21. Royal #2
I kissed her cheek again, and she smiled, then wiped her tears. She kissed Rasha a couple of times and took a deep breath. “All these grandbabies gon’ get us through this. All four of them.”
I nodded, then went back to Aaliyah. When I grabbed her hand, she stood and let me lead her to the foyer, away from everyone.
I pulled her in my arms and held her tightly.
“This has been hard, baby, but you and my babies make everything better. Not just for me but for my parents. It was like God took Crew and gave us two babies in his place. I know they will always look at them as blessings for their suffering.”
“That was what I was thinking when I saw how your dad’s face light up when you gave him Ravi. It brought tears to my eyes.”
“Mine too.”
“I love you so much, Royal. The rest of my life is guaranteed to be perfect as long as you and our children are in it.”
“I love you, too, Liyah.”
She puckered her lips, and I leaned over and kissed her. She was right. This was perfect and would continue to be, as long as we loved each other and made one another our first priorities next to God.
“Shit! It looks like they sliced and diced my son’s wee wee. I don’t like this shit, Liyah.”
She giggled. “You do know you were circumcised as a baby. Your little wee wee probably looked just like that.”
I turned my lip up. This shit was horrible.
Aaliyah had been changing him, because I didn’t wanna look at my son’s shit looking mutilated.
That shit had my dick hurting. She was laughing like the shit was funny.
I frowned as I put on his diaper, then picked him up and laid him against my shoulder, patting his back.
“I know, man. Daddy sorry. I can only imagine how that shit feels, especially when you pee. The good thing is, once it heals, you won’t remember this at all.”
Aaliyah was smiling as she brushed Rasha’s hair.
We’d just gotten done bathing them and she was going to breastfeed them so they could take a nap.
It had been a week since my brother’s funeral, and we were managing.
When Mama wasn’t at the business office, she spent time with us and Ashanni, loving on her grandbabies.
Once the last three got older, they would be able to spend more time at their house.
After the funeral, we’d gotten Crew’s room cleaned and repainted.
That was emotional as fuck, especially when Dad found drug paraphernalia under his bed.
My dad cried so much until he ended up throwing up.
My mama seemed to think he was going through withdrawals.
He was barely eating, and his stomach was always upset.
That very day, my mama rolled several blunts and practically dragged his ass to the deck.
When she lit up and smoked in front of him, he couldn’t resist. If he was quitting because he simply felt the need to, no one would try to convince him to smoke.
However, his reasoning wasn’t healthy. It was eating him alive.
It seemed after he smoked, he was immediately in better spirits, although he still felt sick. He was feeling a lot better now.
We’d put all of Crew’s things in his old bedroom like a memorial. Whenever we wanted to feel close to him, we just had to go into that room. Eventually, we would have to take it all down, but we would cross that bridge when the time came.
When Aaliyah was done feeding the babies, we brought them to their room. We were putting them in the same bed for now. They liked holding on to each other. They seemed to sleep longer that way also. I made sure the monitor was on, then went to the room with Aaliyah so we could take a nap as well.
When I walked in, I could hear that she was in the bathroom showering.
That was perfect. I grabbed the lighter from my nightstand drawer and lit candles, then put on soft jazz music on my phone.
Just because we couldn’t have sex, didn’t mean we couldn’t have a romantic evening.
Intimacy was important. I wanted to show her just how much I loved her, even if my dick was fighting me at every turn.
I took off my shirt and oiled my upper body. When she came out, she smiled. “Had I known you were planning something like this, I wouldn’t have wrapped my hair, and I would have put on my silk pajamas.”
I chuckled. “Naw. You looking like this is perfect. You look beautiful. I love you in your natural state just as much as I love you all made up.”
She blushed. She had on a nightshirt and fuzzy socks.
She liked wearing those around the house, since her feet were always cold.
She came to me, and I enveloped her in my arms, and we swayed to the sounds of Terrace Martin.
His music was more like jazz infused R&B.
As we swayed, she said, “This is nice, baby.”
“I think it’s important for us to maintain our connection. It’s easy to get wrapped up in taking care of Rasha and Ravi. They’re irresistible. We have to make a conscious effort to water our relationship and keep it healthy.”
I slid my hands down her body as I went to my knees.
“To water it, we have to remind each other of just how much the other means. We have to nourish the love and show care to the things that matter to the other person. I know you love your fuzzy socks. So my job is to pay attention to when the ones you have start to wear out and buy you more. Things as simple as that.”
Tears fell from her eyes as she stared at me. Since she got pregnant, she’d become way more emotional than she had been. Or it could have been that she just didn’t allow me to see that side of her until we were in a real relationship.
I lifted one leg, placing my foot on the floor and dug in my pocket for the box I’d been moving all around the house like a fool. She sat on my leg after I opened it.
“So, since I do all those things already, I knew there was something more I could do to show you how serious I am about taking care of you and our children. I want everything I have and own to be yours as well. I want every part of me to be concerned with every part of you, baby. I want us to be one under God and to reap all the blessings He has in store for us. I want us to be complete.”
I swiped her tears as she rested her head on my shoulder. Her body quaked for a moment. When she lifted her head and stared into my eyes, I knew I was good to continue.
“Aaliyah Anderson, I want to love and take care of you for the rest of my life. I want you to be a Henderson though. Will you do me the honor of agreeing to take my last name?”
“This is a moment I’ve dreamed of having with you for the past year and a half. I love you so much, and there is no other man I want this with. I will definitely take Henderson as my last name. I would have married you last year, baby.”
I slid the rock on her finger, then kissed her passionately, sliding my tongue to hers.
We hadn’t kissed like this in a long ass time, and I was loving every minute of it.
My emotions were threatening to take over me.
Royal Henderson was a dad and was about to be a whole ass husband. Who would have thought?