Page 25 of Rich Forever: Zo & Remy

“Yes, Dad.” He said as he continued scrolling on his tablet, looking for his next game. They were like night and day. ButRem and I always made sure that Zaire didn’t get lost in the chaos of the other two.

“Aight, everybody go wash your hands,” I said, sending them to the back room. Smelling the food in my hands, I knew Rem had stopped at her favorite barbecue place on the way home.

I walked around the counter toward her and brought her into my embrace. I could feel her tense up as I did it. Again, it fucked me up for a second, but I didn’t call attention to it. Not then, anyway.

“Give me a kiss, Remy,” I said against her temple, and she turned around and gave me a peck and then left my ass standing there like she was too busy fixing the kids a plate.

I chuckled and started counting to ten before I went to line up all the staff. My patience was at zero, and if I didn’t get an answer soon, I was going to tweak out.

“Nah, what the hell is up with you, Ma?” I asked, taking the plate from her hand and setting it on the table.

“What do you mean, Zohan?” She shot back as she crossed her arms and gave me the same look she had been giving me for the last eight days.

“You been walking around here quietly since I came home. Any other time, I damn near have to sneak to shit by myself. I can’t get a conversation, a kiss…. nothing!” I snapped. She breathed out a deep sigh and folded her arms across her chest tightly, and stared at me, just as the kids came back.

“I just have a lot going on, that’s all. I’m sorry if I’ve been wearing my emotions on my sleeve,” She apologized as if it was that easy.

"Ma, what the hell you talking about? You didn’t marry a nigga who lets you have a lot going on. When you said law was stressful, I told you: do whatever the fuck makes you happy. If you want to wake up every morning and do donuts in the yard,do that shit. You started the charity. Now that’s stressing you out?" I asked, but she didn’t respond.

“The kids overwhelming you? Is it because I was gone longer? What’s up? Talk to me.” I was confused as hell. I knew I'd been gone more lately. But if she'd told me she was tired, I could've scaled back or hired some help.

“No, it’s just family stuff. It has nothing to do with you. You’re an amazing husband.” She said as she continued to fix the food.

I chuckled, not because I was amused. That look came back again. She was lying, but I didn’t know which part was the lie. Was it the family issues? Or that I was an amazing husband? Gah damn, now she had me doubting myself.

“Rem, you got another nigga? Let me know what’s up, I’ll respect it.” I crossed my arms and looked at her as I leaned against the counter.

She turned to me with a smile on her face, and then she burst into laughter for the first time since I had been back. “Just tell you, you’ll respect it? That simple, huh?” Her laughter slowly faded when she realized I didn’t find a fuck thing funny. Then she blew a big breath and walked over to stand in front of me.

“No, baby, I’m not cheating on you. I’m sorry for giving you the impression that my mood has anything to do with us because it doesn’t. You are the only man I want to spend the rest of my life with.” She said as she placed a couple of soft kisses on my lips and started placing the food in front of the kids.

I sat at the table, quiet as fuck. Rem and I hardly ever argued, but if we did, it never happened in front of our kids. But I was ready to snap. She had a nigga feeling like a muhfucking wife who just caught her nigga in a lie, and he just looked at her and told her it wasn’t what she thought. I tapped my fork on the plate, trying to get my feelings in check before I spoke to her. All I knew was that if it was another nigga, if she loved him, shebetter not let me find out about it. Because I was going to cancel Christmas.

Once the kids finished their food, I took them upstairs to bathe and get them ready for bed. When I was home, I tried to give her a break from always having to do it. The whole time, though, I couldn’t focus; it was like my body was on autopilot.

I walked into Zaire’s room first, made sure he was in bed, and gave him a kiss goodnight. Then I went into Ziggy’s room, got him in bed, and gave him a kiss goodnight with Zoey right on my heels.

We always tucked her in last because she always wanted us to lie with her. But now that I had come home, she was stuck to me. It would always be like that when I left and came home; it normally took her a few days to ease off me, but I wasn’t complaining.

Once we made our rounds, we went to her room.

“Daddy, don’t forget my night light,” She reminded me. I went back toward the outlet and turned on her light as she got into bed. I pulled the covers back and got in behind her and chuckled at the fact that my legs were damn near hanging off it. She slid underneath me, and it didn’t take long before she was out like a light. I lay there, waiting for her to get into a deep sleep, but it backfired on me because I fell asleep too.

The next thing I know, Remy was shaking me. I woke up to see her standing over me, smiling.

“Come to bed,” She whispered as I eased Zoey off me and tried to slide out of bed without waking her up.

Once we were outside the room, I didn’t even hesitate to snatch her and pull her to me. I kissed her neck and her ear as we walked down the hallway into our bedroom. I closed the door and locked it behind me.

Even in my sleep, my mind wasn’t settled by the lie she had told me. I woke up with the same shit on my mind. I cleared my throat and stopped her from going back to bed.

“Ma, tell me what the fuck is going on. We ain’t keeping no secrets from each other. What is it that’s got your mind so fucked up? Don’t lie to me and make me show my ass either.” I warned her.

“Zo… It’s noth-” she tried to lie again.

“Stop.” My voice cut through hers, low but sharp. “I ain’t doing this shit with you.”

She stiffened, and I stepped closer to her. Not to try to intimidate her, but just to let her know that she wasn’t going to be able to talk her way out of this shit.