Chapter 20 #3
“Yeah but text me tonight or something. I’m not going to get any sleep until I know how this goes.”
“I’ll do that,” I tell Mireya then walk over to Niya. She’s sitting at the island eating a bowl of frozen grapes. “You better have braids tomorrow or I’m cutting this ball of hair off,” I say, then kiss her cheek.
I hug Shuga again then leave them in the cabin.
From here, it takes about twenty-five minutes to drive to Kyrah’s mom’s house.
There isn’t much that makes me nervous, but this has me a little anxious.
Before getting out of my ride, I take a deep breath to calm myself then head over and ring the doorbell.
“One second,” I hear from the other side of the door before it opens and I see an older but slighter shorter version of my baby with a head full of locs.
She’s beautiful.
“Well, hello,” she says in a more elevated tone. “Shiro?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Come in. It’s cold out there.” She waves me in then walks off. After tapping my Timbs on the porch to knock the snow off, I follow her inside and remove my shoes. “Thank you for that. I just made some coffee. I drink one in the morning and one in the evening. Would you like a cup?”
To be polite, I say, “Ah, yes, ma’am.”
“Then come on,” she says before leading me into her kitchen. She motions for me to sit at the dining table. “I just like a little cream. What about you?”
“That’s fine.”
“No sugar?” she questions. “My husband used to drink it jet black, no sugar, no cream, nothing. Are you a black coffee man too?”
Honestly, I really don’t care about the coffee. I just want to talk about Kyrah but it’s clear she’s stuck on the coffee. Maybe it’s her way of stalling and avoiding the real reason I’m here. I don’t know, so I just indulge her.
“A spoon of sugar is fine,” I say and she smiles. After fixing both cups, she slowly walks them over to the table and joins me. When she places my cup in front of me, she stares and waits until I taste it.
“Thanks. It’s good,” I say, although it’s bitter as fuck.
She doesn’t say anything in response and doesn’t drink her coffee either.
She just stares at me. Thinking she now wants me to talk, I take another sip of coffee, then get to why I’m here.
“I asked Mireya to reach out because I love your daughter, and before we officially start our life together, I want to make sure she’s good, really good, and she’s not.
She won’t say it but I know her and she’s missing you.
She has my family and they love her but—”
“It’s not me,” she interrupts and her smile drops. “How long have you and Rah-Rah been together?”
“A little over two years.”
“Two years,” she utters, then finally sips from her cup. “Two years and she kept you from me. How often is she around your family?”
I can tell by the somberness in her face that hearing Kyrah is around my family a hell of a lot would only hurt her, I simply say, “Often. It’s a lot of us.”
“And you asked her to marry you and she said yes?” she asks and I nod. “When is the date?”
“Next month, the twenty-first,” I tell her and she stands abruptly. With her cup in hand, she walks to the sink and dumps her coffee. Then she opens the fridge and pulls out a bottle of brown. I see it’s bourbon when she holds it up.
“I’m switching to this. Would you like some?” she asks.
“Nah. No thanks. I’m good.”
As she pours, she says, “I can only imagine what you might think of me. You’re marrying my daughter and she never even introduced us.
I guess that’s my fault.” She places the bottle back into the fridge, takes a sip from the cup, then sighs loudly as hell.
“Who am I kidding? It’s definitely my fault and I never thought it’d come to this.
I know she told you what happened with her sister, so I’m not going to go into all of that, but I want you to know I love my daughter.
I really do, and by you coming here, I can see you love her too.
This is my mistake, my mess to clean up, and I will fix it.
Because not being part of her big day or life breaks my heart.
” She turns her head and I see her quickly wipe her face.
She’s crying.
Fuck! I didn’t want that…
Shit. Not at all.
When she turns back around, there’s a forced smile on her face but it’s clear she’s emotional and I get it.
I hate that she’s crying but I’m glad she’s going to fix things, or at least try, with Kyrah.
My mission is complete, but only time will tell if it’s accomplished though. Either way, it’s time for me to go.
“Thanks for agreeing to see me and for the coffee,” I tell her and she nods slowly. “It’s getting late and I’ve been here too long already. I can let myself out.”
“Okay,” she mutters lowly. When I start to walk out of the kitchen, she calls out, “Wait.” I stop and turn back toward her. “Thank you.”
“For?”
While nodding, she says, “For loving her enough to come here and talk to me. She deserves that and so much more. I’m going to make this right.”
“Please do,” I say, then slip on my shoes and leave.