by Autumn Sand
“Yes, Mommy. Tick swore me to secrecy.” Her eyes twinkle as she smiles at me, warming my heart even more.
“Thank you, sweetheart.” I kiss the top of her head and then turn to face my ragtag family. “Thank you, everyone. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
“Hey, I’ll do anything for a piece of cake.” Manny jokes as he comes over, wrapping me in his protective arms. “Happy birthday.”
Anaya hands me a gift and gives me a quick embrace. “Happy birthday and many more.”
Tony, Magnum, and Brenda join in with hugs and birthday wishes as well. We all eat cake and enjoy our afternoon together. When the last guest has left—leaving Dante, Lelia, and I alone in the room—Dante is again acting strange. He and Lelia are whispering to each other.
“What are the two of you whispering about?” I place my hands on my hips and tap my toe on the floor in mock annoyance.
“It’s a secret, Mommy,” Lelia giggles.
Dante laughs and gives Lelia a kiss on the cheek. “Good girl.” He laughs again. “I tell you, this kid sure can keep a secret. She could work for the C.I.A. one day,” he jokes.
“Hey, no more secrets. What are the two of you up to?” I try to look stern, but I can’t help but smile at them.
Dante bends closer to Lelia. “Should we tell Mommy?” Lelia nods and he smiles at her. Standing at his full height, he reaches into his pocket and hands Lelia a box. Taking it in her tiny hands, she opens it, revealing a beautiful heart-shaped diamond ring in a platinum setting.
“Wh-what is this?” My voice trembles as I ask the question.
On one knee, Dante kneels in front of me, taking my left hand into his. “Will you marry me and make us officially a family? Spend the rest of your life with me because you complete me, and I am only half a man without you.”
I look to my daughter, who is still holding the open box in her hands, as she anxiously nods her head yes. Turning to see the man I love with all of my heart, I tell him, “Yes. Yes, of course I will marry you.” With tears in both of our eyes, he stands and kisses me, holding me steady because my knees go weak.
“I want a hug too, Mommy,” Lelia says from her bed. We both go over to give her a hug. She hands me my ring, which Dante places on my finger.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” Reaching into another pocket, Dante pulls out another box and hands it to Lelia. “This is for you, baby girl.”
“For me?” she asks with a wide smile on her face.
“Absolutely, you didn’t think I would forget about getting something for you, did you?”
She opens the box and it is a necklace with her name spelled out in gold and diamonds. “I love it.” She smiles and he gives her a kiss on the cheek.
“You thought of everything.”
“I try to keep the two special women in my life happy at all times.”
“Hmm, what’s that saying?” I joke.
“Happy wife, happy life?”
Sauntering over to him, I ask, “What was that word again?”
He grins as he takes me in his arms. “Wife? I want my wife to be happy.”
“That’s the word I’m looking for. Music to my ears.” And I kiss my knight in shining armor.
Epilogue
Father Figure ~ George Michael
Tick
We’re moving into our new home in Westchester today. When the house next door to Tony and Anaya went up for sale, Cyma jumped on it and we made an offer. Anaya decorated the house for us as a housewarming gift. I really didn’t care how she decorated the place as long as my man cave was left up to me to decide. She frowned at this at first but went along with it. For the most part, I think it turned out great: theater seating, a few sports memorabilia, and of course, my prized possession, my hundred-and-four-inch television. The best part of this moving day is actually Lelia. She’s home from the hospital and is in full remission. Her hair is starting to grow back, and I can tell she’s going to be a knock out like her mother. Mental note to self: make sure my gun is fully loaded when she gets to dating age. Tony and I are going to have a field day with anyone coming to take her out.
Carrying yet another box into the house, I search for Cyma to make sure I don’t put it somewhere she doesn’t want it. I find her in the kitchen, putting away some dishes. “Where do you want this box?”
“Oh, you can place that one in the corner over there.” She points her finger where she wants it.
Doing as I’m told, I place the box in the corner and move back over to her, pick her up in my arms to plant one on her. “The house looks great. You’re happy?”
“More than happy.”
“Hey, there’s plenty of time for that crap later. Where do you want this box?” Manny complains as he enters the kitchen.
“Take that one to the master bedroom.”
“Fuck no. I’m not stepping foot in his boudoir.” Manny shoves the box in my arms. “Got any beer in this joint?”
Grabbing a beer, she hands it to him.
“I don’t know what you’re complaining about. You hardly did anything,” I tell him as I place the box on the counter.
After taking a sip of his beer, he says, “Are you kidding me? I busted my ass today.”
“Watch the cursing. Lelia is home and I don’t want any cursing around her,” Cyma scolds and I slap him on the back of his head.
“Fuck.” He rubs as he realizes his mistake. “Shit, Cyma, I’m sorry.”
“Shit, shit, shit,” Lelia repeats as she goes through the kitchen. Cyma narrows her eyes at Manny, who shrugs at her.
“My bad.” He smirks and sits at the island.
“I’ll talk to her. Okay?” Kissing Cyma on the top of her head, I go off to find Lelia. I catch up with her upstairs in her room. She’s playing with her dolls. “Hey, princess. You can’t use that word again, okay?”
Her nose crinkles. “What word?”
“Shit, baby girl. It’s a bad word.” I kneel down in front of her, taking her tiny hands in mine.
“Oh. Okay. I won’t say it again.”
“Okay, princess.” Embracing her in a hug, I stand and turn to leave. Then I hear a word that I never thought would make me so happy.
“I love you, Daddy.”
I pause at the door at the sound of her little voice. She called me daddy. Is it possible for my heart to be full with emotion from a simple word? Turning around, I bend down to pick her up and kiss her cheek. “I love you too, baby girl.”
Wrapping her little arms around my neck, she squeezes as tightly as she can. I never want to let her go. This little creature has me wrapped around her finger. I can’t believe I’m actually getting choked up.
“Daddy, you okay?” Her tiny hands touch my cheek.
There it is again. “Yes. Daddy’s okay. I just love you so much.”
She kisses my cheek and I place her back on her feet so she can play. I stand watching her for a long moment as she plays with her hundreds of dolls and stuffed animals. Turning around, I see Cyma with tears in her eyes. She must have heard our conversation.
“I just came up to make sure your talk was going okay.” She wipes tears of joy from her eyes.
“I think I handled it okay. I still have a lot to learn about being a father.”
Wrapping her arms around my waist, she says, “I think you are doing all right so far.”
“She called me ‘Daddy.’” I am still in awe of that word and it being in reference to me.
“I know.” She kisses me and Second Dante awakens.
“How about later tonight, I get you to call me ‘Daddy’ too?” As I kiss her gently on her neck, she squirms in my embrace.
“Again, you two? I mean, fuck, can’t you keep your hands off each other?” Manny complains.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Lelia says as Cyma and I both turn to glare at Manny.
Oh, yeah, this father thing is going to be difficult, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
The End
A Lett
er from the Author
Dear Reader,
This was a hard book to write for so many reasons and at times I didn’t think I would or could finish it. But here we are, me writing this letter and you the reader completing the journey of Cyma and Dante.
There are certain parts of this book that I know was hard to read because it was hard to write; the issues of gun violence, death and cancer. As always I feel it is my responsibility to tell you that I do not condone any forms of violence. Perhaps the world would be a better place if we expressed ourselves with words and not fists. But that is my fairytale that I hope to come true one day.
We have each either dealt with grief from the loss of a loved one or had to hold a beloved family members hand as they went through cancer treatments or worse. I have dealt with both as so many of you. Grief is an all-consuming entity that can engulf us. I myself have wallowed in it before and it is hard to find your way out. I lost my childhood friend when I was five years old to leukemia and I still grieve his loss. I just want you to know that you are not alone. You are loved and people care about you and what you are going through. There are some great support groups that you can call if you are in need.
If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with cancer please call:
The American Cancer Society
Tele# 800-227-2345
Website: http://www.cancer.org/treatment/supportprogramsservices/index
For Grief Support please call:
Grief Share
Tele# 800-395-5755
Website: http://www.griefshare.org/
Be Healthy, Be Safe, and most importantly Be Blessed,
Autumn Sand
Acknowledgements
Wow, what a process to finish this book; blood, sweat, tears and of course several Jack and Cokes (lol). I want to thank anyone who has taken the time to read Mayhem and go on this journey with me. It has been exciting to make the characters come to life and I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I loved creating them.
Thank you mom for giving me courage when I thought I had none left in me. My next acknowledgement will be to my dearest sister friend Chucky. Thank you for standing behind me and putting up with all my levels of crazy. Thank you to Carl of Powersmith Studios who is not only an incredible artist but also an incredible friend. Thanks to my ride or die crew Richard and Lou. A special thanks to Carol for inspiring me in ways that she will never know. Heartfelt appreciation to the Leon family for being my testing board; we have to do another game night soon! To Mel, I don’t know what I would have done without you. Toshia, thank you for being honest with me when my book was initially given to you for a proofread. You helped guide me in the right direction and introduced me to CC. Now my CC comrades in arms Robin Kerr and Devin, thank you ladies for all of your suggestions in making Mayhem better. Please look for Robin’s book in the future “The Inconvenient Houseguest”, it is an incredible story and I will keep everyone posted on her publish date. Last but never least if it weren’t for the great teams that worked with me on making this come true; Jenn Wood, Pixel Mischief and The Last Step Proofreading.
About the Author
Autumn Sand was born and raised in New York City. Considering herself a true New Yorker in every way from the restaurants that she eats to the shoe fetish she has. Oh yes at one-time Autumn has had a shoe collection of 300 and has the credit card statements to prove it. Other than shoe shopping she has various interests such as reading, writing, and traveling. Autumn has worked in the fashion industry for most of her adult life before pursuing writing. She is reluctant to call herself an author but considers herself a person who writes words that people just so happen to like to read. As you can tell Autumn has a sarcastic sense of humor and loves to make her friends laugh in all occasions. She enjoys a good glass of wine but her go to drink of choice is a Jack Daniels and coke with a twist of lime.
I would love to hear from you. Please email me if you would like to join my mailing list for future updates on upcoming books or just to tell me your favorite part of the book. Don’t forget if you loved the book to rate it and leave a comment on your eBook forum.
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