AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Then I recovered and did it twice more.
ChapterFour
Part III
February | Three Years Later
Iobserved Chivon a few feet away at a kids’ play table, having tea with her cousin, Ryleigh. The two girls had real chinaware with their baby dolls taking up the other two seats at the table. Ryleigh pretended to laugh while holding her mug in one hand. Chivon followed suit then dabbed her mouth with her napkin.
She then, suddenly, turned to her baby and yelled, “No burping at the table, baby!”
My head fell back and I laughed quietly with closed eyes. Celestine reached across the table, slamming her soft hand on my arm. I could hear her cousins, Betty and Charles, cracking the hell up, too. Ryleigh was their granddaughter.
“She’s something else!” Celestine tittered. “Where does she get it from?”
All I could do was shake my head.
“You laugh at me, Daddy?” Chivon demanded from across the room.
That had me cracking up even more. I nodded. “Yeah, Blueberry. Why are you being mean to baby?”
Chivon performed one of her fake laughs. “No burping at the table, Daddy.”
That had her family howling again. And my baby ate it up, beaming as she took another sip of her tea.
“Young lady!” Celestine playfully called out. “Where did you get that from?”
Chivon gave a phony laugh again. She may have known where she’d gotten that rule from but couldn’t articulate it. My baby would soon be three years old but had still been developing. I understood her, though.
“You teach her that?” Charles asked, still amused.
I shook my head adamantly.
“Oh, please!” Celestine blew out a puff of air. “That girl has her father wrapped around her tiny finger. The sun rises and sets on that little head for Jas Sinclair.”
Charles stood to leave. “That reminds me of Shi-Shi and her daddy!” He chuckled while walking inside the house.
We were on the great back porch at the big house on theDellaproperty. It was enclosed, made with temperature-controlling materials. Today, on the last one of our visit, we sat out here with a natural stone, wood-burning fireplace. Chivon’s five-year-old cousin, Ryleigh, joined her grandparents down here inDellafor the weekend and was able to spend time with her before our flight out tonight. Of course, Celestine pulled out one of many China tea sets she’d purchased for Chivon.
“Let’s hope that’s all the resemblance they have to those two.” Celestine rolled her eyes then drew her attention back to the girls.
I caught Betty shaking her head before one of my phones rang on the table in front of me.
“Peach, whaddup?” I answered, having seen her name pop up.
“Hey, Jas! I just hit up Ava about the birthday party. She told me I should call you directly for details on the nativity setup.”
“Oh.” My forehead shot up. “True that. Yeah. I wanted to make sure I have enough room for the setup. You know we’re having a tent out there.”
“Yes. Like Chi-Chi’s first birthday party, right? That was huge. I’m thinking the skit can be done in there. That way, folks can stay right where they are and enjoy the show.”
A couple of months ago, when Ashira’s best friend, Peach, dropped off Chivon’s Christmas gifts at the house, we found ourselves kicking it. Apparently, a friend of hers, a member ofRedeeming Souls Church, was the head of a drama production team. This same team put on a dope nativity play at the church. I so happened to be in the building that night and was blown away by the power of their portrayal of the Savior’s birth. When Peach told me she knew the director, I wildly mentioned wanting Chivon to experience it. Then Peach mentioned a children’s rendition. Of course, I had to seek out the production performing at my baby’s third birthday party going down in a couple of weeks. We needed to iron out the details.
“Yeah. That’s what’s up. I’m out of town rightnow—”
“Oh! I’m sorry.”
“Nah. It’s all good. Can I hit you tomorrow? I know it’s a crazy day, being Sunday and all.” Peach was in leadership at her father’s church. Sundays were her prime days.
