Page 48 of Stand on That

I only needed to grab about five items, so once Jaela couldn’t fit anything else in her cart, we made our way over to the checkout. I got her buckled in her car seat and put all the bags in the trunk. While I drove, it dawned on me that I had a shop to get together and a wedding to plan. For a minute, I was thinking that Darius was like most men. The ones that just proposed and kind of went on about their business and wasn’t pressed about a date. That assumption didn’t last long because Darius made me aware the day after he proposed that he wanted us to be married before he graduated from college. And that was less than a year away.

It made me nervous, and I wasn’t sure why. I loved Darius, and I was excited about the idea of marrying him. I was just scared about the fact that he wasn’t all the way out of the streets and not knowing how he was going to handle Mya and the supposed robbery that took place at her house. I wished I had the money to replace the bricks but even if I did, it was still the principle with Darius, and there was no way they were getting away with what they did. That was the part of him that scared me.

When I dropped Jaela off, Lo fussed me out about everything I bought her. We chopped it up for a minute, then I went home. I had been working hard and running around for days, and I was tired. I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep until Darius walked through the door, and I knew that he was okay, however.

At home, I took a shower, put on some comfy pajamas and warmed up some leftovers. For once, everything felt right. There was a time when I was in prison that I couldn’t even imagine the free world which was crazy because I’d spent more of my life free than not. Being in prison was so traumatizing and life changing that all the memories I had before my arrival there seemed so far away, long ago, and out of reach. No matter how far-fetched and unrealistic the desire was, I wanted life to stay just like this. Smooth sailing. Good people around and new memories being created.

When I heard Darius punching the code into the smart lock on the front door, a grin stretched across my face. As he opened the door and crossed the threshold of our home, the first thing I noticed was Dymand in his arms. My eyes bounced from her face to his as my heart jumped into my throat. Dymand was his child, and we were in his home. No matter how much he called it ours, it was his. His daughter had every right to be there. But it was my first time seeing her up close and personal, and yeah, it still did something to me. My awkward feelings didn’t last long because when I saw two long scratches on my man’s face, I hopped up like my ass was on fire.

“What happened?”

Dymand eyed me with the cutest doe shaped eyes as I neared her father. She gave me a ‘lady who are you and why you talking to my daddy,’ look that would have been cute if I wasn’t so concerned about Darius and his face.

“Hold on,” Darius frowned as he walked over to the couch and set Dymand down. He picked the remote up off the couch and turned the television to some singing lady. My brows raised, but I wasn’t going to be petty. I kind of felt like damn, so it’s just fuck what I was watching. As Darius walked into the kitchen, I had to shake my head at myself. Dymand cut her eyes at me before straining her neck to see where her father went.

“Hi,” I gave her a comforting smile. She was acting like she was ready to yell out stranger danger, and I didn’t want to give her weird vibes. They say kids knew when a person wasn’t right.

Dymand studied me with a blank expression on her face. More than likely, she was trying to discern whether or not she should trust me. Darius walked back into the room carrying a bowl of sliced strawberries and bananas. He placed them in her lap then stepped off to the side, so he could still be in the room with her, but he wanted to make sure she wasn’t super focused on him and what he was saying even though she was very young.

“Bree’s stupid ass saw a video on social media of the proposal and your salon, and she went crazy on a nigga. Shorty grabbed my whole face and clawed that shit. If my daughter wasn’t there, I would have beat the fuck out that hoe,” he hissed in a low tone.

“Where she at?” I asked with hiked brows. “On my mama I’m ‘bout to go beat the fuck out that hoe.”

I knew Darius had to be pissed, but he shook his head and pushed out a light chuckle. “Hell nah. You not going nowhere near that. Shorty is bitter as hell and irrational. Until she calms down, I got my daughter.” The look in his eyes said everything his mouth didn’t. He needed me to understand. And I did. Darius was going to be my husband, and I had to get used to Dymand.

“I still want to beat her ass, and if I catch her out in public you can’t stop me.”

“Bae,” Darius sighed. “Please man. Bree is obviously not wrapped too tight. I haven’t touched her since before Dymand was born. I’ve never given her the slightest indication that I wanted to be with her. The way she’s spiraling over something that she should have seen coming is mind boggling. Just leave it alone. You have way too much to lose. I’m a grown ass man. I can take a few scratches to the face. It caught me off guard at first, but I’m good now.”

I knew he could handle it, but that wasn’t the point. It was the audacity for me. Clearly, Bree hadn’t gotten her ass whooped enough in life. Her being as delusional as she was over Darius was mind boggling indeed. No matter how many times he told me in the past I didn’t have anything to worry about, I still let Bree’s presence make me insecure. When I was insecure and upset, I made a stupid decision that cost me a lot. It cost way too much, actually. I was going to do what my man said and chill. He was absolutely correct. I had too much to lose to still be crashing out over Bree’s actions. And I didn’t want her to have a reason to tell Darius that he couldn’t see Dymand. So, I was going to chill.

“I need to run to meet Kodak. My plan was to stop by the house and give Bree some money and some stuff I bought Dymand. I didn’t know she was going to act an ass. My daughter started crying and got upset, and I spazzed and took her. I have dope in the car. I would take her with me, but I don’t want to keep having her in the car with me while I have that on me.” The pleading in his eyes was back.

“Of course, I got her. Be careful.”

Darius leaned in and placed three quick pecks on my lips before advancing toward Dymand who was yawning. “Daddy has to go bye-bye pretty girl, but I’ll be right back.” He placed a kiss on her temple.

“Bye-bye?” she reached for him, and my heart melted. Seeing Darius in daddy mode actually warmed my heart more than it hurt it.

I walked over to the couch and sat down. I extended my arms toward her, because I was a stranger and I didn’t want to just pick her up. Dymand eyed me suspiciously for a few seconds then she crawled over and climbed in my lap. Darius eased out the door while Dymand laid her head on my chest and closed her eyes.

Tears filled my eyes, and I couldn’t believe she had me crying. Not because I was bitter or hurt. She was the sweetest thing. God always knew what He was doing. My baby didn’t make it, and I was glad because I wasn’t ready. More than that, I would have had to go to prison and leave my baby in the world, that would have killed me. I would like to think that if I had a baby or had been pregnant at the time, I never would have offered to make the drop for Jared, but I couldn’t know that for sure.

Maybe Dymand was what Darius needed when I was down. I was ready to tuck that hurt away and let it go. The fact that I loathed Bree but almost instantly fell in love with an extension of her was crazy. Gently, I rocked Dymand from side to side until she was asleep. As gently as I could, I eased her onto the couch and got up to find a blanket to place over her. Darius was going to be tickled when I told him that less than twenty minutes after being alone with Dymand, I had baby fever. Of course, I wanted to wait a little before I got pregnant. Maybe we could start trying after the wedding. Which I still had to plan. The thought made me groan, and I knew right then and there that I didn’t want anything huge and overly complicated.

Just family and real friends. I wasn’t putting on a spectacle for all the hood to talk about. Fuck them folks and their opinions. Darius could spend thousands upon thousands, and people would throw salt and hate just because. I had just laid the blanket over Dymand when someone started banging loudly on the door. I didn’t want whoever it was waking Dymand up but unless it was the police, I was ready to put a bullet in somebody’s ass for having the nerve to beat on my door like that.

I yanked the door open and damn near started foaming at the mouth when I saw Bree standing there wide eyed and red faced. That hoe obviously wanted smoke and despite what my man said, I wasn’t ducking it. She had the right one.

“Um why the fuck are you banging on this door like you’re crazy?” I asked looking her up and down.

“Where is my fucking daughter?” she snaked her neck and attempted to walk into the house.

Her daughter was most definitely inside, and Bree was her mother. But I wasn’t letting her inside with the way she was acting. I pushed her forcefully causing her to stagger back. Taking the opportunity to step outside myself, I closed the door behind me.

“You got the right one. Darius gave you a pass, but I will beat the fuck out you. Like I did the last time,” I smirked.

Bree’s chest heaved up and down, and she glared at me like a rabid dog. I was actually surprised that shorty wasn’t drooling and growling like a person possessed. All this because Darius proposed to me was the definition of insanity.