Page 44 of Loving a Libra
“I can fix your plate, baby,” I offered.
“I know, but I got us this time.”
I sat down and waited for him to return to the table with our food. Mr. Vince said a quick prayer, and we dug in.
“How are things between you and Maurice?” Mr. Vince asked Tariq.
“He’s been stressed the hell out about Devyn disappearing. A few of our employees asked me to talk to him because he’s been snapping at them for no reason.”
“When do y’all plan to break the news to him?” Mama Kia asked, and I responded.
“I don’t know. I want to hold off for as long as we can because I know it will cause issues between him and Tariq.”
“I keep telling her not to worry about us.”
“I understand where Devyn is coming from. You two run a successful business, and there will no doubt be some issues when he finds out,” Mr. Vince said.
“Don’t you think the longer you wait to tell him, the worse it’ll be?” Mama Kia questioned.
“Possibly.” Tariq and I responded simultaneously.
“I don’t know. Do what you think is best, but also be mindful that you’re playing with someone else’s emotions.”
“He wasn’t worried about my emotions when he was sleeping with every woman who was willing.”
“When you’re right, you’re right. He deserves all the karma coming his way.” Mama Kia changed her tune too quick.
“Speaking of babies,” Tariq said casually.
“Babies? No one was . . . What are you saying, Tariq?” Mama Kia questioned.
His parents put their forks down slowly and looked back and forth between us.
“Devyn is pregnant,” he announced.
“Boy, don’t play with your mother’s emotions like that,” Mr. Vince said.
I removed their copy of the ultrasound pictures from my purse and passed them across the table. Mama Kia grabbed them before Mr. Vince and hopped to her feet.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she shouted while doing a praise dance.
“Let me see the damn pictures, woman. You ain’t even looking.”
Mr. Vince stood and tried to take the pictures. Eventually, Mama Kia stopped dancing, and they looked at them together.
“I’m twelve weeks, and we can find out what we’re having at my next appointment.”
“Twelve weeks,” Mama Kia repeated. “Oh my. I didn’t expect you to be so far along. Y’all have made my day. Hell, my year. I’m about to be a Glam-Ma.”
“Hear you go with that nonsense. Why can’t you be a regular grandma?” Mr. Vince asked teasingly.
“Because ain’t nothing regular about me, and you know it.”
We laughed as they returned to their seats to finish their dinner. Once we finished eating, Mama Kia asked me to helpher clean the kitchen. When her husband and son were gone, she embraced me with so much love, it made me cry. When she released me, her hands remained on my shoulders, and she looked at me with tear-filled eyes.
“I hope you don’t mind, but Tariq told me a few weeks ago that you lost your mother at a young age, and you’re not close to your father.”
“I don’t mind. I lost my mother when I was thirteen. She was my everything, and I was hers. I’ll never get over the pain of losing her. My parents weren’t together, and before my mother died, I rarely saw my father. I had to live with him, and he treated me like I was nothing but an inconvenience. Thankfully, he wasn’t physically abusive, but his words cut like a knife. He gave me enough to keep the people off his case, but believe me, it was the bare minimum. As soon as I turned eighteen, I went to college and never looked back.”
