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“Marshmallow, aren’t there a lot of people here you could help? Besides, we are your people, baby.”
“You are my people, Dad. But I need to go see the places where Mom lived before I was born. Where Grandma helped. Please.” She reaches out and touches my chest. I pull her into my arms and hold her and kiss the top of her head.
“Baby, you do what you need to, but I’m going to always protect you. It’s my job.”
“I know, Daddy, and I’ve already talked to Uncle Carter. He’s going to have a friend of his travel with me.”
“Really? Who?” I’m not letting any of the S.I. boys near my little girl.
“Riley is his name,” she says, and she moves away from me but stops to look at me over her shoulder.
“Oh, hell no. Can’t you go with Cara?”
“Dad, stop.” She moves toward the stairs. “I’m meeting him in Paris next week.”
“Wait, you already had this planned?” I swing around to look at my beautiful wife, who is laughing at me.
“Spitfire, don’t make me spank you.”
“Ew, gross, Daddy,” our ten-year-old, Naledi, who we adopted at one from Botswana exclaims.
“Cover your eyes, angel. Daddy is going to kiss Momma now.” I lean down and kiss Sydney. At almost fifty, she still stirs my blood.
“Honey, you’ve got to let her do this,” Sydney says when I release her lips, and she pats my chest.
“I know. I just don’t have to like it,” I grumble.
“Dad, I can go with her,” Trey says as he walks in the back door. The kid is as big as me but built wider. He’s constantly working out. He just graduated high school and wants to join the military, but I know it’s not like it used to be and I worry about him too. I can’t stop my kids from growing up, but I can sure try to make their paths a bit easier.
“Nah, kiddo, your momma is right, your sister needs to do this.”
I watch as our thirteen-year-old daughter, Keeya, runs down the stairs. She’s got her gym bag and heading for the door, where I know she’ll wait for one of us to take her to her gymnastics class.
“Who is this Riley jerk anyway?” Trey moves into the kitchen probably getting ready to eat me out of house and home.
“He’s the son of one of the owners of Securities International,” I say as I wrap my wife in my arms. I inhale her scent and kiss her before she heads out.
I wouldn’t be here right now if it weren’t for her. I was ready to let life move on without me until she moved in next door to my brother and I felt that Boom. I wouldn’t be here holding her and arguing with our kids. Four kids that each bring me joy.
