“Tell them to shut up. And then tell Mr. Jabali, because he scary,” Aziza responded.
Zoriah nodded. “He is,” she put in.
Ola Kate threw her head back and laughed, a loud, delighted sound that turned a few heads.
She reached out, turned Aziza’s chin to the side like she was checking symmetry. “Mm-hmm. Head hard, answers smart, little mean streak. And look at them eyes! Yep. She definitely his daughter,” she said, satisfied.
My fingers tightened on the buggy handle, my heart dropping. Jabali went still beside me. Katelyn’s eyes closed for half a second like she was praying for strength. Aziza blinked slowly.
“Who daughter?” she echoed, looking from Ola Kate to Jabali, confusion starting to knit her brows.
Ola Kate looked at us in disbelief. “Y’all ain’t told this baby—” she stopped. Then, she turned back to Aziza and smiled, not backing down an inch. “We mark strong on this branch. You look like us. You move like us. I can tell you’re Jabali’s daughter. That’s all I mean. Don’t overthink it, baby.”
Aziza looked stunned. Her gaze slid to me now, searching my face. I forced my expression calm, even as my heart tried to pound out of my chest.
“You always say I look like you,” she said slowly.
“You do. You look like both sides. It’s possible,” I said, my voice coming out a little shaky.
I moved to her, tried to pull her into my arms as Jabali and Katelyn fussed at an absolutely unrepentant Ola Kate. Aziza shook her head and walked the couple of steps to stand in front of Jabali. She looked up at him. We all knew the question that was coming next, and my heart broke. I didn’t want her to find out like this, in a noisy store with ear hustlers on every aisle.
“Mr. Jabali? Are you my daddy?” she asked solemnly.
He crouched, bringing himself eye level. “Yeah, baby, I am.”
She looked so serious, like her mind was processing, and I wanted her to be able to do that in quiet.
“We should go—” I started.
“That means you gotta split my stuff with Mama so ZoZo and I can get more!” she exclaimed suddenly, skipping back to Zoriah and high-fiving her.
Jabali and I looked at each other. That was it? Couldn’t be it. This moment that I had agonized about couldn’t be that simple.
“Let her have this. She’ll have questions later. She might even have tears later,” Katelyn murmured.
I nodded slowly, watching my child. But she was vibrating with excitement, unbothered by the momentousness of this discovery.
“Now, show me what foolishness you trying to put on this tree so I can veto it properly,” Ola Kate demanded.
“Yes, ma’am. Look, Auntie, I found dinosaurs!” Aziza lit up again instantly, dragging her down the aisle.
“They holy dinosaurs. ’Cause God made them first,” Zoriah added.
“Oh Lord,” Katelyn said.
I watched them go, my heart still beating weird. Jabali stepped closer, voice low just for me.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “I told them to chill. She do what she want.”
“She’s… a lot,” I said weakly.
“Welcome to my childhood,” he muttered.
Katelyn came to stand next to me, eyes on the chaos at the end of the aisle—my child, his aunt, his niece, all talking over each other about what color tinsel Jesus would use.
“I apologize on behalf of the Shipley side. Mama Kate means well. She just doesn’t believe in subtlety,” she said gently.
“It’s fine,” I lied.
