22. Royce Blake
Iain’t gon’ lie.
If you told me a year ago I’d be sittin’ here excited about a party that got both my boys and a room full of women in it, I would’ve laughed in your face.
Back then, all I knew was separate.
Separate clubs. Separate moves. Separate feelings.
Now here I was, callin’ my girl like, “Babe, let’s just do this together.”
It started when April was sendin’ me pictures.
Her in some little white dress, Charlee and Melissa in the background actin’ a fool, Fee holdin’ her belly.
She texted:
Look at my girls
Then another one came through, Truce, Trend, Roman, and me at the last lil’ get-together, all lookin’ like we had too much on our minds.
She added:
I want both of these rooms together before the wedding.
I stared at the two pictures for a long second.
I thought about how we’d done everything separate.
And for the first time, that didn’t feel right no more.
So when she brought up her bachelorette plans one night, talkin’ about maybe a spa day with the girls and dinner after, I cut in.
“What if we don’t split it?” I asked.
She looked up from her notebook. “Huh?”
“I’m sayin’… instead of you havin’ your thing and me havin’ mine,” I said, scratchin’ my beard, “what if we do one big pre-wedding party? All our people. One room.”
She blinked. “Like… co-ed?”
“Yeah,” I said. “No randoms. No strippers. Just family and friends. Food, music, drinks. We celebrate together.”
A slow smile spread across her face.
“I like that,” she said. “A lot.”
“You sure you don’t want a night with just your girls?” I asked. “I don’t wanna take nothin’ from you.”
“I got a thousand nights with just my girls comin’,” she said. “There’s only gon’ be one ‘right before we get married’ night. I’d rather spend that with you.”
My chest did that little flip.
“Aight then,” I said, grinnin’. “Say less.”
We decided to do it at the smaller Club 4 Play over Philly.
Closed to the public. Just us.
I had them clear out the center, set up tables on the sides, dim the lights a little lower than usual. No poles, no wild shit. Just a clean, sexy vibe.
The night of, I stood near the DJ booth, watchin’ people trickle in.
Nana came early, of course, sittin’ in her little throne near the front with a drink I knew was mostly tea even if she lied and said it was wine.
Charlie Mac strolled in with his wife, shakin’ hands like a politician.
Trend and Fee showed up next, Fee walkin’ slow, belly sittin’ high, Trend carryin’ two bags like a pack mule.
“You good?” I asked her, huggin’ her gentle.
“As good as I can be,” she said. “These babies actin’ like they tryna dance they way out.”
Trend kissed her cheek. “They excited for the party.”
“Mhmm,” she said, but she was smilin’.
Charlee and Truce came in right after, she had that new shine on her, even if she was tryna pretend she wasn’t glowin’. He walked behind her like he was guardin’ the crown jewels.
“Y’all alright?” I asked.
“We straight,” Charlee said. “Just tryna get through this first trimester without killin’ nobody.”
Truce laughed. “She lyin’. She love me. And this baby.”
She side-eyed him but the way her hand slid over her stomach said it all.
Then there was Roman.
He walked in a few minutes later with Melissa on his arm.
Not behind him. Not off to the side.
Right there, together as one.
No frontin’ this time.
He had his hand flat at the small of her back, not possessive, just… there.
She looked good, simple dress, hair laid, eyes bright. She looked like she was exactly where she wanted to be, not like she’d been dragged.
He dapped me. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I said.
He nodded toward April across the room, who was laughin’ with the girls. “She look happy.”
“Yeah,” I said, feelin’ my chest loosen. “Me too.”
When enough people showed, the DJ turned the music up a notch.
It wasn’t club-club. More like a grown kickback.
Old school R Truce pulled Charlee in tighter.
“Nana,” I said, glancin’ at her, “who raised two knuckleheads and still had enough love left in her to steer us right when we wanted to do wrong.”
She waved her hand, but her eyes were wet.
“Everybody in here…” I continued. “All y’all show me different versions of love. None of ‘em perfect. All of ‘em real.”
I looked down at April.
“And then there’s you,” I said, my voice goin’ a little rough.
Her eyes shined instantly.
“I’m still scared sometimes,” I admitted, speakin’ into the mic but really just talkin’ to her. “Scared of failin’ you. Scared of not livin’ up to what you deserve. But I’d rather be scared with you than be safe by myself wonderin’ ‘what if.’”
The room went quiet in that good way.
“So thank you,” I said. “For lovin’ me in my fear and lettin’ me love you in yours.
Thank y’all,” I added, lookin’ around again, “for holdin’ us down, talkin’ sense into us, callin’ us out when we need it.
This right here is the last time we all gon’ be in one room before we say ‘I do.’ And I wouldn’t wanna spend it any other way than exactly like this. ”
I lifted my glass.
“To love that’s not perfect,” I said. “But honest. To bein’ scared and doin’ it anyway. To family. To my wife.”
Everybody raised they glasses.
“To my wife!” Truce yelled extra loud.
“To my wife!” Roman echoed, lookin’ at Melissa.
“Sit down,” Melissa yelled, but she was grinnin’ hard.
We drank.
The music slid back up, somethin’ slow first, then switchin’ into a groove.
Later, I was on the floor dancin’ with April.
Her arms around my neck, my hands on her waist.
Roman and Melissa were a little to the left of us, swayin’ close.
I caught a glimpse of Trend behind Fee, hands on her belly, head bent as he whispered somethin’ in her ear that made her smile.
Truce had Charlee twirlin’ like she wasn’t pregnant and cursin’ him out for it.
Nana was in her chair, clappin’ along, shoulders rockin’ like she was dancin’ sittin’ down.
Charlie Mac was leanin’ near the bar, talkin’ to Roman in between songs, noddin’ like some silent blessing.
Everything wasn’t perfect.
We still had fears, fights, and futures to figure out.
But in that moment, with my girl lookin’ up at me like I was exactly who she wanted, my brother finally lookin’ peaceful with a woman in his arms, our friends steppin’ into parenthood together…
I felt somethin’ I hadn’t felt in a long time.
Sure.
Not about every detail.
Not about never messin’ up.
Just… about us.
About the fact that no matter how ugly it got sometimes, we had people around us who wasn’t gon’ let us drown.
April rested her head on my chest.
“You good?” she asked.
“Yeah,” I said, lettin’ my cheek rest on top of her hair. “I’m good.”
Truth was, I was better than that.
Tomorrow and all the days after, we’d still be scared sometimes.
But we was done lettin’ fear drive.
And as I held my soon-to-be wife in my arms, feelin’ the bass under our feet and the love in that room, I knew one thing for sure:
We was scared and ready.
And for me, that was enough.