“Awww, Ellie,” Shy cooed.
“We really love you, too, girl,” Court said.
Ellie was a ball of nerves as she stood in front of Loyal’s door. She hated that Cairo had cast this confusion over her life. If there was only one heart on the table, she would choose her wants every time, but her daughters held first consideration over her life. Their needs would always trump her wants. Cairo’s revelation had blown her mind. She had wished for this so many times that now that it had come true, it felt like a curse.Ellie was walking around, opening presents, and exchanging pleasantries with loved ones, when deep down, there was a war going on in her soul. She didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know what the right decision was. She knew what to expect from Cairo. Staying would be comfortable. It would be familiar. If she moved on with Loyal, she would be in unchartered territory. Taking that risk was petrifying. She was intimidated by the unknown. Loyal opened the door, and she was stunned to find a little boy in his arms. It was such a conviction of love.
“Merry Christmas, E. I want you to meet my son, Zion,” Loyal said as he looked down lovingly at the toddler in his arms.
Her heart was storming. This was good faith. This was effort. This introduction was him including her in the most important role he served in his life. She had wondered when she would meet his son. He had met her children. He had bonded with her father and was in business with her brother. Meeting his son made her feel special, like he was adding some meat and potatoes to their emotional bond.
“Hi, Zion, Merry Christmas,” she sang, smiling half-heartedly because she was aching inside.
“Come on in,” he invited.
“Is Tisa here?” she asked.
“Nah, she left after we opened presents with him. We agreed that she gets him Christmas Eve. I get Christmas Day,”he informed.
“Oh,” was all she had to offer.
“Can you say hi to Ellie, man?” Loyal asked. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer, kissing her lips. He felt so carefree. Daddy mode was extremely attractive on Loyal. He was typically assertive and calculating, but just the presence of Zion softened him.“Where are the girls? I got gifts for them.”
“They stayed home. I had to do theFriendsmas exchange with the girls, so I went there first,” Ellie informed.
Zion reached for her, and she beamed as she took him from Loyal’sarms.
“You want to play with my toys?” Zion’s little voice tap danced on her ovaries. It was the sweetest sound.
She looked at Loyal in shock.“Wow, he’s a big boy. He speaks so well.”
Loyal grinned like the proud papa he was.“Yeah, I never talked to him like he was a baby. Tisa and I agreed on that. We read to him from the time he was born, we don’t fuck with the screen time, lots of interaction. He’s so smart, and I enjoy teaching him. My mom said I was non-verbal until I was three, so I wanted to make sure my son could speak. I caught up eventually, but it was a fear of mine when Tisa had him.”
“Well, I am too in love to speak to him like a grown man. He’s just too cute not to get a little baby talk,” Ellie cooed as she tickled Zion’s tummy. The little brown baby was the spitting image of his father, and he giggled endlessly as Ellie played with him. His little chubby cheeks, and bright, inquisitive eyes were so adorable, and the curly hair on his head was tamed by two braids.
“He likes you,” Loyal said.
“I like him too,” Ellie replied. She was a bit emotional because love was supposed to feel just like this. Loyal had mastered it. It was so easy that she sometimes had to stop herself from waiting for catastrophe. She was on pins and needles with him, waiting for the other shoe to drop, but she was slowly realizing that he simply was who he said he was.
Zion wiggled out of her arms, and she freed him, placing him on his feet.“Come over here!” Zion yelled. She followed him to the tree where he sat. Open wrapping paper was strewn everywhere, and more toys thanone child could play with were all over the place. She sat and played with Loyal’s son while he watched them from the couch.
“Confirmation like amu’fucka,” Loyal mumbled, barely audible, as he shook his head.
“What are you talking about over there?” Ellie asked, without taking her focus from Zion.
She glanced up at him.“What?” she asked.
“Nothing, man,” he replied, still shaking his head with a ghost of a smile on his lips.“How long I got you for? Robert and Mom Dukes are hosting dinner. My family will be there. Is it too much, too fast, to ask you to join me?”
“Maybe that might be a little fast,”Ellie stammered.“Can we start here? With Zion? I don’t want to keep you from your family. You and Zion should go. Papa does Chinese food and Christmas movies on Christmas Day. We sit around in pajamas and watch the classics.Christmas Story,Home Alone… I really shouldn’t miss that. I haven’t been home in four years, so I owe him a few movies,” Ellie chuckled.“I didn’t want to not see you, though. I really needed to feel you.”
Something in her tone made him take a deeper look, and he got down on the floor with her and his son.“Iain’t made you feel nothing yet, so it’s definitely not time to leave,” Loyal whispered in her ear, while kissing the side of her face discreetly.“What you need to feel, E?”
She was breathless. His emotional intelligence was magnificent, but their physical connection was like a pulse that filled every room they both occupied.
“I tried so hard to ration my feelings for you, Loyal,” she confessed.“This is damn dangerous. We’re doing 100 mph in a 35-mph zone, and I’m like, gripping the door handles from the passenger seat.”
“If I’m in the driver seat, you can rest easy, E,” Loyal said. This power of a human being was so loving to her. He knew the strength of his dominance enough to know when not to use it. The intimacy of these sweet nothings in her ear, of the subtle nudges and kisses. Ellie loved it here.“Zion, hand Daddy the red box under the tree,” Loyal said, pointing to its location.
Zion’s little body climbed under the branches and retrieved the box.“This one?” He asked.
