Page 166 of When Love Takes Root

“Don’t sit there,” Kayden said.

The room tightened.

“Kayden,” I warned.

Josiah kept his hands at his sides. “I wasn’t going to.”

Kayden lifted his chin. “Good.”

JJ’s eyes snapped toward him. “Chill.”

“I said good.”

“You said it like you wanted him to swing on you.”

“JJ.”

JJ exhaled through his nose and looked away.

Josiah pulled out the chair to my right then looked at me before sitting. That small pause nearly undid me. I hated how quickly I noticed. Hated how well he knew to ask with his eyes. Hated how my body answered before my mouth could.

I nodded.

He sat.

Kayden dropped into the chair directly across from him like the table had called him in for questioning.

We prayed before eating because that was one piece of my old life I refused to surrender. Jamal had prayed over dinner most nights, especially when the kids were small and liked to add requests in the middle like God was taking drive-thru orders. After he died, I tried to let JJ do it once, but his voice cracked on the second sentence, and I took it back without asking again. Since then, I prayed. Some nights, it sounded pretty. Some nights it sounded like, “Lord, thank You for this food, and please keep me from losing my mind.”

Heaven knew my heart either way.

I reached for Josiah’s hand on one side and Skye’s on the other. Skye took Zuri’s, and hands linked with familiar ease until only one connection remained. Josiah extended his free hand across the table toward Kayden.

He pulled his hand into his lap.

Josiah saw it.

So did JJ.

Josiah placed one hand on the table, palm down, and bowed his head.

My throat tightened.

“Lord, thank You for bringing us home safely, for food on this table, for work restored, and for every hand that helped us today. Bless this house, bless my children, and cover everybody sitting at this table. Amen.”

“Amen,” everyone said.

Kayden’s came late and low.

Dinner began with plates passing, forks scraping, Zuri asking for rolls before touching a vegetable, and Skye explaining to Josiah why cafeteria nuggets couldn’t be trusted.

Skye’s little face pinched with concern. “One of them had a corner. Chicken should not have corners.”

Josiah paused with his fork halfway to his plate, fighting a smile. “That sounds like a valid complaint.”

Skye nodded with relief. “Thank you. Nobody takes food geometry seriously in this house.”

JJ’s brows lifted. “Food geometry?”