“Y’all alright?” I asked.
“We straight,” Charlee said. “Just tryna get through this first trimester without killin’ nobody.”
Truce laughed. “She lyin’. She love me. And this baby.”
She side-eyed him but the way her hand slid over her stomach said it all.
Then there was Roman.
He walked in a few minutes later with Melissa on his arm.
Not behind him. Not off to the side.
Right there, together as one.
No frontin’ this time.
He had his hand flat at the small of her back, not possessive, just… there.
She looked good, simple dress, hair laid, eyes bright. She looked like she was exactly where she wanted to be, not like she’d been dragged.
He dapped me. “You ready?”
“As I’ll ever be,” I said.
He nodded toward April across the room, who was laughin’ with the girls. “She look happy.”
“Yeah,” I said, feelin’ my chest loosen. “Me too.”
When enough people showed, the DJ turned the music up a notch.
It wasn’t club-club. More like a grown kickback.
Old school R&B, some new shit mixed in. Drinks flowin’, plates gettin’ fixed.
I moved through the room, dappin’ folks up, makin’ sure everybody was good.
At one point, I stepped back and just watched.
Fee sittin’ with her feet up, laughin’ at somethin’ Melissa said, Trend rubbin’ her ankle absentminded.
Charlee talkin’ to April, hands movin’ while Truce stood behind her, both hands draped over her shoulders, fingers laced just under her collarbone.
Roman and Melissa in a corner, her laughin’ at somethin’ he whispered, his eyes on her like the rest of the room didn’t exist.
Nana sippin’ her “wine” and smilin’ like she’d orchestrated the whole thing.
Charlie Mac and my Nana sittin’ together, probably plottin’ on everybody’s life.
For a second, all that noise faded.
And I realized…This was it.
This was the family me and Roman never really had growin’ up.
Messy. Loud. Scared. In love, and all in one room.
“Yo, you gon’ say somethin’ or you just gon’ stand there lookin’ sentimental?” Roman’s voice came from my side.
