Chapter 45 Prime
PRIME
I walked through the front door and there she was.
My Goddess. Standing in the living room in a silk robe, hair wrapped up in a scarf, looking tired as hell but still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life.
The moment she saw me, her whole face changed.
That smile I’d been dreaming about for days spread across her lips and I crossed the room in three steps, pulling her into my arms and kissing her like I’d been starving for it.
Because I had been.
Her body pressed against mine, soft and warm, and I forgot about everything else. Forgot about Thad chained up in that warehouse. Forgot about Farah and her threats. Forgot about all the blood on my hands and all the blood still to come. Right now, in this moment, there was only her.
“Aye yo, can y’all get a room?” Quest’s voice came from somewhere behind us, dripping with fake disgust.
I didn’t even pull away from Zainab’s lips. “This is MY room. My house. My woman. My mouth. Mind your business.”
“It’s too early for all that,” Serenity groaned from the couch where she was curled up scrolling through her phone.
“Then close your eyes.”
I kissed Zainab again, slower this time, savoring the taste of her, the feel of her, the reality that she was here and free and mine. She melted into me the way she always did, her hands gripping the front of my shirt like she was afraid I might disappear if she let go.
“I missed you,” she whispered against my mouth.
“I missed you more. You have no idea.”
She pulled back just enough to look at me, her eyes searching my face for something. Answers, maybe. Or reassurance. I gave her both with another soft kiss to her forehead.
“The babies are up,” she said quietly. “Go see them.”
Idris Alexander Banks.
Kheris Zahara Banks.
My children. My legacy. My whole reason for breathing.
I stood over the bassinet in the nursery just staring at them, unable to move, unable to speak.
These two tiny humans were half me and half the woman I loved, and even though they were barely three days old, wrinkly and small and making little squeaky sounds in their sleep, they were absolutely perfect.
Idris had my eyes. I could already tell from the way he scrunched up his face that he was gonna be trouble. Had that same stubborn energy I’d been carrying my whole life. This boy was gonna challenge me at every turn and I couldn’t wait for it.
Kheris had Zainab’s nose and her mother’s peaceful energy. Even in her sleep, she seemed calm and unbothered, like she already knew the world would bend to her will. She was gonna have everybody wrapped around her little finger before she could even walk.
I reached down and touched my son’s tiny hand with my index finger. His fingers curled around mine instinctively, gripping with a strength that surprised me, and something in my chest cracked wide open. I didn’t even know I had that much feeling left in me until this moment.
“I got you,” I whispered to both of them. “I got you and I’m never letting anything happen to either of you. That’s my promise. That’s my word.”
I meant it with everything in me.
Quest came into the nursery a few minutes later. He stood next to me at the bassinet, looking down at the twins with his arms crossed over his chest.
Then he made a face.
“What?” I asked without looking at him.
“Nah, it’s nothing.”
“Quest. What is it?”
He tilted his head to the side, squinting at the babies like he was studying them. “I don’t know, man. They got a Benjamin Button thing going on. Looking older than Rita.”
I turned to stare at him. “Yo, I will beat your ass right here in this nursery. Don’t play with me.”
“I’m just making an observation!” He held his hands up in mock surrender, but he was grinning like the asshole he was. “They look like they already pay taxes. Like they got strong opinions about the economy and the state of the housing market.”
“They are THREE DAYS OLD, Quest.”
“And already looking like they need to file for a reverse mortgage. Got that old soul energy.” He was trying so hard not to laugh. “I’m just saying, when they sharktank, they ain’t gon’ be pitching. They gon’ BE the sharks.”
“You got one more time.”
“Aight, aight, I’m done.” He finally let the laugh out, shaking his head. “They cute though. For real. In a distinguished, elderly statesman kind of way. Very dignified.”
“I swear to God, Quest.”
“Save that energy, baby bro.” His smile faded a little, his voice dropping lower and losing its playful edge. “For real though. Save your energy. You got enough bodies on your list already.”
Just like that, the lightness in the room evaporated.
We stood there in silence for a moment, both of us looking down at my sleeping children.
“Speaking of which,” Quest said carefully. “What you wanna do about Farah? She’s still at the spot. Been there for days now. Can’t keep her chained up in that warehouse forever.”
I thought about Farah. About her tears and her threats and her promise to never stop coming for my family. About the love she claimed to have for me and the hatred burning in her eyes.
“I’ll try talking to her one more time. See if I can get through to her somehow. Make her understand that this is over, and she needs to move on with her life.”
“And if you can’t get through?”
I watched Idris’s tiny chest rise and fall with each breath. So peaceful. So innocent. No idea what his father was capable of.
“Then I do what I gotta do to protect my family.”
Quest nodded slowly. He understood. He always did.
“Aight.” He moved toward the door, then stopped with his hand on the frame. His voice dropped even lower. “We still gotta handle the other thing tonight though.”
I looked at him. He looked at me.
We both knew what the other thing was.
“Tonight,” I confirmed.
We dapped, that silent understanding passing between us the way it always did.
He left the nursery without another word.
I stayed there with my children, my finger still wrapped in my son’s tiny grip, thinking about everything I was going to have to do to keep them safe. All the things I’d already done. All the things I couldn’t take back, even if I wanted to.
Tonight, there would be one more.