Epilogue - Van #2
She looked up from somebody’s nails when I walked inside.
“What are you doing here?”
“Wanted to see the sign.”
“You already saw the sign.”
“Not finished.”
She rolled her eyes, but she smiled too.
I knew what that place meant to her. She had built it back her way this time.
When the lease on her cottage ended, she finally gave that up too. She hadn’t slept there in months by then, but I knew why she had kept it.
Instead of wasting money renewing a lease on an empty place, she bought herself a small rental property and rented it out.
Love-Lee was still her main money, but the rent gave her a second stream of income that belonged to her too.
I helped replace a garbage disposal over there once.
That was about it. Lee made it clear pretty early that the property was hers and she wasn’t looking for me to turn it into some project.
I understood. After everything she had been through, I wasn’t about to ask her to give up every damn thing with her name on it because she loved me. Hell, I liked knowing she had choices and still came home to me every night.
Lee was still beside me, holding my hand while we stood near our table.
“You happy?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“For real?”
I smiled. “For real.”
She reached up and kissed me.
I had always wanted this part of life. Marriage. Kids. A house with a family in it. After my first marriage ended, I stopped being in a hurry to get there.
Raya and I had wanted two completely different things when it came to children, and there wasn’t any compromise that would’ve made both of us happy. Somebody would’ve ended up giving up something too big.
With Lee, I didn’t have to talk her into wanting the same kind of family I did.
She was already a damn good mama to Myles, even when that boy had her looking half-dead from exhaustion.
She worried too much, carried half the damn house with her every time we went somewhere, and could hear him getting into something from the other side of the house.
And she wanted more children. So did I. At least two more if I got my way. Another boy and a girl.
With Myles finally semi potty trained, Lee had already promised me we could start trying on the honeymoon. Me and Lee didn’t agree on everything, but when it came to family, we wanted the same shit.
A microphone squealed near the DJ table and everybody turned.
Maisie stood there with a champagne glass in one hand and the microphone in the other.
Lee stayed beside me, and I slipped my arm around her waist.
“I ain’t finna keep y’all long,” Maisie said. “I just wanted to say something about my baby and her new husband.”
The yard quieted down.
“I watched Leona go through more than I ever wanted either one of my daughters to go through. When she came home, I wanted to fix everything for her because that’s what mamas do. But I couldn’t fix all of it.”
Lee’s hand found mine.
“She came home and got to work. Got her business back going. Had that baby. Kept moving even on days I know she wanted to sit down somewhere and cuss everybody out.”
People laughed, and Lee smiled beside me.
Maisie looked straight at her daughter.
“I’m proud of you, baby. I’m proud of the mama you are, the businesswoman you are, and the woman you grew into. I know we done had our stuff over the years, but I hope you know I love you and I’m proud of you.”
Lee nodded, blinking fast, and squeezed my hand.
Then Maisie looked at me.
“And Evander, you figured out real quick that my child don’t like nobody telling her what to do.”
That got another laugh.
Maisie smiled.
“But you stayed. You loved her, you loved that baby, and you showed up when they needed you.”
I looked down for a second and swallowed.
Then she looked toward the kids.
“And Myles has been yours from the beginning. You loved him before he even had a name. You were there when he came into this world, and you’ve been there every day since. Ain’t nobody had to ask you to do that but you did and I appreciate it more than you’ll ever know.”
I followed her eyes.
Myles had one hand wrapped around JJ’s while Jaliyah and Zuri followed behind them.
Maisie raised her glass.
“All I ever wanted was to see both my girls happy and surrounded by people who love them. Looking at them both today I think I did a damn good job.”
Lee leaned into my side.
“So congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Coleman. Evander, take care of my babies.”
“I got ’em.”
Maisie smiled. “I know.”
Everybody raised their glasses.
I took a drink.
Lee didn’t.
She brought the champagne to her mouth, but I watched her lower the glass without taking a sip.
When she looked at me, she was already smiling.
“You’re not drinking.” I pointed out.
“I know.”
That got my attention.
Lee moved closer so nobody around us could hear.
“I was gonna wait until the honeymoon to tell you.”
My stomach tightened before she said anything else.
“Tell me what?”
Her smile got bigger.
“I’m pregnant.”
I stared at her. Then my eyes went straight to her stomach even though I knew damn well there wasn’t anything there to see yet.
“You serious?”
She nodded.
I put my hand against her stomach anyway.
Lee laughed softly. “There ain’t nothing there to feel yet.”
“I know.”
For a second, I just stood there smiling at her with my hand on her stomach.
We had talked about more kids enough for me to know we both wanted this. I just hadn’t expected us to beat the honeymoon to it.
“We were supposed to start trying on the honeymoon.”
Lee laughed. “Apparently we got ahead of ourselves.”
I kissed her. When I pulled back, I looked from her to everybody standing around us.
Lee caught the look on my face.
“Van.”
Too late.
“LEE’S PREGNANT!”
The whole backyard went quiet for about half a second before everybody lost their minds.
Anika screamed loud enough to scare the kids. Mama shot out of her chair. Maisie’s mouth fell open while Lee slapped me in the chest, laughing.
“Evander!”
I grabbed my wife around the waist and kissed her again before turning toward everybody.
“MY BABY HAVING MY BABY!”
The End