“Awww, Quincy. You don’t have to do that. If you want to stay here to cuddle up with me, I understand, but I’m the mom. I’m here to protect you,” I clarified, wrapping him up in a hug.
“I’ll still stay here,” he confirmed.
“Alright, we are going to head out. I think we’ve all had enough excitement for one night. We are going to head out too.”
“Yeah, we gone slide too,” Vez added in, passing Girl Quori her purse.
The girls came over to offer brief hugs before they slowly made their exits. I went into the kitchen to start putting the food away. Quincy was right beside me, maneuvering around the kitchen.
“It’s clear you aren’t trying to work the marriage out, and I think that’s for the best at this point,” he broke the silence as he wiped the counters down.
“I don’t plan to get back with your father,” I sighed. “But the divorce or how I feel shouldn’t influence the way you treat him.”
“He does a good job of that all on his own.” Quincy dropped the sponge onto the counter and turned to face me. “I been pretty cool about dad’s absence. I’m getting older, I need to man up and handle my business. However, he was at our little cousin Meme’s preschool graduation at the end of last school year with everybody else. Just smiling and shit in all the pictures Karmello posted, and after not coming to a single one of my games. Then today when he showed up, he didn’t want to see us. He wanted to talk to you.”
“We don’t know that. I didn’t exactly give him the opportunity to see what he wanted.”
“Nah, you can’t shield us from his antics. We are grown now. I texted him about my Fall Ball game because he did call us on Monday to offer an apology. We sat on the phone with him for about an hour before he had to go. I thought we might be getting back on track, but once again, he didn’t show up,” he shrugged.
I took a deep breath and placed the last aluminum pan in the refrigerator. “Quincy, listen to me. Don’t let his bullshit fuck with your confidence or your mental. You are the blessing. He is missing out on all of your greatness, and the only person that will have to shoulder that burden is him. You show out every time you pick up that bat and the whole world knows that. He might not have been there, but those scouts were there. Me and your siblings will always be in your corner wearing your number and cheering you on!” I gently fluffed out my shirt, hoping to lighten the mood. “Focus on what you can control. That’s the only thing you can do.
Quincy nodded and I pulled him in for a hug. I held him tight, feeling the tension leave his body as his shoulders relaxed. “I love you,” I cooed.
“I love you too.” He nodded as we broke the embrace.
“I got you always,” I cupped his chin and placed a kiss on his cheek.
“Likewise.”
“Let’s cut into the cheesecake that Yaseer bought you. His daughter told me that he had his assistant hop on a private jet and fly to Miami just to grab you this cake because you love it so much,” Quincy explained, sliding the box across the counter.
I blushed uncontrollably. Yaseer was definitely a man after my heart.
“I’ll let you slide dating this one man that’s in my stratosphere, since I can see you really like him, and I can tell he likes you too. But this is a one and done thing. You gotta meet men that I don’t have any connections with.”
“In my defense, I didn’t know you guys had a connection when we first met.” I chuckled, cutting the cheesecake.
“Well, how long have you guys been seeing each other?”
“Boy, I’m not about to discuss my dating life with you. As long as I’m happy that’s all that matters.”
“You know what, you right. Ion wanna know anything else,” he laughed.
I plated the cheesecake, and my phone rang inside my purse on the dining room table. With my cheesecake in hand, I already knew who it was.
Yaseer: Damn, you running from me?
Me: No. I’m not going to be able to get away. Something happened with Quincy and I need to be here for him.
Yaseer: Y’all good? You need anything from me?
Me: I’m fine. There was just some family drama. I’ll make time in my schedule for you tomorrow.
Yaseer: I’ll be waiting.
I placed my phone down and went back into the kitchen to enjoy my slice of cheesecake with Quincy. Then we popped popcorn and watched scary movies until he fell asleep. A mother’s job is never done.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
