Chapter 37 Neha
THREE MONTHS LATER
I sat on the sidelines along with my sister, Ms. Tavia and her family, the Dillinger clan, and my parents.
It was awards day at Nayelli’s school, and we had packed out a whole section of the school gym.
I didn’t miss some of the nervousness of some of the attendees as they walked past us.
It was clear that even when this family was just minding their black ass business, someone would always be uneasy around them.
As for my sister and I, we’d settled right in with them. Well, Dinah was already a perfect fit in the family. She was just as loud and rowdy as the rest of them. While I was more reserved, the girls made me feel right at home.
They’d become my sisters and his brothers my brothers. Once they got comfortable with me, I endured the roasting along with everyone else. It wasn’t just me. Dinah got the tongue lashings too, but my sister was always ready to hand somebody their ass.
She and Kaylynn had made things official.
I guess both of us were in love because neither of us were ever at our house anymore.
We’d all but moved onto the compound. After everything that happened, I just wanted to be where I knew we were safe.
Besides, Nayelli was stuck to her brother and father like glue after the kidnapping, and so was I.
Kerrion was doing much better than he initially was with Ms. Anita’s death.
True to my word, I planned a nice funeral service for her because it became too much for him.
Her other family members were respectful when they showed up.
They offered apologies for what she’d done and expressed how sorry they were for not being more active to aid in her grief.
We placed her right next to Donna and Mr. Donald.
That was one thing I wanted to do for her.
Deep in my heart, I knew she wasn’t coming out of this alive.
She’d taken it too far and the only place for her to go was to jail, a mental institution, or a grave herself.
When I brought it up to Kerrion about claiming the bodies, he said he wanted to move Donna to the mausoleum.
I told him I’d take care of it, so I got with his grandmother to talk it over.
My heart wouldn’t let me not at least asked if we could move her father with her and if I came to it, he mother too.
Grams agreed and made the necessary calls.
I prayed that Ms. Anita had peace now that she was resting with them. Kerrion had officially introduced me to Donna once everyone started leaving the funeral. It was just me, him, and the kids sharing a private moment. He looked somewhat nervous, so I grabbed his hand and kissed it.
“Whenever you’re ready,” I said.
He gave a soft smile and kissed my temple before turning to Donna’s crypt.
“D, . . . I know it’s been a minute since we had a talk. A lot’s been going on . . . a whole lot. I should have done this sooner, but I guess now is better than never. This is Neha, and this is my baby girl, Nayelli.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Donna,” Nayelli said, touching the crypt. “We’re taking good care of KJ. Don’t you worry.”
I smiled as I touched the crypt as well.
“I wish we could have met under different circumstances. Just know that your baby boy and your best friend are in good hands. I know I didn’t birth him, but I love KJ, and I will forever shower him with all the love you aren’t here to give him.
We will never let him forget you. I promise you that. ”
I placed the flower in my hand in the little vase attached to the crypt, then grabbed Kerrion’s hand. Beside me, he sniffled slightly.
“I miss you, D,” he said. “Our boy is about to be one. I know you’re looking down on us, and I hope you’re proud.
” He kissed his fingers and touched the crypt.
“I really tried with your mom. I did everything you asked me to do, I just . . . I wished it ended differently. She’s with you now, and I know you’re taking care of her like she took care of you.
I hope she has the peace she wasn’t able to get while she was here. ”
He’d shed a few tears with us before we finally left to go home.
It was hard on him, and at times, I knew he blamed himself, but he did the best he could.
I wasn’t sure what strings Senior pulled to have this case closed, but I was thankful we didn’t have to deal with it for too long with further investigation.
Kerrion went back to the academy a few weeks after everything happened, and I think he needed it.
The love those kids gave him when they saw him again for the first time was so beautiful to watch.
He’d sent an email to the parents to let them know he was returning.
When they came in for class, he was greeted with flowers, balloons, hand-drawn pictures, and candy.
They showered him with love and affection, and it brought tears to my eyes when I dropped Nayelli off. They loved their Mr. K something serious.
“Damn, it’s a lot of us,” Dinah said, looking around the section we sat in. “I see why people are looking nervous and shit.”
“We’re at a school,” I said. “Nothing is gonna happen here.”
“You say that like your man didn’t drag the principal across his desk a few months ago.”
Kerrion chuckled. “My baby ain’t been bullied since, though.”
Dinah grinned. “Touché.”
“I know that’s right,” my father said, slapping his hand.
Since KJ’s kidnapping, my parents had been down to visit more often.
He and my father became fast friends, and my mother adored him.
Kerrion told them whenever they wanted to come, let him know, and he would pay for their flight.
He even told them if they wanted to move, he would help them relocate.
He basically said we were moving in with him and my parents could have mine and Dinah’s house since he’d taken it upon himself to pay it off.
I had no qualms about that. Having my parents close would mean the world to me because I missed them so much. My mother finally knew that my biological father was dead. I wouldn’t say she cried tears of joy, but I knew she was relieved to know that he could never hurt us again.
It took weeks for his body to be discovered. There was a missing person’s report out on him, and the prison was on lockdown for the longest. I didn’t understand how they hadn’t smelled him rotting away, but then again, I didn’t care. He got what he deserved.
The ceremony finally started.
The Dillinger clan had quite a bit of kids getting awards from different grades. Every time one of their names was called, our section erupted in cheers, hold the applause be damned. Anybody that had something to say about it was met with a slew of dirty looks.
Nayelli won an award for being on the principal’s list and the honor roll. She had the highest GPA in English and math as well. Every time her name was called, we were the loudest in the building. She wasn’t the least bit embarrassed.
Back home, she only had me, her aunt, and her grandparents to cheer for her. Here, she had an entire village. I could see the pride in her eyes and smiles every time she looked over at us, and she absolutely deserved it.
When the show was over, she, her cousins, and Jaiden immediately came to find us.
“I’m so proud of you!” I exclaimed as she ran into my arms.
“You did your thing, baby girl,” Kerrion added, slapping her a high five before scooping her up into a big hug. “I gotta clear off a wall for all your awards. Everybody has to know how smart you are when they walk in the house.”
Nayelli blushed. “Thank you, Daddy.”
“Where do you wanna go to celebrate?”
“Pixels and Pizza.”
I playfully rolled my eyes. I was about sick of that place, but she loved it. At least once a week, she wanted to go there with her cousins and Jaiden. At this point, they knew us by name.
“Whatever you want, baby girl,” Kerrion said. “Aye, we going to Pixels and Pizza to celebrate,” he announced to the family.
“I’ll call and reserve the space,” Senior said.
That meant he was about to drop a lot of money to rent out the whole space.
We were rolling deep, and it would take the entire space to accommodate us all.
The kids were already giddy with excitement, as they should be.
They’d been working hard, and they deserved a little praise for it.
One thing this family did was celebrate wins.
I appreciated their closeness.
I loved the way they rode for each other at any given turn.
And I loved that, above all else, it was family over everything. They could fight like cats and dogs but let somebody else try one of them, and you had the whole army coming after you.
“Pop, you mind taking the kids?” Kerrion asked. “I wanna take Neha somewhere right quick.”
Several eyes fell on him, including mine. What was he up to?
“Not like that!” he said, laughing. “I just wanna show her something.”
Shar smirked. “I bet you do.”
He playfully mushed her. “Get your mind out the gutter.”
“I got them,” Senior said. He was already holding KJ, who was busy plucking with his earring.
“We’ll see you at the pizza place, baby,” Kerrion told Nayelli.
“The surprise?” she whispered.
He grinned. “Yep.”
“Surprise?” I parroted. “Not you two keeping secrets.”
Nayelli giggled. “It’s a good secret.”
I gave Kerrion a side-eye. “What are you up to?”
“You’ll know soon enough. Come on.”
He grabbed my hand then led me through the crowd and outside to his truck.
As I climbed in, my mind raced with what he could possibly have to show me.
The entire drive, I was nervous as hell, but I didn’t ask any questions, because I knew he wouldn’t give me any answers.
I’d learned a long time ago to just roll with the punches when it came to surprises from this man.
While I was sitting over here nervous, he was driving and singing softly to music while caressing and kissing my hand.
We pulled into some street parking about ten minutes from the school, and he shut off the car.
Getting out, he came around to get me. He reached into the car’s glove compartment and grabbed something before closing the door.
Hand in hand, we walked about two minutes to a huge, open clearing where it looked like they had just broken ground. My eyes widened.
“Kerrion, . . . what is this?”
“Well, you never got back to me on your health and wellness center. I wasn’t sure if it was everything going on or if you thought I wasn’t serious, but I was. This is yours.”
“What! When did . . . how did . . . what!”
He chuckled. “I told you I’m gonna support you in any way that I can.
I know how much this means to you. I didn’t want to overstep, but I had to give you a little push.
Dinah so graciously slipped me your sketchbook.
” He pulled out a folded piece of paper and presented it to me.
“Now, you had a couple different things in there, so when I presented it to the architect, I had him incorporate elements from each sketch. I think he got you right.”
I looked down at the mockup, and my mouth dropped.
It was perfect, . . . absolutely everything I could dream of.
When I noticed there were two pieces of paper, I pulled out the other one to see it was the interior layout.
Again, absolutely perfect. I didn’t have any words as tears sprang to my eyes.
This man. This fucking man had outdone himself. I fell into his arms, crying profusely.
“Thank you!” I wailed. “Thank you!”
His arms encased me, and he pressed a kiss to my temple. “You’re welcome, baby.”
“I can’t believe you did this,” I said, wiping my eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you I’d take care of you a long time ago?”
I nodded. “You did. I just . . . I never thought we’d be here. After what I did, . . . I don’t deserve this.”
“You deserve it because you are my woman.” He kissed my forehead. “My love.” He kissed my nose. “My life.” He kissed my lips. “Everything I am belongs to you and our two kids.”
I bit my lip, contemplating if I should tell him the secret I was carrying.
With everything that had been going on, I attributed my missed period to stress and the many life changes we were going through.
It wasn’t until I was using the bathroom at Smoke and Romi’s house, did it dawn on me that I was late, . . . really late.
I knew she kept a supply of pregnancy tests because Smoke was certain he was going to get his boy one of these days.
When I took the test and it came back positive, I was shocked as hell, like I hadn’t been letting this man raw dog me.
I wanted to wait until my official appointment, but now seemed like as good a time as any.
Grabbing his hand, I placed it on my stomach.
“Correction, . . . it’s three.”
His brows furrowed, then his eyes widened. “We’re having a baby?”
I nodded. “We’re having a baby. Surprise!”
I felt my feet lifting from the concrete as he picked me up and spun me around. When he put me down, he stooped and lifted my shirt, kissing my belly.
“We’re having a baby,” he whispered.
I smiled as I rubbed his head as he shed a few tears.
I silently thanked the Lord that we were in a much better space this time around.
This child, while unplanned, was conceived in love.
This time, there would be no part of this pregnancy or this child’s life that he would miss.
I made that mistake one time before, and as long as I lived, I’d never make another one like that.