Page 14 of Maceo

“Why? You want me to marry her?”

“I like her. She’s pretty, and it’ll be nice to have a sister. Don’t get me wrong. I love Aunt Jaeda and Aunt Mia, but they can be kinda bossy.”

I chuckled. “Shar is bossy too, lil’ bit.”

“She might boss you, but she doesn’t boss me.”

Devin laughed. “She definitely bosses him. Got the nigga by his balls.”

My mama smacked his arm. “Watch your mouth.”

Deja rolled her eyes. “Mama, I know what balls are.”

“You don’t need to know shit,” I said. “As far as I’m concerned, you need to be playing with Barbie dolls and having tea parties for the rest of your life.”

I didn’t play about Jaeda or Mia but really didn’t fuck around when it came to Deja. My sisters were grown enough to take care of themselves, but Deja was my baby. Devin and I spoiled her and then had to listen to our mother and stepfather fuss about that shit.

Deja scoffed. “You sound like my daddy.”

My mama shushed us. “Hush. Stephanie is about to come down.”

The pastor motioned for us to stand as the sounds of Rotimi’s “I Do” came through the speaker. The doors opened, and there stood Deuce and his mother. Mama Steph looked so beautiful in her cream-colored wedding dress. Her smile was wide and bright.

My brother looked proud to be walking her down the aisle. Considering the fact that he wasn’t Aaron’s biggest fan when he first met him, that said a lot. Aaron was cool people, though. He was very unbothered by Deuce’s initial dislike of him. After he proposed, they had a conversation.

Actually, all of my brothers and I sat in on that conversation. It wasn’t to intimidate him or anything. We all loved Mama Steph just as much as we loved our own mothers. She was family, and we didn’t play about her either. Anyway, during that conversation, he apologized for not asking for Deuce’s blessing to marry her.

My brother would never admit it, but he was more hurt than anything that he hadn’t been included. Mama Steph was one of the three women that made up his heart. He wouldn’t hand her off to just anybody.

They hashed it out without my brother’s trigger-happy ass having to pull his gun. These days, they were able to laugh and joke around. Darlyn loved him as much as she loved our father, so that made it a little easier.

Aaron was standing at the altar with the biggest smile on his face and tears in his eyes. That made me shift my gaze to my father. He was sitting on the opposite side, in the row directly across from us right at the end. He remained stone faced while holding Darlyn until Mama Steph reached him.

She stopped briefly to kiss her grandbaby. They locked gazes for a minute, and he smiled at her before giving her a reassuringnod. I guess that was his unspoken way of giving his blessing, not that she needed it.

She and Deuce made it to the altar. He turned to her and cupped her face. I couldn’t tell what he was saying to her, but it made her tear up. She mouthed the wordsI love you, before giving him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He placed her hand in Aaron’s and said something to him as well. Much to my surprise, they shared a warm embrace before my brother took his seat.

Again, my eyes locked in on my baby. She was teary-eyed, along with Salima. I’d been thinking long and hard about proposing to her. I just wasn’t sure of when and how to do it. I knew her ass would want a big spectacle with her family and friends around. Salima would have tohelpme pick the ring, even though I was more than capable of picking one myself.

I also knew I’d better ask Mr. Paul and Ms. Cicely for permission. She’d run the whole thing down to me one night in bed, and I made a mental note to store for when the time was right. As I listened to Mama Steph and Aaron recite their vows, I couldn’t help but think the time might be sooner rather than later.

My heart was sofull as I watched Ms. Stephanie and Mr. Aaron do their first dance. Their entire ceremony was so beautiful. I had to give Salima her props. My girl hooked them up with the best wedding planner in the city to bring their vision to life. This was the first event she hosted in her new spot, and it was a success.

“How are you feeling, babe?” I asked, bouncing my goddaughter on my knee.

“Very accomplished. I’m so happy everything went smoothly. I can’t wait until this place is booked up for other events.”

“Trust me, it’s coming.”

“Hey, I meant to ask if everything was okay last night. You and Maceo left before dessert.”

“Everything is fine. We just had a prior engagement that we totally forgot about.”

“Hmm.” She eyed me suspiciously. “You sure?”

“Yes, Salima. I’m positive.”

“You just didn’t look too happy to be leaving.”

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