Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
“Mommy.” I heard my baby’s sweet voice just before I felt her small hands in my side pushing me gently.
My eyes slowly peeled open, immediately catching her big, beautiful ones as she stared down into my face. I reached for her and pulled her small body into mine, peppering kisses on her pretty face.
“Good morning, baby.”
“It’s dead.” She pulled back and grabbed her iPad to hand it to me.
Chuckling, I took it from her and put it on the charger before I climbed out of bed, pulling her along with me to the bathroom so that we could take care of our morning hygiene.
I went ahead and got Ava dressed as well since we were going out to get the tree with Kiyan this morning.
I also planned to see who was hiring while we were out because I desperately needed work and to find us somewhere steady to stay.
After Ava was together, I got myself ready.
I threw on a pair of jeans, a nude sweater and my Uggs.
I know they hated to see me coming, but it was the only pair of shoes that I was able to grab before leaving home.
So we wouldn’t have to come back up, I got both our coats, my charger for Ava’s iPad, and my purse, then we went down so I could make her something quick to eat.
I heard movement in the kitchen and also smelled food already cooking when we made it downstairs, so I laughed to myself imagining Kiyan in the kitchen trying to cook after I learned that wasn’t his area of expertise.
Surprisingly nothing was burning though, so he knew enough not to burn the place down.
As soon as I rounded the corner, I was shocked to see that Kiyan wasn’t alone, nor was he the one cooking. There was a woman at the stove with her back turned, stirring whatever was in the pot in front of her, and an older man sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
That’s something I haven’t seen since I was a little girl.
I didn’t even know they still printed newspapers.
“Good morning.” Kiyan spoke when he saw me, prompting the woman to spin around and the man at the table to look up from what he was doing. It became clear immediately that these were his parents because he was a spitting image of them both.
“Good morning.” I replied softly trying to figure out what was going on.
It was his house, and he could absolutely have whoever he wanted over, he just hadn’t mentioned that his parents were coming over.
Not that he had to.
“Oh, my goodness,” his mother beamed, dropping the spoon she was stirring with on a holder next to the stove and making her way over.
“Aren’t you two the prettiest things I’ve ever seen.
” She pulled me into a tight hug, which caught me a little off guard at first, but I eventually reciprocated.
“I’m sorry, baby, I’m Latrina; Kiyan’s mother, and this is his father, Keith,” she pointed behind her.
“Lelia,” I introduced. “It’s nice to meet you both.” I nodded toward his father.
“And who do we have here?” Kiyan’s mother lowered herself down to be face to face with Ava who hugged my leg tighter. I smiled down at my baby, gently stroking the top of her head. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
She looked up at me to see if it was okay to answer, so I gave her a slight nod.
“Ava,” she answered lowly in her sweet little voice.
“Ava, I heard you like baby dolls,” Mrs. Latrina smiled. “Is that true?”
Ava nodded.
“Use your words, baby,” I encouraged.
Ava knew how to talk and how to speak in complete sentences.
She was just really shy, so when her nerves kicked in, she’d shut down, but as soon as she was comfortable, you couldn’t get her to stop.
It was a shame that her own father never got to experience that part of her, but it was his own fault.
He never could be bothered with Ava due to either being tired or busy, at least that’s what he’d say.
I wasn’t going to force anyone to deal with my baby if they didn’t want to. It was their loss.
“Yes,” she finally answered.
Feeling compelled to explain why she didn’t really talk much, I said, “Ava has Down Syndrome. That’s why there are some speech delays and—”
Mrs. Latrina lifted a hand to stop me while smiling warmly.
“Sweetheart, you don’t have to explain anything to me.
A child speaks when they feel safe and when they’re ready, and that’s good enough for me.
Besides, that extra chromosome doesn’t change anything except that she may need some extra love, and that’s fine with me because I have plenty to give. ”
Ava peered up at me again briefly before giving her attention back to Kiyan’s mother who tapped her nose softly and smiled causing Ava to do the same.
It really warmed my heart to see it because sadly, that wasn’t a norm for us.
Usually people, children and adults, would stare, point, and whisper when they saw someone that looked different from them, and despite Ava being only six, she noticed.
It was why she chose to cling to me most of the time because she knew that I’d always be her safe space.
“Thank you for that,” I finally voiced. “Most people… they don’t usually respond like that.”
“Well,” she lifted and touched my arm gently, “then they’re missing out.”
She walked back over to the stove to finish up whatever it was that she was cooking, while Ava and I walked toward the table.
I got her situated in a chair with her iPad in front of her, and Kiyan’s father immediately started to engage with Ava, asking her what she was watching and if she minded if he watched with her.
In true Ava fashion, she looked to me for approval, so I nodded and let her know it was okay before preparing to take a seat next to her.
“Leila, can I talk to you for a second?” Kiyan requested.
My eyes locked on his briefly before I nodded and told Ava to come on, but Mr. Keith assured me that she was fine and they’d keep an eye on her for me.
I nodded and excused myself from the table, very shocked that Ava didn’t whine, but with the tablet and his parents, she appeared to be occupied and just fine.
Kiyan and I stepped out of the kitchen and made our way a down the hall a little, I assumed for privacy.
“Is everything okay?” I asked right away.
“Yeah, everything’s fine, just wanted to check on you. Did you sleep well?”
“I did. The wine had me sleep all the way through the night,” I chuckled. “I usually wake up around three or four every night, but I was out like a light last night.”
“I’m glad to hear your sleep was uninterrupted.” He laughed lightly. “We’ll have to work on a way to make that happen every night without the wine though.”
We?
And every night?
“R-right,” I stammered while laughing awkwardly. I was positive that he wasn’t saying that in a sexual or inappropriate way, but the words still had my body reacting in ways that it shouldn’t have.
“I wanted to apologize for just springing this on you too,” he pointed down the hall. “It wasn’t my intention to just bum-rush you with my parents, but as soon as I explained to them that we’d be going to get a tree and my reasons why, my mother was booking a flight.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine.” I chuckled and waved him off. “This is your house—”
“But you’re here for now,” he cut me off, “and I want you and baby girl to be okay while you’re in my home. My mom just has a really big soft spot for women and children, plus you took to Mel pretty good, so I figured maybe you’d be more comfortable with a woman here.”
“While I really appreciate you considering me in that way, I’m comfortable with and around you. I don’t know you from a can of paint, but you’ve been very kind to me and my daughter, so I really appreciate that and you.”
He nodded. “Mama wants to go shopping too, so if you’re cool with that, they’ll be coming along with us this morning.”
I smiled. “You don’t need my permission, Kiyan.”
“I promised today to you and Ava, so it’s whatever you want, Leila.”
Just okay it, Leila!
“I’m okay with them coming, Kiyan.”
“Good.” He smiled as he lifted off of the wall that he was leaning on. “Let’s go eat then we can head out.”
“Sounds like a plan to me.”
He pointed and waited for me to walk ahead then followed me back down the hall to the kitchen.
As we were making our way inside, I heard him mumble, “I like your hair like that. You should wear it down more if you don’t already.”
I was glad to be walking ahead of him because I had a goofy smile on my face, and I was blushing like a fool.
It was a shame because after being married for ten years you’d think that something that simple wouldn’t get a reaction out of me, but Aldrick hardly noticed when I did something different to my hair, or it could have been that he barely cared.
“Mrs. Latrina, can I help with anything?” I asked once I got all the way inside the kitchen and Kiyan went over to the table to join his dad and Ava.
“Nope. I already have plates made.” She smiled handing me two plates to take to Kiyan and his father. “Do you or Ava have allergies?”
“No ma’am,” I answered when I returned to her.
“Eat pork?” She was hovering two perfectly cooked pieces of bacon over the plate with a pair of tongs while she waited for my answer.
“I do. Ava is a little picky with food.”
“Well, let her pick away.” She added a piece of bacon and half a sausage link to Ava’s plate along with some grits and a biscuit. My mouth watered at the sight of the food.
I smiled and thanked her after accepting our plates then made my way to the table. Ava tried fussing a little when I took her iPad but got it together quickly when I threatened to not to give it back once she was done.