“Yes, baby. Mommy is okay. I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said as the doorbell rang.
He quickly stood, his eyes bright, as Mama went to the door. When the door opened and I heard Chozen greet my mama, Xavier turned to me with a big smile on his face. He was craving that fatherly figure, and his own father was too busy being a ho to see that his son needed him. Mama came into the front room where X and I were with Chozen behind her. Xavier immediately tilted his head back to look up at him.
Chozen smiled big, and I damn near melted. I loved his smile. “What’s up, lil man? You gotta be Xavier.”
He extended his hand, and X shook it. “What’s up? You gotta be Chozen,” he said like a big kid, causing me to smile.
“Yep. I can’t wait to spend time getting to know you.”
Xavier smiled big as Chozen made his way to me and said, “Hey, baby. You good? You look upset.”
Damn.I thought I was hiding my disdain with what X had told me. Although I was no longer with Fabian, it still pissed me off to know he was fucking around on me.Bitch ass nigga.After he kissed my lips, I said, “I’m okay, baby. Was your family excited to see you?”
“Yeah, but I think they’ll be more excited to meet all of you. Is Mister Michaels going to come with us?”
“No, baby. He don’t wanna see me in my fangirl moment when I meet Noah. He said he wouldn’t be able to contain himself if he saw me losing my dignity over another man. He’s just jealous. He tried to convince me Noah was gay just so Iwouldn’t like him. Then Noah got arrested years ago, and he tried convincing me he was a thug. When he found out it was a racial profiling case, he gave up,” my mama responded.
Chozen laughed, and I slowly shook my head at my dad’s ridiculousness. When he stopped laughing, he glanced at me again. “Well, are y’all ready? Instead of going to my house, we’ll be going to Nate’s house. It’s bigger to where we will all be comfortable. X, you’ll have Luca and Brooklyn to play with. I think Brooklyn is three or four years old, and Luca is two.”
“Yay! Let’s go!”
I chuckled as Chozen came to the couch and helped me up. I was wearing my prosthesis and had taken a pain pill. Thankfully, it relieved that pain as well. “You okay to walk? You know I don’t mind carrying you.”
I smiled at him and bit my bottom lip. Leaning into him, I said, “I like when you carry me.”
Without hesitancy, he scooped me up in his arms and kissed my lips. I could see X’s eyebrows lift. When he smiled, I knew he was liking Chozen more and more with every passing minute.
“Are you going to tell me what’s up?” he asked softly near my ear.
“X told me that he has a two-year-old brother. It pissed me off to know that he couldn’t take care of me because he was too busy taking care of another family behind my back. However, my mama was quick to check me, reminding me that if he wouldn’t have left, I wouldn’t be with you. So I’m grateful for even that, because it led to you, baby.”
I slid my hand over his cheek as we walked out the door. I turned slightly to see my mama locking it behind us with a smile on her face. She was so damn excited to go meet Noah until she couldn’t contain it. She and X followed us to Chozen’s car. My scooter was already in his trunk just in case I needed it. As long as he was with me, I was sure I wouldn’t.
“Mommy! This house is big!”X said as soon as we turned in the driveway.
I looked at it in awe. It was gorgeous. “What did you say Nate did again?” I asked Chozen.
“He’s a professional basketball player. He plays for the Dallas Mavericks.”
“Oh, okay. He probably has several houses.”
“He does. Dallas, Houston, here, and Baltimore. He’s originally from Houston.”
I nodded as he parked behind a G-Wagon. My nerves had picked up, and I could tell my mama’s had as well but for a totally different reason. I slightly rolled my eyes as Chozen opened her door and helped her out of the car. I had to chuckle at her excitement. I was pretty sure this would be a day she would never forget.
After Chozen helped X out, he came to the front to get me. When he opened the door, he smiled big. I smiled back because I could see his excitement. He was excited for his family to meet little ol’ me, and that brought tears to my eyes. After he closed the door, he looked at me and asked, “You okay, baby?”
He slid his hand over my cheek and kissed my lips, causing my body to shudder. The way my body reacted to him was crazy. Friday night only increased the insanity. The way he masterfully brought my body to ecstasy multiple times was something I had been craving. God made that man perfect in every way. He pressed his body against mine as I leaned against the car. Mybody temperature had risen and was competing with the sun. I was so damn hot.
“I’m okay, baby, especially now. Damn. You so fine, Chozen. Thank you for being the man I need.”
He lowered his face to mine and kissed me again until we heard, “Man, let the woman breathe! I would have said something else if lil man wasn’t with y’all.”
I smiled against Chozen’s lips. I recognized the voice as RJ’s. His deep, thunderous voice could never be confused with anyone else’s. Chozen pulled away from me and grabbed my hand, leading all of us to the doorway. I glanced at my mama to see she looked to be in a trance. When we got close, RJ slapped Chozen’s hand then hugged me. Once he pulled away, I said, “RJ, this is my son, Xavier, but we call him X, and this is my mama, Justine Michaels.”
He gave X five, then turned to my mama and gently shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Y’all come in.”
