“Oh, Daddy,” she whimpered.
He hugged her to him as he continued his speech. “Like I was saying, I’m proud of you, baby girl. Proud of your academic achievements, proud of what a great big sister you are to Nat and Lena and Little Everett. Jo says all the time that she doesn’t know what she’s gonna do when you leave us.”
“For real?!” Ella squeaked into Big South’s chest.
“Yes, for real,” Jo said, her voice trembling.
At that, Ella moved from her father to Jo sitting right next to him, bending over to hug her. At the same time, Nat left her chair, tugging on Big South’s pant leg.
“Come on, Nat-Nat,” he said, picking her up. “And for the second reason for this celebration. Nat is officially a McClain! Thanks for all your help getting Bugz on board with this adoption, Nole!”
As everyone cheered, Nolan nodded. “You know I got you.”
“So, I ain’t tryna be up here all day. I mean, I ain’t Nolan,” Big South quipped, making Bridgette spit out her water and laugh while Nolan very conspicuously threw up his middle finger at his big brother. “I just wanna say that I’m proud of our family, proud of how it’s growing. Leland and Kim got another one on the way. Congrats, y’all!”
“I don’t know why I let him talk me into this,” Kim muttered, as she rubbed her huge stomach.
Leland leaned in and kissed her. “Because you love me.”
“Yeah, I do,” she replied, grinning.
“Nole and Bridgette still on that no kids bull.”
“Much as we babysit when we’re in town, you oughta be glad we aren’t having kids,” Bridgette said.
“True, true,” Big South agreed.
Just then, Neil rushed from inside Big South’s and Jo’s house to the backyard, our three-month-old son in his arms.
As he plopped down in the seat next to mine, I softly asked, “Everything okay? I see you changed his clothes.”
“His little ass had a blowout.”
“He got a stomach just like his daddy.”
“Stop hating.”
“How I’ma hate on you having bubble guts?”
“Because that’s what haters do, hate on any and everything. Y’all okay? She don’t need to be changed?”
“Unlike her brother, she didn’t inherit your bad guts, so she’s fine.”
“…my head staff writer over there, who ducked out on my speech,” Big South said.
“Man, you been up there talking for three days. Always calling me long-winded,” Nolan shouted.
“Shut up, Nole!” Big South shot back.
“Daddy duties, man,” Neil explained.
“Well, I’m proud of you, too. Got your rib—the YouTube star—and your twins, you’re making good music…you’re doing it, man,” Big South continued.
“Gotta do it for my family.”
“And Kat. Tommy, I still owe you an ass-whooping for sneaking around with my little sister, but—”
“Ass!” Nat screamed, her little arms still around Big South’s neck.
Everyone sitting around the tables occupying the backyard laughed, and poor Big South looked like he wanted to run as far away from there as possible.
“Don’t say that, Nat,” he begged.
“Dang, she still copying you?” Leland asked.
Jo just shook her head as she covered their little boy’s ears. That boy was so much like his daddy, it was scary!
“Uh, anyway…” Big South continued. “I’m still tryna figure out how y’all two got together.”
“Maybe we’ll tell our story one day,” Kat said, leaning in to kiss her man.
“Well, I can see you’re keeping my sister happy, so I guess I’ll let you slide, Tommy.”
“Let him slide? Kat’s mean butt be done tore you up for messing with him!” Aunt Ever said, chuckling as her husband threw his head back and laughed. Little Lena, who was sitting in her lap, even giggled.
“Tick, that big negro of Kat’s be done knocked you into next week. You ain’t got no choice but to let him slide!” Uncle Lee Chester shouted from his post at the grill. “By the way, ribs done! Pineapples, too!”
Whether Big South was done with his speech or not, there was a mass exodus from the area scattered with tables and chairs to the grill.
“Kim, you need to load up on those pineapples,” Leland called after his wife, as his little boy tagged along behind her.
“Here, take Oya, too, so I can go make us some plates,” I said to Neil, but Teetee Bridgette swooped in and took her from me.
“I got her. OMG, she and Olu are getting so big!” she gushed, peppering my baby girl’s cheeks with kisses.
“Hell, they were born big. Remember?” I said.
“True. I don’t know how you carried all that around. Girl, you are the truth!”
“Yeah, she is,” Neil agreed. “Nothing but the truth.”
As I stood in line with our plates, I let my eyes peruse the crowd of family in the huge yard, thinking how this was so different from how I felt back when I didn’t know where to turn or what to do, when my future was uncertain and my heart was broken. Never in a million years did I think I’d be living this life, but now, it felt like I’d always been married, always been a mother, always been a part of this beautiful family, and always been so…happy. I was so blessed even with my parents being far away from me. We kept in touch, I knew they were fine, and as soon as I was eligible to go from a green card-holder to a citizen, I was going to get a passport and go visit them. But in every way that counted, this was my family, too, and they helped me, accepted me. And my man? Damn, I loved me some him.
And he loved the hell out of Sage Marjoram Moniba-McClain. That, I knew without a single doubt.
“Who is that dancing with Uncle Lee Chester?” Leland asked.
“Hell if I know. Why? You thinking about cheating on Kim with her?” Everett asked.
“You can fuck yourself right now. I don’t mind. Go ahead. Fuck yourself real good, Ev,” Leland replied.
“For real. She’s what? Sixty, seventy? I know your ass is drooling.”
“Suck a dick, Ev. Suck a mean dick.”
“I ain’t gonna lie. She’s in shape, been keeping her balance good with Unc hunching all over her,” Nolan said.
“Did he bring her?” I asked.
“What y’all McClain brothers over here talking about?” Bridgette questioned, as she approached the table the four of us were sitting at.
“That chick with Uncle Lee,” Nolan said.
“That’s how you refer to your aunt?”
“Our aunt?!” all four of us damn near shouted.
“Which aunt is she?” Everett asked.
“Lou!” Bridgette informed us.
“That’s Aunt Lou? You’re shitting me!” Nolan said.
As she slid into Nolan’s lap, Bridgette explained, “No, I introduced myself to her and she said she was Lee Chester’s wife, Lou—actually, she said her name was Lou Bertha…poor woman. Then she told me she was Lunch Meat’s mama, and I was like, why didn’t I know this? I didn’t know Unc had kids. I wasn’t sure who Lunch Meat’s big ass belonged to. And he’s so quiet, who woulda known he was Uncle Lee’s?”
“I didn’t tell you? My bad. Unc got an outside kid, too, but we don’t talk about that,” Nolan said. “So that’s Aunt Lou, huh?”
“Wait, you don’t know her? You don’t know your aunt when you see her?”
“We ain’t never seen her. I mean, I know I haven’t,” I told her.
“What?!” Bridgette shrieked. And as the rest of our wives joined us, all holding a baby—Kim had my Olu, Jo had Little Ev, and Sage had my Oya while Little Leland, Nat, Lena, and Kat’s Little Randy ran around the yard chasing Ella—she added, “Are you serious?”
Once my brothers confirmed that they had never seen her either, Everett called Kat over to us and asked her if she knew who the woman was, to which Kat replied, “Shit, I don’t know.” Her mouth fell open when Bridgette told
her it was our Aunt Lou.
Sage handed Oya to me and then stood behind me. “She’s cute, though. And in shape. You see how she’s backing it up on Uncle Lee? She’s been backing it up for a minute, too.”
“Hey, Nolan! This what I was talking about! See how I’m doing this? Bam! Bam! Bam!” With each bam, he thrusted his hips, popping Aunt Lou in the ass with his groin. “This how you stand up in it!”
All you could hear was snickering as Nolan shook his head, and said, “Yeah, I see you, Unc.”
“And later on tonight, I’m gon’ put some ribs on her ass and go to town! Ha-haaaa!”
“Someone should round the kids up and take them inside before they’re scarred for life,” Everett said.
“Take Little Ev, I’ll get ‘em,” Jo offered. “Ella can help me.”
“Just don’t put no greens on me! Last time, that green juice got everywhere. Stained up my sheets and the damn mattress!” the trim older woman said. Aunt Lou wasn’t bad-looking in her red wig, heavy makeup, and purple dress. Those green shoes didn’t match, but I guess Unc liked it.
“Now, look. I told you I wasn’t gonna do greens again, shit!” Uncle Lee shouted.
“What time is it? They got MeTV here? I can’t miss Columbo.” That was Aunt Lou.
“You done seen every episode! I swear I shoulda left yo’ ass in Texas!”
“That woulda been fine with me! You the one who wanted me to come, kept fussing about me staying in the house, talking ‘bout we could get freaky in your nephew’s mansion!”
“The fuck?” Everett mumbled.
“Woman, you ain’t worth the spit it takes to cuss you!”
“Yes, I am!”
“And I still ain’t got over you breaking my damn TV! My color TV! Shit! Got a call! What-up-there-now?! Earl? Yeah…what? Ha-haaa!! I wish I was there to kick some spades ass, but I’m in LA at my nephew’s house…it’s two rich ones…not my Kimmy’s husband, the rapper.”
“His what?! That’s it. I gotta kick his ass,” Leland said, but Kim plopped down in his lap and started kissing him before he could make a move.
“Yeah!” Uncle Lee continued. “Okay, talk to you later.” He tapped that Bluetooth button and returned his attention to his wife, who’d just been standing next to him watching him talk. “Now, where was I?”
“You was talking shit about that old-ass TV!” Aunt Lou shouted.
“It was only twenty years old, woman! Shit!”
As they continued to argue, and my family watched them like they were a damn movie, I first kissed my baby girl, then my wife, looked around at my family, then closed my eyes and smiled. Life was good.
Life was real good.
Epilogue
10 months earlier…
The future…
This was my favorite part of the day, a part that had become as routine for me as it was for Neil. With the warmth of the newly-risen sun on my face, I sat on the patio floor, eyes closed, absorbing the stillness, quiet, and peace of this rising. The gentle sounds of nature provided the melody of the morning’s soundtrack. The calm beating of my heart and the rhythm of my breathing were the cadence. The only problem was that my mind wasn’t empty but racing with thoughts, exciting thoughts about our future, our hope, and our love.
All of that made me smile and sigh. And to think, I almost let that Emery ho’ mess up the best thing that ever happened to me—hands down.
The heat of Neil’s hand capped my bare shoulder. Slowly, I peeled my eyes open to look at him. So handsome and sexy and passionate and loving and mine.
All mine and mine alone...for now.
“Time for the affirmations, baby,” he said softly, his lush lashes waving at me as he blinked his eyes.
“Okay. Can I go first?” I replied.
Surprise quickly registered on his face. “Yeah, sure. Go ahead.”
With a quickened pulse, I took a deep breath, and instead of facing the sun as I usually did, I fixed my eyes on him. “I am beautiful. I am loved by the best husband in the world. My life is just as it should be, and the baby I’m carrying is healthy and strong and smart just like his or her daddy, a warrior with his confidence and self-awareness and loving heart. Our baby—”
“Wait, you said the baby you’re carrying, as in already carrying, or are you trying to manifest a baby?”
“No, what I’m saying is we’ve already manifested the hell out of a baby. I’m pregnant!”
“But...we ain’t even been trying that long. My sperm is stronger than a motherfucker!”
Before I could agree, he grabbed the sides of my face and kissed me hard, then snatched me into his arms, then let me go. “Shit, I ain’t mean to be so rough, but you’re having my baby? For real?”
“Yes! For real!”
“I’m so damn happy, baby! I don’t even need to do my affirmations today. I got everything I want!” He leaned in and kissed me gently this time, then added, “You sure it’s just one?”
“No, haven’t been to the doctor yet, and I think it’s probably too early to tell…I guess. Anyway, I want you to go with me. You think it could be twins? What the hell am I gonna do with twins?!”
“Come on, now. I got you. You know that.”
I fell against him and he wrapped his arms around me. “Yeah, I definitely know that.”
“I’m so happy, baby. Everything is...it’s the way it should be. You know?”
“It really is.”
We sat there holding each other until the ringing of a cell phone floated from inside the house through the open patio doors.
“That’s mine. Forgot to turn it off. Glad whoever it is decided to call after we finished meditating,” he said.
“Well, come on. You can answer it while I fix us some breakfast. I’m starving.”
I’d missed the call by the time we made it in the house. As Sage headed to the kitchen, I made a detour to our bedroom and grabbed my phone, had stepped into the kitchen when I informed her that the call was from Uncle Lee Chester.
“You gonna call him back?” she asked.
“It’s early enough that he might actually want something, so yeah.”
After I tapped the missed call notification to call him back, I set the phone on the table and activated the speakerphone while I slid into one of the chairs. After a couple of rings, his voice boomed from the phone’s speakers.
“Neil!”
“What up, Unc? You called?”
“Yeah! How you and Sadie doing?”
Sage covered her mouth as she giggled.
“We good, Unc. Real good.”
“Good, Nephew. Look, I was calling because I thought about something. You know, I been helping Nolan with his wife and shit, giving him advice ‘cause he ain’t used to black womens.”
“Yeah, I know. He appreciates it, too. You should call him more often, give him more advice. He wanted to tell you that, but you know…he was too proud to.”
Sage turned and looked at me with wide eyes, mouthing, “You are wrong for that.”
I shrugged in response, giving her a lopsided grin.
“Sho’ nuff?” Unc said.
“Yeah!” I replied.
“Thanks for letting me know! Matter of fact, I’ma call him after I hang up with you. But anyway, I thought, ‘Now Lee, it ain’t right to help one twin and not the other.’”
“Ha!” Sage said, then covered her mouth.
With stretched eyes, I fell back in my seat. “Uh, Unc...I don’t need—”
“I know you always messed with black girls, but it’s been awhile since you had a girlfriend and now you got a wife. I know you tryna keep her ‘cause she all African and shit. So listen here. What you know about the click?”
“The click?” I asked.
“The click! The pearl tongue! The little man in the boat! What you know about that?”
“You talking about the clit, Unc?”
“Yeah! That’s what I said! The click!”
By then, Sage was doubled over
laughing.
“Unc, I know plenty about the clit—” I tried.
“Let me tell you what you gotta do with that sum-bitch. You gotta work it! You gotta knock the man out the boat! Neil, do you like eating at the breakfast buffet?”
“What?” I asked, looking up to see Sage wiping tears.
“Damn, boy! I gotta teach you everything? Do you like eating at the breakfast buffet, going down the town, stepping down the stairs, doing a seventy-nine?!”
“Unc, are you talking about eating pussy?”
“Uh-huh. You know how to do that?”
“Yeah, I do—”
“This is how you do it…”
As Uncle Lee went about the business of giving me the most inaccurate and disturbing lesson of my life, Sage moved behind me and wrapped her arms around my neck, then she pressed her lips to my ear, and whispered, “I love you and the whole crazy-ass McClain family. You know that?”
I smiled, and whispered back, “We love you, too, but I love you most.”
“Mmmm…” she sighed. “Asé, king.”
“So it is, baby. So it is.”
A southern girl at heart, Alexandria House has an affinity for a good banana pudding, Neo Soul music, and tall black men in suits. When this fashionista is not shopping, she’s writing steamy stories about real black love.
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Also by Alexandria House:
The McClain Brothers Series:
Let Me Love You
Let Me Hold You
Let Me Free You (McClain Brothers Book 4) Page 17
