Page 45 of Harts & Hurts

I melted into his embrace. “You’re welcome. Happy birthday. I didn’t plan a lot, because you said you really wanted to rest. We have dinner reservations in about three hours. What would you like to do until then?”

“Sleep.”

I had to laugh.

“I’m serious. I wanna sleep for three hours without having to keep one ear open to listen out for baby girl. I wanna go deep into dreamland, like snoring and slobbing. And when I wake up all well rested and refreshed, I want you to sit that pussy on my face and let me eat until I’m full.”

I turned my nose up. “Uh, you’re nasty, . . . but let’s go ’head and get started on this nap because I definitely want my coochie licked.”

He hugged me again. “You know I love your little freaky ass, right?”

“I know. And I love your big, freaky ass right back.”

The two of us didn’t even bother unpacking or anything. We climbed into the king-sized bed, cuddled up next to each other, and the next thing I knew, even though I hadn’t felt sleepy, I was dozing off.

Once we were dressed for dinner, we had a little time before our reservation, so I insisted that we video chat our parents so we could check on Melrose. I dialed my father’s number because I figured that he was the more bi-partisan parent.

“Hey, Ani Banani,” he joked when he answered.

“Hey, Daddy. We’re calling to check on Melrose.”

He twisted up his face. “I raised you to be honest. Tell the truth. You called to make sure that your mama and Yolanda hadn’t killed each other, right?”

Both Griffin and I chuckled. “What’s up, Mr. Hurt. We might’ve called to make sure everything was good with the grandmothers.”

“They’ve been playing nice.” He turned around and called everybody to the phone.

The first face to appear was Yolanda Hart’s. “Hey, y’all.” She gave us a wave and a big smile.

“Why’re you smiling so big, Ma?”

“No reason.”

“There’s a reason,” he insisted. “Tell me.”

“See, I wasn’t gonna say anything, little boy,” she teased. “But ever since the night of the memorial, almost everybody in town’s been coming up to me and asking if I have news about you and Anistyn.”

“News? What kinda news?”

The parents on the other end of the call all laughed.

“They’re busybodies, Son. Don’t listen to them.” His father chimed in.

Griffin sighed. “What are the Fort Jackson gossips saying?”

“I thought it was just random gossip too,” Yolanda told him. “Right up until your face popped up on this screen, plastered right next to your co-guardian.”

My mother giggled like a schoolgirl in the background.

“Why are you laughing, Mom? And why did Mrs. Hart say co-guardian like that?” I questioned.

“Your mothers and the busybodies of Fort Jackson think y’all are gonna be making the same kind of announcement that Fisher and Ashlynn never made before too long.” It took Mr. Hart to explain what our mothers wouldn’t.

“What does that even mean?” Griffin fronted, and I knew he was fronting.

I decided not to even pretend to be confused. “Are the Melroses and Harts all up in arms about the possibility?” That was what I wanted to know.

My mother rolled her eyes and sucked her teeth. “Personally, I wouldn’t care if they were. That’s their problem. This family feud crap already ripped my family to shreds once. I’ll be damned if I let that happen again. I won’t let another child of mine be run out of town by my family or by the Harts. Ani, baby, if Griffin is the man for you, you two have my blessing. And anybody that has a problem with it can see me.”