.
“I didn’t expect you two to connect.” Kendra cups her wine glass. Her nails are cut short and painted in a shimmery pink color. “At all.”
“We didn’t either, to be honest.” I rest my hand on Jada’s lower back.
“We thought she was going to be alone forever,” Maryse says, absently turning in a circle. The beads in her braids click together. “And then get even more cats so Pip would have besties. Which is fine. No one has to get married even if it’s fun.”
Except for us. And so far, I don’t think “fun” is a word either of us would use to describe this.
“Maryse.” Malcolm sighs, but Jada laughs. “How did you two link up, anyway?”
“No offense, but you’re not Jada’s typical type,” Kendra adds. She doesn’t do much to hide the undercurrent of suspicion in her tone.
“Just by chance.” I shrug and move my hand up Jada’s back. “We ran into each other in town, started talking because I’d just come home. Then things just fell into place from there.”
“Where in town?” Kendra asks.
“The store,” both of us say at the same time. Thank god. We didn’t even plan that.
“Nice.” Kendra nods. “So you’re not doing music anymore?”
I shake my head. “No, I’m working for Stryker Liquors. Just trying to get a lay of everything before I decide what department I want to work in.”
“Good.” Kendra looks at her sister, then at her kids. “By the way, JJ, are you going to Danika’s wedding shower?”
“Ugh, when is it?” Jada pulls her phone from her pocket. Kendra tells her the date. “I guess so. I forgot I even put it in my calendar.”
“Okay. I’m only going if you’re going,” she says.
“Thank god.” Jada relaxes. “And thank you.”
“We’ll leave you two be,” Malcolm says. “I’m sure others want to talk to the bride and groom.”
“I’ll come hang out with you two later, okay?” Jada says to her niece and nephew.
They pout a little but go off with their parents. My shoulders relax. That was about as awkward as meeting strangers at a party—not devastating but not an A+ effort either. And Cs get degrees.
“This is going well so far,” I say once they’re out of earshot.
“Take that back right now.” Jada pinches me and glares. “You’re going to jinx it.”