Page 64 of I Need It

“We’re having a princess. She is going to be spoiled to death. She’ll be the only girl on my side of the family.”

Mya laughed. “Well, she’ll be the only grandchild on my side. I can imagine we’ll be driving to Mesquite quite a bit for them to spend time together.”

I kissed her lips and lowered her to her feet. “You know, speaking of driving, you can’t have my princess in that busted ass car.”

Mya frowned hard. I knew she loved her car, but that shit had seen better days. She put her hand on her hip, prepared to give me the business, until KJ blew the horn on her new emerald-green metallic Mercedes-Maybach EQS 680. I’d gone all out because she deserved that shit. The way she’d been writing and releasing these books, she deserved the best reward I could afford. When it was all said and done, this shit was gon’ set me back a couple hundred grand, but she was worth it.

Her eyes widened, and her hands flew to her mouth. “Christian! I know you fucking lying!”

I chuckled as tears fell down her cheeks. Mr. Andre whistled as he stared at it. “Daaamniiiit!” he said right after.

I slowly shook my head as she ran to me and hopped in my arms. After kissing her lips, I said, “You running the wrong direction. Go check that shit out. I can’t have you rolling around Nome, looking like you work for the Hendersons.”

She laughed and ran to her new whip. As she looked around it then got in, I took a deep breath and glanced at Mister Andre. He gave me a nod of encouragement. I looked over at my pop, and he did the same.

I made my way to the driver’s door. She was in the seat, wiggling and giggling. I chuckled. “Now what I was saying earlier was that you can’t be rolling through here looking like you work for the Hendersons, when I want you to be one. Our baby is a Henderson, I’m a Henderson, and it’s only fitting for you to be one too.”

I went to my knee and pulled the ring from my pocket. I opened the box to reveal a five-carat beauty. Mya’s tears were falling uncontrollably at this point. “Mya, I want you to be my wife. We’re already a family, but I need this between us to be official. Plus, when you driving this shit, you need some bling on your finger when it rests on this fancy ass steering wheel. I know it’s somewhat soon, but you know I’m impatient. I need you in my life. Your aura, your love, your sex appeal… I need it. All of it.”

She swiped the tears from her face, but before she could respond, Uncle Storm yelled, “It ain’t too late to run, track star!”

She laughed and playfully glared at him. “Yes, Christian. Besides our baby, there is nothing I want more.”

I slid the ring on her finger then stood and loved on my wife-to-be. This was perfect. Everything had worked out the way it was supposed to. We went through some shit to get to this point, but every moment was worth it. As everyone crowded us, showering us with love and congratulatory hugs, I knew I had finally become the man that a woman deserved… one that knew how to provide, protect, and most of all, love.

EPILOGUE

MYA

FIVE MONTHS LATER…

“She’s beautiful, Christian. She looks just like you,” I said for the millionth time.

“She is definitely beautiful. And yes, she does look like her daddy,” he replied.

He took her from my arms and went to the chair next to the bed. We had a room full last night when I got here. My water broke at Aunt Syn’s baby shower. Nesha had her baby last week. She’d had a little girl too. Aunt Syn was having a boy. Uncle Marcus was happy to have another lil man. I’d met his son, Ace, and he was already grown. So, he’d get the daddy-son experience all over again.

I watched Christian love on our princess. We’d named her Cadence Shantel. My mom’s name was Shantel. I wanted her name to start with a C like Christian’s. I actually wanted to name her Christian, but he didn’t want that. He said his princess needed her own unique name. I obliged him and named her something else that we agreed on.

She was a big baby… nearly nine pounds and twenty-two inches long. She got her height from the Hendersons, for sure. I took a deep breath as I relaxed in bed. I thought they were going to have to do a C-section at first. Baby girl was being stubborn like her mama and didn’t want to come out. My nerves were trying to get the best of me, but Christian was able to keep me calm.

She had a head full of beautiful, black hair. It was naturally wavy, just like Christian’s. She had everything of his, including his big feet. Hopefully, she didn’t grow up to have his temper or impatient attitude. As I turned in bed to get comfortable, someone knocked on the door. “Come in!”

When I saw the balloons, I smiled. Mama Chrissy had a big bouquet for us. She’d done so much during my pregnancy. The baby shower was beautiful. Although it was combined with Nesha’s, I still felt special that they would go out of their way to cater to me in that way. She cooked for us a couple of times a week, to keep my load light. Between her, Karima, and Maui, there wasn’t much I had to do.

Christian was perfect too. He cooked breakfast for me every morning. He wasn’t as great at cooking much else. He kept the house clean, and he catered to me in every way possible. Financially, thanks to him, we were doing great. I had only been able to release two books in the past five months, but I was proud I could get those two out. Cadence had worn me out. I was always tired.

Mama Chrissy kissed my head and went straight to her first granddaughter. She was so excited. I smiled at them as my body relaxed even more. I hadn’t gotten much sleep, and it was threatening to take me out at this very moment. Everyone had stayed well into the night.

They’d had plenty to talk about besides the baby being born. The McAlister family had filed a civil suit against SS. I wasn’t sure what they expected to gain from that. SS had killed that man, but he wasn’t responsible for why it had to go down like that. So just when he thought he was in the clear, that shit popped up. Uncle Kenny’s surprise party was being planned for next year since it had to get canceled this year. All the drama with SS had caused them to cancel it. KJ said it would be even bigger than they originally planned. I couldn’t wait for it.

Courtney had gotten convicted and was given probation since she didn’t have a record. Not even a couple of weeks later, she was arrested. She didn’t report to her officer, and she had an illegal substance on her. She was still in jail. Christian was happy she was locked up. He hated there being a possibility of running into her.

As more people came in to see the baby, Christian got in bed with me. We were tight as hell in this bed. As I lay on his chest, Uncle Storm walked in with AJ in tow. AJ had been spending quite a bit of time with the Hendersons. I was happy they hadn’t made him suffer for the sins of his father. I was able to see my little cousin a lot more and get acquainted with him.

“Christian, why you got yo’ big ass in the bed with her? Y’all so close it look like we intruding on something.”

Christian rolled his eyes, refusing to respond to Uncle Mayor. Although he was no longer the mayor, I still called him that, and so did everyone else. Those people were begging him to come back, and Christian said that was right up his alley, and hopefully, they wouldn’t start kissing his ass.

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