Chapter 56
fifty-six
Eight months later
“I can’t believe you did that,” Cairo buzzed in glee, holding his little girl while Kamilla laid tiredly in their bed. “Mommy did so good.”
“Mommy is so tired,” Kamilla hummed. “She took her sweet time.”
“Tell mommy it’s your world and we just live in it. So what it took you forty-five hours to get here,” Cairo joked.
Kamilla was determined to work until she went into labor.
Determined to be at Cairo’s documentary launch, East’s first show, and to welcome Joey home; she’d pushed herself to the max.
She was half-dressed in her office yelling for CiCi when her water gushed over the floor.
Her shout sent the whole executive floor into a tizzy.
Haddon was in the corner doing the breathing she should’ve been doing.
Charlie was stress eating her snacks, and CiCi was running around Kamilla’s office trying to figure out what to do.
The only one who was remotely sound was Lucci, who forced Kamilla to sit down and breathe.
He managed the calls down to the studio to let Cairo know his daughter had begun her entry into the world.
She didn’t want to miss a moment of Cairo in bliss, but it seemed to be rest she needed after hours of pushing. “You look so good holding her.”
“You look good. You did all the damn work,” Cairo hummed, moving from the window to the bed. “Lay your head on me. Get some rest before Kai Man gets home and finds out I didn’t wrestle you for a brother.”
Kamilla tiredly laughed. “You can wrestle me in eight weeks. I’m taking my full eight weeks thanks to her tearing me.”
“None of that matters, Mrs. Hendrix. Close your eyes and rest.”
Kamilla fell into a deep sleep, one she needed more than she knew.
While she slept, Cairo took the charge of feeding and entertaining their son quietly and assisting Cherayne with Kamilla’s first meal post-birth.
Nothing brought him greater pride than being a family man.
An honorable man. How men would rather be in the streets and causing mayhem everywhere they went was beyond him.
Love had healed him. It wasn’t surface, it was deep love from a wide-eyed beauty with deep roots.
His nervous system was calm. His head was clear, and anger was his last resort.
The only thing he’d blown up as of late was beats.
Four completed albums under his belt and a nomination that blew his mind.
Even with all that, his proudest accomplishment was the universe he’d created. All from catching a woman five summers ago. His world had never been the same. She pulled him out of the darkness and into the light.
Hours had passed before Kamilla woke up and groaned. “You need me to feed her?”
“I need you to eat,” he replied, just above a whisper. “She’s sleeping, so is Kai.”
“He’s okay?”
“Look,” Cairo directed at their son, knocked out on the chaise next to his baby sister’s bassinet.
Kamilla grinned. “Protective like his daddy. I had a dream about my dad…I haven’t dreamt about him in years.”
“How was it?” Cairo asked, picking up her bowl of soup.
Kamilla swiped a tear and smiled. “He said he was proud of me. He said I was exactly where I was supposed to be and you were going to take great care of me.”
“Because I am,” Cairo assured, scooping a spoon of the golden liquid Cherayne prepared for her.
Kamilla took a slurp and hummed at the flavors dancing over her tongue. “He told me to take care of you too. And I am.”
“You’ve done more for me than you know. Sit back, my love, and watch me capture galaxies for you.”
“You talking to me like that knowing we can’t make another one right now,” Kamilla, giggled leaning into him and taking her soup off the spoon every time he offered it.
Cairo laughed softly and kissed the top of her head. “We will have countless summers and infinite times to fall back in love. Even when it gets tough. It’s me and you over everything. And that’s on Azul.”
“On Azul.”
Kamilla looked at Kairo-Palmer Hendrix and Summer Marie Hendrix and smiled. Her mother would be so happy to know that she was living the life she longed for.
Cairo muttered, “Thank you, Summer, I’ll take care of your girl from here.”
“If she was here, she’d be tripping, looking at how this turned out. I know she’s proud.”
“She is.”