Before I closed my eyes, I said into Shio’s chest, “I know this changes nothing, but Shio, I am so happy it was you.”
Weightless. Lighthearted.Carefree.
I was drifting off to sleep, too incoherent to hear his reply, but I could have sworn I heard him say something that I knew he wouldn’t utter.
This changes everything, baby.
Chapter 27
Glow
“You look good, daughter,” my mother complimented, appearing in the mirror that I’d been standing in front of.
With a pink blanket tossed over her shoulder, even though Baby Leader was down for her evening nap, she inspected me through the glass. I smiled at her before focusing back on my dress.
Today had been my first day active online since I was hospitalized. I had been scrolling but hadn’t actually posted anything. I had enough food vlogs that had been edited for upload and would last me for at least another two weeks, but instead of going that route, I went live. I’d been nervous about doing a get-ready-with-me because it wasn’t my usual content, although I’d done it before.
My followers had been in my comments and messages for the past few weeks, asking where I’d been. I was consistent with my uploading videos or going live randomly, so my going ghost wasn’t normal to them. Some had speculated that I was lying up with the “fine ass Memphian,” which is what they calledTunan. Although they weren’t too far off in their assumption, my disappearance had been much deeper than that.
“Glow, you look amazing.”
I’d done my makeup on live, removed the rollers from my fresh closure sew-in, and shown three outfits for them to choose from. The one they’d picked was my least favorite of the lineup, but since I’d spent two and a half hours on live, I didn’t have the time to change.
“I don’t know, Mama. My thighs look so?—”
“Nope! Absolutely not. You look beautiful. We not doing any body shaming today or for any days to come. If I had your body, I, too, would have a man waiting outside in a car that looks like it should be on a NASCAR speedway.”
Between her and Tunan, I’d been eating like I was recording myself. After sharing a lap dance with him and a pretty brown stripper, who had so much butt that it should’ve been criminal, he made sure he stuffed me full of every food item left over from the dinner portion of Pia’s gender reveal. He had shown up late, and then, when he got a call from his brothers, he left early. I hadn’t heard from him since, which was two nights ago. He did call yesterday to tell me that he was picking me up early today so that we could make a stop before going to the dinner Shio had planned. My mama saying he was outside had me grinning. He had kept his promise, and he was on time—ten minutes early, to be exact.
“But is the dress too short for a dinner his brother is throwing?”
I was wearing a black bandage halter mini dress that showed the top half of my back and scooped low, revealing cleavage in the front. Around the neck and the bust were gold hardware in open circles. The hem of the dress had the same feature. I thought the dress was too short and too sexy because we weren’t told the exact occasion for the dinner. I finished the look withblack YSL pumps and a gold clutch. My deep, side-part sew-in was styled in very loose, vixen curls that fell just how I wanted. On my wrist, I kept it simple with my Cartier watch, and in my ears were diamond studs.
My mama eyed the dress. “It’s not too short to me, baby.”
“But my butt looks too big and my hips too. And I’m not talking about weight when I say this—” I started, since my mama had begun to give me chastising looks. “I’ll be in the room with other men. My friends’ husbands. I don’t want to come off disrespectful.”
I tucked my hair behind my ear, placed my hand on my lower stomach, turned, and posed.Yeah, my booty looks way too big in this dress.
“Yeah… That’s what happens when you have a man that you love who is treating you right. You start spreading, baby.”
“Mama! And love is a stretch.”
“What? I know I have two daughters that be having sex. I’ve gained a grandchild and a son-in-law out of the blue. You look amazing, baby. And stop worrying about taming yourself down for their men. Their husbands will be in the room, and so will yours. They knew you were a bad bitch when they decided to befriend you. If we are talking about the same women from the hospital, then you are surely dressed appropriately.”
I chuckled because my mother was right. I was sure that Missy or Mocha would probably be wearing something even shorter or more revealing than this dress. I was probably being self-conscious because I was spreading, and because Tunan had taken my scale, I didn’t know how much I weighed now.
Grabbing my oversized clutch from the vanity, I picked up my perfume of choice and doused myself in it again. I kissed my mother on the forehead since I was towering over her in my heels.
“Thank you, Mama.”
“Ummmhmm. I need to start putting that on my resume. That ‘I’m the bad bitch maker.’”
“Ha! Goodnight, Mama. Stop reading those books.”
“Stop lying to yourself about how you feel about my handsome son-in-law, and then maybe I’ll consider!” she called to my back, being sure to keep her voice down since the baby was sleeping.
Baby Leader would be up in three hours for a feeding, and after that, she’d sleep through the night. Glee and Blayke were next door, like they always were. They had gotten their glam done for the dinner and looked absolutely amazing. I opted out since the trio was so booked today, and I was in the mood to do my own. However, I couldn’t do it quite like Bruna—or Bruno, because I’d heard his name change over the years. It was magic in those hands of his. Looking in the mirror once more, I nodded because maybe my hands did have a little magic in them too.
