“I needed to run something else by you too,” Tre said changing the subject.
“What’s up?” Von asked.
“I know that you like us being here, especially now that we have Treasure, but I think it’s time for us to get our own house. Mia and I will be married next month, and I don’t want us to be living with anybody else. I can’t have what happened earlier to happen all the time,” Tre said referring to Von walking in on them. “You and I both need our own space.”
“I agree, but how does Mimi feel about that?”
“She’s not really feeling it, but she’ll come around eventually. You know Mia loves this house.”
“I know she does, so why not stay here?” Von asked.
“I just told you why. We need our own space,” Tre replied.
“I’m not talking about staying here with me. I mean you and Mimi stay here, and I move out,” Von clarified.
“What! No Von, I can’t ask you to move out of your house for us.”
“You’re not asking, I’m offering. Just call it a wedding present. Once you and Mimi get married, we can have the deeds transferred over. Besides, Tanya asked me to move in with her, and I agreed,” Von smiled.
“You’re serious?” Tre asked with raised brows.
“I’m very serious. Mimi loves this house, and I want my grandbaby to be comfortable too. Duke and Brandis are getting an apartment, so Tanya and I will have the house to ourselves. We’re always sleeping at each other’s houses anyway, so everything worked out perfectly.”
“I guess so. I know Mia will be happy,” Tre smiled.
“Well, you can go tell her the good news. Let me put this food away and drink until I can’t remember anything that I saw tonight,” Von said making Tre laugh.
He left his father in the kitchen and went to his room to go talk to Mia and tell her the good news.
***
Mia was up bright and early the next morning cleaning Treasure’s bottles and making her some fresh ones. She was so excited about the news that Tre delivered the night before that she barely slept. She never imagined that the house that she had been coming to for years as a little girl would one day be her own. Von’s house was everything that she wanted in a home, and now she would have it. With six bedrooms, three baths, a pool house, and a pool, Mia couldn’t ask for anything more. She would probably redecorate a few things, but it was perfect for the most part.
“Good morning Mimi,” Von said when he walked into the kitchen.
“Good Morning Von. Where is Treasure?” Mia asked.
“She’s still sleeping. She wanted to play all night, and she just went back to sleep.”
“Tre told me about the house. I’m so happy. And I’m happy that you and Tanya are moving in together,” Mia said as she walked around the island and hugged him.
“Yeah, everything fell right into place,” Von replied.
“And sorry about, you know, last night,” Mia said as she turned and looked away.
“Yeah, don’t remind me. I’m still trying to erase that from my memory,” Von laughed.
“Where are you on your way to this early?” Mia asked.
“I’m going with Lamar to get measured again for his tux. That nigga got his weight up since the last time he went.”
“I know, my daddy is fine. He’s getting buffed and everything,” Mia laughed.
“Yeah, my boy been hitting that gym like crazy. I’m proud of that nigga.”
“Me too. I’m happy that he’s going to be able to walk me down the aisle more than anything.”
“That goes for both of us, but you know I would have done it if he couldn’t.”
“You know you were my second choice,” Mia said smiling at him.
“Let me ask you something Mimi and I’ll be okay with whatever answer you give me.”
“Okay,” Mia replied.
“How would you feel if I invited Nicole and Rainey to the wedding? I know y’all have had y’all differences in the past, but I would really like for my other Goddaughter to be there. But if you’re not comfortable with it I’ll understand.”
“No Von, it’s fine. You can invite them. I don’t have any hard feelings towards Rainey, and neither does Brandis. I won’t lie and say we’ll be cool like we were before, but she’s welcomed to attend the wedding.”
“I understand how you feel baby. I don’t expect things to go back to the way they were. I just want us to be able to be in each other’s company without fussing and fighting,” Von replied.
Mia nodded her head in understanding to what Von had said. She really didn’t have any hard feelings towards Rainey, but they would never be friends again. But just like always, Mia would do anything for Von. She would smile and be cordial to Rainey for his sake only.
Chapter 31
On May twenty-fifth, the day Treasure turned five months, Mia and Tre stood before the pastor and over two hundred guests and became husband and wife. Everything was perfect, and they couldn’t ask for anything better. The company that Moonie hired to come in and decorate really did their thing. They had the inside and the outside of the facility looking like a colorful botanical garden. The wedding was later in the evening, and the lighting outside was so perfect. Mia was worried about the weather, but they had a beautiful day with no rain in the forecast. Tiara, Tootie, and Nina served as bridesmaids and Brandis was the maid of honor. Duke was Tre’s best man and three of his cousins served as his groomsmen. After taking hundreds of pictures, Mia changed into white cutout studded Herve Ledger dress and walked around with Tre to mingle with the guests.
“You feel okay baby?” Tre asked Mia as they were walking around talking to everyone.
“Yeah, I’m okay. Why did you ask me that?” She questioned.
“No reason. I’m just making sure,” he replied.
“Mia you made such a beautiful bride,” Clarita gushed when her granddaughter walked up to her table.
“Thanks, grandma,” Mia smiled.
She and Tre walked around eating and talking to everybody until they came across Von and Lamar sitting outside at a table with Rainey and Nicole. Rainey had her once long hair cut in a neat bob. She wore a cute spaghetti strap dress with a pair of wedges to match. Mia could see the sadness in her eyes, but she was unsure of what she was sad about. She didn’t know if it was because she and Tre were now married or if it was because of what she had gone through over the past few months. Either way Mia decided to be the bigger person and speak to her and her mother.
“Hey y’all, thanks for coming,” Mia said as he reached over and gave Nicole a hug.
When she went to hug Rainey Mia felt her body stiffen up a little, but Rainey still hugged her back.
“I watched both of you grow up, so I wouldn’t have missed this for the world. I still can’t believe that y’all are married with a baby now,” Nicole smiled.
“Yeah, they snuck that one in right under our noses,” Lamar chimed in.
“That’s alright. She’s a beautiful baby. And I can tell that y’all are spoiling her,” Nicole said while looking at Treasure sitting on Von’s lap.
Mia had changed Treasure out of her wedding dress into a sundress and sandals. Everybody had been trying to hold her all night, but she wouldn’t leave Von’s side. Treasure had just started to reach for people or turn her arms away if she didn’t want you to hold her. Moonie was pissed when she reached for her, and she turned away. She said it was because Mia had her around Von more, and she knew him better than she knew her other grandparents.
“That’s Von spoiling her like that,” Tre spoke up. “He was acting a fool when we were trying to taker her on a cruise with us.”
“It’s your honeymoon. Why would you want to take a baby on your honeymoon?” Von asked.
“So that’s the only reason?” Mia smirked.
“Girl y’all know I wasn’t letting y’all take my baby for seven whole days. We would’ve all been on that damn cruise,” Von laughed.
Mia and Tr
e sat outside with them for a while until Nicole announced that they were leaving. Rainey hadn’t really said anything since they were there, and nobody forced her to talk. Mia felt bad for her, but she really didn’t know what to say. Their friendship didn’t end on the best terms, so she just left it alone.
“Are y’all all packed up and ready to go?” Von asked Tre and Mia once they were alone.
“Yep, I can’t wait to get on that boat,” Mia replied.
“Yeah, well I hope you packed everything,” Lamar said looking right at her.
“I did pack everything,” Mia answered.
“I mean everything as in your damn birth control,” Lamar clarified.
“You damn right,” Von co-signed. “Married or not y’all don’t need no more babies right now. Y’all have all the time in the world to extend your family.”
Mia and Tre just looked at each other without replying. Von knew right then and there that something was up. He remembered seeing them doing the same thing for months before he found out that they were messing around.
“Awe shit! Now, what? Every time y’all start looking at each other all crazy and shit something is said that I don’t like. I ain’t even ready to hear what y’all have to say right now,” Von fussed.
“Well, you got six months to get ready,” Tre replied.
Von looked at Lamer before looking back at Mia and Tre.
“Y’all have got to be fucking kidding me!” Von yelled.
“This is some bullshit!” Lamar fumed. “Treasure just turned five months today. What, y’all don’t watch TV no more? Fucking is the only form of entertainment that y’all have?”
“I asked you if Mimi was taking her birth control and your ass swore that she was,” Von fussed.
“The damage was already done by then. And what the hell are y’all getting mad for? It’s not like y’all have to take care of it. Mia and I are married, and we can have as many babies as we want to. It’s not like I can’t afford it,” Tre replied.
“Man, y’all gon’ have me sitting on the porch with a bunch of damn babies at the rate y’all are having them,” Von argued.
“You’ll be sitting there by your damn self. I’m still a young nigga. I ain’t gon’ stop living because Mia and Tank popping out babies every year, fuck that,” Lamar spat making everybody laugh.
They talked for a little while until Moonie called Tre and Mia back inside to start cutting the cake. The reception was still going strong, and people were on the dance floor acting like they didn’t want to go home. Mia was enjoying herself despite her constant battle with morning sickness. Her doctor prescribed her some medicine just like he did when she was pregnant with Treasure, but it wasn’t working this time. Mia was shocked when she found out that she was pregnant. She had been taking her birth control faithfully, but apparently she wasn’t faithful enough. When she went to the hospital for what she thought was a stomach virus turned out to be much more. Tre was excited, but Mia didn’t share his joy. She actually wanted to have an abortion, but he went crazy when she mentioned it. She was almost a married woman at the time, but she was still scared to tell Von and Lamar. Now that they knew, Mia could breathe a little easier.
Chapter 32
Exactly one month after the wedding Von made good on his word and had the deeds to the house transferred to Mia and Tre. Brandis and Duke had moved into their apartment, and Von was all moved in with Tanya. Mia joked and told him that he would be homeless if Tanya ever put him out. Von wasn’t worried about that because he had enough money to buy him another house if he had to. Mia had finally told everybody that she was pregnant, but nobody really seemed surprised.
“Now I know why Treasure was moving so fast. She was getting out of the way for baby number two,” Brandis joked.
She was at Mia and Tre’s house helping Mia do a few things in the bedrooms. Since Von’s old bedroom was the biggest, Mia and Tre decided to make that room their own. They moved his old bedroom set to another room and purchased themselves a new one. Mia had the rooms painted and changed the decorations to what she and Tre liked. Moonie and Clarita had come over earlier and hung up some curtains and helped her to redo the bathrooms. Duke and Tre put up the new dinette set and left to go to the store soon after.
“Girl don’t even talk about it. This baby is kicking my ass already. I’m so happy that Von came and got Treasure for a little while. This morning sickness ain’t nothing nice. It was never this bad with Treasure,” Mia complained right as her doorbell rang.
“I got it,” Brandis yelled while running to the door.
She looked through the peephole and was shocked to see Rainey standing there. She yelled for Mia and told her who it was before just opening the door.
“You can let her in. She’s probably looking for Von,” Mia assumed.
“Hey y’all,” Rainey said once Brandis and Mia opened the door.
“Hey, Rainey. Von is not here. He lives with Tanya now,” Mia advised.
“I know. I just got off of the phone with him,” Rainey replied. “I actually came to talk to you.”
Mia was shocked, to say the least, but she stepped to the side and allowed Rainey to come in. She didn’t say much at the wedding, so she was curious as to what she had to say now. Brandis walked to the back of the house and left them alone to talk.
“I love how you redecorated everything,” Rainey said while taking a seat on the new sofa in the living room.
Von’s house was always nice, but Mia had it looking even better with the changes that she made. Rainey was almost sure that Moonie had probably helped her decorate, but it was beautiful.
“Thanks, Rainey, but what’s up?” Mia asked.
“I know that things between us ended on a bad note. I also know that everything that happened was my fault. I just really wanted to come here to apologize. When I almost lost my life a few months ago, I really started to see myself in a new light. You and Tre had never done anything to me, and I shouldn’t have done the things that I did to you. Y’all were good friends to me, but I didn’t return the favor. I was jealous, and I’m woman enough to admit that. Jealousy is like cancer and it was eating away at me,” Rainey confessed.
For the first time in her life, Mia was actually speechless. She never expected to receive an apology from Rainey. And not just any kind of apology, it was actually sincere. Mia could see in her eyes that Rainey meant every word that she’d just spoken.
“That was very sweet of you to come over Rainey. I accept your apology, and I apologize for my part in everything too. Things could have been handled differently, but my emotions got the best of me when I hit you,” Mia replied as she grabbed Rainey into a tight hug.
They embraced for a long time, and both of them felt a sense of relief when they let go. Mia knew that things would never go back to the way that they were. Honestly, she didn’t know if she could ever trust Rainey again. Even though they probably would never be friends, Mia didn’t have a problem being friendly.
“Now that all of that is out of the way, congrats on your pregnancy,” Rainey smiled.
“Thanks,” Mia smiled back. “I never got a chance to tell you how sorry I was about what happened to you.”
“Thanks, Mia, but I’m better now. I start college in the fall, so I’m excited about that.”
“That’s good Rainey. I’m happy for you. I hate to keep bringing this up, but did they ever catch the person responsible for your incident?” Mia asked.
“Not yet, but they have a warrant out for his arrest. Von told me that London got arrested for prostitution and for being an accessory to what happened to me.”
“Yeah, she did. Cheryl called Von and asked him to help get her out of jail in Mississippi. You know he hung up on her ass.”
“I’m sure he did. I don’t feel any sympathy for her, though. I can’t believe she just went off and left me in that room to die like that,” Rainey said sadly.
“She’s ratchet just like her mama. So I’m not surprised.”
“I heard that they’re looking for Shad for Dalvin’s murder,” Rainey noted.
“Yep, he up and disappeared as soon as it happened. Knowing Paige she’s probably hiding him out somewhere. I wish I knew where his ass was. I would be five thousand dollars richer from collecting that crime stoppers tip money,” Mia laughed.
Rainey laughed with her, but for a totally different reason. A light bulb went off in her head as soon as Mia mentioned the crime stoppers tip money. Rainey didn’t know exactly where Paige lived, but she did know what complex she lived in. It was about an hour away in a secluded area, but Rainey could almost guarantee that Shad was there. If he wasn’t it still wouldn’t hurt to call. Besides, Paige owed her a new car since she ruined the Maxima.
“Well, I won’t hold you, Mia. I just wanted to come by and talk to you,” Rainey said as she stood to leave.
“Okay, I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” Mia said as she walked her to the door and closed it behind her.
“I hope you don’t trust that hoe,” Brandis said as soon as she walked back into the living room.
“You know I’m far from crazy Brandis. She just came to apologize.”
“You know I was eavesdropping. I heard everything that she said.”
“I should have known your nosey ass was somewhere listening,” Mia laughed.
She and Brandis peeped out of the window and watched as Rainey pulled away from the curb. As soon as Rainey turned the corner she pulled out her phone and searched for the number that she wanted. Once she got it, she dialed it and put the call on speakerphone. It only took about ten minutes for Rainey to give the operator all of the information that she requested. They gave her a code number to call and check on her case. Crime stoppers never called anyone, so she would have to call them back to check on the status of her case. If the information that Rainey gave them led to an arrest, she would have to give them that code number in order to receive her payout. If things worked out the way that Rainey wanted them to, she would be five thousand dollars richer in no time at all.
Creepin' 3: A New Orleans Love Story Page 22