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“You really thought I’d miss the moment youseriouslybrought a boy home?” he responded as he stood up to greet us, pulling his baby girl into a hug first and then turning my way and putting some extra bass in his voice when he asked, “What are your intentions with my daughter?”
“Daddy!” Yani squealed embarrassedly, her father laughing as he said, “Nah, I’m just fuckin’ with you, man. Great game today.”
“I appreciate it,” I told him as he pulled me into a shoulder hug before his ex-wife invited us all to have a seat. And even though I did so without thinking twice, Yani remained standing, her eyes bouncing back and forth between her parents who looked confused until she asked, “Are y’all two gonna be okay?”
With a smile, her mother insisted, “We’ve already survived one hour without you. I think we can make it a few more. Right, John?”
Nodding, her father agreed, “Yeah. As your parents, we got this. So sit down.”
It wasn’t a question but a directive that had Yani skeptically taking the seat next to mine, my hand gently resting against her thigh under the table in an effort to calm her nerves. But really, with how cool her parents were being with each other, it didn’t seem like she needed it; especially once they got to reminiscing about when they all lived together as a family.
Of course, those days hadn’t exactly ended on a high note. But it was obvious in the way she spoke about it that Yani still cherished the positive moments. And maybe I was reading into it too deeply, but it almost seemed like this dinner was putting her in that same state of mind, a memory of her parents together worth holding onto after going almost a decade without anything new.
I was happy for her. And I was happy for them. And I wasespeciallyhappy to have been invited since the original Mrs. Hayes had done her thang in the kitchen. But most of all, I was happy to see the huge smile on my girl’s face once we finally got in my car to leave, her entire aura beaming when she said, “I don’t know what the hell just happened. But I’m so glad you were here.”
