Page 33 of Desire

“Yes, and her say not right now.”

“Well, I’ll be back tomorrow.”

“Yaayy!”

She wrapped her little arms around Desire’s neck again and kissed her cheek. I’d always known she was someone special, but seeing how fond my daughter was of Desire did my heart good.

“Ria, you don’t see Daddy over here?”

I’d come down the stairs and stood beside them. My baby girl turned and looked at me with surprise. Desire’s presence threw her for a loop, and she honestly hadn’t noticed me.

“Daaddyy,” she sang, leaning to reach for me.

I took her from Desire’s arms and hugged her tightly against my chest.

“Did you miss Daddy, too?”

“Yes, Daddy. I had fun at Unco AJ house. I help Titi Seela make cookies.”

“Uh oh! You didn’t burn the house down, did you?”

She laughed as if I’d told the funniest joke. “No, Daddy. We make good cookies.”

“Good. Did you bring Daddy some?”

Her expression saddened as she shook her head. “No, the boys eat them all, Daddy. I can’t save some for you.”

“That’s okay, princess. We can make our own cookies this week.”

“Yay!” she cheered.

I kissed her cheek and finally acknowledged my brother, who was now talking to Desire.

“Wassup, AJ? Thank you for keeping baby girl.”

We gave each other a one-armed hug after connecting our fists.

“You know keeping Ria is never a problem. You’re lucky Seela let me bring her home. Being the only woman in the house is rough sometimes. Even though Ria’s only three, she brings her three-year-old feminine energy, and Seela can’t get enough of it.”

“My father was the only man in the house; I’m sure he can relate to your wife. Each of my sisters has sons, and my father was over the moon when he found out they were having boys,” Desire shared.

“I’m sure he was. I feel for my wife, but I like it this way. She wants to try again but is too afraid we’ll have another boy and doesn’t want to take that chance.”

“I don’t know. I think I can handle three little princesses,” I told them.

“The problem is they don’t stay little princesses forever. You better have your shotgun locked and loaded.”

“Always.”

“So, I take it the honeymoon went okay. You’re not ready to divorce him already, are you?” AJ asked Desire.

“The honeymoon was perfect. I think I’ll stick with him a while longer.”

“Call me if he does something stupid, and I promise he will. I’ll set him straight.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Take my number and send me a message so I’ll have yours.”

“Did y’all forget I was standing here?”

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