Page 46 of Still Made For You

“Yea, its wild right?” My eyes shifted over to Renegade whose eyes were also locked on me. I wanted to know what thoughts were running through his mind right now. Having him show up on my doorstep yesterday was the biggest surprise I’ve gotten in a long time. It’s crazy how at home I felt being in his presence. Almost as if my heart remembered where I felt the safest. I’d missed the feeling of being a part of his world for so long.

“I have so many questions, but right now I’m glad you’re here.” Triniti rested her head on my shoulder. Her voice cracked indicating her emotional state right now. My heart broke for them because I knew what Prosper meant to them. He was their rock, their safety net, so to see him hurt must have crushed his children.

“I’m happy to be here. I’ve missed you guys for a very long time and now it feels like I’m back home, you know?” I admitted. I’d stopped coming to Jonah Hills for so long worrying about what the memories would do to my mental, but I felt a sense of peace wash over me.

“We knew you’d be coming back soon,” She uttered, tiredness seeping through her voice. My head drifted down to her in curiosity.

“What do you mean? How could you have known I’d be coming here when I didn’t even know?” I assumed she meant the hospital. Unless Renegade sent them a message or something. I’d been under the impression no one knew I’d be here.

“I’ve been having dreams about you lately. I kept telling Gee, I saw the two of you getting married in a chapel. Of course, he kept calling me crazy, but you know my dreams have always had a deeper meaning.” I nodded my head, recalling the dreams she used to have as a teenager. Granny Lula called them premonitions which sent a chill up my spine thinking about it.

I glanced back over to Renegade and once again his focus rested on me. He mouthed the words, “I love you,” and I almost dropped dead. He smirked, probably because of the dumb expression on my face. I froze in place because I knew what I wanted to say back, but it scared me how natural it felt. After all this time apart, you would think I’d have some reservations, but there were none. Finally working up the nerve, I repeated the same sentiments. My heart leaped out of my chest from nervousness.

We stayed in the hospital for two more hours before the family decided to go to their respective homes. Most of them were able to go see him before they headed out. Granny Lulu wanted to stay longer, but the family collectively decided she needed to get some rest. She’d been up since this morning, and I’m sure she hadn’t eaten much.

“Where are you going to be staying?” River asked me. Initially, I figured I’d go back home, but it may have been wishful thinking, considering the circumstances. The worn down look on Renegade’s face told me he needed to be somewhere resting. Since he’d been at my house last night, he hadn’t eaten either.

“I’m not sure. I’ll probably crash with Gee until the morning.” She beamed with excitement giving me a quizzical look.

“Just one night huh? We’ll see about that. Well, do you mind if Saint comes with me for a while? I’m going to pick up my God son, Sincere for a pizza date at the arcade.” Saint’s pleading eyes suckered me in because I wanted to say no. It’s not because of any distrust for River, but my overprotectiveness kicked in. We’ve been joined at the hip the moment he came out of the womb. Outside of my sister, he’s never been away from me.

“I promise he’ll be fine. By the time I bring him back, he’ll be passed out or at least on the verge of going to bed. I’m good a wearing kids out,” She insisted.

“Okay, take my number down though. That way you can call me if there’s any emergency or problems.”

“I’ll take it for my own personal use. Renegade has our locations so trust me; he’ll know where we are at all times.” I nodded, then handed her my phone to input her number.

“Are you leaving me, Pooh?” Saint nodded so fast I knew his neck hurt.

“See he’s ready to hang with his Auntie. We have so much to catch up on, isn’t that right, Saint?” He gave a sticky face grin while holding up the sucker Yaya had given him. It warmed my heart to see how everyone embraced him. I thought it would be awkward considering I’d came back out of the blue with a kid, but of course this proved why I’ve always respected their family dynamic.

***

“Youwanttogoget something eat?” Renegade turned to face me while I drove. It shocked me that he even agreed to let me drive his car because he hated being a passenger.

“We can grab something to hold us over for now. I thought maybe I’d run to the store and pick up a few things to make dinner with. Did you have a taste for anything specific?” The mischievous grin donning his face told me we weren’t on the same page.

“I see not much has changed, huh?” I smiled, reminiscing on the days I used to ride shotgun in his jeep. Cruising down the streets with my hair flying everywhere.

“Naw, nothing but time and our ages. I’m still the same man you fell in love with,” He winked at me. I almost forgot I was the driver as the truck swerved a little to the left.

“Damn, baby, you tryna take us out and we just came back into each other’s lives.” He teased.

“Leave me alone. You’re not supposed to distract the driver anyways.” Sticking my tongue out. I noticed the street we were on looked familiar, so I turned into the plaza where I remembered there was a grocery store. It only took me about ten minutes to grab everything I needed.

“Damn, Speedy Gonzales. I thought for sure your ass would be in there for at least thirty minutes. You see, I reclined my seat back and everything.” I giggled, seeing him reclined back. The bags under his eyes told me he probably could use a nap right about now anyway. We both could.

“Do you want to go to Big Papa’s and grab a burger?” My mouth watered at the thought of a fat greasy burger with all the fixings. It’s been so long since I’ve gotten one of their burgers and fries.

“Yes! I almost forgot all about them. I could go for a big ass burger with fries and a chocolate milkshake."

“Yuck, who in their right mind drinks a chocolate milkshake of all the flavors in the world?"

“I can’t believe you’re really trying to judge me right now. I happen to think it’s disgusting that you can really sit here and judge me when your ass likes Strawberry.” I pretended to gag. We’ve been having this argument for so long and the results were still the same. We continued to rag on each other as we pulled into the drive-through.

Once we got our food, my mouth salivated from the aroma. I couldn’t believe it had been this long since I’ve tasted this food. Whenever we came home from college, this used to be one of the first places we stopped at.

“Here,” Renegade held out a couple of French fries for me. Since I was the driver, I wasn’t able to eat right away. I hesitated for a second, and he must have picked up on it.

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