Chapter 4 #3
Monae didn’t answer right away. “Where will we live?” she asked.
“We will have our own place. Mama Macie is going to work it all out for us before we get there,” Sienna answered, wishing she’d thought to ask those questions before Macie left.
“Okay. Will we be able to see grandma and grandpa when we get there?” Monae asked, referring to Sienna’s parents.
“Absolutely. That’ll be our first stop once we get settled in.”
“When are we gonna go?”
“Tomorrow,” Sienna answered, slightly biting her bottom lip.
“Okay. How long will we be there?”
“Maybe to visit, but we can worry about that once we settle in. Is that alright?”
“Sounds good to me,” Monae answered, then continued to eat her food.
To Monae, it was just a change in location, but for Sienna it was stepping back into a chapter of her life she thought had been closed forever. Just thinking about it made her soul tremble.
“You wanna find something to watch on Netflix?” Sienna asked, hoping she’d say yes.
“Yes, but can I pick the show?” Monae asked.
“Yes, you can choose,” Sienna agreed with a raised brow.
Once they finished up their stew, they made their way to the living room.
Sienna had way too much on her mind to pay attention to the show Monae had chosen to watch.
All she really wanted to do was snuggle up and cuddle with her girl.
It was something so sacred about the love between a mother and her daughter.
Sienna cherished every moment she got to spend with Monae.
They were all each other had, and somehow Sienna had found contentment with the life she was forced to live with her daughter.
About an hour later, Sienna looked down and noticed that Monae had drifted off to sleep.
She grabbed the plush throw blanket that rested on the back of the couch, then eased up slowly, laying Monae down on one of the decorative pillows.
Careful not to wake her, Sienna pulled the blanket gently over her daughter’s shoulders, then smoothed the fabric softly before walking away to pack their clothes.
Leaning against the doorframe of her bedroom, Sienna took a deep breath and held it thirty seconds before exhaling.
She repeated the same action three times as she walked to her California King bed, each step she took felt heavier than the last. Sitting on the edge of the bed, one hand covered her heart, the weight of the burden and secret she’d held for over a decade felt insurmountable, and suddenly the tears that slipped down her beautiful face were unstoppable.
She wept for the decisions she’d been forced to make.
She wept for the love she’d held on to as long as she could without the promise of experiencing it ever again.
Sienna wept because the day she’d begged God for had arrived, but the blessing was weighted, complicated, and conditional.
Something the love she and Monroe had never been.
Sienna hated Macie for the way she’d taken the pureness of the love she and Monroe shared, and turned it into manipulation and ultimatums.
Struggling to pull herself together, Sienna refused to allow Macie to weaken her any further.
Slowly, she stood and made her way to her vanity, her reflection revealing a woman who had survived things many people would never understand, and still managed to remain soft where life had tried to harden her.
She needed to look at the picture of Monroe that was taken on his birthday, two years after Sienna’s fake death.
If there was ever a man that could make a white Polo t-shirt, jeans, and Timbs look better than a Tom Ford tux, it was Monroe Black.
Confidence radiated from him effortlessly, like breathing was all he needed to remind the world who he was.
His presence was power and pressure at the same time.
His iced-out diamond Patek gleamed beneath the light, complemented by a flawless VVS Cuban Link chain with a bold M pendant resting against his chest. Two rings gleamed on his fingers, every detail reminding the world that Monroe didn’t just touch money. Money answered to him.
Sienna had never given a damn about Monroe’s jewelry, money, or who he was in the streets. When it came to her heart, none of that would never outweigh what mattered most to her.
The way he loved.
The way he protected.
The way he made her feel seen in ways no one else ever could was top-tier.
Sienna lifted her hand, gently smoothing her fingertips across the glass like somehow she could reach through time and distance to touch him.
Get yourself together, Sienna. Go get your man back, you’re worthy of his love.
He loves you, and he will love his daughter.
She deserves to be in her father’s life.
She deserves to feel his love, and not just be told about it,” Sienna thought to herself, gathering the strength she’d need to fight for the love she believed was hers.
“I’m coming back to you, baby,” Sienna whispered. “Love like what we have was never built to be replaced.”