Page 19 of Kisses Behind the Spotlight

I was relieved to see them out back, sitting on their yoga mats and meditating by the water. A house on Davis Island, off the water, so Jameera could grow all the tropical plants her heart desired and do her yoga and meditation by the water, was my next goal. My mom and Yaseer’s property definitely set the bar high. Jameera always told me their backyard was her favorite place to meditate because their airy backyard overlooking the water provided the most serene setting she’d ever experienced.

Continuing across the living room, I stood frozen in place when I saw Jameera and Khaleesi sitting on the opposite side of the pool. My feet stopped moving, and my body froze. Her ass told me she was going to be home working on her scrapbook all day, so her presence caught me off guard with the ring in my pocket. I should’ve known there was a reason my mom and Yaseer were doing yoga in the middle of the day.

I pulled the sliding glass door open and stepped out.

“Q! Do not come over here hollering like that. You don’t even live here anymore,” my mama snapped, peeking one eye open while everyone else continued what they were doing.

“Come on, ma. You bringing negative energy to the meditation,” I laughed, plopping down next to her because she was the closest with space on her mat.

My mom sat in the middle of her mat on the left side of the pool, wearing the black athleisure set from Moon & Muse’s last drop. Her legs were criss-crossed like the rest of the ladies while Yaseer was lying flat on his yoga mat. When I got closer, the faint snoring told me he was asleep.

Their meditation music ended, and Jameera’s eyes popped open, scanning the area to look for me. Her smile instantly forced my lips to curl into a grin. I kept walking around the pool until I was up on Jameera and Khaleesi. Just before I reached them, I paused, squinting my eyes at Khaleesi.

“Khaleesi, is yo ass still contagious?” I wondered, remembering that she hadn’t left her house in over a week because she had the flu.

The last time I saw her was maybe five days ago when she was coughing on Xain in the hallway. Since I had a kidney transplant with an extremely tumultuous recovery process, I didn’t play when it came to my health. I never wanted to be down like that again. After Khaleesi coughed on Xain, I had him take time off as a precaution, and Duke had been running things. I was immunocompromised and wasn’t taking any chances with his ass either.

“No, I had a telehealth appointment this morning and took a rapid test. Jameera made sure before agreeing to hang with me,” Khaleesi sassed.

“Yeah, you know we all don’t play about your health,” Jameera chimed in.

“Well, I’m glad to see that you’re in good health,” I complimented with a smile before plopping down on the yoga mat next to Jameera.

“Thank you. It feels amazing to finally have a clean bill of health and get out of the house. I’m feeling a million times better too,” she bubbled.

“What are you doing over here, beautiful?” I pecked Jameera’s lips, and she leaned her head over, placing it on my shoulder.

“Khaleesi wanted to get out of the house once the doctor cleared her, so we came over here. I told her I had plans to spend time scrapbooking today and she’s going to help me while we sit out here.”

Even in 2026, my baby loved printing photos and making scrapbooks of trips or special events. Anything that kept her face out of a phone, she loved it. Social media could be toxic, and she avoided it at all costs unless she was doing something for Moon & Muse.

“And your mama was making salmon salad so we get to eat for free too,” Khaleesi bragged, climbing to her feet.

“Yaseer, wake up,” my mama nudged his shoulder, and his eyes fluttered open.

“You see why we meditate sitting up,” Jameera giggled, climbing to her feet.

“I ain’t even know I fell asleep,” Yaseer emitted a groggy laugh, sitting up on his yoga mat.

Yaseer’s phone rang, and he placed it to his ear to answer it while still lying flat on the yoga mat. Everybody else was already on their feet and heading inside while he talked on the phone.

“Bae,” Jameera called out, lifting a stack of pictures that were sitting on the coffee table. I could tell they must’ve been there for a while before going outside to meditate because most of the page was already filled with cutout pictures from our trip to Milan during fashion week earlier that year. We went to support Amill as she walked in the Prada fashion show, but still made ample time for side quests and plenty of shopping.

“Remember this? I’m like two trips behind in my scrapbook. This is from when we went to Milan. It was breathtaking and our pictures from that day were amazing.” I accepted the stack of pictures and leaned down to peck her lips before she strutted into the kitchen to wash her hands after my mama was done. My hand trembled, and the pictures shook slightly as I stopped to examine a picture of Amill and me atop the Duomo.

“That was one of my favorite vacations. The rooftop views from the Duomo were absolutely breathtaking,” she bubbled.

My phone rang as I sat at the kitchen island flipping through the stack of pictures that brought back some of the most beautiful memories.

“Yoooooo,” I answered the FaceTime call while I continued flipping through the pictures.

Xain emitted a low cough, and my eyes went from the phone on the counter to the devious smile spreading across Khaleesi’s face. She was on the opposite side of me at the sink, waiting for Jameera to finish rinsing off her hands.

“So that crazy bitch gave me the flu, and suddenly you don’t need security?” Xain grumbled, his voice low and weak.

“I got your bitch, fuck nigga!” Khaleesi started in on Xain, and I tapped my wet index finger against the red button to end the call before they could go further.

Eleven seconds. That’s how long Xain and Khaleesi could tolerate each other’s voices before fighting.