He was right. “And I would never have a problem. I have to keep you fed.”
“Y’all stop being fuckin’ nasty so the men can open their presents,” Mama Goldie fussed. She called out the names of all the men who would get the special gifts from their daughters. When she told them to sit in a certain area, they all hesitated.
Before Mega could say anything or release me from his hold, little hands pushed us apart. We looked down to see little TJ. After I took a step back, he looked up at my husband, then back at his mama. She leaned down to hand him a plate full of bacon. Once he had it in his hand, little TJ held it out to Mega. “Here bacon.”
Mega’s smile was so bright. “Awe, thank you. See, I knew you had a little bit of a . . .”
“No!” Little TJ pulled the plate back when Mega tried to take it. “Take two. I take two. You take two.”
My hand slapped over my mouth to stifle my laughter. This little boy was too much. Mekole snickered, then said, “I mean, that is fair trade. He only had two pieces of bacon in his hand.”
Mega squatted down to get eye level with little TJ. “Now, I should flip this whole plate over and none of us have any bacon, but I’m not going to do that. I’m gonna take the two that you took and call it even, bacon thief.”
Little TJ just smiled. “Okay. Take two.”
Now everyone who paid attention to the interaction laughed. Mega took his two pieces, stood to his full height, then walked off toward where the rest of the men sat.My poor, petty baby.
All of the selected men got settled in their seats. The women made sure we and our daughters had our gifts for them. My mama was selected as the narrator. She got the room quiet.
“Alright, men, you all are sitting here for a special reason. God saw fit to make all of you girl dads. Being a dad is a special assignment because you all are needed.” My mama smiled before she looked behind her where all of us who had gifts to give stood.
When she turned back to the men, I noticed that her focus went to Croy and my daddy. “It doesn’t matter when you came into your daughter’s life. What matters is that once you were there, you showed up. You stepped in like the fathers that God intended you to be,” my mama said while tears cascaded down her face.
I knew that was more for my daddy than Croy. My mama struggled with her past decision not to be honest about who my biological father was. She blamed herself for how Solomon treated me and felt had she just been honest with Ned Sr. from the beginning, our lives would have been different. She may have been right, but at the end of the day, everything that happened was supposed to for the glorification of God. That fact alone gave me peace.
She got herself together. “Men, your daughters have special gifts that were crafted just for you. Ladies and little ladies, go ahead. Men, do not open them until all of you have it in your hands. I will tell you when to open it.”
Croya held Gracie in her arms as she walked toward her father. She handed him a small box, then reached in her pocket and pulled out another box. She took a step over to stand in frontof her husband, Trevor. When she lifted the box, she let Gracie take it from her hand. “Give it to daddy, Gracie.”
We all smiled as she reached out to him. “Here, Daddy! Dis yours.”
A twenty-five-year-old Sadie gave her gift to her father next. After that, Ned received his two boxes from Shanae, who was eighteen now, and a thirteen-year-old Kellie. War received his gift from his daughter, Serenity, who was now nineteen. It was crazy how fast children grew up. A seven-year-old Stormie rushed over to her father, Riker, to hand him his gift.
Megan rushed to her father to hand him his box, but not before she told her big brother that she would have gotten him one, too, but he was her brother, not her daddy. Zoie walked her eight-year-old self over to Draco to hand him his box. She was her mother, Taelyn’s, twin. Yetti’s seventeen-year-old daughter, Kayslin, handed him the box that belonged to him. Maggie was the next to hand her gift to her father. Mega pulled her into the tightest hug.
There were only two more daughters left. Blossom was only one years old, so when Galiana told her to give her box to her daddy, her little ass threw it at him. “Damn, Blossom. You trying to take my head off.”
Everyone laughed. I took a breath before I moved to my father. There was an expression of shock on his face. “I know you didn’t think that I wouldn’t have one for you too, Dad.”
Once everyone had their boxes, my mama told them to open them. The men ripped the paper off the boxes with curiosity and excitement. Everyone who didn’t have a gift stood and watched the men’s reaction to their personalized gifts.
We were able to find a jeweler who was able to laser print a photo of the men with their daughters on a pendant. The inscription on the pendant read, “Always Daddy’s Little Girl.”
The picture I used for my necklace was a picture that I took with Ned Sr. at our sip and see. This Christmas presentation was the best idea that I believed we ever had.
I Just Want Her to Stay My Baby Girl
Some Time Later. . .
After a nice Christmas and New Year’s celebration, I was settled into the new year. I hoped that it would bring a new interest to Travis that strayed him from my daughter, but no such luck. It was cool though. I knew I had to trust Big G with it, and when all else failed, my gat could handle the rest.
A part of me hated that the boy was so respectful. I wasn’t foolish to think that all of his interactions with my daughter were 100 percent innocent, but I had to trust the values that we put into her. I also had to trust that Travis knew I would kill him with no remorse or second thought.
Jabari’s laughter pulled me out of my sulk. “You gotta let her grow up. I think she’s smart enough to know what not to do. You and Ruth do good with not shielding her from stuff.”
“Yeah, y’all do really good about keeping y’all kids on what’s going on in the world.” Desmond agreed. “I know that is a page that me and Amy are taking out of y’all parenting book for our daughter. Some parents have their children wearing rose-colored glasses.”
My heart warmed to know that the way Ruth and I raised our children was admired. OurReal Men Love the Lord Men’s Groupmet tonight. I was proud of how consistent most of the members were in the group. Jabari, Desmond, Mel, Sammy, and white boy John were still active members of the group. They were also now members of Echo Church. These were the same men that I led in their first sinner’s prayer.
