Page 31 of Out of Bounds
“I know.” I sucked in a deep breath. “Let me get them out so they can go see their father.”
“Yes, please.” Letting me go, she sauntered around the other side of the truck and opened the door. “Masai!” she shrieked. “They look sooo cute.”
“Thank you.” I giggled. I was in jeans and a T-shirt, but I’d made sure to dress the kids up in their Demon apparel. I’d even combed the girls’ hair up into ponytails and tied red and black ribbons around it.
“Kreed will be happy.”
“I bet.” I snipped. Grabbing the bookbag out of the trunk, I pulled the stroller out and unfolded it. At some point today, Kree would tire himself out and need a nap, so I made sure to come extra prepared. Once we’d gotten the kids out of the car, I said a quick prayer before entering the facility.
“Mommy, Mommy!” Aurora rushed out while patting my arm.
“What, Buttercup?”
“There goes my daddy.” She smiled and pointed out to the field where Kreed was standing. “Daddy!” she yelled, garnering his attention.
I swear he took one look at us and immediately ended the conversation he was having. Jogging over to us, he swiped her from the ground as soon as he was near and tickled her belly.
“Aurora Dai…” he sang in between pecks to her face. The way she was giggling and carrying on, I knew I’d made the right decision by putting my own issues on the back burner so my kids could be there for him.
After greeting the other four with the same enthusiasm, he held Kree in his arms and leaned over to peck me on the forehead. “Thank you so much, Sai. This means the world to me, you just don’t know.”
“You… You’re,” I stuttered before recovering and saying, “You’re welcome.”
“Mind if I take them with me?”
“No… I’ll be over there.”
“Aight. Come on, kids.”
I stood there and watched the six of them meander away. “It’ll get easier, eventually,” Jream said from beside me.
Tossing my misty eyes over to her, I chuckled under my breath. “I don’t think it will.”
“Let’s go find, Koya.” Linking her arm through mine, she steered me away from the field.
When we made it over to where Koya was standing, talking to her father, I took it upon myself to have a seat. Being here, although for a good cause, kind of felt like I was suffocating. I felt as if everyone was watching me and trying to put together a story or something. In reality, no one was paying my ass any attention, and I was currently pep-talking myself out of the paranoia.
“You okay, boo?” Koya asked and took a seat beside me.
“I wish y’all would stop asking me that.” I laughed. “I’m holding it together, if that’s what you meant.”
“That’s all you can do.” She gave my hand a quick squeeze before putting her eyes on the field. “He’s an amazing father, Masai.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
“Every day he’s been asking if today was the day you were going to bring them.”
“Had I really talked myself out of it, then today wouldn’t have been the day,” I spoke truthfully.
“Well, we’re happy that you showed up,” Jream chimed in.
Watching Kreed run around the field playing with the kids made my heart smile. I’m sure he missed them just as much as they missed him. Hell, I missed him the same. His good-looking self didn’t help those lingering feelings, but then again, when did Kreed ever not look good? His locs were pulled back out of his face, and the smile that was spread across it made him even more handsome.
“Yeah, I second that,” Koya added.
“And I’m sure he is too—especially since he’s so used to having the support.”
“Well… I can’t be much of a support system to him if I’m planning to leave him, Jream.” I snapped.
