Nyelle knew exactly what her mother was asking but she was exhausted with the discussion about her life with Vega and Reese. After the day she had with him, she was already in a cloud of confusion about what her next move needed to be. It was the main reason she drove straight to her mother’s house to spend some time with her son after Vega dropped her off at home.
“Sweetheart, I’m old but I’m no fool.” Brenda glanced at her grandson who was sitting comfortably in his mother’s lap, eyes glued to his iPad. It had become his favorite thing, but she limited the time when he was with her because she didn’t want it to become a babysitting device.
“I know you’re not a fool, Ma.” Nyelle sucked her teeth and cut her eyes at her mother before she ran her hand across her son’s wild hair. It needed a cut, but she had been so caught up lately that there hadn’t been time.
“Nicolas, go in the kitchen and get yourself a few cookies. Eat them in there because I need to talk to your mother.” Brenda’swords were stern but loving. Nick nodded but didn’t remove his eyes from his iPad as he slipped down off his mother’s lap, only speaking once his feet hit the floor.
“Mommy, you want one too?” This time he hit pause on his video and looked at her.
“No, baby, but thank you.”
Nick grinned and nodded again. “Nana said I can stay tonight too and we’re gonna make a pizza. Can I stay?”
Nyelle rolled her eyes and playfully glared at her son, pretending to be offended. “You’re gonna leave me all alone?”
Nick’s little face went straight while he thought about it. “No, but I wanna make a pizza.” His little voice couldn’t hide the pout and it warmed Nyelle’s heart.
“Fine, I guess you can stay but you have to save me some, okay?”
“I will.” He beamed as his little feet carried him out of the room.
“Now you know you wanted the boy to stay here anyway. Why you trying to make him feel bad?” Brenda fussed.
Nyelle’s smile stretched wide as she considered the truth. She had plans for a girls’ night, but she never wanted Nick to feel as if he was being pushed away or that she didn’t want him around. She loved her son, and aside from the time he spent with her mother, he was always with her, without complaint.
“I was just messing with him.”
“Mmmhmm. Don’t have my baby pouting over nonsense.”
“Ma, you aren’t right. You act like Nick is the only thing that matters, what about me?”
“He is the only thing that matters. Once you have a child, then that child is the priority, and when your child has a child that grandbaby is the priority.”
“So I don’t matter?” Now it was Nyelle pouting, which caused her mother to laugh.
“Girl, you’re grown. I love you, but I love that baby more. Now tell me what the hell is going on with you because whatever it is affects him. Got my baby seeing his daddy and some man pulling guns in the middle of the night. I should whoop your narrow ass for that.”
“That’s not my fault and it’s not just some man.”
“Then whose fault is it, Nyelle?”
“Reese! He had no business showing up at my place like that. How you have a whole baby and then try to control what I do? He better go play in traffic.”
Brenda stared at her daughter for a minute before she pushed out an exaggerated sigh. “Baby, listen. I see both sides. Reese is wrong. Dead wrong because of how he handled things. If he wanted to be with someone else, he should have told you, but it’s not like you would have been all smiles like ‘okay go be with her?—'"
Nyelle cut in quickly. “I might have but he didn’t give me the option”
“My point is, he did what he did and he doesn’t want to let go. That man loves you, regardless of him doing wrong?—"
“So I’m supposed to be okay with that?” Nyelle’s voice raised and she sat up quickly.
“No, you’re not. You have the right to be hurt and to move on. What I’m saying is, he does love you and he knows what he’s losing, so he’s acting out. He’s a man, a very selfish and immature man, but regardless you have to be mature. That baby in there doesn’t need to be caught up in the middle of what you two have going on. You be the one to protect him from it since his father won’t.”
“How fair is that? Reese can go around acting a fool and I have to do the right thing.”
“Life isn’t fair, baby. Protect your son. Let Reese figure it out, and if he doesn’t, I’ll make him, but don’t you ever put yourself ina situation where that baby is in harm’s way behind his father or any other man. That’s your responsibility. You can only control what you do.”
“I know and it’s not like I invited him, he just showed up.”
