“You’re just saying that because you got what you wanted.”
He released me and looked into my eyes. “I’m not, Mom. You really are the best, and I love you.”
This time, I pulled him into an embrace as my eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you, baby. It means a lot to hear you say that.”
“I mean it. Can you come tuck me in?”
“Did you already do your reading?” He nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”
Thinking about our exchange from last night brought tears to my eyes. Not only was my baby book smart, but he was polite, caring, and grateful. I felt encouraged, and it had been a while since I’d felt that way. I hadn’t been sad or depressed, but I found myself just going through the motions. Now, I felt like I had something to look forward to, and I could only attribute that feeling to Graham.
I thought about scheduling an appointment with my therapist to see if she could help me sort out my feelings for Graham. I saw her regularly after I left Victor, until about six months ago, but her advice on these new feelings would be helpful. I grabbed my phone and went to the app for her office. I lucked up because she had an opening this evening. I quickly scheduled my appointment and finally got out of bed to start my day.
My mother and sister were coming over to celebrate with us, and I knew they’d overdone it on gifts because they always did. With him being the only grandchild and nephew, they spoiled him rotten. Keelan was far from a spoiled brat, though. He was always gracious and didn’t take anything for granted.
Just before ten, my little family was gathered in the kitchen. We’d finished breakfast, sang Happy Birthday, and Keelanhad opened his gifts. His excitement about everything was contagious, and the four of us wore matching smiles.
“This is the best birthday ever. Thank you, Nana. Thank you, Mimi. Oh, and thank you for everything, Mom.”
He gave each of us a hug, gathered as many of his gifts as he could in his arms, and went to his room, repeating the process two more times. A few of his gifts were video games that he’d been wanting, so I knew we wouldn’t see him for a while.
“So, tell me about this man you’ve been seeing,” Ma said as soon as her grandson was out of earshot.
“I’m not seeing anyone. Why don’t you tell us about your boo?”
“The jury is still out on that one because he pissed me off, but I did meet someone at the boutique last week. He came in to get a hat for his mother.”
“Dang, Ma. You don’t waste no time moving on. I know that’s right,” Naomi said.
“Life is short, baby girl. This ain’t about me, though. Tell me about Graham. Naomi said he’s fine as hell, but I hope he offers more than looks.”
“He was raised here but lived in Chicago for over twenty years. He’s a retired police officer but is opening a boxing studio soon. Que likes him?—”
“What? Did you say Que likes him?”
My mother looked at Que, who was chilling in his cage, in disbelief.
“He likes him a lot, actually.”
“Sweetheart, you might as well marry that man because Que don’t play about you and Keelan. I don’t like dogs, but I got nothing bad to say about Que and the way he protects my babies.”
“I told her the same thing, Ma.” Naomi chimed in.
“Y’all know I have a hard time trusting my judgment.”
“In this case, you might need to trust Que’s judgment, or you gon’ mess around and miss out on your good thing,” Naomi told me.
“Graham is aware of my issues, claims to understand them, and continues to show up.”
“Why do you say heclaimsto understand your issues? You don’t believe him?” Ma questioned.
“That’s the problem, I don’t know what to believe. I will say this, though. I have a good feeling about him, but my brain is working overtime, trying to find something wrong with him.”
“Nobody is perfect, sweetheart, but like I said, life is short. Can you imagine how miserable I would’ve been had I let your father leaving us stop my joy? Some men are sent by Satan to drag us every which way, and some men are sent by God to love all of our worries away. You’ve prayed, you’ve been to therapy, you’ve done the work, baby girl. It’s time to let go of the past and embrace what the future has in store.”
“Preach, Ma. Whew! That was a whole sermon. I got chills from that word,” Naomi cosigned.
