Page 37 of Made to Love Ya

And bam! I knew she couldn’t help that shit and that it would come out eventually. At the mention of my mother, Staci wiggled uncomfortably in her seat, and Pops cleared his throat and pressed his napkin to his lips.

“Yeah, and uh…we’re going to name her Kennedy after Staci’s father, Kenny,” Pops declared in an attempt to cover up Celina’s inadvertent but on purpose blunder.

“Well, I think that it’s a beautiful name and a wonderful way to honor your parents,” Talia remarked.

“Speaking of parents, do your parents know that the two of you are together?” Celina asked, turning her vulturous gaze toward Talia and me.

“Actually, no. We haven’t told them anything. This is new,” Talia stated, pointing between the two of us.

“That’s going to be interesting. I can’t imagine Tahj will be happy,” Celina commented and pulled her wine glass to her lips.

“Lina, that’s enough, babe,” my brother finally spoke up.

It was rare that he ever spoke out against his fiancée. In his opinion, Celina Andrews was the smartest thing walking the face of the Earth.

“What? I’m simply stating the obvious. It’s not good for them to go and hide their heads in the sand. A great offense is the best defense. They need to have their argument ready, their facts prepared, and?—”

“Except we’re not in a courtroom or a conference room either for that matter,” I stated.

Her eyes widened, and her light skin turned a deep shade of red as she cleared her throat and sipped her wine. My pops sighed dramatically.

“I, for one, am glad that you two finally figured your shit out. You’re a good look for my son, Talia. You’ve always been smart, beautiful, and a good girl. I know that you’ll make a great woman for him.”

“Thank you, Mr. Ellis,” Talia replied with a smile.

“I keep telling you to call me?—”

“I know, but old habits die hard.”

“I always knew that you had a crush on that big-headed nigga. I kept wondering what took him so long to figure that shit out.”

“Me too,” Rashad agreed.

“Damn, did everyone know but me?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” Pops replied.

Everyone laughed. We found other things to converse about for the remainder of dinner and dessert. When we finally left for the evening, Talia was quiet. I held her hand and helped her into the car, and on the ride home, she remained quiet.

At one point, I asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she said softly. “Just tired.”

I kept holding her hand and lifted our interlocked fingers to my lips to kiss her fingers.

“Thank you for coming with me to my folks’ place for dinner tonight.”

“I’ve always got your back, baby.”

I kissed her knuckles again and drove us home.

* * *

“Come here, Chè,”I commanded when she came out of her bathroom after the shower. I had gone to my bedroom to shower but returned to hers when I finished.

Talia climbed on the bed and straddled my lap with her arms around my neck.

“What?”

---