“I’m waiting for her to get here too, so I can hit the gym. I got to prepare for my wedding just in case I have to whoop some ass,” Nakia replied with a chuckle. Asia was still a thorn in their side. After years of being separated from Buck, she just couldn’t seem to let go. She had finally left them alone after getting her ass beat a few times, but they didn’t know for how long.
“I can’t wait. This is the first wedding that I’ve ever been in,” Amber said excitedly.
Amber and Derrick were still going strong and had moved into their own apartment a year ago. She had graduated from college and had landed a job in her field a few months later. Her mother sold the house when she moved out and moved in next door with Sara. Their grandmother was getting up in age, but she still got around pretty well.
“Buck’s mama is excited too. She said that she’s happy that one of her kids is getting married and giving her some grandbabies,” Nakia laughed.
“She was so happy today. She needs something positive to keep her mind off of China,” Rylee replied.
China had been in denial about her sickness for so long that she was worse off than they expected when she did get checked out. Instead of just having the virus, she now had full blown AIDS. Had she been taking her medicine like she should have, she would still be going strong. Instead, she had to be placed in an assisted living facility because she could no longer take care of herself. She was barely thirty years old and wearing diapers like an old lady. They all knew that she didn’t have much longer, but they tried to make the best of the time that she still had. Kirk had left her a few months after being diagnosed and moved in with Brandy. That hurt China more than knowing that he was the one who infected her. Nothing had changed with Brandy, and she was still stripping at any club that hired her. Once people found out about her status they didn’t want to have anything to do with her. Kirk was basically doing to her what he’d done to China at the beginning of their relationship. He stayed home and chilled while she went work and paid all the bills.
“Yeah, Buck said that the people told them that China’s probably gonna be going to hospice within the next three to six months. You know it’s over for you after that,” Nakia replied.
“Damn,” Rylee replied while shaking her head right as Zyra and Jeremy walked up.
“We’re going home, girl. I’ve had enough fun for the day,” Zyra said as she and Jeremy hugged everybody goodbye.
Surprisingly she and Jeremy had been dating exclusively for almost three years and were now living together. She and Tommy remained friends, and he had just welcomed a baby boy with his new wife. He still owned the club and was in the process of trying to open another one.
“Everything is cleaned up and put away. I know you should be worn out. You want me to give my babies a bath before I leave?” Glenda asked Rylee.
“Bless your heart Glenda,” she said hugging her mother-in-law who was heaven sent.
The twins were now four years old and bad as ever. Zyria was the calmer of the two, but Ziggy was a straight menace. Zyria would live in the bathtub if she could, but it was like pulling teeth to get Ziggy in there.
“Your son ran off the minute I mentioned taking a bath,” Glenda said as she walked back over holding Zyria’s hand. Rylee wasn’t surprised, though. Now she had the tough task of finding him and dragging him to the tub. She knew that she wouldn’t have to look far. Wherever Zyrian was the twins weren’t usually too far away.
“Get your bad ass up and go take a bath nigga,” Grim said to Ziggy, who was holding on to Zyrian’s legs.
“Tell that nigga fuck him Ziggy,” Zyrian told his son.
“Fuck you, nigga,” Ziggy repeated.
“Ziggy!” Rylee yelled when she walked over.
“My daddy told me to say that,” Ziggy replied while looking at Zyrian.
“And his bad ass is a snitch too,” Snake laughed as Rylee gave Zyrian the look of death.
“Come on and take a bath,” Rylee said holding her hand out for her son.
“I took a bath yesterday mama,” Ziggy whined as Rylee pulled him away.
“Ole dirty ass lil boy,” Snake yelled after him.
They all fell out laughing when Ziggy turned around and pointed his middle finger at him. Rylee would die if she knew some of the stuff that they were teaching her son. Thankfully Ziggy was smart enough not to do anything in her presence. He got caught earlier, but that didn’t happen too often.
“I’ll be right back,” Zyrian said as he got up and followed Rylee inside. His mother had just finished dressing Zyria, so she took Ziggy to the bathroom to bath him.
“Don’t think I forgot,” Zyrian said while pulling Rylee into their bedroom. He opened their top drawer and pulled out a bag and handed it to her.
“I know baby, but I wanted today to be about Nakia,” Rylee answered.
“Cool, she had her day so go handle your business,” he instructed.
“Okay,” Rylee said as she removed the contents from the bag and went into the bathroom.
“Leave the door open,” Zyrian ordered.
“You make me sick,” Rylee fussed.
He stood in the doorway and watched as she did what she had to do. Once she was done, she stood next to him and waited.
“I told you,” Zyrian yelled excitedly as two pink lines appeared on the pregnancy test. Rylee’s cycle was late, and she’d been feeling nauseous a lot lately.
“God please just let it be one baby this time,” Rylee prayed as she looked up to the sky.
“Please let it be another girl. I can’t handle another Ziggy,” Zyrian laughed as he pulled her down on the bed and kissed her.
“You made him that way,” Rylee replied.
“Give me like three or four more and I’ll leave you alone,” Zyrian promised.
“I don’t mind. I told you that I want a big family,” Rylee agreed.
Rylee didn’t want her kids to grow up feeling lonely like she did once her sister was killed. She became an only child after that. She married into a bigger family, but she also wanted one of her own. Zyrian didn’t care what she wanted, he was determined to make it happen. Nothing was too good for his wife and kids, and Rylee knew that. She often joked and said that if Zyra had gone to a different lawyer that day, the two of them would have never met. Their meeting each other wasn’t like the ones in the storybooks, but it was their own original story. To Zyrian, it was meant to be, no matter how complicated it was.
Complicated 3 Page 23
