I grabbed my bag and followed him inside, and the second we stepped in, his whole energy shifted into focus.
He wasn’t just looking at stuff. He was listening to me talking about what would match and the accent colors we were looking for.
“This green is too bright, right?” he asked, holding up a sample.
I nodded with a smile, and we moved on.
Amir moved through the aisle like he had a checklist in his head, stopping when something caught his attention and moving right along when it didn’t.
I found myself watching him more than actually shopping.
After a while, Kenya pulled up and found us in one of the aisles. We hugged, and I introduced her to Amir.
“Nice to meet you,” he said, holding his hand out for Kenya to shake it.
She smiled at me. “Love has a lil’ gentleman on his hand.”
He nodded, agreeing with her, then started telling her his ideas for the wedding. I could tell by the look on her face that she was in awe of him.
“I love your ideas, lil’ man, but if we gonna do this, we need to lock in, come on.”
I got my shit together, and we started taking pictures, comparing prices to other stores, writing shit down. I felt so at peace planning my wedding, like after all I went through with Gio and getting the nerve to leave, I was finally getting my reward.
Kenya stayed with us until it was time for her nail appointment, and we all walked out of the store together and pulled off.
On the ride, Amir said he was hungry and led me to his favorite burger spot. After getting our food, we sat on the hood of my car and bussed it down.
“You know what?” he said.
“What?”
“I knew I would like living with Dad, but now, I’ma really like it. You gonna be a cool stepmom. “
I smiled, trying not to let out a tear. I nudge him a lil’ bit. “Give me some grace tho, I’m new to all of this.”
He nodded. “You doing okay to me. You cook good, funny, and my daddy loves you.”
That lil’ nigga.
“Come on, let’s grab some ice cream before we head home.”
Amir finished up what he wanted, and we packed up the rest of our food and slid across town to this lil’ ice cream spot that I found on IG. The line was kind of long, but the music was a vibe. Amir and I sang and danced inch by inch in the line. We even snapped some pictures, and he sent them to Love.
After eating ice cream, we went and did a lil’ shopping. I bought some things for myself, copped Amir some shoes and a few outfits he was eyeing, then headed home.
The sun was setting on our drive, and Amir fell asleep. I took my time moving through traffic, listening to the music, and letting him get his rest.
When we did reach home, Amir was lagging through the elevator and hallway until he got to the door and saw the big ass TV that he wanted and a box from Birkin.
“Did you get this for me too?” he asked as I unlocked the door.
“Boy, hell no,” I said, laughing. “I fuck with you and all…want you to like me and all, but not that much.”
We laughed, and I helped him pull the TV inside.
“It has a note on it,” he said as he handed me the box. I laid it on the counter along with everything else I had and opened the note and read it with a smile.
“Your dad said, ‘Welcome home.’”
