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“You haven’t had your birthday shot yet?” my uncle asked me.

“Troy, my baby just turned eighteen! She not taking no fuckin shot!’ my mama fussed, walking over, and she stood on the side of me, still holding her wine glass in her hand.

“Man, she done had a whole baby. She can have a baby, but she can’t take a shot? What a lil shot of Don going to do?” he asked my mama.

Arielle was sitting next to me, and she was dying laughing. My mom pushed him out of the way, telling him to get out of the kitchen. He was surrounded by women, so all he did was shake his head and went over to the dining table.

Once he was gone, my mom continued to stand next to me, but she was looking ahead of her. Ahead of her was Deja and Nico, still sleeping on the couch. My aunt came over too, holding a glass of wine in her hands as well. My grandma went for the sink, so she could wash some of the dishes that were inside. She said that the food would be done in about five minutes and that she was just waiting for the garlic rolls to finish cooking in the oven.

“Chile, I know that kind of sleeping from anywhere,” my mom said to my aunt.

The second she said it, that’s when me, along with the rest of the women turned to look over at her.

“What you mean?” my aunt asked her.

My mom didn’t reply right away. She just continued to look over in the direction of the family room. After a few seconds, she put her eyes on my grandma.

“Ma, when I was pregnant with Deja, you were the first one to clock it. I kept sleeping all day, and you told me that you felt like something wasn’t right. You said you had an intuition. I remember you dragging my ass off the couch, and you took us to the store to get a pregnancy test. That same hunch you had twenty- three years ago is the same hunch I have right now. She was falling asleep at Magic Kingdom, all during the show, and when we sat down to have lunch. That’s not your everyday tiredness right there. That’s pregnant tired,” she finished.

That’s when I turned in the stool, so that I could face the family room. Deja was knocked the hell out. I’m talking one hand securely wrapped around my son, while the other hand was there for her to lay her head on it. She slept through the food cooking, all the loud ass talking and laughing going on in the kitchen, along with everything else. I believed my mama knew what she was talking about because I remember finding out I was pregnant with Nico, and I was sleeping just like that.

“Well don’t you be the one to tell her. We’ve had a good trip. I don’t need the two of you going at it. Ima say something to her,” my grandma replied.

My mom just waved her off, as if she didn’t have any intentions on saying anything to Deja about it.

Dinner was finally ready, so I went into the half bathroom downstairs to wash my hands. Once I finished, I walked over to the family area, so I could grab Nico from Deja. The second I reached for him, her eyes opened. They were red, and she had a confused look on her face. Nico instantly started fussing, so I had to bounce him in my arms, and place kisses on his face to calm him down.

He eventually calmed down, gave me a small smile, and I brought him in the kitchen with me. My mom fixed my plate, putting it right in front of me and when I sat down, that’s when Deja walked over to the half bathroom. She didn’t come out until about a minute later and when she did, she took the empty seat on the other side of me.

“What you got going on?” my aunt asked my sister.

“Nothing. I’m tired, and I have a headache,” she said.

“You want me to fix you a plate?” my grandma offered.

“No. Then ya’ll got those big sausages in there,” she complained, looking over at my plate, seeing the sausages clear as day.

“Meka fixed a small pot for you without the sausages,” my grandma said and Deja looked at her like she was crazy.

“Then I’m definitely not eating it. She’ll try to poison my ass,” my sister said, and I laughed because when my mom said that she was going to make a pot specifically for Deja, I swear I thought to myself that my sister was going to think that. I knew she would.

“In a kitchen filled with other people, Ima put poison in your food? Deja, be the fuck for real!” my mom snapped.

For my sister to just wave her off, and let her have the last word, that’s how I knew she wasn’t feeling her best because she never missed an opportunity to go at it with our mom.

Eden came down not long after, holding baby Selah in her arms. The two of them were upstairs sleeping all this time.

Everyone ate except for Deja. While we were eating, someone rang the doorbell. Deja stood up to get it, since she was the only one that wasn’t eating, but my uncle Troy told her he would handle it.

From where I was sitting, I couldn’t see the front door. I had no idea who could be at the door. It took about thirty seconds for my uncle to make it back over to where we were, and when he did, someone was following behind him, holding a bunch of balloons in one hand, and gift bags in the other. I knew that tall, slim frame from anywhere. I knew those big feet and hands from anywhere, even though I felt like my eyes might have been playing tricks on me.

Even my baby knew who it was because he started fussing in my arms, moving all around, wanting to go with his daddy. I had no clue that Juvie was coming. He had a game this afternoon. Not only that, but I just didn’t expect him to drive to Orlando and spend my birthday with me. We weren’t together anymore, but we were in a much better space these days. I slipped up a few weeks ago and had sex with him, but we haven’t been intimate since then. Just like I scared my family that night by taking all those pills, you could tell that I scared the shit out of Juvie too because he’s been much better as a father.

“Awwww,” my sister cooed once I stood up from my chair and walked over to him.

“Happy birthday,” he said to me, right before he kissed me on my forehead.

He’d already called me this morning, wishing me a happy birthday, but here he was, telling me again. I felt so shy and exposed in front of my family, that I didn’t really know what to do. Do I hug him? I for sure wasn’t going to kiss him. I had no idea what to do. He helped me out, sitting the bags down, and he hugged me.