She was constantly on us about finding a good woman, settling down and getting married, but sheneverliked the women that my brother brought home.
“I’ll cover your flights. Just let me know how much everything is.”
“You don’t have to do that, son.”
“I know, pop,” I chuckled. “Y’all are coming down early to help me out, so it’s the least that I can do for real.”
I talked to them for a few more minutes, making plans to pick them up early from the airport before I let them go. I felt a lot better knowing that my mom was going to come in town because I felt that she may be able to reason with Leila better, and considering what my father had just said, maybe she’d trust her more too.
Chapter Seven
“Mommy.” I heard my baby’s sweet voice just before I felt her small hands in my side pushing me gently.
My eyes slowly peeled open, immediately catching her big, beautiful ones as she stared down into my face. I reached for her and pulled her small body into mine, peppering kisses on her pretty face.
“Good morning, baby.”
“It’s dead.” She pulled back and grabbed her iPad to hand it to me.
Chuckling, I took it from her and put it on the charger before I climbed out of bed, pulling her along with me to the bathroom so that we could take care of our morning hygiene. I went ahead and got Ava dressed as well since we were going out to get the tree with Kiyan this morning. I also planned to see who was hiring while we were out because I desperately needed work and to find us somewhere steady to stay.
After Ava was together, I got myself ready. I threw on a pair of jeans, a nude sweater and my Uggs. I know they hated to see me coming, but it was the only pair of shoes that I was able to grab before leaving home. So we wouldn’t have to come back up,I got both our coats, my charger for Ava’s iPad, and my purse, then we went down so I could make her something quick to eat.
I heard movement in the kitchen and also smelled food already cooking when we made it downstairs, so I laughed to myself imagining Kiyan in the kitchen trying to cook after I learned that wasn’t his area of expertise. Surprisingly nothing was burning though, so he knew enough not to burn the place down.
As soon as I rounded the corner, I was shocked to see that Kiyan wasn’t alone, nor was he the one cooking. There was a woman at the stove with her back turned, stirring whatever was in the pot in front of her, and an older man sitting at the table reading the newspaper.
That’s something I haven’t seen since I was a little girl.
I didn’t even know they still printed newspapers.
“Good morning.” Kiyan spoke when he saw me, prompting the woman to spin around and the man at the table to look up from what he was doing. It became clear immediately that these were his parents because he was a spitting image of them both.
“Good morning.” I replied softly trying to figure out what was going on.
It was his house, and he could absolutely have whoever he wanted over, he just hadn’t mentioned that his parents were coming over.
Not that he had to.
“Oh, my goodness,” his mother beamed, dropping the spoon she was stirring with on a holder next to the stove and making her way over. “Aren’t you two the prettiest things I’ve ever seen.” She pulled me into a tight hug, which caught me a little off guard at first, but I eventually reciprocated. “I’m sorry, baby, I’m Latrina; Kiyan’s mother, and this is his father, Keith,” she pointed behind her.
“Lelia,” I introduced. “It’s nice to meet you both.” I nodded toward his father.
“And who do we have here?” Kiyan’s mother lowered herself down to be face to face with Ava who hugged my leg tighter. I smiled down at my baby, gently stroking the top of her head. “What’s your name, sweetie?”
She looked up at me to see if it was okay to answer, so I gave her a slight nod.
“Ava,” she answered lowly in her sweet little voice.
“Ava, I heard you like baby dolls,” Mrs. Latrina smiled. “Is that true?”
Ava nodded.
“Use your words, baby,” I encouraged.
Ava knewhowto talk and how to speak in complete sentences. She was just really shy, so when her nerves kicked in, she’d shut down, but as soon as she was comfortable, you couldn’t get her to stop. It was a shame that her own father never got to experience that part of her, but it was his own fault. He never could be bothered with Ava due to either beingtiredorbusy, at least that’s what he’d say. I wasn’t going to force anyone to deal with my baby if they didn’t want to. It was their loss.
“Yes,” she finally answered.
