Chapter 29
“I’ll be back to get you,” Stanley said as we pulled up in front of the brunch spot I was meeting Tavia, Allison, and Maddie at.
Now that was something different.
Since we buried the beef, she’d joined our little sisterhood. Honestly, I think she wanted that all along. These days, it was like beef never happened and I was happy about that.
“I’ll call you when we’re about done.”
“Baby… y’all get to clucking when y’all start sipping on those bottomless mimosas. I’m not looking for you to be ready any time soon.”
“Shut up, Stanley.”
He grinned. “Give me a kiss.”
I leaned over the center console, cupped his chin, and pecked his lips. When I tried to pull away, he shoved his tongue in my mouth and like I always did, I folded. We were going at it hot and heavy before the passenger door was snatched open.
“Girl, get your ass outta this car!” Allison fussed. “You’re going home with this man. You have all the time in the world to suck on his lips.”
Senior kissed his teeth. “You know, I never thought I’d have to categorize you as my hating ass baby mama, Allie.”
“Senior, kiss my ass. You’ve been holding my girl hostage on that damn compound. Let her up for air. Damn.”
I giggled. “Awww, you missed me, Allison.”
She rolled her eyes. “I did. I didn’t peg you for one of those friends that gets a man and forgets her day ones.”
Senior shook his head. “You are so damn dramatic. You just saw her last week.”
“Mind your business, baldy. Come on here, Steph.”
She grabbed my hand and pulled me out the car. Tavia was waiting by the door. She smiled and waved as I stepped onto the sidewalk.
“Hey Tay,” Senior said.
“Hey, Stanley. Your goddaughter is mad at you.”
“What did I do?”
“She wanted to have lunch with you at her school.”
“She ain’t said nothing.”
“Because she expects you to be a mind reader and just show up.”
He palmed his face. “Okay. I’ll pick her up something and head over there.”
Allison smirked. “Sucker. Bye, Stanley.”
“Bye, Grinch.” His gaze shifted to me, and he blew me a kiss. “My love. Behave yourself, mama.”
I blushed, and Allison mushed me. “You’re so gone behind this man that it ain’t even funny. Go away, Senior.”
Instead of driving off, he put the car in park, got out, and walked around to me.
“Watch out,” he said, playfully bumping Allison.
Cupping my face, he pecked my lips several times, causing me to burst into a fit of giggles. Sometimes he got in this playful mood and would kiss me like he’d been away from me for days.
“Stanley!” I squealed.
He gave me a final lingering kiss before pulling away. Turning to Allison, he mushed her head.
“Don’t rush me away from my woman. You’ll have your time with your sister wife.”
He kissed her cheek, then went over to kiss Tavia’s as Maddie pulled up to valet. She hopped out and made her way over to us with a smile.
Allison whistled at her. “Okay now! Don’t you look cute!”
Maddie blushed and did a little twirl in her skirt.
“I’m taking Bronx lunch after this, so I thought I’d put in a little effort.”
She hugged us and kissed our cheeks. The affection between us took some getting used to, but now it’s second nature.
“Hey, Senior,” she spoke.
“Maddie. You ladies have a good time and don’t get too fucked up.”
With a final kiss to my cheek, he hopped back in his car and sped off. The women all looked at me.
“What?” I asked.
“Nothing, nothing,” Allison said. “I’ve just never seen that man as happy as he is. He’s practically glowing and so are you.”
“We’re in a really good place,” I admitted. “I have some news to share once we’re seated.”
“Well don’t keep us waiting. Come on.”
We headed to the restaurant and gave the hostess the name on the reservation. After being seated, getting drinks and ordering appetizers, they all looked at me for the tea I was about to spill.
“We’re adopting,” I said.
“Adopting what?” Allison asked, making everyone laugh.
“Why would you say that?” Tavia asked.
“Because she has to be specific.”
“A child, Allison,” I clarified. “We went to this meet and greet a few days ago and fell in love with two beautiful babies—”
“Two!” they exclaimed.
“I’m stuck on the babies part,” Maddie said. “How old are these kids?”
“Daxon is eleven and Sevyn is sixteen. They’re brother and sister.” My heart swelled speaking about them and I couldn’t help but smile. But just as quickly, my smile faded. “They have been through some things… both have been sexually abused.”
“Oh, God,” Tavia said, hand over her heart.
“Are y’all prepared for that?” Allison asked
“Senior can handle it for sure,” Maddie said. “I’ve been in the field with him. I’ve seen him interact with children that suffered from sexual abuse. That’s a whole other side of that man. What you can’t handle, he’ll teach you. I’d be happy to help if need be.”
I smiled. “Thank you, Maddie. I’m sure I’ll need my own support in supporting them. I can be a mother in my sleep, but I don’t know what kind of behaviors we might be up against. Honestly, I don’t care. I’ll take whatever comes with these kids.”
“You’ll be great to them. That much I know. Hell, maybe Bronx and I will take a page from your book and adopt too. I’ve always wished I could have had more kids. Now that I’m married, I’d be open to a child with my husband. I don’t think I’d want an infant, but I’d take an older child.”
I nodded. “I was looking at the statistics and they are less likely to be adopted. Sad, but true. It breaks my heart to know that they have probably gone through this so many times. Then add the abuse on top of it. I want to find these people and do them in myself.”
Maddie covered my hand with hers. “If that’s what you want, I’m sure the kids can handle it.”
“Speaking of the kids, how are they feeling about new siblings?” Tavia asked.
I smiled as thought back to the conversation we had after Sunday dinner.
Most of the grandkids were knocked out and most everyone had gone home.
For some reason, all of our kids stayed back a little longer to chill with Grams. Probably because she made extra sweets and because the kids were asleep, they didn’t have to fight them for it.
We were all in the massive kitchen, laughing and joking around. I was sitting on Senior’s lap, my new typical spot. He placed a soft kiss to my shoulder and gathered everyone’s attention.
“Aye, we have something to tell y’all,” he said, causing everyone to quiet down and give us their attention. “Steph and I—”
“Y’all finally getting married?” Smoke asked.
“You know it’s about damn time. How did all your kids get married before you, old man?
Especially those two.” He pointed at Jaeda and Mia.
“One was damn afraid of her own shadow when it came to men and the other was in a toxic situationship with this nigga.” He pointed at Titan.
Jaeda scoffed. “Excuse me, Grams. Devin, shut the hell up because all of you were whores before y’all met my sisters and they turned y’all into husbands.”
“The biggest whores!” Mia agreed. “And don’t worry about me and Jaeda. We good over here. Both of our men could take your big ass. Right, baby?”
Titan grinned. “You know I got you, mamas.” He dapped Quaid.
“I’m on what you on, friend.” Jaeda’s ass was over there blushing as he kissed her cheek. “By the way, my wife isn’t shy anymore. She knows who coming behind her and how I’m coming, right, beloved?”
She couldn’t do anything but grin and nod as he cupped her chin, then he leaned in to kiss her lips.
“Are y’all done?” Senior asked. “This was about us, not y’all’s asses.”
Smoke opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off.
“Devin, I swear to God. Don’t make me get up.”
He grinned and lifted his hands in mock surrender.
“Go ahead, baby,” I said, kissing my man’s cheek.
“Thank you, love. Now, as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted. Deuce and Kerrion already know, but Steph and I are adding to the family. We’re adopting.”
“Adopting what?” Smoke asked. “Better be a puppy because I know it ain’t a kid.”
“Two kids,” Kerrion stated.
“Two!” Deuce exclaimed. “How y’all went from one to two?”
“The same way Smoke went from zero to two to five,” I answered.
“It just happened. We went to a meet and greet and fell in love with two very special children. His name is Daxon and he’s eleven.
He loves sports, particularly basketball.
Very talkative, but the sweetest little boy.
Her name is Sevyn and she’s sixteen. Guarded, doesn’t play about her little brother, very no nonsense.
” I looked at Deuce. “She reminds me of you.”
“Oh God!” His siblings all groaned.
“One is enough!”
“That means she finna do the most.”
“If that’s the case, bet she thinks she’s somebody’s mama.”
Deuce looked around at them with a frown. “Just wait until we aren’t in mixed company and I can say what I really wanna say. When is this happening, Ma?”
“It’ll be a few weeks with paperwork, inspections, home visits, and getting their rooms ready.”
“Well, when can we meet the lil’ nigga and nigglette?” Maceo asked.
“Right,” Smoke agreed. “They need to see if they wanna be a part of the foolishness. Y’all told them about us?”
“Of course,” I answered. “I think it would be nice for the family to meet them beforehand. We can try to set something up.”
“I smell a cookout,” Grams said. She clasped her hands together and looked at us. “It’s been a blessing to witness this family grow over the years. I’m not calling any names, but some of y’all went a little crazy in that department, especially a few years ago.”
“Grams, you can say it,” Maceo said. “We all know how fertile Romi and Smoke are.”
“I haven’t had a kid in four years!” Romi exclaimed, mushing his head. “Anyway! Senior, Mama Steph, we can’t wait to meet these babies.”
“Agreed,” Jaeda said. “They are gonna be welcomed with so much love.”
“And aggravation,” Mia added, pointing at her brothers. “Another girl’s dating life to ruin and another boy to be the bane of my existence.”
“You came in late,” Deuce jested. “You’re still playing catch up. Damn. We’re about to have another Mia. Remember how she came in?”
As they went on and on, I couldn’t help but smile as their excitement grew. One thing I could say about our kids was they loved each other to no end. They were going to be exactly what Daxon and Sevyn needed.
“The kids are excited,” I finally answered, giggling to myself. “We really talk about these kids like they are literal children at times.”
“Because they act like literal children at times,” Allison said. “Maceo and Devin think nothing of coming to sit their big heavy asses on my lap.”
Tavia smiled. “Jaeda and Kerrion still climb in my bed.”
“Mia still calls me Mommy,” Maddie added.
“Well, we all know how my son acts about me,” I said. “They are never gonna grow up when it comes to us or their bald headed ass daddy.”
Allison smirked. “That’s just our baby daddy. That’s your bald headed ass man.”
I playfully flipped my hair. “And is.”
“Wow!” I heard from behind us. I turned to see Kathy standing there. “I knew you were still messing around with that man.”
“Excuse you?” I said, turning completely.
“You heard me. My brother told me you were sleeping with him before you two got serious. I always told him he shouldn’t trust that it was over. You were probably messing around with him while you were married.”
“Not that I owe you an explanation, but no. I wasn’t.”
“Oh, but you couldn’t wait to run back to him after my brother died. You weren’t messing with him, but now that’s your man? I heard you.”
I clasped my hands and heaved a heavy sigh. “Kathy, it’s been four… almost five years since I lost Aaron. I haven’t entertained a man since, and even if I did, what the hell does that have to do with you?”
“Because the man you’re entertaining isn’t someone new.”
“Again, why is that your concern?” Tavia asked.
Kathy glared at her. “He is familiar and it leads me to believe that this isn’t just now happening. I wouldn’t expect you to understand. I’ve heard the rumors about you all sharing that man.”
Allison laughed. “Steph, you better get your sister-in-law. I’m not a problem she wants.”
“And she for damn sure doesn’t want one with me,” Maddie said, turning around completely and crossing her legs. “You better walk away before I start saying some shit that will have you looking at me crazy.”
Kathy scoffed. “Bullying? How old are we?”
“Old enough to know to mind our fucking business.”
Kathy glared at Maddie before looking to me. “So, you’re just gonna let your little sister wives talk to me crazy, Stephanie?”
“You came over here talking crazy. We were minding our own business. You could have easily walked away, but you stopped to give your speculations on a matter you know nothing about. Like I said, I was faithful to my husband. Who I’m in a relationship with now isn’t your concern.
I’m not doing anything that your brother didn’t approve of. ”
She frowned. “He would never!”
“Oh, but he did. That was your brother, I get it. But he was my husband, and we had conversations about shit that you weren’t privy to.
Speaking of conversations, I’m done with this one.
We would like to finish our meal in peace.
I’m not discussing this with you again. If you happen to see me out with my man, don’t say shit to us and don’t look in our direction.
I don’t want to be that type of person to you, Kathy, but I will protect my peace. Excuse yourself.”
I turned around as the server brought out our appetizers. The rest of the ladies continued to stare her down while I ignored her. I understood her hurt over the loss of her brother. I even understood her thinking something was going on while I was married, but the fact remained that it wasn’t.
I gave my all to my husband and he gave me his in return. I didn’t owe a soul and explanation for moving on or who I moved on with. My husband was dead and life didn’t stop because he was.