Chapter 24
S moke shook his head as he snapped pictures of Jaeda, Korri, Jaiden, and me. Today was Comic Con, and we were about to head to the convention center. Everybody was in full costume attire. I mean, we’d gone all out for this shit.
“I can’t believe you squeezed your big ass in this suit,” Smoke said. “Over here posing and shit.”
“It’s gonna be worse when he gets to the convention,” Titan said, laughing. “I get secondhand embarrassment when I go with him. Nigga be on his big black nerd shit.”
He’d come over just to be nosy as hell. I pointed my vibranium spear at both of them.
“Watch your mouth.”
Titan slapped the spear away. “Watch me kick your ass in front of these kids.”
“Don’t touch my best friend,” Jaiden said.
He pressed the button on his costume attachment, and the falcon wings came out. I chuckled as he put his dukes up, causing Titan and Smoke to laugh loudly.
Titan touched his wings. “Lil buddy, you don’t want it with me, man.”
Jaiden closed his wings. “I can take you. My sister will help me, right, Jaeda?”
“I’ve got you, baby,” Jaeda confirmed, pushing her mask up. “We don’t like big meanies, do we?”
“No, we don’t.” He said that with finality. “We can beat him. You too, Uncle Smoke.”
Smoke feigned offense. “Me? You think my baby is gonna let you beat me up, lil man? Korri, you got daddy’s back, right?”
“Sorry, Papa Devin. Superheroes have to stick together.”
“Oooo!” He placed a hand over his heart. “That’s how you do me?”
“I still love you!”
“Nah, you hurt my heart, baby girl.”
She huffed. “Papa Devin, you’re being dramatic.”
We all laughed at that one. I could tell her mother told him that all the time.
Titan motioned between us and the kids. “I can see this being y’all with kids in the future. Nothing but glasses and smart-ass mouths.” He grabbed Jaiden and flipped him upside down, causing him to laugh. “Uncle Titan don’t play that mess though.”
“You better not drop my baby,” Jaeda fussed at him.
“Nobody is gonna drop his bighead self.” He held him by one ankle, dangling him for a moment. “You still wanna fight?”
“No!” Jaiden said through his laughter. “Put me down!”
Titan adjusted him upright and placed him on his feet. We took a few more pictures, and they talked a little more shit before we climbed into my car and made our way to the convention center. After getting checked in, we headed inside.
Rows upon rows of vendor booths stretched the length of the space with their colorful banners and displays.
Cosplayers in elaborate outfits wandered through the crowds.
People of all races and ages were in attendance, from babies to somebody’s grandparents.
That was what I loved about this space. We could all come together for the love of something common.
A big ass Chewbacca posed for pictures with fans, alongside Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia.
A group of perfectly coordinated Dora Milajes were walking in our direction.
I wasn’t sure if they all cut their hair off for this, but their costume was immaculate.
When they saw Jaeda and me, they stopped, turned to us, and saluted.
“Wakanda Forever!”
Jaeda and I returned the salute, I was sure both of us were smiling beneath our masks.
“That was so cool,” Jaiden said.
“This is amazing!” Korri exclaimed. “Thank you so much for bringing me!”
“Can we please go see the comics first?” Jaiden asked, tugging on my hand. He looked across the convention floor. “Wait! Can we do the anime booth over there? They got that new Dragon Ball setup!”
Jaeda laughed as she pulled out the convention map. “How about we make a plan so we can hit everything? This place is wild, and I know y’all want the full experience. We have all day.”
We took the time to go through the map with the kids, circling all the places they wanted to see first. Jaiden also wanted to do one of the gaming tournaments, while Korri wanted to do a drawing class.
We settled on doing both along with a few meet and greets, before finally making our way through the large maze of booths.
Of course, we had to get merchandise. For that purpose alone, we had a big ass wagon with us to put all our shit in. We stopped to buy comic books, replicas from some of our favorite shows and movies, video and board games, and so much more.
As we prepared to head to the drawing session, Korri gasped and stopped mid stride.
“Is that a real Megazord!”
Sure enough, a massive, intricate Power Rangers costume complete with working LED lights and sound effects was making its way through the crowd.
The cosplayer inside must have been on stilts because that shit was damn near ten feet tall.
When it saw Korri looking up at it in awe, it stopped and offered both her and Jaiden a fist bump.
“You mind if we get a picture?” I asked.
The Megazord posed along with the kids while Jaeda and I snapped a few shots before thanking them and letting them go.
“This is straight up the best day of my life!” Korri squealed, jumping up and down, her silver hair bouncing all over the place. “I can’t wait to tell Mommy and Papa Devin all about it and show them what I got!”
My chest felt all warm inside. I was glad they were having a great time. I’d only dreamed of shit like this as a kid. We didn’t have the money for a full immersive experience back then. Now that I was grown, successful, and had money of my own, I would go the extra mile every time.
Jaeda looked over at me and lifted her mask to mouth the words “thank you.” I lifted my mask and placed a kiss on her lips.
“Anything for you. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
As the day went on and we ventured deeper into the convention, the sensory overload continued.
The smell of funnel cake and pizza mixed with the faint scent of new comic books.
Digital displays showed trailers for upcoming black superhero movies, while nearby, someone in an elaborate Naruto costume was demonstrating ninja moves to an impressed crowd.
“I can do better than that,” Jaiden said confidently.
I chuckled. “Why don’t you go show ’em how it’s done?”
He looked to his sister for approval. “Can I, Jae?”
She smiled. “Come on.”
We made our way over, and as we got closer, I noticed that it was a contest with a cash prize of $500.
“Anybody else care to enter the competition? Final call!”
Jaiden handed over his shield and raised his hand. The announcer called him up.
“What’s your name, young man?”
“Jaiden.”
“How old are you, Jaiden?”
“I’m almost nine.”
“All right. What are you gonna do if you win?”
“Save my money for next year!”
The crowd rumbled with chuckles. The announcer motioned for the DJ to play the background music and gave Jaiden the floor.
When I say my boy showed out, he did this thing.
The mix of martial arts and ninja moves easily made him the best, and I hadn’t even seen the rest of the contestants.
Judging by the crowd, I didn’t have to because they clearly agreed.
When he was done, he received a huge round of applause. Jaeda and Korri were screaming his praises.
“That’s my brother!”
“That’s my play cousin!”
I laughed because she was too serious with that one.
It didn’t take the judges long to deliberate once the rest of the competitors were done.
The voting was unanimous, with Jaiden winning the grand prize.
Along with the cash, he got a medal and a set of trading cards.
Lil buddy was so excited. At that point, he was ready to go show his mom and dad what he won.
We agreed to grab some food, then head home for the day.
The car ride was filled with him and Korri talking about everything they saw and what they were wearing next year.
“Who said we were taking y’all next year?” Jaeda jested.
Jaiden frowned. “But you always take me. Please, Jaeda. We had so much fun, right, Korri?”
“We did, Auntie Jaeda. And we were good.”
Jaeda laughed. “I’m totally kidding. Of course, we’re going back next year.”
He and Korri slapped each other a high five. “Yes!”
“You’re the best big sister ever,” Jaiden said. He unbuckled his seat belt as we came to a stoplight and leaned into the front to kiss Jaeda’s cheek.
She poked her lip out. “Thank you, bubby. You know I love you.”
“I love you too. You’re the best bonus brother, Mr. Quaid. Just don’t tell KD I said that.”
I smirked because I was absolutely telling him that shit.
“I got you, man,” I said.
Korri took off her seat belt and hugged us both. “Thank you for bringing me, even though Papa Devin teased us.”
“Papa Devin is just a hater,” I said. “You’re welcome, baby. Y’all put those seat belts back on.” We’re gonna grab some ice cream and head home.”
They sat back excitedly, and conversation resumed. By the time we dropped them off, they were knocked out. I carried Jaiden into his house and handed him off to Mr. Hershel, and Smoke was at Jaeda’s to grab Korri.
“What did y’all do to my baby?” he asked, loading her things into the basket on the golf cart.
“She had the time of her life,” Jaeda answered.
“Where is she gonna put all this shit? She’s already talking about wanting a room like your basement.”
“I guess you better add that to your expansion then, huh?”
Smoke rolled his eyes. “Thank you for including her. She’s been looking forward to this all week.” He turned to me. “I hope you know that you and Juri are beefing right now. She was mad as hell you took Korri, and she couldn’t go.”
I laughed. “We’ve got her next year.”
“You might as well take the twins too.”
“You better squeeze your big ass in a costume and come along if that’s the case. You know you have a mini basketball team over there. Who’s watching all those kids?”
“But you wanna be the favorite uncle, though, right? See how niggas be capping?”
Jaeda waved him off. “Go home, Devin. We’ve had a long day and want to unwind.”
“I know what that’s code for. Freak nasty fucks. At least take the costumes off.”
“Bye, Devin!”
His laughter echoed as he climbed on the golf cart and drove away as we headed into the house. The moment we were inside and the door was locked, she fell into my arms.
“Thank you for today, baby,” she said, peering up at me. “It was so much better with you there.”
“You’re welcome. I have to admit, y’all make better company than Titan’s ass.”
She giggled. “I don’t doubt that. That’s how you know he loves you. He went and it’s not even his thing.”
“I guess.” I leaned in to kiss her lips. “How about we get out of these costumes and take a bath. I’ll give you a nice massage.”
My hands slid down to caress her ass in that suit. I’d been dying to feel her up all day long. Now that we were alone, it was go time.
She smiled up at me. “A massage is going to lead to my cheeks being spread and either your tongue or your dick being inside me.”
I shrugged. “I mean, that too.”
“Let’s just skip the foreplay.” She traced my bottom lip with her thumb. “Take me in the room. Strip me down. Run me a bath and watch me make waves.”
I smirked. “I like that plan even better.”
Scooping her up, I carried her down the hall to her bedroom as her giggles echoed. She didn’t have to tell me twice.