The Last Prince

center and edges

I don't think I've ever smiled as much as I have in the last two weeks and that was all because of Sky.

I was falling for this girl and there didn't seem to be an end in sight, not that I wanted there to be.

"There he is! I was beginning to think you went and got your ass kidnapped again."

As Dre and I entered the barbershop, I rolled my eyes in response to what my brother Tommy said.

"I 'got myself kidnapped'? Dude, the Rossi's were trying to move in on our territory, and to prove a point to Dad they snatched me, and that's me 'getting my ass kidnapped'?"

Tommy chuckled a little, shaking his head as the barber began to stir the lather for his beard trimming. As Tommy settled into his seat, my oldest brother, Marco, ran a hand through his freshly-cut hair.

"Just sayin' little brother, we haven't seen you in a while."

Marco nodded, agreeing with Tommy as he greeted Andre, who smirked and nodded back at me.

"Nah, he's been too busy with his girlfriend."

Marco and Tommy both shared a bewildered look before they turned to face me, a questioning glance on Marco's face before he spoke.

"Since when do you have a girlfriend? Weren't you the one that said 'monogamy was for suckers'?"

I huffed and shook my head, ashamed of the way I used to think.

"Man, that was before Sky."

I didn't mean to get distracted, but it always happened when I thought about Sky.

From her head to her toes, the girl was perfect-- and I don't even think she knows it.

"And who is this 'Sky'?"

As my father sat up in his chair, just having his face exfoliated, a  huge grin was on my face and my thoughts were hijacked by Sky.

"Just a girl I'm crazy about, Dad."

My dad let out a loud bellow and chuckled a bit as his barber unfastened the salon cape from around my father's neck.

"Sounds like me when I met your mother. In a single instance, she became my entire world."

And that's just how it was with Sky. She was everything. I couldn't eat, sleep, or function without her being my complete focus.

All I wanted was to make her happy.

My father walked over to the full-length mirror, adjusting his tie before looking back at me and my brothers.

"Thirty-five years. It's been thirty-five years since I married your mother, and I've never been happier. All I wish for is 'that' for my sons."

His bright smile beamed as he approached us, a nostalgically blissful look on his face.

"And to be a grandfather soon. You know how your mother has been desperate for a baby in the house."