I did, didn’t I? I did the thing that I never thought I would be able to do. Not only did I have a baby, I was able to have her naturally. My eyes fell on my baby girl who laid on my chest as she exercised her new vocal cords. They worked perfectly.
I rubbed her hair. “Shh, Mama’s here, baby. I’m right here.”
Her cries slowed. I glanced up at Tafari who looked at our daughter with amazement. “She’s so perfect.”
That was the only thing that could really be said.She’s so perfect.I thanked God for our little Gift.
Epilogue
Some Time Later . . .
“Da-da! Da-da!” Regardless of how loud the music was in& Ish Restaurant, Gift Merayla Seasons’ voice could be heard over it all by her father. The world stopped when it came to his family.
Tafari turned toward the voice of his fourteen-month-old daughter. His body lowered to receive her as her little body ran toward him. “Come here, lil girl.”
Gift’s little giggles were like angels singing. She was the perfect combination of her mother and father. Tafari kissed her all over her face. “I love you, Giffy.”
She offered back to her father, “I wuv you, Da-da!” Now that she’d greeted her father, she wiggled out of his arms to greet the rest of some of her favorite people.
There were patrons and staff of the restaurant that were like family to the Seasons. Tafari and Pril’s daughter was a staple at both of their businesses.
“Your daughter is a little bad,” Pril said as she approached her husband. “That little girl sat on the couch at the studio and continued to say crab until I told her that we were coming here.”
Gift proved herself to be the bossy, drama princess that she came into the world as. Her name, Gift was selected long before they knew she was a she. It was a unisex name, so had she been a boy it would have been the same name.
Tafari laughed at his wife when she rolled her eyes. He leaned forward to kiss her lips as well as take the car seat carrier out of her hand that held their two month old son, Tafari Junior (TJ). Now, TJ was all his father.
Tafari was serious when he said that he wanted his wife pregnant shortly after Gift was born. It took Pril no time to get pregnant again. The fear that was with the first announcement did not exist with the second.
This pregnancy was more taxing than her previous pregnancy, but it was all worth it. Pril was unable to have a natural birth with TJ because of the complete placenta previa. A C-section was needed.
Pril and Tafari had the conversation while she was pregnant with their son about whether they wanted more children. They both decided that they were happy with the son and daughter that God provided. After consulting with Dr. Frog, the decision was made that Pril would have a partial hysterectomy.
Pril’s hysterectomy changed her life for the better. Gone were the heavy, painful periods. She was able to get her quality of life back in the best way. She didn’t have to stop being the mother and wife that she wanted to be because she was in too much pain.
Tafari set the car seat on the table, then moved the covering.There he is.TJ’s bright eyes and smile showcased at the sight of his father. He was the first face that TJ saw when he opened his eyes after birth. Much like when Gift was born, Tafari held his children more than anyone.
He had it set up that his wife would not have to lift a hand if she didn’t want to. That was to be expected since she waspregnant so soon afterward. He reached out to a family friend whose wife owned a cleaning service. Youme Strong ownedFreshly Done,one of the best cleaning services in the city. She had aNew Mom Packagethat included weekly cleanings that included laundry for six months and one deep cleaning during that time. As it stood right now,Freshly Donehad a paid contract with the Seasons family for the next two years.
“Hey, Son. You hear yo’ mama talkin’ ’bout yo’ sista like dat?” He took TJ out of his car seat. “We ga have ta tell her dat she can’t talk ’bout our Gift like dat.”
Pril giggled. “Whatever. You and your children are not going to get on my nerves. What the hell was I thinking having children with your blood in them?”
Her joking tone laced her words. Tafari’s eyes tightened when he looked at her before a smirk rose on his expression. “You had my babies because you love a nigga.” His free hand smacked her ass. “Stop ackin’ like you don’t love it here.”
She laughed, then moved to kiss his lips. “You know I love it here. There’s no place I’d rather be.”
“You fuckin’ right you do,” Tafari said after he wrapped his free arm around her waist. He looked down at TJ. “She loves it here, lil boy. Let’s go see ya Gran mama.”
Pril watched as her husband walked off with their son after he gave her another kiss. She headed over to the booth that held her best friends. “Hey, bitches! What y’all over here doing?”
Nicole stopped eating the blue crabs that were on her plate for a moment to gawk at Pril. “Um, I’m feeding this leech inside of me. All he ever wants is crabs.”
Lacie chuckled. “Girl, don’t act like you didn’t eat those garlic blue crabs like that before you were pregnant. Now you just have an excuse to eat it multiple times a week.”
Jordan and Nicole had four months until their first son was born. Another baby in the Seasons family was just what thefamily ordered. Pril and Tafari blessed the family with the first two grandchildren, and next it was Nicole and Jordan. Troy still had some ways to go when it came to finding the right one. Everyone was just happy that he took all of the precautions needed so that he didn’t get anyone pregnant.
“Mama! Crab!” Gift found her way over to her mother and God-aunties. She had a very tunnel visioned agenda.
