“I’m having his man cave tricked out.”
The den was big enough for him to have our trophies and accolades in it, but I wanted a space that he could have just for himself. I had taken over the office because he didn’t have use for it and was going to have my trophies moved into it. Anthony never celebrated himself enough, but with the number of game balls and accolades he was racking up this season, it was only a matter of time before we would need separate spaces. Besides, he needed a place where he could see how much he’d accomplished because I knew he still struggled with feeling as though this was where he belonged despite his success. If nowhere else, he was going to feel like he was worthy within the walls of our home.
“I thought you did some of that already?” Rye’s smile showed she approved and that made me happy. I ran a few of his other gifts by her to ensure I wasn’t on the wrong path with his gift giving.
“I started, but this is gonna be a full makeover to his liking. I know some men like having sports themes and I found this setup that hangs from the ceiling that you can mount 4TVs on it that looks like a jumbotron. He moved his old furniture in but I thought it would be a good idea for him to pick out new pieces instead of settling. He studies so hard and wants nothing but to be successful so I want him to have a good place to do that.” Iwas also paying for a designer to work with him to add whatever custom furniture and features he wanted because it was a space for him to relax and be comfortable.
“Y’all are honestly the cutest people I’ve ever seen.”
I looked at her and she had this emotional look on her face that I wasn’t surprised by. Rye wasn’t a big softie, that was Sterling’s role but the look on her face right now had me two seconds away from making her take a test.
“Rye, why are you talking like we’re weird?”
She ran a hand over her pixie before she grinned at me. She was wearing custom jean joggers that had a silkscreen of Antwan’s face on her left leg. Her shirt was a cropped, woven-style sweatshirt that was a rendition of the Christmas picture she’d taken with Antwan and Annia. She’d added heeled booties to the outfit and big diamond hoops. I was sure she wanted to be comfortable because she was looking after the baby, but I was sure the blog would be going crazy over this outfit too. It was crazy how folks were now having outfits similar to the ones we wore to the games created for themselves. A crazy number of large and small designers had been reaching out to all of us trying to dress us for games with the way the #DesperadosWAGS took off on social media. Billy had handed all the inquiries off for Isis, one of her new associates, to field and manage for us. There were even talks for Sterling to produce a limited line of clothing to be sold in the stadium but she hadn’t agreed to do it yet.
“I’m just happy that y’all aren’t toxic. Well, Ant was but he did the work before he met you. I’d hate for you to be whooping his ass with a tennis racket, cause I’ve seen how hard you serve. He’d have to walk around collecting an SSI check with a home health aide by the time you got done with him.” Rye had us rolling with that comment but I had no clue why she was joking about me permanently disabling her brother-in-law.
“Rye!”
“What? I’d be helping you beat his ass too because I’m a girl’s girl when it’s all said and done. And don’t act like Antwan wouldn’t be there helping to fuck him up too.” She pointed at me and grinned like I needed to remember how much she and Antwan loved me.
“Not against his own brother.” I grabbed my drink from the table beside the section we were sitting in and took a sip of the spiked eggnog that had been added to the suite menu for the month.
“Antwan will tell you the same things I did. He ain’t raise that boy to be a piece of shit. Go through all that and then have him end up like they daddy? You probably wouldn’t get a lick in.” She laughed as though the idea of Antwan putting belt to ass on Anthony was the highlight of her day. Annia laughed with her mama likeyeah daddy would fuck up Unkie.
“Yeah, I can see that, Aphrodite. Antwan already said that you’re like his little sister. I think it’s sweet.”
Sterling, for all the bullshit her family caused her, was still a hopeless romantic. I could understand because it was clear that love from a good man made you believe that love and happiness within a relationship were something attainable. None of us had seen it, hell most of the women in our group had grown up in fucked up homes. Only Tiana and Rachelle’s parents were still happily married and Billy’s mama was a widow. Everyone else had strained relationships with their parents or families of origin. I couldn’t even chalk it up to the generation because those three women were proof that our parents just chose to be fucked up.
I held my hands out for baby Ami, and she leaned away from Sterling to come to me. It thrilled me every time she or Nia let me hold them because I wasn’t ever around kids. Never got the chance to babysit for my first job because my first job wascompeting in tournaments and training. Maybe in the back of my mind I thought of it as practice for the future, but that future was a long way off. Nia toddled over to us and didn’t bother to ask before she climbed in my lap. Toddlers really had zero concept of personal space when it came to people they trusted and I was just happy to be among that number. The two girls were a tangle of limbs, both of their mamas trying to get them to stop but I waved them off.
“They’re fine y’all. Take a break while you can.”
Rye stared at me and I had to wonder what her face was about. “Don’t let that nigga get you caught up. Not to be too in your business but you trying to have one of these?”
I looked between her and Sterling who also had her brows raised and her lips folded like she was seeing something I didn’t.
“No time soon. I’m not the one that’s going to get got next.” I looked at Sterling and she completely dropped the knowing grin that was on her face.
“I feel like you’re throwing shade and I don’t know what you want me to do with that.” Sterling looked at me with narrowed eyes and I couldn’t do anything but smile. She looked like the baddie. She was wearing all black to match the team uniforms for Christmas. She wore the same blue fur that she’d had on for the first game this month and it looked so good I was annoyed I hadn’t thought to get one. I knew she had aFreeman’sshopper that could source just about anything so I might have to ask her to hook me up with her contact information. We still had a bunch of stuff to get for the house to make sure it was properly outfitted. I might not cook for real or ever plan to host but we still had to eat. I was thankful that Anthony loved to cook and when he wasn’t in season I wanted the kitchen to be stocked with what he needed. He’d gotten a really nice but basic pot set but I planned to order more for him along with a bunch of other things. I wouldn’t dare count that as a gift because those thingswere necessities. Would Bam be angry when it all got delivered? Probably. Would I care? Nope.
I laughed as Ami babbled at me while she pulled on one of my locs. Nia was content to sit on my lap and observe the world from this view.
“It ain’t shade. But let’s be real, Sterling. You’re the mothering type. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Especially not when you've got a man crazy over you like Aldrich is. You thrive in showing everyone your love and that’s a beautiful thing. So just let us know when we’re supposed to get the baby shower together.”
Sterling was grinning and I was just happy that she’d found in Aldrich exactly what she’d been missing. We’d talk, both still in awe of how much life had changed for us in this year. I was grateful for both of us and the women that had surrounded us and uplifted us. I felt as though our friends had prepared us for what we would face so we weren’t surprised. To find this type of romantic and platonic love in a year had me feeling abundantly blessed.
“If it happens, I won’t be upset because we have the means to take care of a child. Aldrich is an amazing father and financially we’d be good so a baby would be a blessing. But I have no plans on that anytime soon. I’m happy with the one we have.”
I grinned at her words knowing that she was adopting Amisha with Aldrich. She thought that was her Christmas gift but I knew there was more for her under the tree than that.
The announcers signaled that the game was getting ready to start and the energy in the stadium began to ratchet up as the players ran back into the tunnel to get ready for their entrance.
I bent down to both babies since they didn’t have their headphones on yet. If it got too loud their mamas would put them on. “Come on, girls! It’s time to cheer for your daddies!”
It was crazy how tense I would get despite Bam having taken on this duty early in the season. For some reason, I was always more uptight when he was the one potentially getting hit than when he was delivering them to someone else.
Bam doing kickoff returns was actually a really big deal for him. I didn’t even know the intricacies of his contract but I knew that he was getting some type of bonus each time he got the team a specific amount of yardage and even more when he ran one back for a touchdown.
