I was still kicking it heavy with Mia, who I wish could hang with Normani and me because I would love for the three of us to kick it, but I knew that neither woman would do it.
“Okay. All done with your pretty self,” Askiya cooed as she walked over and picked Prosper up. She was trying to reach for the string to the camera that Askiya was holding around her neck.
While they played with the baby, my phone rang. I grabbed it out of my back pocket, and I smiled when I saw that it was a Facetime call from Truth. I walked out of the patio door, so I could talk to him in private since a lot was going on inside.
“Hey, baby,” I cooed.
His handsome face popped on the screen, and I could see that he was holding up a little tiny suit in his hands that was fit for a baby.
“Ima get this for little man. It’s six months. You think he’s going to fit this by the time our wedding comes? This shit is nice. It’s Armani too. What you think?” he asked, showing me the nice, white, three-piece suit.
“Baby, I don’t know. We don’t know if he’s going to be a chunky baby or small. Wait until he gets here,” I told him.
“Ima still get it. Just in case. What time you meeting me back at the hotel? I miss you,” he told me.
“They just wrapped up the shoot. I’m going to leave in a few. Of course, Dream already let me know that she wants to stay here with her cousins, so I’m going to let her. We’ll just come back to get her in the morning,” I told him.
“Cool. I should be back at the hotel by the time you get there. I love you, beautiful. Drive safe,” he told me.
“I love you too,” I responded, and then I hung up the phone.
I blushed; this man was so perfect. I ran into Monterius a couple of months ago when I came down. Like any other time when I saw him, we spoke briefly and kept it pushing. Moving on was best for both of us. I didn’t hate Monterius, I just outgrew him, and it was time for me to move on.
Any woman who ever gets put in that situation, I just hoped she was smart enough to know that she doesn’t have to take a man having an outside baby on her. It’s okay to be selfish with you and choose yourself first. It’s okay to move on and run into another man’s arms who will not hurt you.
When I saw Monterius a couple of months ago, he genuinely looked happy. I wanted that for him. I would always love him, but I loved him enough to walk away. I had no regrets about the decision that I’d made, and in a few months, I would be a married woman. I swear that day couldn’t come soon enough.
Normani Knox
“God, I ask that you wrap your arms around the parents. Wrap your arms around Prosper, my sweet little grandbaby. Allow her parents to continue to have a relationship with You Lord so that Prosper can serve you too…”
My mom’s voice went on as my husband and all our family stood in front of the church to witness our daughter’s christening. We were standing front and center at my mother’s church, and I couldn’t help but be overly emotional as I looked up at my mother while she prayed over my daughter. My mom was back to her stomping grounds, doing what she loved to do.
My eyes should have been closed, but they were moving around the sanctuary. It was filled with so many people who took up every pew on both levels of the church. Before the christening, my mom had given a powerful message, where she talked about love, family, and breaking chains. I think she had us all crying, even my husband. My mom could always minister, but the moment she left her husband, walked away from that dead weight, something awakened in her. Now, her voice was just so powerful.
I kept thinking about my mom telling me months ago that she had these big dreams, and because she was finally living out her dreams, I was emotional. My mom was the owner of this church, she had her new song on the radio, titled “Loving Me First,” and she was the happiest that I’ve ever seen her in my life.
Last Sunday, we had Sunday dinner at her home, and she did the prayer. Do you know this woman still prayed for her ex-husband? She still asked God to watch over him. That alone showed a lot about her character. There was no secret that my father’s church had closed due to him not keeping up with the mortgage. Did I feel bad for him? No, I actually didn’t. He was getting exactly what he deserved.
He had helped destroy my mother for years, and she was finally picking up the pieces. I was finally at a place where my husband and I could love on each other and not worry about outside forces, like him, trying to destroy our union. I hadn’t seen him in months. To be exact, the last time I saw him was months ago at the divorce hearing. I had no desire to see him either.
My husband and I had these beautiful kids and this beautiful marriage, so we were good. I had been out of work now for almost six months, and I was in no hurry to go back, although I would head back next month. I was working on a new book, which I was dedicating to my husband and me. I wanted to tell a story about two people from opposite sides of life who had still managed to form a union.
Never in a million years did I think that my dream husband would be Billionaire, but it was, and I wanted to speak on that topic because, in life, we get so headstrong with thinking what our ideal husband is supposed to be when we really don’t know until God gives us one. At least, that’s how it went with my situation. I was getting out of children’s books for a while, and I would talk about some real-life situations.
“In Jesus’s name, Amen,” my mom said, ending her prayer.
The choir sang, we did the benediction, and service was over. We took so many pictures to remember this moment when our baby girl received her blessing. My husband had every homeboy of his standing at the front of the church with us because he’d invited just about every person he knew to come out and celebrate this moment.
Prosper got fussy, so I knew that her chunky butt was either hungry or she needed her diaper changed. She couldn’t have been sleepy because she slept through the entire church service. We made it outside, where my husband was dressed in a nice, white dress shirt with a pair of white dress pants and some clean white dress shoes. He wore a Cuban chain around his neck, his hair was cut to perfection, that beard I loved to tug on was growing by the day, and he just looked so handsome in daddy mode as he walked with the diaper bag going across him.
“I feel your eyes on me, shorty,” he said, making me laugh as we neared his truck.
“I can’t admire my husband? You look good, papi,” I cooed to him.
He made it to the car and then turned around to look at me while blushing.
“I got something else for you to admire later tonight,” he told me and grabbed his member down there.
I laughed and then playfully hit him for doing that out here on church grounds.
“Stop. Come on. My baby is hungry, and we have to get to the house because the man is supposed to be coming to give me the quote for the spa room that I need to have installed in my she shack. The fireplace too,” I beamed, happy at the way my she shack was coming along.
Billionaire sucked his teeth, hating when I said anything about my she shack. It was still being remodeled because the things I was asking for would take a lot of time.
“I hate that I even made that bet with you. You trying to turn that room into a little ass apartment. You talking about a spa room. Who’s supposed to be coming to the house to massage you? I massage you. That’s my job,” he told me.
“It’ll remain your job. Why you hating on my she shack? I don’t hate on your man cave when you be down there with your boys, shooting dice,” I said as I leaned into the car to put Prosper in her car seat.
“Let’s bet again, and see if you can do it naturally for the second time,” he said, making me burst out laughing.
“You are soooo slick. You’ll say anything to get me pregnant again. Baby, she’s not even one yet. My body needs time to heal,” I told him.
I had been telling my husband this since Prosper turned two weeks old. He thought I was supposed to keep pushing out baby after baby without giving my body a break. I mean, I know I told him I would gi
ve him all the babies in the world, but damn!
Billionaire leaned into the car and pulled me to him once Prosper was strapped inside.
“It ain’t my fault that I love my wife, and we make some beautiful kids. One more ain’t going to hurt,” he said, and then he kissed my lips. God, he was making it hard to say no.
“Normani! You can do that in the privacy of your home!” my mom snapped, coming over and standing by the car.
I laughed and then slapped my husband for getting me in trouble. She seemed to have popped out of nowhere.
“I know, Mama. We’ll be over later,” I told her.
“Hmm hmm,” she said and got in her car.
I laughed and pushed Billionaire back, so I could get out.
“For real, though, bae, thank you for giving me Prosper. Thank you for rocking with me too, and letting me turn you out,” he said, making me roll my eyes at him.
“You never turned me out. You just introduced me to love,” I said before squeezing past him to get into the passenger seat.
“Yeah, I did. You was turned out by my hood mentality,” he joked.
As much as I didn’t want to, I laughed. I got in the passenger seat, and he closed the door. I watched as the most perfect man walked around the car to get in the driver’s seat, and I looked at the most perfect little girl in the back, comfortably in her car seat.
If I was turned out by his hood mentality, then I’d take that because, in the process, I found my soul mate… my King… my other half, and in the words of my daddy… my thug!
Thank you all for the support you have given me throughout the years. I hope that everyone enjoyed this rollercoaster of a series. Be on the lookout this winter for a Christmas book from these characters, along with the characters from Saved by a Real One.
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