“Aww, man. These are so cool! I asked my uncle for a pair of these, but he said they were expensive. Can I get them?” When he peered up at me, I almost lost my train of thought. It was like looking at myself in the mirror, only a smaller version. Both Keyaire and Kiaya were my twins, with my mother’s toasted-caramel complexion. Their eyes pierced through the deepest part of my soul.
“Yeah. I told you to get whatever you want, and I meant it.”
“Okay. Thank you!”
For the next twenty minutes, we walked around the store, picking up shoes. It warmed my heart to see how excited he was. He rambled about every shoe he picked up, and it made me laugh. Keyaire called out the stats of different players, letting me know that sports were a passion of his. It pained me to realize how much time I had missed, but it was clear Naiari had done a great job.
Once we finished at the shoe store, I decided to buy them all some new clothes.
“Alright, your total is two thousand, one hundred seventy-three dollars, and sixty-eight cents. Will that be all for you today, sir?”
“Yeah, I think we’re good. Y’all straight? You need anything else out of here?”
All of my kids shook their heads as I handed the cashier my card. We had spent another hour shopping at every kid’s store in the mall, and I could tell from their faces that they were ready to go. Once she gave me the receipt, I tucked it into my wallet, then turned toward the group.
Ari and Nova were huddled by the store entrance while the kids were with me. I was sure I was the topic of discussion, and I didn’t care.
“Where y’all want to go now? You hungry? Y’all want to grab something to eat?”
“Are you our daddy?” Kiaya asked, sending my heart into a frenzy.
“What made you ask me that?”
“You look like my bubby, and I look like Keyami. I think we’re sisters.” Despite their little rift at the shoe store, the two of them had become the best of friends during our shopping. They were standing there with their arms intertwined with one another while they waited for me to answer. Keyami expressed her desire for siblings over the years, so I wasn’t surprised to see the excitement on her face.
“Would it be okay if I were?”
I chuckled as she rubbed her chin as if she were thinking about it.
“We never had a daddy before, and I really want one.”
Damn. I scratched the back of my neck in an attempt to get my emotions together. There were so many emotions running through me, but the biggest one was love. I didn’t have to know anything about them to know they already owned a piece of my heart.
“Que is okay, but I don’t want him to be our daddy,” she stated.
“I don’t like, Que. He’s always messing with my games. I don’t want him as a daddy either.” Keyaire cosigned, with a deep frown on his face.
“Well, you don’t have to worry about him being your daddy because you already have one.. I’m your daddy.”
Kiaya beamed with excitement, while Keyaire stood there with a stoic expression. I could see that he was more like me than I even realized. Keyami and Kiaya gushed over being sisters while we walked over to where Ari and Nova were. The kids decided they wanted to eat pizza and play games at Pizza Paradise, a pizza place with its own arcade. They even had laser tag and a skating rink.
I only learned about it because it was one of the first places Keyami wanted to go when I got out. The three of them held hands as they all headed out of the mall. Keyaire made sure he was in the middle so he could hold both of his sisters’ hands. Age didn’t matter to him; he was still their protector.
“I’m gonna walk y’all to your car so I can grab their booster seats and put them in my ride,” I informed Ari. I could tell she wanted to say something, but she remained quiet for a moment.
“I don’t know where this place is, so I guess I’ll follow you.”
“Naw, you can go home. I’ll drop them off when they are finished. Actually, scratch that. I’ll bring them home in a few days.”
Ari stopped in her tracks as she turned back around to face me. We reached her car, so I was waiting for her to open the door so I could grab their seats.
“Wait a minute. You’re moving a little fast for me. I’m cool with them going to Pizza Paradise with you, but I’m going too. I don’t let my kids go with—”
“Tread lightly before you finish your sentence. I’ve been sparing you, but you don’t want to see me get out of character.” I was fuming, feeling my anger boiling to the surface.
“Excuse me? I don’t appreciate the way you’re trying to handle me. Sure, there are some things we need to discuss, but youaren’t gonna handle me like I’m one of your groupies. At the end of the day, those two belong to—”
“Go right ahead and say it with your dumb ass. ’Cause you have a lot of nerve tryna assert dominance in a fucked-up situation that you caused. You may have had access to them longer, but don’t think that holds any weight, because they have two fucking parents. Now open the door so I can get their car seats. I’m trying my best not to do you dirty, but you’re really testing my patience.” I spoke lowly because I didn’t want to scare the kids.
