“Yes, you did. You were supposed to be on my side and tell her no.”
“Look, I love you, but if I agreed with you, fifteen would have turned into twenty-five. You will never want your baby girl to date.”
“You got that right.” Asylum sighed and ran a hand down his face. “I’m not ready for this shit, baby. At all.”
“I know, but you have to get ready. She’s growing up, babe. I know you wish she could stay your little girl forever but?—”
“She will always be my little girl, Doe. That’ll never change.”
“Okay,” I enunciated carefully, “but can you acknowledge that your little girl is a teenager and she’s growing up?” He nodded. “If you want to keep an open relationship with her, she has to believe you will hear her out and consider her desires, thoughts, and feelings. And I need her to know she can come to me if she ever believes she can’t go to you or Sierra. So I know you might hate the thought of her dating and me advocating for her, but it’s only because I love you both.”
“Okay, okay, you’re right.” Asylum leaned forward and gave me a sweet and tender yet quick kiss before resting his forehead against mine. “Thank you for being a safe space for her, and thank you for helping me stay leveled. I don’t know how I’m going to deal with this shit, but I know I can with you by my side.”
“Of course I’m going to be by your side.”
“I can’t wait to see how you act when it’s time forShiloh to start dating and shit. Then it’s going to be your turn to be ready to flip tables.”
I laughed as we separated and turned our attention to the files on the table. I was in the process of selecting an operating manager for my staffing company. As much time apart as Asylum and I had because of Sierra, I wanted to spend all my free time with him and our family.
“Hey, I know it might be difficult for me, but that’s why I’ll have you. You’ll calm me down just like I calmed you down with True.”
A beat of silence passed before Asylum asked, “You want another baby, Doe?”
My tongue rolled across my cheek as I looked over at him. “Do you?”
“I got my queen, my prince, and my princess. Sometimes I feel like it would be greedy to ask God for anything more.”
That made me smile as I cupped his cheek. “And the other times?”
“And the other times . . . I want all He has for us. I feel like we stood in His way the first time around and lost time because of it. I don’t want to do that again.”
“I agree. I know we said we weren’t going to be in a rush to have another baby, but I also can’t deny I want another one or two. I love True like she’s my own, and Shiloh looks and acts literally like you. I want to see if we can have a girl that looks like and acts like me.”
Asylum smiled before licking his lips. “From the sound of it, you’re going to get off your birth control, and we’re going to have another baby,” he declared softly with that deep, sexy voice I couldn’t get enough of.
“Sounds like it.” I agreed before meeting him halfway for a kiss.
When we pulled away, we forced ourselves to focus on going over the candidates’ files one last time. The sooner I chose a manager, the sooner I’d be able to retire from the role and spend more time with my family—and . . . work on expanding it with my fine ass husband.
Asylum
Me and my brothers were huddled in the corner at Shiloh’s first birthday party talking shit about True’s so-called date. Doe made sure I was on my best behavior, but that proved to be a lot harder than she expected. I tried to be on my best behavior, but the more I thought about the little nigga being up to no good with my baby girl, the harder it was for me to remain calm.
Regardless of how ready True thought she was to date, I wasn’t ready at all. Honestly, I probably never would be. Doe was right. If I had it my way, her ass wouldneverdate. She would be one of those women who stayed with theirparents forever. Then, I had moments where I thought about the joy and love I experienced with Dauterive and wanted my kids to experience that too—just not this damn soon.
“Wait.” Beethoven lifted his hands as laughter erupted from his core. “Please shut the fuck up, bruh. I’m too high for this damn conversation.”
“Nah, I needallthe details,” Bully countered with a small smile. “I need to know what I have to look forward to with Innah. You say the lil nigga did what?”
Sucking my teeth, I crossed my arms over my chest as I continued the story. “He straight up pulled the old move of yawning and wrapping his arm around her chair. Then her soft ass looked at him, smiled, and leaned against him. I don’t really know what happened after that.”
“Oh, we know,” Merc said with a grin. “Doe told our wives who already relayed the story to us, so it really ain’t no point in you acting like you don’t know.”
“Yeah, from what I heard, you hopped from your seat, took the stairs by two, and yanked the young man up from his seat,” Aspen’s snitching ass said.
“And then put him out the theater. Like he owned that shit,” Karrington added.
“Man, say. If y’all already knew what happened, why y’all ask me?”
