Chapter 32-Kenya
When Devon returned to the dining room from the tour that my father was giving him, he seemed like he had a lot on his mind. It made me wonder what he and my father could have possibly talked about that visibly had him so deep in thought.
He sat next to me at the table, and I leaned over to him and asked, “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, baby girl, I’m great. Why’d you ask?”
“You look like you have something on your mind.”
“I do, but it’s nothing bad.”
“Are you sure? If you want to step away from the table to talk about it, we can.”
“No, trust me. I’m good.”
Although I wanted to ask more questions, I decided to let it be. I did , however, have a few questions for my father.
“Father, where are Kendra and Ivan?”
We hadn’t spoken since the altercation at my house, and I was actually looking forward to seeing her. I wanted to clear the air, and I also missed my nieces and nephew.
“When I asked for the divorce, your mother, in her bitter nature, told her about her paternity secret. Kendra has refused to answer any of my calls. When I spoke with Ivan about it, he told me that it would be best if I stopped calling her.”
“He said what?” I asked for confirmation.
I understood that he wasn’t her biological father, but he was the man who raised her, provided for her, and loved her. I hoped that she was simply hurt and wasn’t bitter enough to throw a relationship away with the only father that she had known.
“Kenya, I am not going to worry myself about it, and neither should you. Kendra is her mother’s child. Should she decide to forgive me, I will be right here with opened arms.”
I nodded in agreement, but her actions still bothered me.
“Baby, don’t stress.” Devon leaned over and whispered in my ear, bringing me back in. “You can’t control the narrative, and don’t worry yourself by trying to.”
He was always preaching to me not to worry about the things that I couldn’t control, especially with my family.
Sitting at the dining table, it was obvious that the core of my family had been reimagined and redefined.
I missed Kendra sitting beside me, but to look over and see Dreux’s smiling face felt normal.
To be seated with my father, Fancy, Tobias, Dreux, and Devon, felt like this was what I needed.
They were the people whom I loved unconditionally, and I knew that they loved me in return.
Unconditional love had never been synonymous with family to me, but one day that changed. I couldn’t say the exact day that it happened, but love and family suddenly had a new meaning, and I was grateful. Somehow, I felt like Devon was the thing that changed it all.