John’s brows rose then fell. “So Andrew…”
“Is mine until he ain’t,” Jahlil stated. “I fought to get him. I did some shit. I took him to college with me. All six of us raised him and all eight of us are trying to raise Sanaa but she’s raising us, for real.”
John chuckled. “That’s how it goes. Aryn is giving us a run for our money and we’re letting him to be honest. I thought Miya was going to give me a heart attack. That second born myth isn’t a lie. Watch out for that next one.”
Jahlil looked over his shoulder, finding Carson’s hand getting popped and pushed out of the kitchen. The joy over Emani’s face couldn’t be bought or sold but he’d give up everything to keep it plastered there. Anything to keep her here.
“Honestly, I can wait. Look, I’m not going to give you too much more heat. You’re here at her table, which means she sees something I can’t and I’m going to trust that. So get a drink, a seat, and be ready to play spades and get clowned. We’re an equal opportunity type of family,” Jahlil shared, gesturing him to the back door. “Ashton talks a lot of shit but he won’t do nothing…unless your mother is living, the nigga is a motherfucker.”
John paused. “You mean muhfucka?”
“Nah, I mean the nigga will fuck your mother. He got mommy issues. We don’t talk about them much. Damn…we all got mommy issues,” Jahlil stated, coming to the realization. “Damn, I got a trauma bond with these niggas.”
“Shit, if y’all got space for one more, I do too,” John half-joked, making his way to the spades table. Andrew and Miya sat underneath the neighboring cabana playing the game while Sanaa and Aryn ran around the play set.
Jahlil honestly couldn’t be thankful for anything more than this. He had his lady back, his kids were happy, his friends all had smiles on their faces and his aunt was setting another table setting for the equipment manager she thought he didn’t know about. He’d let her have her fun.
Somewhere between his second plate and dessert, he found Emani in the kitchen straightening up and swiping tears from her cheeks. He didn’t spare a second wrapping her in his arms.
“Why you in here crying?” he posed, swiping her face clean and kissing her cheek.
She smiled through the tears.
“Happy tears. You’ve made me soft as shit.” Playfully hitting him in his shoulder, she laid her head on his chest. “Everything makes me cry and makes me all warm and fuzzy. A month and a half ago, I was knocking people out and now I’m looking forward to matching outfits and junior varsity games. Like when I wake up in the mornings when you’re not home and they’re in the bed, I look forward to that. I dreamt about this. About the family we made around the table laughing and joking. This is real and I’m so thankful. Thank you for coming back for me.”
Jahlil offered her a lopsided grin. “I’d come back for you a million more times too. Thank you for helping me love and nurture these damn kids.”
“This is the best Thanksgiving yet.”
“I don’t know, that year you stole the turkey in the can that Ashton burnt was pretty good too,” Jahlil quipped, recalling the dinner of sides they ate with no problem in the tiny living room with the orange couch. “You got a thing for making holidays better.”
“Baby, I make your whole life better,” Emani quipped back. “But you do it for me too so it’s even. And it looks like you got a new friend.”
Jahlil grumbled. “He’s cool or whatever.”
“Or whatever?” Emani posed. “You know Sanaa and Aryn are on the couch knocked out. Andrew and Miya are down by the lake.”
Jahlil started out the kitchen.
“And Ashton is out there with them,” Emani added in a fit of laughter. “It’s all good. Everything is good.”
“Oh girl, I thought I was going to have to jack that little nigga up and drop his hot ass in the lake.”
Emani laughed. “You act like you weren’t a teenage boy in heat before.”
“Baby, I’m a grown man in heat. I want to hump you every time you smile at me. And don’t fuck around and spray my bag with your perfume. Let’s not even talk about how hard it is to lock in when you’re sitting right there looking like you wanna get ate off the bone,” Jahlil grumbled in her ear, pressing himself against her.
True to fashion, she wiggled her ass against him and then pushed him back. “We have guests. Behave. I gave you some this morning.”
“A little taste, you know I like the full meal.”
“Help me clean up and you can have the full meal when everyone is gone.”
“You not going to fall asleep?” he asked with a raised brow.
“You know how to wake me up. Grab that pan, Savage.”
40 /EMANI
