Gladys and Miranda stood at the bay window watching Lance settle Maximillian in his car seat. Gladys chuckled at the thought of black bags that’ll be under Lance and Arykah’s eyes the next morning. Neither of them will get an ounce of sleep that night.
Thirteen
It wasn’t until five forty-five Saturday evening when Gladys had called the Howell home to say that she and Miranda had finally unpacked everything, decorated Maximillian’s nursery, and settled in.
“The condo is stunning, Lady A,” Gladys said. “We love the furniture, the hardwood floors, and the spacious closets that Miranda and I needed so badly. I can’t wait for everyone to see the nursery. Everything came together perfectly. And what newborn has a walk-in closet?” Gladys chuckled. “Max is already so blessed.”
“I’m excited to see the nursery,” Arykah stated.
“How is Max doing?”
“He’s napping. He had a bottle about thirty minutes ago. He is a happy baby.”
“Yeah, he is.”
“Where’s Miranda?”
“Girl, I give you one guess where she is.”
Arykah laughed out loud. “Already?”
“A tornado couldn’t have kept that girl and Natasha from the pool.”
“Oh, Natasha’s there too?”
“Uh-huh. She came to help Miranda unpack and set up Max’s nursery. I promised them that once they were done they could visit the pool.”
“Miranda’s not swimming, is she?”
Arykah couldn’t see Gladys shaking her head no. “She had better not be. I told Miranda that she could only put her feet in the pool. Her vajayjay is still fresh and susceptible to all types of bacteria. She needs to be resting, but what am I gonna do? By the way,” Gladys said changing the subject, “I’ve already been down to the lobby and got myself a cup of mojo from Starbucks. I am going to love it here. Our doorman, Stewart, is so nice and helpful.”
You get what you pay for, Arykah thought. “That’s great, Gladys. It’s good that you, Miranda, and the baby are someplace where you’re comfortable and not cramped.”
Gladys sat in the living room on the dark brown leather sectional as she talked to Arykah. She looked out over Lake Michigan. “I can’t get over this view. I mean, the water doesn’t end.”
“Are you happy and content?” Arykah asked her. She really hoped that Gladys was comfortable with the condominium. She and Lance had chosen that very one with care.
“Are you kidding me? Of course, I’m happy. I’m elated, to be honest. But I’m worried about what folks will think about me residing here.”
“What do you mean?”
“Come on now, Lady A. Everyone knows that I can’t afford to live like this. Folks are gonna be talkin’.”
“First of all, it ain’t nobody’s business where you live or how much anything costs. No one balances your checkbook but you. Girl, look, don’t get me started, okay? You need to be like me, Gladys. You gotta carry yourself in a way that folks would already know not to get in your business.”
“I hear you. But how do I explain how I got here?”
“You ain’t gotta ’splain nothing to nobody. You’re blessed and highly favored. That’s all folks need to know, and you wouldn’t even be lying. See, you’re trying to get my blood pressure up talkin’ about stupid folks, but I ain’t gonna let you. My godson will be up in another hour and I’m looking forward to loving on him.”
Gladys chuckled. “Well, I’m getting ready to draw me a bath in my brand-new Jacuzzi tub and relax. Hey, did Miranda even call you to check on her baby?”
“No, but it’s okay.”
“That’s not okay, Lady A. I told that girl to make sure she called you before she and Natasha went to that pool. I can already see that the pool is gonna get Miranda into trouble.”
“Gladys, take your bath and leave that girl alone. She is a teenager, and she knows she has a great support team behind her.” Arykah decided to change the subject. “Hey, listen, keep Stephanie Nichols in your prayers. She called us to say that her mother has taken a turn for the worse.”
“Oh no,” Gladys responded. “She’s battling ovarian cancer, right?”
“Yes. The bishop went to the hospital to be with the family. The doctor told Stephanie her mother may not make it through the night.”
“Oh my God. Poor Stephanie,” Gladys said. “And Stacy too. I know they’re devastated.”
Arykah thought back to when Stephanie confided in her that she had caught Stacy in bed with her husband, Kenneth. “Yeah, Stacy too,” Arykah said.
“The way my body is feeling, Lady A, I can already tell you that Miranda and I will not make it to church in the morning.”
“Okay, that’s fine. The bishop and I won’t mind bringing Max home after church.”
Lance entered the master suite at 2:34 a.m. Sunday morning. He was so exhausted that the only thing he could do was strip from his clothes and crawl into bed and snuggle up next to Arykah.
“What happened?” Arykah asked him.
Lance exhaled. “She passed about an hour ago. She went peacefully.”
“My goodness,” Arykah sighed. “So we plan another funeral at Freedom Temple.”
“No. Stephanie and Stacy’s mom wasn’t a member of Freedom Temple.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that.”
“I supported Stephanie and Stacy because they’re my members. Their mother was of the Apostolic faith. I’m not sure what church she belonged to. I did hear Stephanie telling her cousins that her mother wanted to be cremated. There may or may not even be a funeral service for her.”
As the first lady of Freedom Temple, Arykah felt that something should be done to support Stephanie and Stacy. She could only imagine how they must be grieving for their mother. Arykah sighed again. “How are Stephanie and Stacy doing?”
“Stephanie took it very hard. But Stacy and Kenneth didn’t arrive at the hospital until after their mother was pronounced dead.”
“What?” Arykah asked loudly. She sat up on the bed and clapped her hands. The bedroom lit up, and she glanced at Maximillian sleeping in his bassinette next to the bed hoping that her shriek hadn’t awakened him. Diva Chanel lay on the floor next to him. She glared at Lance. “Stephanie called us at three this afternoon. Are you telling me that she sat at her dying mother’s side—alone—all this time?”
“Well, I was there, and Stephanie’s cousins were there as well.”
“But not Stacy or Kenneth?”
“No.”
“And Stacy arrived at the hospital with Kenneth after her mother was pronounced dead?”
“Yeah, what are you getting at?”
Arykah shook her head in disgust. “Wow,” was all she said.
“What’s wrong, Cheeks?”
Arykah knew she had to keep her promise to Stephanie to not tell Lance about Stacy and Kenneth or the divorce. “I’m gonna have Stephanie talk to you.”
Arykah lay down and clapped her hands together. As soon as their bedroom went dark, Maximillian woke up crying.
Lance put his pillow over his head. “Oh my God.”
Arykah chuckled. “It’s your turn. I’ve already been up with him twice.”
“Arykah, I’m exhausted,” he mumbled.
“So am I.”
“I gotta preach in eight hours.”
Maximillian’s cry got louder. “Do you want this one or the next one?” Arykah asked Lance. “He will be up again at four.”
Lance threw the covers from his body, walked around the bed, and picked the baby up from the bassinette. He turned to leave the master suite.
“Make sure to powder his bottom when you change him, and the milk in his bottle has to be lukewarm, not too hot. Test it on your wrist first.”
“Oh sure,” Lance said. “Never mind the fact that I just got home from a hospital and I gotta preach in the morning. I don’t need your help. I got this.”
“Go on and get it then,” Arykah said. She lay down and closed her e
yes. She didn’t care that Lance had to preach in a few hours. He was the one who suggested that Maximillian stay the day and night with them while Gladys and Miranda moved and unpacked. As the godfather, Arykah was going to make sure that Lance shared in the overnight sleep interruptions. If Lance thought that he was going to be bright eyed and bushy tailed on Sunday morning while Arykah sat on the front pew with bags beneath her eyes from lack of sleep, he had another thing coming.
The alarm clock on Lance’s nightstand buzzed at seven o’clock. He stirred, then reached over and pressed the SILENCE button. Lance turned to his side and saw Arykah sitting in a chair across the bedroom. She was feeding Maximillian a bottle of milk. Though she was fifteen feet away from him he saw the dark circles beneath her eyes.
“Good morning,” he said to her.
She tried to smile. “Mornin’, Bishop.”
Watching Arykah cradle the baby in the crease of her arm warmed Lance’s heart. He regretted that he and Arykah didn’t get the chance to be parents. Just looking at her love and care for Miranda’s son told Lance that whenever he and Arykah conceived a child again, she’d make the perfect mother.
“How long have you been up?” he asked her.
Arykah shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know. Awhile.” She looked down at the precious face in her arm. “He’s so fussy.”
“You look tired.”
She nodded her head. “I am.” She removed the empty bottle from Maximillian’s mouth, then placed him on her shoulder. Arykah patted his back until he belched.
Lance chuckled when he heard the noise come from the baby’s throat. “That boy sure eats a lot.”
“That’s what growing boys do.” Arykah stood and brought Maximillian to his bassinette. She lay him down and covered him with a blanket. Then Arykah got in bed and snuggled up to Lance. “I’m exhausted, Bishop.”
Lance pulled Arykah in his arms and kissed her forehead. “We both are. Max must’ve gotten up seven times throughout the night.”
Lance and Arykah had taken turns changing Maximillian’s diapers and entertaining him until he took his next catnap. Neither of them had slept for more than an hour at a time.
“I’m not going to church,” Arykah confessed.
Lance laughed out loud. “I knew that was coming.”
“I think Miranda should be the one to debut her baby on his first Sunday at Freedom Temple. It wouldn’t seem right for me to carry him in the sanctuary like he’s my son.”
“I can understand that,” Lance said.
“And besides,” Arykah started, “Max is barely a week old. A portion of his umbilical cord is still attached to his navel. It’s too soon for various folks to be handling him and kissing on his face. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah. I agree. We don’t wanna expose him to germs.”
“Well, I can take Max home this morning. I know the team is meeting at Gladys’s condo after church. Why don’t you come by?”
“I can do that, but I need you to get some sleep ’cause you and I got a date tonight.”
Arykah smiled. “Really? Tell me what you got planned.”
“I can’t. It’s a surprise.”
“Give me a hint.”
Lance thought for a moment. “Our backyard.”
Arykah frowned. “Backyard?”
“Yep,” Lance said. “And that’s all you’re getting from me.”
Arykah looked at Lance seductively and kissed his lips. “You don’t wanna give me anything else?”
Lance knew by the sultry look in her eyes that she was flirting with him. He looked at her. “You ain’t too tired?”
“Never.”
Lance pulled her closer and kissed her passionately. As soon as he removed Arykah’s nightgown from her shoulder Maximillian cried out. Lance lay on his back and looked up at the ceiling. “Oh my God.”
Arykah laughed, then tended to the baby. “You better get used to it, Bishop,” she said as she cradled Maximillian in her arms. “Eventually, this will be us on a daily basis.”
Lance exhaled. “Oh my God,” he said again.
After feasting on Gladys’s mustard and turnips greens, fried chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, and potato salad with Team Arykah and Deacon Marshall, Lance and Arykah arrived home late Sunday evening.
“I’m beat, Bishop,” Arykah said when they entered the kitchen from the garage. “It’s been a long day. I’m going to bed.”
“What about our date?”
Arykah yawned. “Can I take a rain check? I’m exhausted.”
“No rain checks, Cheeks. This is the perfect night for our date and the special surprise that I have for you.”
“In the backyard?”
Lance smiled. “Yep.” He needed time to set everything up. “Go and change into something more comfortable and join me and Diva Chanel out back.”
Arykah looked at Lance suspiciously, then went toward the master suite.
“Come on, Diva,” Lance said to her. He opened the kitchen patio doors and Diva Chanel ran outside. He followed and closed the patio doors behind him.
Ten minutes later when Arykah stepped onto the patio, she saw Lance and Diva Chanel lying on one of two hammocks. “What in the world?”
Diva Chanel left Lance and ran to Arykah.
“Surprise!” Lance yelled out. “Remember a couple weeks back when we were out here getting drunk?”
She chuckled. “Yeah. Are we getting drunk tonight?” Arykah was hopeful.
“No. Do you recall what you said about how perfect the weather was that night?”
Arykah looked at the hammock and put two and two together.
“It is nights like this one that I wish we had a hammock out here. It would be so nice and romantic to lie in your arms and watch the stars.”
Arykah smiled. “I love it when you listen, Bishop.”
Lance reached behind his back and pulled out a scroll. He extended it to Arykah. “A gift for you.”
“What’s this?” she smiled.
Next to his leg on the hammock Lance had a small flashlight. He gave it to Arykah. “This should help.”
Arykah untied the red satin ribbon and unrolled the paper. Lance stood from the hammock and took the flashlight from Arykah. He flashed it on the paper so she could read the words.
“It’s a star certificate,” she said.
“Read it out loud.”
“This star with the coordinates RA: 15h17m31.2s JUN: 31 degrees 17m31.6s was successfully entered into the star-naming registry on June eighth, twenty thirteen. The star has been named Lady Arykah. Registry number five zero two eight seven zero zero zero nine four three eight.” Arykah looked up at Lance. “Aw, Babe, this is so nice.” She kissed his lips.
“Read the rest,” he instructed.
Tears were filling Arykah’s eyes, and the words on the paper became blurry. “This star will always shine for you and show you the way to my heart. I will love you forever, Lance.”
Lance grabbed Arykah’s hands and led her farther out in the backyard where she saw another hammock next to a telescope.
“Oh my God,” she shrieked. “You didn’t.”
“I did,” Lance said. “Look through the lens.”
Arykah knelt down and looked for her star. “I can see it, Lance,” she yelled out. She laughed. “I can see my star. It’s so bright and big. I can really see it.”
“It’s a binary star, Cheeks, and it’s made up of two stars orbiting around each other.”
Arykah stood upright and looked at her husband. “Like you and me.”
“You said you wanted to lie in my arms and watch the stars. Well, let’s do it.”
Arykah watched Lance retrieve the hammock from the patio and drag it to where she stood. He lay down on one hammock and Arykah lay on the other.
“I can’t believe it,” Arykah said. “My husband bought me a star.”
“If I could afford it, Cheeks, I’d buy you the moon too.”
Diva Chanel jumped onto
Arykah’s lap and settled down. Lance and Arykah held hands and watched the stars all night long.
Fourteen
On the second Sunday in July, after morning worship, Lance dedicated four babies before he called Miranda, Maximillian, Gladys, and Arykah, all dressed in white, to the front of the church. Lance left the pulpit and joined them next to the altar.
Minister Weeks, dressed in a white robe decorated with metallic gold braided trimming around his wrists and collar, stepped from the pulpit and took Maximillian from Miranda’s arms. He held Maximillian and sprinkled holy water on his forehead. Maximillian squirmed in his white satin bonnet and white satin jacket and shorts. Arykah designed his lace tailored-made socks and satin booties as well.
“Father, we surrender little Max to You,” Minister Weeks started. “We ask that You guide him, teach him, and lead him.” He gave the baby back to Miranda and looked at her and Gladys. “God has blessed you both with a miracle. Do you promise to protect Maximillian and train him in the way that he should go so when he is grown, he will not depart from it?”
“Yes,” they responded.
Minister Weeks looked at Lance and Arykah. “As godparents, do you accept the responsibility to see after Maximillian, to make sure he is safe and cared for? Do you promise to step in and become parents if Miranda can no longer be there for him?”
“We do,” they stated.
Minister Weeks smiled and looked at all of them. “Today, we dedicate Maximillian Aristotle Williams to the holy Trinity. May he forever be blessed. Amen.”
“Amen,” everyone responded.
After Maximillian’s christening, Lance and Arykah treated the team, Adonis, Miranda, Natasha, and Deacon Marshall to Italian food at Leona’s Restaurant on West Ninety-fifth Street in Chicago Ridge. They were seated around a large round table in the center of the restaurant.
Arykah looked across the table and noticed that Deacon Marshall and Myrtle were chatting and smiling in each other’s faces. They had been spending a lot of time together. They rode to church together in the limousine that Lance hired for Myrtle’s use and whenever the team got together, Deacon Marshall was always in tow now. Monique had informed Arykah that she had called Myrtle’s house late one evening and Deacon Marshall answered.
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