Chapter 34
I pulled up at the Gladden residence around eleven thirty. Per usual, on a Saturday morning, Kilow and Damaris were playing ball in the driveway, while Mr. Paul sat in the garage, smoking a blunt in his recliner. When we pulled up on the curb, Kilow and Damaris ran over to the car to inspect it. Since my Escalade was a total loss, I’d gotten a new car. I grabbed the same Lincoln Nautilus Shar had in a midnight blue and had Smoke do some upgrades for me.
“Oooo, that shit is clean!” Damaris said as we got out.
Shar slapped the back of his head. “Watch your damn mouth.”
“My bad, sis. This is dope, though. Maceo, you gonna let me test drive it?”
I chuckled. “Maybe later, man. Your sister and me need to talk to y’all as a family.”
He and Kilow looked at each other, then at us.
“You pregnant, ain’t it?” Kilow asked, poking Shar’s stomach. “I think I see a little pudge.”
She slapped his hand away. “No, I’m not pregnant. And you basically just called me fat!”
Damaris shoved him. “Apologize before she starts being dramatic.”
“My bad, Shar. Well, what’s the big secret?”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” I said. “Come on.”
We walked up the driveway and into the garage with Ms. Paul.
“Hey, Daddy,” Shar said, stooping to hug and kiss him.
“Hey, baby girl. What’s good, Maceo?”
“Everything’s straight. How are you?”
“Same shit, different day.”
“Daddy, Maceo and Shar have a secret,” Kilow blurted out.
Mr. Paul looked at us suspiciously as we both glared at him.
“Cicely!” He called for his wife.
She appeared a minute or so later. A smile spread across her face when she saw us.
“Hey, y’all.”
She gave me a hug before pulling Shar into a motherly embrace. Shar had a kiddish smile as her mother smothered her cheeks with kisses. The sound of another car pulling up made everyone look back. My mother, Alec, and Deja hopped out of the car. I decided to ask them to come, too, so we could break the news to both of our families at once.
“Good afternoon.” Alec and my mother said.
The Gladdens returned ther greeting. Kilow was grinning hard as hell as he reached for my sister’s hand. She blushed as she linked their fingers. The two of them didn’t give a single fuck as he leaned in and pecked her on the lips.
“Slow yo’ roll, playa,” I said, sliding my hand right between their faces. “This ain’t that kind of party.”
“You are such a hater!” Deja complained. “I can kiss my boyfriend. It wasn’t even any tongue?—”
Everybody spoke in protest to that one. These kids were gonna be the death of me. They already acted like they were in love or some shit.
“Y’all two need to pipe all that down,” Mr. Paul said. He turned to my mother and Alec. “Y’all got dragged into a reveal too, I see.”
“A reveal?” my mother asked.
Mr. Paul answered. “Another secret.”
His wife groaned. “What is it now? My heart can’t take another scar, Sharina.”
“It’s not a bad secret, Mom. I promise. Can we go inside and talk?”
Her parents looked at each other, then at my mom and stepdad, communicating silently before Mr. Paul stood.
“I’m keeping my blunt for this one.”
We followed them into the house, where the family took a seat while we stood in the middle of the room.
“I don’t see Senior, so I’m assuming he already knows this secret,” my mother observed.
I nodded. “He does.”
“And Devin?”
“He knows.”
She sighed. “Out with it, Maceo.”
I grabbed Shar’s hand and surveyed the room before I spoke.
“Well… you all know what happened a few weeks back on our wedding day. Shar and I decided we didn’t want to wait to replan a wedding, especially not knowing the outcome of everything. So… we got married.”
I held up our hands so they could see our wedding bands.
Our siblings were the first to jump to their feet to hug and congratulate us. They didn’t care that they hadn’t been a part of the ceremony. They were simply happy for us. Our parents sat there staring at us blankly.
“Say something…” Shar said quietly.
Ms. Cicely looked at her husband and held out her hand. “Cough it up. I told you they eloped.”
“I didn’t think they would actually do it,” Mr. Paul said, reaching for his wallet.
My mother laughed. “Oh, please! Secrets have apparently become very on brand for both of them.”
Alec nodded in agreement. “I mean, with the way they rushed that wedding, I kind of figured it would happen.”
“Hold up,” I said, interrupting their banter. “You telling me, y’all knew?”
My mother rolled her eyes. “Boy, we’re your parents. We might not know everything you do, but some shit is predictable. I should go clock your ho ass daddy in his mouth for not telling me sooner.”
“So you guys aren’t mad?” Shar asked.
“Mad? No. Disappointed that we couldn’t share the moment with you two? Yes.”
Mr. Paul nodded. “I mean, I wanted to give my only daughter away. That’s a moment I can’t get back.”
“We plan to have a real wedding, Daddy. We were just… I was afraid the moment might get taken away after everything that happened. It was my idea to still go through with getting married that night. If things had taken a turn for the worst, I didn’t want to leave this world without saying I married the love of my life.”
She peered up at me and smiled. Leaning down, I pecked her lips.
“Now that it’s over, we can plan a proper ceremony,” I said.
Mrs. Cicely palmed her head. “That means going through the motions of you finding another dress.”
My mother groaned in agreement. “Oh God.”
“Don’t tell me you were out here being a bridezilla,” I said to Shar.
“I wasn’t even that bad!” she protested. “This time, I think it’s just gonna be me and Mom. She’s the only person who kept me level-headed.”
“Can I come to your bachelorette party?” Deja asked.
A loud round of ‘no’ came from the adults.
“You ain’t about to be out here with Shar and her girls, acting a fool,” I said.
Shar giggled. “Give it a few years, pud. Then we can hang out and party.”
“You’ll be old with a bunch of kids by then,” Deja mumbled. “Who wants to be the old lady in the club?”
My mother scoffed. “Excuse you! I still go out with your aunties,” she said, referring to Pops’ other baby mamas.
“And Daddy lets you leave the house in those short, tight dresses.”
Alec chuckled. “Baby girl, that’s all for me. I love to watch her leave.”
“Ewww!”
The room erupted with laughter.
It was a relief that nobody was mad, but a little sad that they all expected this from us. Either way, a win was a win. We ended up staying with the Gladdens for most of the afternoon. What started as a secret reveal soon turned into a cookout. Mrs. Cicely called Salima’s mama, who called Salima. She, Deuce, and Darlyn pulled up with Smoke right behind him.
Once Steel, Mia, and Jaeda found out where we were, Mr. Paul told them to come through too. He even invited my father to join us, and he brought Maddie along. Before the night was over, Pops, Mr. Paul, and Alec were drunk as hell, rapping and dancing to some old-school hip hop. They were damn near tripping over each other and laughing about it.
“This is our reception right here,” Shar said as she sat on my lap to watch the chaos.
“It’s gonna be lit, that’s for sure.”
She peered down at me with a smile. “Are you happy?”
“I am. As long as you are happy, I’m happy, love.”
“I’ll be happier once we are on this island.”
I’d booked us a two-week stay in Bora Bora, and we were leaving next week. It had been a while since I’d been out of the country, and I couldn’t wait to fuck up that island with her.
“We might not come back empty-handed,” I warned her with a grin. “You stopped your birth control, and we’re gonna be on an island with nothing but privacy between us. I’m going to town on your ass.”
She laughed. “If it’s in the stars for us to come back with a little Maceo and Shar, I’m okay with that. I couldn’t think of a better wedding gift.”
“Really? I guess I should return what I got you then, huh?”
“Let’s not be hasty!”
“You don’t even know what it is yet, woman.”
“True, but I know that you know exactly how to surprise me, so I’m still excited. Now, when can I have it?”
“What are you gonna give me for it?”
She smirked. “I mean… my old bedroom is right upstairs. We can sneak away, and I can show you.”
I looked around the backyard. Everybody was lit and probably wouldn’t miss us dipping off. I tapped her legs and slid her off my lap. She grabbed my hand as I stood to my feet. Just as we made it to the back door, here came my hating ass siblings yelling at us.
“Bring that ass back!”
“Ain’t no sneaking off to be nasty!”
“Turn it around and sit it down!”
“We can’t take y’all anywhere!”
“Ain’t got no couth!”
Shar and I laughed as we turned to face them, and that was the start of a roasting session. Our drunk fathers joined in, and shit really got ignorant then. Neither of us minded. If this was how married life was going to be, I could get with that.