Page 110 of Betrothed To Love

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I ask my husband. He looks handsome as always but the smugness on his face cannot be missed.

“You really think she’s going to pull this off?” he asks.

“Yes. Yes I do,” I say sternly. “Do you see how excited she is? My baby can do this.”

“Okay,” he says with a slight chuckle. “That’s exactly why I don’t think she can pull this off. She’s too damn excited. This is going to be a colossal fail.”

“Thanks. That’s exactly what I wanted to hear,” I sigh, then frown.

He steps around the island behind me. After slipping his arms around me, he places his hands on my stomach and pulls me into his chest.

“I’m just trying to prepare you. Don’t sound like that.”

“Don’t you sound so negative,” I counter. “The shirt is perfect. The plan is perfect and it’s going to work. I have faith in Niya.”

“Okay, kyau. It’s going to work,” he says but I still hear amusement in his tone. “We better go. Shuga’s going to be calling soon to make sure we’re coming.”

“We better. Alex and Giselle are almost there. Kyrah is running late though,” I tell him. For this Sunday dinner, I want everyone I love there and that most definitely means my sisters for life.

“Nah, she’s there,” he says.

“How do you know that?” I question because I just texted her ass and she said she might be late.

“I just talked to Shiro; she’s with him at Shuga’s.”

“She didn’t tell me that,” I say, then frown. “I cannot believe her. Wait till I see her; I’m going to curse her sneaky ass out. After all this time, her and Shiro still act like it’s just casual,” I say and suck my teeth.

After kissing me, he says, “That’s their business. Let them do what they want. Just tell me what I’m taking to my ride so we can go.”

“Just the crab salad. Oh, and that leftover steak pasta for Shiro. I promised him he could have it. I’m going to grab Niya.” I start to walk out of the kitchen then stop. “And she’s going to pull this off,” I repeat before continuing.

When I make it upstairs into her room, Niya’s in the bathroom taking her bonnet off. Not only is this the first Sunday in August and we are having our monthly family dinner at Shuga’s, school starts Monday and she’s starting second grade. She also has some big news to share so her hair had to be perfect. She wanted braids so Jae came over yesterday and did Niya’s hair.

“I think I need some more of the white stuff,” she says.

“Mousse?” I ask.

“Yes, that,” she says while nodding.

“No. It’s pretty and perfect. You don’t need any more.”

“Okay,” she says.

“You ready?”

“Yes. I put my jacket and purse in the truck.”

“And you know what to do when we get there. Just keep the jacket on until we start eating. Then you’re going to take it off and let everyone read it,” I reiterate.

“I remember,” she assures me with a big, pretty smile on her face. She’s almost seven and she’s getting tall, but her face hasn’t changed at all. She still looks like a little princess.

We leave her room and head downstairs. I grab my tote from the sofa, then we walk out to the garage. The door is open, the truck is on, and my husband is standing outside of it, waiting on us. After he opens the door for us, he gets in and we head to Shuga’s.

As suspected, her driveway and the street are packed with vehicles and I see Alex and Giselle’s rides. Shuga’s Sunday dinners are a staple in the Bako family and the amount of people who come has expanded over the years. My friends have started to attend. The twins and TJ have been bringing girls. I can’t say dates because they each insist that the girls are just friends.

Alami has even joined us. Last year, Shuga finally fully embraced her and invited her to dinner. Asali is a distant memory. The relationship with his sons and even his grandsons is over. None of them talk to him and his relationship with Alami is also strained. Now that she’s in college, she rarely goes home. In fact, she spent spring break with us since she was working at Quintus’s firm.

Niya misses her grandfather though and I’m trying to slowly convince my husband to at least consider letting him see her. Only time will tell with that.