9. Myheir #2
“None of that. These are regular people with a little money. Trust me, when you meet my mom Meredith, you’ll see.
Now my pops, he’s an asshole, but that’s his armor, like how you usually got a smart remark.
He asks every question he can think of. It’s his way of thinking he can run shit and honestly protect those around him. ”
For the first time before we pulled through those gates, she gave me a small tight-lipped smile and rolled her eyes at me.
“I’m going to let that little remark go, since I needed to be shaken to wake up a bit.
But aren’t you pot calling the kettle black—wait, is that how it goes, or is it kettle calling the pot black?
I don’t know, but you know what I mean. You think you can run folks, too,” she responded with a giggle after I gave her a look.
I brushed her chin with my two fingers, then leaned in and whispered in her ear.
“That’s much better, Doll. You better act like you know who you are when we go in there.
I didn’t pick you for nothing. You’re the breath of fresh air I’ve been needing for a while.
Shit, they need it too, even if they don’t know it yet.
But they’re about to find out.” I kissed her chin, then pulled back.
I glanced out the window to see my parents standing on the porch. My mom was bouncing from one leg to the other like she had to use the bathroom, while my pops stood stoically, like he didn’t care one way or the other if we were here. I’m sure he didn’t.
Khaleya blew out a breath and then nodded.
“Ready?” I asked.
She nodded, then reached out to grip my wrist, so I turned to face her.
“Keep your lips to yourself, Casanova, I can’t have your mom thinking I’m a hot girl.”
I couldn’t help but crack up. She was slowly coming back.
“Aren’t you? I could have sworn moments earlier you were going hard on that hot girl track by Megan.”
As she was responding, my driver opened the door for us to slide out.
“Stop bringing up old stuff, Big,” she whispered.
I chuckled and slipped out of the truck, holding my hand out to help her out behind me. The moment she stepped out of the truck, she adjusted her skirt, then walked ahead of me up the steps to greet my parents.
The moment she was close enough, she reached out a hand to my mother to introduce herself, and my mom immediately pulled her in for a hug. My eyes widened because she’d never done that. Not even with Mia, and Mia had almost been her daughter-in-law.
“Wow, you’re beyond beautiful. Can I ask what you’re wearing? I could smell you before you made it up the steps.”
Khaleya smiled. I could tell it was genuine. My mom had unknowingly knocked her nervousness all the way out. She loved Stamped, and any compliment towards her baby would do it every time.
“It’s called First Class. I create it myself.”
My mother’s eyes expanded, and her smile widened. “Wow. I need to hear all about this. But I’m being weird, and I hope I didn’t overstep by hugging you. I’m Meredith, and this old man behind me is Darren.”
My pops popped my mom’s butt. Then he leaned down and whispered in my mother’s ear, causing her cheeks to redden as much as her creamy mahogany skin would allow. I frowned, not remembering the last time these two acted so damn touchy.
“Not too much on my mama,” I told my pops with a frown, then turned my attention to my mom.
She released her hold on Khaleya, who stepped to the side so I could embrace my mom.
“Teddy, she is beautiful. You did good, son,” she tried to whisper in my ear.
I smiled and nodded. “I’m glad you agree.”
I walked over and shook my dad’s other hand that hadn’t been on my mom’s butt. He shook his head, then nodded towards the door for me to follow. I turned to reach a hand out for Khaleya to take, which she gladly obliged.
Her head was on the constant swivel as we followed my parents into the dining room to eat breakfast. Things were going better than I’d imagined them to. Normally, my pops was a lot more stoic and showed his ass. But I knew not to get too excited. We hadn’t sat down at the table yet.
The moment we made it to the table, there was a spread awaiting us. Different fruits, bread, biscuits, pancakes, eggs, sausages, and bacon. My mom had gotten the chef to make every breakfast food she could think of. I think she’d even gotten him to make French toast by the look of things.
I shook my head because I told her not to overdo it.
This damn woman was not getting ready to eat everything she had on this table.
I’d even taken the liberty of picking a few things to help keep my mom from overreacting.
But clearly that was a waste of my damn time, because she did what she wanted.
“I am so excited to meet you, Khaleya. I told Teddy that if this thing was serious, I needed to be the first to know. I want you to know his mother had to find out online, though I absolutely loved the video. I love how liberated you are. More women shouldn’t be ashamed to date.”
My pops grunted, and I knew he was getting ready to start his shit. I pulled out Khaleya’s seat and then pulled out mine. She was seated across from my mom.
She smiled at my mom’s excitement. “Thank you. It took me a while to explain my dating to my mom. She was so confused, and I know it’s a new-age outlook on finding your person. I was tired of sitting home thinking someone was going to knock on my door and ask me to dinner.”
“I couldn’t even imagine doing those things in my time,” my mom responded.
“You damn right, you couldn’t,” my pops interrupted.
Khaleya turned to look at my father with a lift of her brow.
“Oh, you started dating each other young?” she asked my pops.
I knew the answer before he could get it out. My mom giggled and answered for him.
“Absolutely not. We didn’t run in the same circles. I was raised in a very closed-off lifestyle. But his father is a damn caveman. He wouldn’t have been able to deal with the thought that I was that liberated. But I admire your confidence. It made me want to talk to you even more.”
“Caveman? No, I’m just not interested in a woman who has been seen with over fifteen different men,” my father added while placing different food onto his plate.
“Alright now, I’m gone need—” I started before Khaleya tapped my wrist, stopping me.
I looked over at her and she was smiling, so I assumed she’d had these same conversations with her parents, which was why she wasn’t uncomfortable with what my pops had said.
She chuckled and then asked if my mother could hand over the eggs closest to her. Once she placed a bit on her plate, she added a few other things, then looked up at my pops, who’d already started to eat and was waiting for her response.
“I’m sorry, Khaleya, if my husband is offending you. He is still stuck in the views of back then when it comes to how a woman should act,” my mom interjected, because Khaleya had yet to respond.