Page 189 of When Love Takes Root

Maya closed her sketchbook. “Should I get JJ?”

“He’s on FaceTime in five minutes.”

Kayden’s spoon paused above his bowl.

I saw the guarded lift of his shoulders. I saw his face try to harden before his eyes finished being afraid.

“Kayden, put the cereal up, baby.”

His jaw tightened, but he obeyed.

Five minutes later, JJ’s face filled my tablet from his dorm room. “What’s going on, Mama Cee?”

I looked at all of them. My babies. Jamal’s babies. Our living, breathing proof that love didn’t end just because a life did.

I sat on the edge of the coffee table instead of the armchair. Jamal’s chair stayed empty in the corner, holding memory without accusation.

“I owe y’all a conversation.”

Maya hugged her sketchbook to her stomach. Zuri scooted closer to Skye. Kayden leaned against the wall with his arms folded. JJ’s face sharpened on the screen.

I clasped my hands in my lap. “I love your daddy. I’ll always love your daddy. Nothing and nobody can change that. Not time. Not another man. Not a date. Not a dinner. Not me smiling again. My love for him is not up for eviction.”

Kayden’s throat moved.

I kept my voice steady, even while my heart beat hard. “But I need y’all to hear me. Loving your father forever doesn’t mean I have to be lonely forever. Missing him doesn’t mean I’m dishonoring him by living. And if God allows love to find me again, that love isn’t a replacement. It’s not an eraser. It’s not somebody coming in here to take his chair.”

Skye’s eyes slid toward the empty recliner.

I followed her gaze. “That chair is your daddy’s because we said it is. His pictures are staying. His stories are staying. His birthday is staying. His favorite songs are staying, even though some of them got on my nerves.”

JJ laughed under his breath.

Maya smiled down at her hands.

I breathed in. “And I should’ve talked to y’all before I let fear talk for me.” Kayden looked at the floor. “I also need to talk about Josiah.”

Skye sat up straighter. “I like Mr. Josiah.”

Zuri raised her hand like she was in class. “Me too. He listened when I said the outlets were making the weird noise, and he didn’t make Maya feel bad.”

Maya’s face flushed. “He said it was good that somebody noticed.”

“That matters.”

Maya’s fingers traced the edge of her sketchbook. “He didn’t act like I was dramatic.”

I swallowed.

That small sentence carried more weight than she knew.

JJ’s voice came through the tablet. “He handled dinner better than I would’ve.”

Kayden’s head snapped up, but JJ didn’t back down.

I looked at Kayden. “Baby, I need to hear from you.”

His arms tightened across his chest. For a second, I thought he would shut down. Then his face shifted. The anger didn’t leave all at once. It loosened in pieces until the scared boy underneath had room to breathe.