“Still… thank you. One of these days we’ll have to do brunch or something. I need to get to know the woman my son has been claiming as his wife for the past decade almost.”
Chuckling, I nodded as I lowered myself to give her a hug. “Yes, ma’am. I’m free now that I’ve quit my job, and school won’t start until August, so just let me know when.”
Even with me insisting I didn’t need the help, Neo, Merci, and Ariel had helped me get everything cleaned up before they left, so I didn’t have anything to do for the evening but shower and relax. I filled a pot with water that I’d use to make a cup of coffee after my shower. Unlike most people, it didn’t energize me; it relaxed me. I couldn’t wait to snuggle up next to my baby with my mug of coffee and thick slice of chocolate cake.
By the time I had the shower water just like I liked it, Marz was making his way into the bathroom. He walked over to me, and I pulled his locs up into a bun and took off his jewelry while he took off his clothes. I hadn’t planned to ask what his mother wanted to talk to him about. I figured he’d tell me if he wanted me to know. His coffee brown eyes looked down at me curiously as he smiled.
“You love acting like you don’t want to ask questions when I know your ass is nosy as hell,” Marz said, and I laughed because that was the truth.
“I was hoping you’d want to tell me on your own so I wouldn’t have to ask.”
He chuckled and licked his lips as we walked over to the shower. “She wanted to talk to me about Kiana. I hadn’t told her about the baby, but Kiana did.”
“Oh. Why did she tell her? I’m sure she had a good reason for it,” I justified, not wanting to be too skeptical of one of his best friends.
“Apparently Daniel overheard Kiana talking to her sister about the baby potentially not being his and he called off thewedding. She’s trying to get him back but doesn’t think she’ll be able to, so she wanted to talk to my mama about how she was able to convince Pops to take care of her and Ariel even though she isn’t his biological daughter. Her bright idea was to use those same tactics to get me to take care of her baby if it’s Daniel’s since he left her. That isn’t the verbiage she used, but yeah.”
I didn’t mean to let my laughter slip out but I couldn’t help it. The more I heard about Kiana, the more I questioned how in the hell Marz had been able to deal with her for as long as he had. Did her weird behavior start when she found out she was pregnant? Or had he ignored it because of their history?
“I’m sorry, what?” I asked through the last of my laughter. “How did she even fix her mouth to ask your mother how to manipulate this situation to work in her favor?”
Marz shrugged as he washed his body. “I’on know, bae. The way Ma said it, Kiana thought there was some scheme or magical words she used to receive my pops loyalty, but that wasn’t the case. Ma didn’t even ask him to take care of Ariel; he offered. He chose to be a father figure to her until Ma married Hamilton, and even after.
“There was nothing Ma could have said to make him agree or change his mind. That’s just the kind of man he is. I guess Kiana thought if she knew what Ma had said to my daddy that she could say it to me as well and it would work. As surprised as I am that she went to Ma, I’m glad she did. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what she was up to. She hasn’t even told me about her and Daniel yet. We haven’t spoken since the test was done. I probably won’t hear from her until we get the results.”
“I’m sorry, babe. I know this isn’t how you saw this situation playing out.”
Marz sucked his teeth and lowered himself to my lips for a kiss. “All will be well. If nothing else, Kiana is showing me parts of her character and personality that I was too blind to see werethere. It was easy for me to ignore her selfish and manipulative behavior when it wasn’t directed toward me. Now that that’s no longer the case, if the baby isn’t mine, I’m done with her scandalous ass.”
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything at all. We finished our shower and got dressed in our sleepwear, then I went downstairs and made my coffee and him a glass of whiskey. Marz cut our cake, then we went upstairs to his bedroom and got comfortable in bed. As he flipped through different streaming platforms, I couldn’t help but blurt, “I love it here. I don’t want to go home.”
Marz looked over at me as he chuckled. “Good, becausethisis your home.”
My smile remained as I nestled against him and took a bite of my cake.
Finally, life was back good.
Actually, life was perfect.
One Month Later
For our date night,Marz and I went to a salsa dancing class, then dinner with my parents. I didn’t know they would be here, and I was genuinely happy to see them. I’d been in a bubble getting closer to my man. For the past month, I’d maybe seen my parents twice, and that wasn’t like me at all. Marz and I had also taken a weeklong trip, which I’d loved every second of.
Marz and Daddy had gone to the bar while I told Ma about our salsa dancing class. We were waiting for dessert, because having a sweet tooth ran in our family, and we couldn’t have dinner without a little sweet treat at the end. When our mencame back with a bottle of champagne, Ma asked, “What’s the occasion?”
“I’ll let Marz answer that,” Daddy said with a wide grin, popping the champagne.
Marz didn’t respond immediately as he sat next to me. His expression was serious, but there was a glint in his eyes as he took my hand into his and kissed it. Once Daddy had poured all of us a glass of champagne, Marz lifted his flute and led our toast.
“Your mother told me to bring you back the same way I took you the last time you left their home,” he started, “and I was honest when I told her I didn’t want to bring you back. We may be doing things out of order, but I just finished talking to your father, and I let him know I’m going to give you the perfect proposal when the time is right. Until then, I’d love it if you moved in with me permanently. I love you, and I want to spend every second of my day and every day of my life with you. With their permission, and with your desire, will you stay with me, bae?”
Though Marz really didn’t have to ask my parents’ permission, I appreciated him being a man of honor and doing it anyway. Cupping his cheek, I gave him what I was sure would be a parent approved kiss before almost singing, “Yes. When can we go get the rest of my things?”
“Well damn, Princess. You don’t have to be in that big of a rush to leave,” Daddy said, making us all laugh.
“I’m sorry, Daddy. I’ll get a few things at a time and leave some small stuff behind.”
“Mhm,” he grumbled before taking another sip of his champagne.