Page 107 of Jaeda

We all laughed at that one. I could tell her mother told him that all the time.

Titan motioned between us and the kids. “I can see this being y’all with kids in the future. Nothing but glasses and smart-ass mouths.” He grabbed Jaiden and flipped him upside down, causing him to laugh. “Uncle Titan don’t play that mess though.”

“You better not drop my baby,” Jaeda fussed at him.

“Nobody is gonna drop his bighead self.” He held him by one ankle, dangling him for a moment. “You still wanna fight?”

“No!” Jaiden said through his laughter. “Put me down!”

Titan adjusted him upright and placed him on his feet. We took a few more pictures, and they talked a little more shit before we climbed into my car and made our way to the convention center. After getting checked in, we headed inside.

Rows upon rows of vendor booths stretched the length of the space with their colorful banners and displays. Cosplayers in elaborate outfits wandered through the crowds. People of all races and ages were in attendance, from babies to somebody’s grandparents. That was what I loved about this space. We could all come together for the love of something common.

A big ass Chewbacca posed for pictures with fans, alongside Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia. A group of perfectly coordinated Dora Milajes were walking in our direction. I wasn’t sure if they all cut their hair off for this, but their costume was immaculate. When they saw Jaeda and me, they stopped, turned to us, and saluted.

“Wakanda Forever!”

Jaeda and I returned the salute, I was sure both of us were smiling beneath our masks.

“That was so cool,” Jaiden said.

“This is amazing!” Korri exclaimed. “Thank you so much for bringing me!”

“Can we please go see the comics first?” Jaiden asked, tugging on my hand. He looked across the convention floor. “Wait! Can we do the anime booth over there? They got that new Dragon Ball setup!”

Jaeda laughed as she pulled out the convention map. “How about we make a plan so we can hit everything? This place is wild, and I know y’all want the full experience. We have all day.”

We took the time to go through the map with the kids, circling all the places they wanted to see first. Jaiden also wanted to do one of the gaming tournaments, while Korri wanted to do a drawing class. We settled on doing both along with a few meet and greets, before finally making our way through the large maze of booths.

Of course, we had to get merchandise. For that purpose alone, we had a big ass wagon with us to put all our shit in. Westopped to buy comic books, replicas from some of our favorite shows and movies, video and board games, and so much more.

As we prepared to head to the drawing session, Korri gasped and stopped mid stride.

“Is that a real Megazord!”

Sure enough, a massive, intricate Power Rangers costume complete with working LED lights and sound effects was making its way through the crowd. The cosplayer inside must have been on stilts because that shit was damn near ten feet tall. When it saw Korri looking up at it in awe, it stopped and offered both her and Jaiden a fist bump.

“You mind if we get a picture?” I asked.

The Megazord posed along with the kids while Jaeda and I snapped a few shots before thanking them and letting them go.

“This is straight up the best day of my life!” Korri squealed, jumping up and down, her silver hair bouncing all over the place. “I can’t wait to tell Mommy and Papa Devin all about it and show them what I got!”

My chest felt all warm inside. I was glad they were having a great time. I’d only dreamed of shit like this as a kid. We didn’t have the money for a full immersive experience back then. Now that I was grown, successful, and had money of my own, I would go the extra mile every time.

Jaeda looked over at me and lifted her mask to mouth the words “thank you.” I lifted my mask and placed a kiss on her lips.

“Anything for you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

As the day went on and we ventured deeper into the convention, the sensory overload continued. The smell of funnel cake and pizza mixed with the faint scent of new comic books. Digital displays showed trailers for upcoming black superhero movies, while nearby, someone in an elaborate Naruto costume was demonstrating ninja moves to an impressed crowd.

“I can do better than that,” Jaiden said confidently.

I chuckled. “Why don’t you go show ’em how it’s done?”

He looked to his sister for approval. “Can I, Jae?”

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