Page 106 of Steel
“Fuck!”
I braced us against the wall, panting heavily.
Now that was a hell of a welcome back.
“Mom! Daddy!”
I was filled with excitement as my parents stepped out of the airport. It had been a long couple of months since I’d seen them, and a visit was long overdue. When my mother told me they were coming, I took a three-day weekend to spend some time with them.
They told me to keep it a secret from Nayelli because they wanted to surprise her. She was at school, but they were coming with me to pick her up later.
“Baby girl!” my dad said, scooping me up in a big hug.
I loved Evan Malone something serious. He’d never treated me like anything less than his biological child, even though I didn’t have an ounce of his blood. He came into our lives and taught me what a real father was, . . . what a real man was.
“I missed you, sugar plum.”
“I missed you too, Daddy. Mommy!”
I fell into her arms, tears streaming down my cheeks. Sarah Malone was my heart and soul. She meant the absolute world to me, and being away from her took a toll sometimes. It was the reason I spoke to her damn near every day.
“I missed you so much, Mama.” I sobbed.
“I missed you too, baby. It’s been too long. Let me get a look at you.”
She held me away from her so she could examine me.
“Still as beautiful as ever. I can’t wait to see my grandbaby! Wait, where’s my girl?”
“Dinah had a meeting, but she’s anxiously awaiting your arrival.”
“I missed her crazy self.”
“Trust me, she’s still the same,” I assured them, grabbing her suitcase. “Come on. Let’s get outta here before I get a ticket.”
We made our way to the car and hopped in. As I maneuvered airport traffic and through the city, they told me about their flight and caught me up on all things back home. As soon as Nayelli got a break from school, we had to make a visit.
Thirty minutes later, we were pulling up in front of my house. We’d barely gotten out of the car before the front door swung open, and Dinah came running out screaming.
“Mommy! Daddy!”
She ran full force into their arms, hugging them tightly as they kissed her cheeks.
“I’ve missed you guys!” Dinah exclaimed. “How was your flight?”
“It was good,” Mom said. “Pretty quick. You look good, girl.”
Dinah did a twirl. “You know I try. But let’s talk about you! Mommy, I feel like you got a lil’ thick on me, girl. That booty wasn’t poking out like that before we left.”
My mama swatted at her. “Girl, stop! Honestly, me and Evan have been getting out a little more. We’ve been dancing, tryingnew things, . . . new food.” She cupped both of our chins. “We had to do something to distract us from missing our girls.”
I smiled. “Well, we’ve got you the whole weekend. We’re gonna have some fun.”
“We will,” she agreed. “Now, I do want y’all to take some time for yourselves this weekend. Let us handle our grandbaby. You two deserve some fun. I’m sure you haven’t had a night out in a long time.”
“You ain’t said nothing but a word, Mommy,” Dinah said. “It’s a couple of places I wanna check out downtown. Oooo, Neha! We should hit up Silk. They have a grown and sexy night tonight. It’s been a while since you had those thighs out, boo.”
“Not too much thigh,” my dad said.
