Page 111 of Jaeda

“Go get you a drink and give us a moment to talk this over.”

“You’re really gonna make me sweat, huh?”

He grinned. “Absolutely.”

I shook my head as I stood from the seat and headed for the bar. After ordering myself a drink, I sat back and watched them as they spoke lowly. I couldn’t imagine a reason they would say no. They’d seen Jaeda and I together. They knew how happy we were.

I mean, it didn’t matter if they said no, I was still going to ask, but I’d rather have their blessing because it meant a lot to my baby. After about five painstakingly slow minutes, they motioned for me to come back over. I grabbed the drink I’d been nursing and went to take a seat. The dramatic effect of them just staring at me was becoming increasingly annoying until both of them smirked.

“You have our blessing,” Mr. Hershel said.

“One condition,” Mr. Dillinger interjected.

“What’s that?”

“We both want to give her away.” He placed a hand on Mr. Hershel’s shoulder. “I respect this man. He’s been a great bonus dad to my kids, and they love him. He should share the moment with me.”

I smiled and nodded. “I think that’s perfect.” I extended my hand to shake both of theirs. “I guess I can call you both dad now, huh?”

Mr. Dillinger laughed. “Why the hell not? I have all these kids already. One more won’t hurt.”

We shared a laugh, then ordered a round of shots to celebrate. They picked my brain about when I was going to propose and how I was going to do it. I already had a plan. I just needed to execute it. After saying our goodbyes, I climbed in my car and called Kerrion.

“Yo,” he answered. “What up, my boy?”

“Ain’t shit. I need a favor.”

“What kind of favor, nigga? I don’t know if I like you like that.”

“Can you get your sisters together for me? I’m planning something for Jaeda, and I need their help.”

“What are you planning?”

“You nosy as fuck.”

“And you know this. Answer the question.”

I sighed. “I’m proposing.”

“Nigga, what!”

“I’m—”

“I heard what you said. You didn’t talk to us about this?”

“Nigga, I spoke to both of your fathers, and they gave me their blessing.”

“Calm down, killa. I’m just fucking with you. Pops peeped game when you asked him to meet up. We knew it was coming.”

“So you’ll do it?”

“Yeah, man. Let me shoot them a group text, and you can head over to Smoke’s. They are all congregating over there with the kids. I’m gonna hit you back in a few.”

“Okay. Thanks, man.”

“I got you. Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

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