by Tina Martin
Tyson stood up, holding Amryn who was dressed in a ruffle-lined white dress with a pink bow tied around her soft curly hair. He took her to the dance floor and twirled with her. She was all smiles with her little baby teeth showing. Tyson kissed her on the cheek, then moved Amryn’s arm to wave at Gabrielle. Gabrielle was busy keeping T.J. in check.
“Amryn is so freakin’ adorbs,” Carmen said, sitting next to Gabrielle.
“She is, isn’t she?”
“Yep...just like her mama.”
“And this wild lil’ thing looks is like his daddy,” Gabrielle said, trying to hold on to T.J. but he managed to wiggle free from her, then ran up to Tyson and wrapped his arm around one of his daddy’s legs. And now, Tyson was dancing with both kids.
“Gabrielle, can I ask you something?”
“Sure.” Gabrielle focused her attention on Carmen. “What’s up?”
“How were you sure Tyson was the one?”
Gabrielle smiled, glanced over at Tyson, then replied, “Tyson treats me like I’m the most important person in the world. And he loves me. I don’t have to question whether or not it’s real. I can feel it.”
Carmen looked at Tyson and said, “He’s so good with the kids.”
“He is. He’s an excellent father.” Gabrielle watched the kids with Tyson for a moment more before looking at Carmen again. “Why are you asking relationship questions, anyway? You’re not seeing anyone are you?”
“Um…not really.”
“So, in other words, you are.”
Carmen smiled. “Well, there’s this guy who likes me, but I told him I was focusing on my classes.”
“You told him right. Keep your head in the books, sis. You’re going to be the first of the Robinson girls to graduate college. You have plenty of time to think about guys and babies.”
“Right.” Carmen stood up. “Let me go see if dad has calmed down some.”
“What’s wrong with dad?”
“He’s still a lil’ rattled by your ex. Dilvan walked up to him and was trying to apologize or something. I thought for sure dad was going to sock him.”
Gabrielle glanced over at her father. He didn’t look too bothered. Maybe the champagne he was holding took the edge off.
-*-
Preston’s hands settled on Tamera’s small waist while they swayed to the music. “Having fun?”
“I am,” she said. “This is nice. The family, the food,” she glanced around and continued, “Padma’s lovely home that looks like a high-end museum…”
“This is a nice home.”
Tamera locked her arms around Preston’s neck. “You surprised me this weekend.”
“How so?”
“You fit right in with The Alexanders.”
He grinned. “What did you think I was going to do?”
“I thought you’d be on the phone handling business, but you’ve been here, like actually here, taking a real interest in my family and giving real consideration to us starting our own family.”
“That’s the way it should be, right?”
A pleasant smile came to Tamera’s face. “Yes. That the way it should be.
-*-
She’d moved on from dancing with the kids. Now, Charity was at the mercy of Colin Alexander. Heshan watched and grew thoroughly amused as his father tried to woo Charity with his old school dance moves. He was doing a smooth altered version of a step dance, his leather shoes gliding across the shiny wood floor. Charity looked like she was having the time of her life as she danced, the A-line red dress hugging every curve of her body. She wore her hair silky straight – the beautiful length flowing down her back. The gold heels she wore were about four inches high but didn’t make her tall enough to match his height.
Heshan walked across the floor to her – to them – then looked at his father and asked, “May I cut in?”
“Certainly, son,” Colin said. “She’s all yours.”
“She certainly is,” Heshan said, connecting his hands to Charity’s soft ones.
“Hey, handsome.”
“Hey, Goldi.”
She blushed. “I was wondering when you were going to rescue me from your limber daddy.”
Heshan grinned. “I figured I’d let the old man get you all greased up so I could slide right in and show you a thing or two.”
“Is that right?”
Heshan spun her around and said, “Yes, that’s right.” He just as easily twirled her back.”
“Ooh, you’re such a tease, Heshan Alexander.”
He smiled.
Charity admired the way his lips moved when he did so, then she took a moment to take in his handsomeness. Boy could her husband rock a suit. He wore an eggshell white suit with a red bowtie that matched her dress.
“Are you having a good time?” he asked her.
“Absolutely. I love your family. Wait, I take that back—I still would like to get my hands on Dilvan, but I guess I’ll have to hold off since Eden is smiling again.”
Heshan glanced over at Eden. She was still talking to Padma and Colin. “You and Eden must’ve planned to wear red, huh?”
“Nope. It just happened like that. We’re sisters…same DNA. Similar tastes in men and fashion I suppose. I still can’t believe she’s pregnant.”
“Me either, but while we’re on the subject, when are you going to let me put one in you?”
“Heshan Alexander,” Charity said laughing playfully slapping him on the chest. “Are you really asking about a baby?”
“I thought I’d throw it out there since we’d be the only Alexander couple who are childless.”
She raised a brow. “We will?”
“Yes. Tyson and Gabrielle have two. Lalita and Prasad have two. Dilvan and Eden have one on the way—that leaves us.”
“Preston and Tamera don’t have children.
“And Preston isn’t an Alexander.”
“So we’re getting technical because, technically I own a school, so I already have a bunch of kids.”
“True, but none of them are mine.”
Charity smiled. “Right. None of them are yours. But we’ll make one—a cute, lil’ drooly baby with his daddy’s charming good looks.”
“Or her mother’s beautiful smile and golden hair.”
“I do have some pretty hair don’t I?” Charity smiled warmly, then kissed his cheek. “We need to talk about something later, too.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense. About what?”
“Well, remember you came to visit me at school?”
“Yes. Continue.”
“And you were doing your whole smothering thing, trying to find out what was wrong?”
“Smothering, you say...”
She chuckled. “You know what I mean. Anyway, I think I may have gone a bit overboard with the after-school program. Maybe in a few years I can swing it, but right now, it’s a bit too much.”
“I’m glad you came to that conclusion because that’s exactly what I was worried about.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry anymore,” Charity said, combing her fingers through his hair, then rubbed her index finger across his mustache. “Now, you can spend your time giving me one of those erotic foot massages.”
“You can get those anytime you want them. In fact, while everybody is taking pictures, we can sneak off somewhere and really get this party started.”
“I like the sound of that loverboy, but I’m certain your mother will notice we’re missing for family pictures.”
Heshan shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not.”
“As happy as Padma is right now, trust me, she definitely would.”
-*-
Dilvan walked over to Eden and got down on his knees while she was sitting on one of the dining room chairs.
She smiled holding eye contact with him. “What are you doing, Dilvan?”
“I’m checking on my wife,” he said taking her hands into his. “Do you need anything?”
Eden stared down at him with eye
s full of love. She freed her right hand from his grasp so she could run her fingers along his jaw. His eyes closed to her touch. Traveling to his lips, she rubbed her thumb along them, tracing them. His eyes opened, slamming the grayness of them with hers. And it was in that moment she was thankful for her mother’s advice. Why would she run away from a man she loved? And she truly loved Dilvan. Everything in her marriage wouldn’t be perfect but if they worked together, they could make it worthwhile.
“I want us to be happy, Dilvan,” she said softly.
“We will be. I know I’m difficult to take sometimes.”
“You can say that again,” Eden quipped. She placed both hands on his face and lowered her face to his and said, “But I love you, anyway.” She touched her lips to his, then parted his lips with her tongue, taking a deeper kiss.
“Ahem,” Colin said, interrupting. “They’re children watching you know.”
Dilvan looked at his father. “That’s okay. They need to see how much Eden is loved.”
Colin pat him on the shoulder, then chased after a server who had a tray full of jumbo shrimp.
-*-
Lalita tried to get Prasad to loosen up a bit. She swore he had no rhythm when he danced – strange considering his father was as loose as loose could get – but Prasad was stiff. He was stepping from side to side. Offbeat. At least he was handsome while he was doing it.
“Have you given any further thought to what we discussed the other day—about what you want to do with your time?”
“I have,” she responded.
“Enlighten me.”
“Well, first, I want to teach you how to dance,” she said, so tickled, she could hardly stop laughing.
“Very funny, Lalita.”
“I’m just playing with you,” she said, coming down off laughter. “But yes, I know what I want to do. I want to be more involved with the kids.”
Prasad looked confused.
Before he could say a word, Lalita explained, “I’ve been so busy racking my brain trying to think of something I could do outside the house that I haven’t been focusing on what I do inside of the house. I’m a really good mother,” she said as if she was just now realizing that.
“Yes, you are.”
“And I think I’m an okay wife.”
Prasad smirked. “You’re more than okay. You’re top of the line, baby. Cream of the crop.”
“And that’s what I want to be. I want to help the kids with homework, cook dinner, keep our house tidy and be the bake-sale queen – the fundraising mom who raises the most money. I want to be the woman who keeps our home a home. That’s what I’m good at. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there? Being a housewife and mother is a pretty demanding job.”
“It is, and no there’s nothing wrong with it. But I think you get bored, and in the event that you do, you could always swing by the Food House and do a lil’ waitressing.”
“Yes, I could.” Lalita put her arms around Prasad and said, “I love being your wife.”
“I love being your husband,” he said, leaving a kiss on her cheek before he took full ownership of her lips.
Lalita squeezed his biceps, soaking in this kiss before she finally pulled her lips away from his. They were in the middle of the dance floor. She didn’t want all eyes on them – especially the kid’s eyes.
-*-
“Well, hello, we meet again,” Wanda, the travel agent, said to Henry.
Henry looked up at the lady standing in front of him and his eyes brightened when he realized who she was. This was the last place he’d expect to see her. “Hi. How are you?”
“I’m doing well, especially now that I got to try some of this food.”
“It certainly is delicious, isn’t it?” Henry asked.
“Indeed.”
“How do you know The Alexanders?”
“Oh, I’ve been Padma and Colin’s travel agent for years.”
“Is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right. I know her and Colin very well.”
“Small world, huh?”
“Hey, that’s my line,” Wanda said.
“Right, with you being a travel agent and all...” Henry chuckled.
She smiled and nodded, glancing around the living room again.
“Were you here yesterday?” Henry asked.
“No. I had to work, but I told Padma I’d be here today, and here I am.” Henry glanced at the woman who was dressed in a long black gown. He thought she was gorgeous when she came into the pastry shop. Today, she was a knockout beauty. He glanced at her left hand to confirm she was single, then quickly looked away, chastising himself for checking her out. He wasn’t interested in a new relationship so why was he looking at the woman’s hand?
-*-
Padma tapped on a glass, rounded everyone up and after the room settled down, she said, “I can’t tell you how happy I am that we were all able to get together like this. It’s truly a joy to share this home and this delicious food with you all. Let’s give it up for the chefs. Isn’t the food delicious?” Padma asked, starting a clap to which everyone joined in. Even little Amryn was clapping. “Also, I want to thank my sons for helping to support my mission of giving back to the community. And my husband, Colin,” she said extending her hand to him. Colin walked up to her and accepted her hand. “Thank you for supporting me even when the Food House was just a simple idea. You never—” she stopped talking when her lips quivered and eyes teared up. “You never gave up on me.”
Colin wrapped his arms around her. “Oh, sweetheart, I could never give up on you.” He kissed her check.
Padma pinched tears from the corner of her eyes and said, “Thank you. And thank you, Tyson, for spending your time and energy cooking for the restaurant. You could be doing so many other things, but you take the time out of your day to help me.”
Tyson nodded to her. He, too, appreciated her vision of giving back. It was his belief that people who had more should give more, and that’s what he was intent on doing.
“As a family with different talents and very different personalities, we’re not perfect,” Padma said. “You’d be hard-pressed to show me a family that is. But even with all of our flaws, we still love each other, and as long as we got love, we’ll be just fine.”
“That’s right,” Rena said.
“I look forward with great anticipation to the future of our family—of meeting my granddaughter for the first time. For those of you who didn’t know, Dilvan and Eden are expecting a baby girl, and I cannot wait to spoil her rotten.”
Eden was all smiles as the family clapped. Dilvan wrapped his arms around her.
“One other thing I want to mention—as you know, I’ve been running the Food House for many years and most recently have opened up another one to help this community. That’s always been my number one goal. To give back. But I think the time has come for me to take a break and relax a bit. I have very capable sons who I’m sure will continue the operation of the restaurants and anyone else who wants to fill in, please do so. I’m not—” Tears came to her eyes. “I’m not quitting. I’m just taking a break.”
“A well-deserved break,” Heshan said applauding her. His applause prompted others to join in and cheer.
“You really do deserve it, mother,” Prasad said. “Heshan, Dilvan and myself will see to it that your mission is carried out at these restaurants.”
“As will I,” Tyson said.
“And I’ll volunteer when I can,” Lalita said.
“And you know Ms. B. gon’ keep makin’ that clam chowder,” Ms. Beatrice said, then let off a hearty chuckle.
“That’s wonderful,” Padma said. “Thank you all for your hard work over the years.”
“You’re welcome, mother,” Dilvan said. “We could never thank you enough for all you’ve done for us.”
Padma brushed away tears. “Y’all got me crying and we’re taking pictures any minute now,” she said, dabbing at her eyes. Then she cleared her throat and
made a louder announcement saying, “We’re taking pictures on the staircase in the foyer as soon as the photographer arrives, so try to keep your little ones clean.”
“Is everyone ready for pictures?” the photographer asked. He’d just stepped into the foyer with his equipment.
“Oh, good. You’re here!” Padma said, showing him where the photos would be taken, then got everyone’s attention for a final time. “Okay, we need to proceed to the staircase and get positioned while the photographer is getting the camera ready. We’re only doing a family shot first, so if you’re not family, just continue partying and eating until we’re done.”
Tyson walked over to the stairs with Amryn in his arms. Gabrielle picked up T.J. and joined him. Prasad and Lalita stood with their two little ones. Preston and Tamera took position next to Tyson and Gabrielle. Eden and Dilvan got cozy next to Charity and Heshan. Rena and John stayed at the back, two stairs up behind Tyson. Henry, Carmen and Destiny stood near Gabrielle. To complete the picture, Padma and Colin stood at the front center and now everyone was waiting for the okay from the photographer.
After he made a few adjustments to squeeze the family together so the picture would come out better, he said, “Alright…on a count to three, I want everyone to say Alexanders. One…two…three.”
“Alexanders!”
~ The End~
Thank you for reading, As Long As We Got Love (An Alexander Family Novel). I truly hope you’ve enjoyed it. Please take a moment to:
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