“Hey, lady of the hour,” Deja said as she hugged me.
“Hey y’all,” I said as I looked around. “What are we doing today?” I asked as I pulled away from Deja and moved on to hug Renee, then Kenya.
“Just a lil’ chill day,” Kenya responded. “I had a caterer come through, have some ladies coming to do our nails and toes. I just…wanted us to be all together today.”
I smirked. “I like that.”
“We even made you some mocktail, Miss Mommy to Be.”
I cuffed my face. “Love told you!”
They all nodded. “Girl, that man was about to lose his mind. Yes, he let that out.”
I smiled. “We wanted to tell everyone in a special way.”
“Well, we know now, and we are so excited for y’all,” Deja added.
Before I could sit down and take a sip of my mocktail, there was a knock at the door, and the nail techs were walking in. They started to get set up while the girls got me caught up on shit at work.
They told me who left, who was still there, and who finally came out as a couple, even though we called it months ago.
I laughed when they all laughed, nodded when I was supposed to, and chimed in with my input here and there, but my mind was so lost. I was working overtime trying to feel like myself again, so much so that I was making it noticeable.
“Islah…” Kenya said low. “What is on your mind?”
I focused my eyes and looked around. They were all staring at me.
“Nothing special…just all over the place,” I said with a smirk, hoping they would change the subject.
“You know you can talk to us about anything, right?” Deja added.
I nodded. “I know, y’all, I am okay. I was just lost in my thoughts for a second. Trust me... I’m okay.”
Renee nodded slowly like she heard me, but she didn’t believe me, and when I looked at Deja and Kenya, their faces were sayin’ the same thing.
“Have you talked to anybody about Gio since you’ve been back?” Renee asked.
“Love…but it’s not much to talk about, plus I told him and my parents all that happened.”
“And that made you feel better?” Kenya responded.
I paused. “Umm…I think it did. I’m not sure for real.”
Finally, Renee changed the subject, and the attention got off me for a lil’ bit, and the nail techs got to work. The conversation continued to drift over different topics, from whatever we sawwhile scrolling to whatever was on the TV when one of us looked up.
For the most part, I was relaxed, the same way I was with Love, but then outta nowhere, I get a thought, or hear something in my head that sounds like Gio, and it turns my mood sour.
After our nails and toes got done, the food was ready, and we sat around her kitchen table and tore it down. Everything was our favorite food. Fried chicken for Deja, fried rice and egg rolls for me, sushi for Renee, and pizza and wings for Kenya.
My girls tried to have me relaxed and as comfortable as they could be, and I appreciated it all, but…it just wasn’t working.
We were just about done eating. I didn’t know what was next at first, but then Kenya pulled out a notebook.
“I was thinking, we can help you plan a lil’ wedding for you and Love.”
I froze, not because I didn’t want to marry him, but because my mind wasn’t there.
“Oh, we don’t have to do that. Me and Love haven’t even talked about anything different.”
