“And I am. All the mares done dropped and I’m still waddling. I think I’ve gained an extra fifteen pounds since Friday.” She turned her face up just as the door opened and out walked Duhani carrying their toddler.
“That is absolutely not possible. It’s in your mind.”
It was her turn to wave me off. “Whatever.”
I laughed.
“What’s up, Doc? Did he go wild about the mini cow?” Duhani greeted me, sitting his daughter at the picnic table with a big ass donut in front of her.
I shrugged. “Nothing really. He really liked it. Too bad I think I’ll be buying another one from you for his birthday.”
Duhani laughed. “Told you that you can’t just buy one.”
I shook my head, thinking back on his warning that I’d be buying another by spring because they were technically companion animals. As a matter of fact, he and Asher had warned me about this.
It wasn’t too long before Hudson and Ethan approached, then right after, shockingly, were my sister and Don. She hadn’t expected him to come back, yet here he was, holding her hand and staring at her like she was the love of his life.
I was pulled from my thoughts when, even in this cold ass weather, I smelled Hudson behind me before he spoke.
“I know what I want for Christmas and I’m pretty sure I got it. Thing is, you haven’t told me what you want.”
“Think I already have it too.” I turned around and faced him.
“Good to know. Merry Christmas, Greene with an e.”
Epilogue
Time stands still for no one.
Several months later…
Hudson
Ever since I traded in my city life for a life here in Millers Pointe, I felt lighter, like I could breathe again. Then I began to ask myself when the hell had I stopped breathing? Somewhere between being on that field and dealing with everything that came with it. Life was strange that way. I thought it would be hard with the change of scenery and pace, but it wasn’t. If anything, it felt like I finally had the ability to settle into where I was meant to be the entire time.
“Coach, did I run that right or should I have taken a left?” Parker, one of my players, asked, gripping my attention.
“Nah, you did good. Trust your instincts, P. Tell them let’s run it again.”
He nodded, then ran back toward the field where everyone else stood waiting for direction.
Safe to say, I’d accepted the coaching job and stayed right here in Millers Pointe.Home.After some back and forth, Perry had also been able to secure a win with the team, a definite win for me and a loss for them. In the beginning they acted like they didn’t want to pay, but eventually paid because the last thing they needed was bad press. That was a good look, because I was able to go back, take care of all of that, then came back here a few months ago. Now here I was.
As for me and Greene? No lie, shit happened fast, too fast, but no part of me was a slow ass nigga. So our pace was our pace. In so many words, we were still going strong—me, her, and Ethan.
The sound of my name being called broke my thoughts and I immediately glanced over my shoulder. A smile graced my face when my eyes landed on Ethan running up to me. He hugged my legs when he reached me a few seconds later.
“Hudson, Mommy said we can have Pancake House for dinner.” He was so excited.
I chuckled, looking off in the distance to see Greene talking to her sister before she began to walk in our direction.
“Did you hear me, Hudson?”
“Yeah, I did. I thought we were eating tacos tonight, E. What happened?”
He shrugged. “Mommy said she was tired, and it was your fault.” That last part he whispered. Then he ran across the empty space and started doing kid shit. What I meant by that was those half flips. kicks, and handstands that would have him asking us if we saw him in less than minutes.
I chuckled just as Greene was within reach. “So, you’re tired, Greene with an e?”
