Chapter 15 #3
She let out a slow sigh. “Well, Sasha, we haven’t exactly gotten to spend a lot of time with our daughter-in-law. This seems
like as good a time as any to get to know more about her.”
“Momma!”
An uncomfortable hush settled over the table. I knew my folks would be putting someone under the microscope, I’d just expected
it to be me. Courtney and Mya shared another look before my wife cut her eyes over at me with a strained half smile on her
face.
“She’s not wrong,” Dad said, wiping his mouth. “You up and got married out the blue, and in the years following we’ve not
had much time with Courtney because she’s always . . . busy.”
“Working,” Courtney corrected, the smile gone. “The season keeps me pretty occupied and then right after I’m overseas to play.
I spend a lot of time working to provide for my wife and take care of my sister.”
“Be that as it may, how can you be building a meaningful relationship if you’re always ‘working’ as you’ve claimed?” Dad pressed.
“I would think it would be easy for you to comprehend, taking into account your own professional ambitions.”
Oh fuck . . .
“Excuse me?” I knew the tone Dad was taking with those two words and nothing good was going to come out of this if they kept on. Dad hated to be challenged, and Courtney wasn’t one to back down if she felt she’d been insulted or disrespected.
“Quincy, now why are you and Beverly tryin’ to give Courtney the third degree? Let the girl ’lone,” Big Mama cut in. “This
is a day of thanks, and we are thankful we have family and we all together. That is enough.”
“It’s not the third degree, Mama. We don’t know much about the girl. We are simply trying to get to know more about the new member of our family,” Dad countered.
A tense silence had once again fallen over the table. The only ones unaware of the storm brewing were the kids, who were occupied
at the smaller table in the kitchen. I could feel Courtney’s leg bouncing, and Mya had her hand on Courtney’s arm as she squeezed
the life out of her fork.
“The only thing you need to know—”
“Daddy, me and Courtney are good,” I blurted out, cutting Courtney off before whatever she was about to say came out of her
mouth. She could be stubborn, and I didn’t want her clashing with my dad over dinner like this. Everything I’d eaten threatened
to come back up.
I took a deep breath and continued on. “Better than good. In fact, we are workin’ on gettin’ y’all some grandkids.”
Courtney’s head whipped to the side so fast I could have sworn I heard the whoosh of the movement. I wouldn’t look at her though. I kept my focus on my folks and did my best to ignore the hole she was burning
into the side of my face. Dad slowly shifted his attention from Courtney to me with his expression transforming from irritation
to bewilderment.
“Are you sure that’s something you’re ready for?” Mom asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I thought y’all would be happy.
Me settlin’ down, startin’ a family.” I did my best to keep my tone even despite the new wave of upset that rolled through me.
Why couldn’t they ever just be proud of something I did?
Why did everything have to be a question of my judgment as if I never made good decisions?
For once, would it be so damn hard for them to just be supportive?
“Well, Sasha, I think it’s great,” Big Mama said. “We ain’t had no baby in the family in a while. We overdue.”
I smiled at my grandmother, grateful to have someone on my side, because my wife didn’t chime in to help. “Thank you, Big
Mama. It’s a process because, well, you know. But we’ve gotten things started and I’m excited. Daddy, what do you think? Ready
to be a granddaddy?”
I noticed the shifting of eyes around the table, most of them flicking from Courtney and back to me, but I still refused to
look at her.
He sucked his tongue and shook his head. “You sure this is something you both discussed? Because, um . . .” He pointed his
fork between me and Courtney, obviously noticing her rigid body language.
Courtney’s displeasure was palpable, but I was in too deep to change course now. Besides, what did she expect me to do, let
her get into it with my parents? I knew her, and how cutting her words could be when she wanted. My parents had their faults,
but they still expected to be spoken to a certain way, and Courtney didn’t understand that.
Moving closer, I linked arms with her and tried not to react when she flinched ever so slightly at the contact. I rested my
head on her shoulder and smiled wide at my parents. “She’s just a little upset because, as Big Mama said, y’all tried to give
her the third degree, that’s all. And of course, we’ve had plenty of discussions about startin’ a family. Isn’t that right,
babe?”
Courtney didn’t respond right away, and when I felt a little push from her other side, I realized that while she couldn’t get up and walk away like usual, she must have zoned out, and Mya nudged her to get her attention. I sat up and we locked eyes briefly before she turned her attention elsewhere.
“Yeah, we’ve talked about it,” she answered, then excused herself from the table.