Page 112 of Just Like Summer

Just like his father, he was shy. Kamilla took charge. “Kai Baby. That’s your daddy, Cairo.”

Cairo cut his eyes at her and then looked down at his son.

“Cairo, this is Kairo-Palmer,” she shared, stepping fully out of the way and into the hall.

Cairo squatted down to his son’s level and gave him a warm smile that combatted the frown. “You stole my face.”

“Mm mm, you took mine. You’ve been on the moon,” Kairo-Palmer quipped, reaching out to touch his father’s thick brows. “You staying?”

Kamilla watched the exchange from the hall and swiped a tear from her cheek.

“I’ve been away too long already,” Cairo answered his son. “What you doin’ wrapping yourself up like a mummy?”

Kairo leaned in and whispered loudly. “I was going to run out and try and make mommy chase me. She’s the giant I can’t get away from. She said she has a giant too. Can you get her giant?”

He chuckled, realizing he was the giant in question. “Yeah, I’ll see what I can do.”

“Good. Mommy, can Daddy eat juicy chicken and sticky rice with us? And make ice cream?” Kairo-Palmer quizzed.

“If that’s what you want,” Kamilla replied. “But you have to clean those toys up.”

Grabbing his father’s hand, he barely gave him time to fully stand up before running off to the living room. Now that they were distracted, she grabbed her phone and answered another call from Dania.

“Oh thank God, he didn’t kill you,” Dania pushed out a sigh of relief.

“No, but I should kill you,” Kamilla whined, moving into her sunroom to the right of the foyer. “Who gave him my address? Who even told?”

“Your niece and her big ass mouth. I’ve been in denial about her being like me. She’s just like meeeee. Mila, I’m so sorry. Did he snap?” Dania asked.

“You should probably do all this questioning after I get him out of here,” Kamilla grumbled. “All that back and forth, I’m saving until Kairo is knocked out. He will not be subjected to it.”

“Tomorrow,” Nate sounded off. “He ain’t leaving.”

“He is,” Kamilla stated. “He has his space; I have mine. That’s just how it’s going to-”

“Mommy, we’re ready!” Kairo shouted.

“If she don’t hear from you by tomorrow morning, I’ll know he’s knocked you out, stuffed you in a trunk and is on the way out the country,” Nate called out, making Kamilla hang up.

“Dumbass jokes from a dumbass,” she grumbled, exiting her study. Both Hendrix men looking at her, one still had his shoes on. “Your shoes…off.”

“Oh, she’s using her timeout voice,” Kairo-Palmer blew.

“Your momma don’t scare me,” Cairo rumbled to her back.

As she tossed her hair over her shoulder, she was sure to flick him off in the process. “Come eat, KP.”

“Better take those shoes off,” Kairo-Palmer directed to his father. “No shoes in the house. Ever.”

“Any more rules?” Cairo asked, removing his shoes.

“No running in the kitchen. No sad eyes for mommy. No sleeping alone for mommy. No dirty hands at the table. No mean words. I think that’s it,” Kairo rambled off, walking through the kitchen to the dining room. Kamilla had two bowls placed side by side.

“Where’s yours?” Cairo questioned.

“You’re not here for me. Go eat dinner with your son,” she directed.

He chose to follow the rule of no mean words while his son was alert. That and the look in her eyes told him that protecting Kairo was always front and center. From the kitchen, she watched them talk, watched Cairo evolve into another version of himself. Each better than the last. But more than anything, she saw the light in her boy shine brighter because his puzzle was whole.