Chapter 2
“Hey, hey,” Kwinn said, entering her parents’ house.
She was so happy the weekend was here; it wasn’t funny. The heels she’d worn were kicked off in the car, and she was more than ready to sit somewhere comfortable and let someone else decide what to cook for dinner. Preferably, her mama.
Her Friday had been spent bouncing between client meetings, contractor calls, finishing touches on a walk-in closet, and a walkthrough of a site that should’ve been completed weeks ago.
It was nothing new, but Kwinn would never act as if she didn’t enjoy the strict schedule she set for herself.
One weekend each month was strictly for doing nothing.
At least nothing, physically. Mentally, she was always cooking up something new.
“What’s going on, sista girl?” Lauryn, her sister, grinned.
Kwinn smiled. “Not much. Hey, y’all.”
Everyone was sitting on the sectional while a baseball game played on the TV. She hugged Lauryn’s husband, Bishop, before showing her daddy some love. Vic hugged her a little tighter, not realizing that was exactly what his daughter needed.
“How you feeling, baby girl?” Vic questioned like he normally did.
Kwinn chuckled. “Like I need a nap.” Stepping her big sister’s way, she annoyingly kissed her forehead before looking down at her four-month-old nephew, BJ. “Look at my baby,” she cooed.
“He just ate not too long ago, so don’t get too excited,” Lauryn warned. “He’s probably going to wake up in five minutes.”
“I’ll take him anyway.”
“Of course you will.” Lauryn chuckled.
Kwinn went to wash her hands in the powder room, then sat beside her sister. Gently, she ran a finger over his tiny fist. His fingers curled around it almost immediately.
“Aww. I just love him,” Kwinn gushed, picking him up.
Naturally, she sniffed his neck and laid him across her shoulder, where a birthing cloth now rested. Finally feeling she could relax, she pressed a button, making her legs and feet rise.
“Where you coming from?” Vic asked.
“The bank and Old Navy. Had to make a deposit and get Lil’ Reggie some clothes for his gift bag,” Kwinn explained.
“That’s right. His party is tomorrow. Nesha sent me the invite, but what can BJ do at a waterpark?” Lauryn questioned.
Nesha, Kwinn and Lauryn’s house cleaner, was considered family, and so was her son. She’d been cleaning their homes for the past three years and always invited them to functions she or her family hosted.
“I’m sure they have a place for babies, love,” Bishop said, unintentionally making her smile without much effort. “Let me look online and see. If not, shit, we got a pool at the crib.”
Vic and Kwinn looked at each other and smirked. They shared the look of a parent and a sibling who absolutely loved and appreciated the man Bishop was for Lauryn and to her.
“Thank you, baby,” Lauryn said.
“Thank you, baby,” Kwinn mocked before chuckling. “Y’all are so cute. Where my mama at?”
Though they shared the same mother and father, both sisters deemed their parents as belonging only to them when inquiring about them.
It was comical to hear, but understandable if you could understand it.
On cue, Toya rounded the corner, greeting them with her presence.
Kwinn couldn’t help but smile as she took in her mama’s appearance.
Looking as if she were still in her thirties or forties, Toya was still as effortlessly fine as she’d been in her prime.
The black two-piece workout set showed off her sculpted shoulders, defined abs, and toned legs.
Toya was still giving every bit of the 90s and 2000s video vixen she used to be, with her glowing golden-caramel skin, natural hair, sickening curves, and infectious aura.
Her beauty—inside and out, was the kind you couldn’t purchase.
She’d undoubtedly blessed her daughters with the same features, except they inherited their father’s warm sienna complexion, a shade or two darker than hers.
Toya had spent part of her youth appearing in music videos back when the world of entertainment looked very different from how it does now. Instead of letting that be the end of her story, she’d gone back to school and eventually built a successful career as a lawyer.
Vic had taken a different route; the street route, with dirty money and drugs that could’ve kept him from seeing the light of day, but he still came out successful.
After stamping their names in the streets and now considered OGs, Vic and his best friend, Rocco, co-founded one of the largest software platforms. They turned their illegal money into millions and haven’t looked back since.
“Damn, baby,” Vic commented, sitting up on the couch.
Everyone chuckled as Toya walked right over to him, knowing exactly what he wanted without having to be told.
“You so thirsty, Daddy,” Kwinn jested.
“Pick your mouth up,” Lauryn added, teasingly.
Smitten just as he had been when he met her at twenty-six, Vic’s eyes held nothing but love inside them. Ignoring his daughters, he wrapped his tattooed arms around his wife’s slim waist as she planted herself right in his lap. Sweetly, Toya kissed his lips.
“You hear your hating-ass kids,” Toya joked as he subconsciously rubbed on her booty.
This was nothing new to see. In fact, it was quite normal for Kwinn and Lauryn to see their parents’ love on one another. They’d grown up witnessing it, and even after thirty-plus years of marriage, they still acted like they were newlyweds.
Watching two people choose each other over and over again, despite whatever was going on outside their world, was the kind of relationship Kwinn wanted. She knew what partnership looked like and knew what it felt like to be considered. That’s why what was happening with Jabari bothered her so much.
“Yeah,” Vic mumbled, kissing Toya’s neck. “I hear ’em. They ain’t talkin’ ‘bout shit, huh?”
Toya giggled. “Not at all. Kwinn, when you’d get here?”
“Not too long ago. Came to see TT’s stinka man. He’s just so handsome,” Kwinn said as BJ stirred.
As a first-time grandma, Toya felt the same way. “He truly is, and just so calm. Were you like that as a baby, Bishop?”
Bishop smirked. “Yeah. Even as a kid, too.”
“Well, hopefully my little precious baby stays that way because Lauryn was a hell raiser, do you hear me?” Toya exclaimed.
Dramatically, Lauryn gasped, faking as if she were offended. “Now, Mama. I was not that bad.”
“Shiiit,” Vic dragged, not agreeing one bit.
Kwinn laughed. “Okay, now. Not too much on my sister. Mama, weren’t you still clubbin’ with Auntie Rita nem’ when you were pregnant with her?”
“Girl, I tried to, but your daddy wasn’t having it.”
“Not at all. Made her sit that ass down quick,” Vic said, then kissed her exposed shoulder.
Lauryn grinned and glanced Bishop’s way when he cleared his throat.
“Speaking of sitting down, what that nigga Jabari got going on? He getting traded or what?” Bishop asked.
That seemed to be the million-dollar question. Kwinn looked over at Bishop, then at her daddy, whose attention had shifted from the TV to her. She could already tell by the look on Vic’s face that he genuinely wanted to know, too.
“I don’t know,” she admitted, adjusting BJ against her chest. “Same thing I told you last time. Nobody knows anything yet.”
Vic frowned. “How long they been saying that?”
“Couple months now.”
“Damn,” both men said.
“Exactly.” Kwinn looked down at her nephew when he made a little sound, then smiled as he settled back against her. “They keep saying they’re trying to figure everything out, but nobody is telling him anything concrete.”
“His agent knows something,” Bishop said, still watching the game. “They always know before the players do.”
“And Marcus probably does,” Kwinn agreed. “But he’s not going to tell Jabari something he doesn’t know for sure.”
Vic leaned back, rubbing his chin. “That boy gotta be stressed out.”
“He is.” Kwinn shifted BJ onto her other shoulder. “He’s been stressed for a minute.”
“I bet, especially with that leg bothering him,” Toya added, taking a seat beside Vic. “I know he’s ready to get back out there.”
Kwinn nodded. “He is. That’s probably the biggest part of it. He hates sitting out. He’s always been the type to want to play through everything.”
“And that’s not smart,” Toya added.
“Tell him that.” Kwinn laughed softly. “He doesn’t want to hear it from me.”
Vic chuckled. “Nobody ever wants to hear the truth when they already know it’s the truth, baby girl. You know that.”
Kwinn rolled her eyes, but she smiled. “Yeah, I do. He’s just frustrated. He doesn’t know if he’s staying, getting traded, when he’s going to play again... It’s a lot.”
Vic gave her a knowing look. “And how you doing with all of it?”
Kwinn’s smile faded slightly. “I’m okay.”
“I need to go smack that nigga upside his head?” Toya asked brazenly, making her husband smirk.
“Why you trying to get all violent?” Lauryn questioned, giggling.
“Because I don’t like the way she’s looking. What’s going on?” Toya questioned.
Kwinn sighed. “Nothing, Mama. I’m fine for real.”
“You sure?” Vic wondered, not believing her.
Knowing she could be as open as possible with the people in this room, Kwinn gave them the real. She looked at her parents, then down at BJ, who was completely unaware that his aunt was being interrogated in front of him.
“I’m just tired,” she admitted.
“Of him?” Vic asked.
Kwinn hesitated. “I didn’t say that.”
“But you thought it.”
She gave him a look. “Daddy.”
Vic smiled. “I’m just asking.”
Kwinn shook her head, but the corner of her mouth lifted. “I don’t know. I'm just over the mood he’s been in lately. I understand why he’s frustrated, but that doesn’t mean I want to deal with it every day.”
Toya nodded. “And you don’t have to.”
“Exactly. And if you are tired of him, you have that right. Every day isn’t peaches and cream,” Lauryn said.
Kwinn nodded. “I know it’s not. I guess I’m just tired of being the understanding one all the time.”
Nobody said anything, realizing she needed to vent. She swallowed hard and continued since she had the floor.