by Riley Baxter
Reia spotting her first said, “Good morning Sis, hey Myles. How was your evening? You two are late, we’ve been waiting for you to get here.”
Before either of them could reply, Rick turned around smiling at Kayla and ignoring Myles, “Hey Kaycakes, how have you been?”
“Rick, what are you doing here? You live in Florida now!” Not even believing that they would ever cross paths again. She and Rick had dated for three years in college and two years after. She’d thought he loved her, but Rick had told her one day that he loved her but not enough to marry her. He wanted to continue dating but never get married. He didn’t see them evolving into marriage, a family or forever. At first, she thought that she would be okay just being his girlfriend but in her heart, she was lying to herself. They started drifting apart, and her feelings for him began to dwindle. She shifted to focusing on writing her business proposal which caused him to feel left behind. Instead of ending their relationship amicably, he chose to cheat. She only discovered his betrayal when a woman showed up on her doorstep. Heartbroken she had confronted him that night where he confessed, and she ended their five-year relationship, feeling as if she had wasted time on him.
“I’m here for a conference for work,” Rick replied. “No, I don’t live in Florida. It’s sheer coincidence that we’re here at the same time. I saw the girls as I was heading to my table. I’d love to catch up with you while I’m here though. Want to have dinner with me tonight?”
Myles had been standing beside Kayla growing more pissed off by the second. This was the last straw for him, he couldn’t continue being quiet. “Excuse me everyone… but motherfucker, I know good, and damn well you see that Kayla is standing here with me. Don’t let my color convince you that I’m a punk cause if you continue to pretend as if I’m not here, an ass-whooping is what you’re gonna walk into. Now get the fuck out of here. And let me be clear just in case I haven’t been up to this point, HELL FUCKING NO, she ain’t having dinner or catching up with you.” Glaring at him, he moved Kayla to the seats saved for them at the other end of the table.
“Welllll damn, that’s right Myles!” Rachel exclaimed while slapping fives with Jocelyn. “Way to let his bitch ass know. Get your punk ass away from this table acting like we cool Rick.”
Kayla’s face was beet red. Whispering so only he could hear, she said, “Baby I could have handled that myself.”
Leaning down to her ear he said, “Honey Bee, it’s handled.” Then he kissed her so deeply that she moaned forgetting the table full of her friends and their significant others.
Throats at the table were clearing to get their attention.
“Uh, I hate to interrupt the open display of sexual passion between you two, but do you think we can order now?” Caressa asked ready to eat.
Laughing, Kayla came up from the kiss. “I’m sorry Sis. Let’s uh, get on with breakfast.” Myles had stolen her rational head again and made her forget her manners. They forged on with breakfast enjoying the time with each other.
After breakfast, the girls wanted to spend some time together before the shower knowing that their time was limited. Rachel had informed them that she would be leaving after the shower. She’d flown in with Dashawn, and he needed to get back to handle an issue at work.
Kayla and Myles would also be heading back home later that evening. She hated leaving so soon, but her mom would never go for her missing Sunday dinner, and she planned to come back to visit soon anyway.
Now, they were heading to Baby’s R’ Us to pick up their gifts from the registry Caressa and Brian had. They each decided to buy one thing from the registry of Caressa’s choosing. Reia was driving the group as she had driven her Escalade to breakfast.
Jocelyn decided to walk into the fire and asked, “So Kayla, Myles got some competition huh? Although, he told Rick in no uncertain terms that you were not available. I think I might be in love with him a little myself. Damn, I know you said he was an asshole when you two first met but come on and admit it, his asshole tendencies were hot back at the table, weren’t they?”
Laughing, Caressa entered the conversation, “Listen, if Myles handles ex-boyfriends like that, I got a few he could take care of for me.”
“OK, I wanted to jump up and down rooting for him,” Rachel animatedly expressed. “Did you hear him check Rick’s punk ass? And how the fuck Rick gonna walk up in there like him and Kayla been in contact for a while? His bitch ass cheated and lost all rights to even look at her let alone entertaining her in any way. I was glad Myles put him in his proper place. Kayla, again, if you don’t want that man I’ll take him off your hands.”
“Uh Rachel, what about Dashawn? He doesn’t seem like the type comfortable with sharing,” Reia informed her.
Kayla thought she would escape this conversation, but she should have known her sisters wouldn’t let it go. Part of her was screaming in her head at Myles, and the other part of her was turned the hell on. Choosing her words carefully, she forged ahead, “Well, I wasn’t expecting Myles to go all caveman and in front of you guys like that. I also wasn’t expecting to see Rick. I haven’t seen him since we ended our relationship all those years ago. I’m not sure why he thought we could simply ignore everything that happened between us. Even if there was no Myles, there’s nothing for us to discuss, he’s my past, and there definitely ain’t no future with him in it. And Myles told me he loved me last night, so I think that explains his caveman acts. Y’all, that man has me and my eyes wide open. And he has no idea that I’m in love with him as well. He told me not to tell him last night, ‘cause he didn’t want me to feel forced or pressured to say it back. But he doesn’t know that I’m already there with him. He’s slowly tearing down my walls.”
“Kayla, I’m going to say this on behalf of all of us in this vehicle,” Jocelyn expressed sincerely. “Give love a chance. You deserve all the happiness your heart can hold. You’re compassionate, giving, selfless, and worthy of love. I don’t care what happened in the past, let it go. Don’t stand in the way of your destiny. Myles seems genuine in his pursuit of you. The way that he looks at you, we can all see that he loves you. Let him love you Sis. You deserve him. You deserve to receive your happily ever after. Let love, love you honey.”
Kayla had started crying at the start of Jocelyn’s words. It’d been hard to trust the process. She’d witnessed her parent’s loving marriage growing up. Kayla saw Jocelyn and Reia’s love filled unions as well as the love between Caressa and Brian. But she had trouble believing it could happen to her. Rick hadn’t been the first man Kayla fell for and she wanted to have a family. She’d wanted a husband to grow old with. But Jocelyn’s words penetrated her heart in such a way that she had to pay attention.
As Kayla looked around the truck, all her sisters with the exception of a driving Reia, were all nodding in agreement. She intended to do just what Jocelyn suggested she do, give love a chance and believe she was worth it. “Ok sisters, I hear you all loud and clear. Now my ultimate dilemma is introducing Myles to my parents. You know my dad is protective of his baby girl. How should I trudge through that conversation with them and then have a meeting between them and Myles?”
“Now Sis, that’s something we can’t answer for you. Papa Anthony is fiercely scary and protective of you. We barely made his cut!” Rachel laughed.
“You betta say that Rachel, Reia said. “Heck, Papa Anthony isn’t that bad. I’m more afraid of Momma Regina, that woman used to have all of us walking a chalk line as kids.” She shivered from the memory.
“Stop talking about my parents, y’all know they love y’all as if you are their kids. Hell, I think they sometimes forgot when we were growing up, and they disciplined you right along with me. Y’all remember that time she lined all our asses up to deliver an ass whooping?” Kayla laughed.
The sisters all then told different stories about growing up and the trouble they got into.
Two hours later, they were at Caressa’s house setting up for the baby shower due to s
tart in thirty minutes. There wasn’t much for them to do as Caressa and Brian’s mothers had already been there cooking and cleaning. The two women got along very well and were looking forward to being grandparents together. Their efforts meant the girls just had to put up the decorations and with Caressa sitting down barking orders, everything was ready for the shower. Not wanting to leave Brian out, Caressa had opted for a co-ed shower, so the men had shown up five minutes before the first guest arrived.
Then later in the evening, on the flight home, Kayla’s thoughts were on the great weekend with her girls. During the baby shower, they had played games and passed around the newest addition to their group.
Kayla couldn’t get enough of baby Parker. He was the perfect mixture of Caressa and Brian, his cute little round cheeks had made her giddy. She made sure that she held him the most and except for Rachel, everyone else had easy access to him whenever they wanted it. Holding him, she’d envisioned how she would feel if she were given the opportunity to be a mother. She and Rick had talked about having kids during their relationship, and he told her he had no desire to be a dad. She wondered if she should bring up the conversation with Myles or let their relationship play out more.
As she relived her weekend she dozed off with thoughts of babies and the idea of forever.
Myles sat next to Kayla also reflecting on the weekend. He got along well with Brian, Justin, Carter, and Dashawn. They had hung out the first day and did quick introductions over a beer. After breakfast, while the women went shopping they went to a sports bar and bonded over football highlights. Then during the baby shower while the women snuck off, they’d helped Brian with his pre-proposal jitters as well as helped him perfect his speech.
Myles had made some new friends, and the men agreed to keep in touch as they all knew that with their women being so close, they’d see each other often. But the highlight of the weekend was watching Kayla hold baby Parker. The view was staggering, as in his mind, he envisioned her holding their baby.
Myles had already been thinking of a long-term relationship between them then her holding and loving on baby Parker sealed the deal for him. He envisioned her belly growing with his baby inside her. He even remembered the guys giving him pats on the back as they told him he was a goner. The memory caused him to relax in his seat and think of how to progress to his future with his Honey Bee.
After an easy flight, Myles was walking Kayla to her door where he noticed that she hadn’t said much to him since they got off the plane. He’d been contemplating how to approach the talk he knew was festering within her. He was learning that when his Honey Bee was deep in thought about something she became eerily quiet. However, her face allowed him to have a small glimpse of her thoughts as she was very expressive with her facial expressions. He sensed that she was thinking about something serious. “Is there something bothering you that we need to discuss Honey Bee?”
Opening her door, she walked to the alarm keypad to disarm it.
Myles, knowing the layout of her house well turned on the lamp in the living room and stood by the couch waiting for her to join him.
Sitting beside him on the couch, she started laughing, “Myles, I just thought about your reaction to Rick this afternoon. Did you think that I would accept his offer and felt the need to flex your muscles? Or were you just a tad jealous?
“Baby, I will admit to a little jealousy, but my reaction was based on how he approached you as if he didn’t see you walk in with me. We were holding hands, and he acted as if he didn’t see anything between us. I will never allow another man to disrespect me like that. But that’s water under the bridge, as I would like to discuss something more meaningful to us. How are we going to introduce each other to our parents? I will be going to visit my parents tomorrow, so I’m going to tell them about you. But when do you think we can move to introductions? I personally think we’ve been dating long enough and have progressed to that point.”
“Babe, I’ll tell my parents about you and our relationship when I go over for dinner tomorrow as well. I can’t hold it in any longer, I love you Myles Harte Feelgood, and I’m ready to let them know. I too, agree that we’ve come to that point in our relationship. You are everything I hoped to have but never thought I’d receive,” she said sniffling to prevent the tears from falling.
“Don’t cry Honey Bee, I can never express my love to you in the way that I feel it. Just know that I won’t take your love for granted. And thank you for giving me you and the privilege of your love. I’m grateful. Now walk me to the door, I’m going to head out. Call me when you get home from your parents. Love you,” he said kissing her deeply again.
~Chapter Twenty-Four~
The next day, Myles was heading to his parent’s house, contemplating how he would tell his family about Kayla. He wasn’t worried about their reaction to her being black he was more concerned about how they would react to how he felt about her in such a short time. He intended to tell them all about Kayla as well as tell them that he planned to marry her one day.
His parents had been pressing him and Monica to settle down and give them grandbabies for years. He’d dodged all the suggestions and hints in the past, so this would likely cause them to go into shock. But he knew Kayla was the “one” and the more time they spent together, he knew that it would be just a matter of time.
Pulling into the driveway of their house, he saw both Monica and Grandpa Harte’s cars. “Good, the gang’s all here. I can tell everybody at the same time.” He got out of the car and walked up to the door. Once he got to the door, he let himself into the house knowing his parents would be expecting him.
The first person he ran into was his Grandpa who hugged him while giving him a big smile. “Gramps, why are you looking like the cat who ate the canary? What are you up to?” he asked ending the embrace.
Laughing, Grandpa Feelgood said, “Well, I can’t believe as much as you were sniffing around Ms. Kayla while on vacation, you neglected to tell your folks about her. Imagine my surprise when I brought up the subject of our vacation. I don’t think your momma is happy to be blindsided, your bout to step into some manure in that dining room.”
Shaking his head, he had no time for a rebuttal as he heard his dad’s voice from the dining room.
“Myles, is that you? Come on in here. Dinner is ready, and so are we. It seems as if you have some things to share with us.”
“Damn Gramps, a little more of a warning would have been nice,” he grumbled while heading to the dining room. His grandfather was muffling his laughter behind him. He found his mother, father, and sister staring at him as he walked into the dining room. Monica wore a sneaky grin on her face, his mother had her perfected guilt look, and his father tried to display his stern face.
Sitting in the chair furthest from his parents but still close to his sister, he decided to divert the missile aimed at him. “So, should we pray over this great looking spread? Mom, you really have outdone yourself. Monica, I want to hear all about your studies, when did you get back?”
“This boy done lost his mind, Keith. I know he isn’t trying to ignore what you said and start informing us of what’s going on here,” his mom said with attitude.
“Come on Mom, do you want to discuss this first or do you want to eat?” Myles asked looking at his mom.
“Oh no, you’ve kept us waiting long enough, out with it,” she said deadpan.
Feeling the mounting tension, he decided to tell them what happened on vacation and where he was currently, “Well, I’ll start by saying that you guys might want to start preparing for a wedding in the near future. I met the woman who will be my wife, mother of my children, and your future in law. Ironically, our meeting was a disaster thanks to Gramps and his theatrics, but I’m learning that sometimes fate has a way of slapping you when you least expect it. Her name is Kayla Banks, and she’s a thirty-two-year-old entrepreneur of her own consulting company. She lives in Powell, Ohio. I can’t wait for you guys to meet her,” he finished
sitting back in his seat with a huge smile on his face as if he didn’t just drop multiple bombs on them.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” his dad said clearly shocked by Myles’ words. “This boy done went and fell in love. I didn’t think he would stay still long enough to pursue a relationship, let alone be talking about something long-term. Wow!”
“Uh, big brother did you really say for us to prepare for a wedding? I think I’m just as shocked as Daddy. Momma, did you hear your son?” Monica questioned looking from Myles to her mother.
Jumping up from the table and running to squeeze his neck in a tight chokehold his mom cried, “Oh, my goodness, oh my goodness! My baby done found his soulmate. I never thought it was possible. I thought he would be alone forever. I thought he would never find someone he wanted to marry. Oh, my goodness!” she exclaimed with tears streaming down her face.
Laughing hysterically, Grandpa Feelgood interjected, “Uh, I think he ain’t gone make it if you hug him any tighter Catherine. He looks to be turning blue from where I’m sitting, and you keep squeezing. Let the boy up for air, and I’m hungry can we eat while we discuss this?”
Letting him go, his mother headed back to her seat and started a long drawn out prayer of thanksgiving.
Shaking his head all Myles could think was… I sure hope Kayla is ready for meet the family night.
Meanwhile, Kayla was sitting down to dinner to begin her own conversation about the new man in her life. She had time to gather her words since her parents were unaware of the events on the cruise or what had taken place then to now. But unfortunately for her, she forgot to disguise her facial expressions.