Imani Richards is 25 year old multimillionaire with trust issues. Her last relationship was abusive, and she promised herself that she would not fall in love again. But When she meets August Alsina, her old best friend and high school lover, will s...
Today was a big day. It was the three-month anniversary of when I first adopted Gabriel ad Mariella, but most importantly, it was Gabe's birthday.
My little boy was turning 8 years old.
I didn't know what he was used to in regards to his birthday, but I was planning to go all out today. I had planned a day full of surprises, and i was excited to see my baby's reaction.
Right now it was 9 am, and i was just about done with breakfast. I had a breakfast buffet placed out in my kitchen and I sent Mariella to wake up her brother and bring him down here. I was putting the finishing touches on the kitchen table when I heard them coming down the stairs.
"I love you sis, but its way to early to wake me up. I had a game yesterday and I'm too--" Gabe stopped once he noticed me in the kitchen, and all the food on the table.
"Happy Birthday baby!" I exclaimed, walking over to give him a hug. I watched as his face instantly transformed into one of happiness the second he realized all of this was for him.
"Thank you momma," he said wrapping his arms tightly around my waist. He was definitely growing to be a momma's boy.
"No problem sweetie, Mariella and I made this breakfast for you, so eat up, kay?" I said, kissing is forehead. The doorbell rang, interrupting our breakfast but I knew that was the next surprise. I waited for a second, grabbing my phone and taking a bunch of pictures of Gabe and his sister. The doorbell rang once again, and I rolled my eyes at the impatient man on the other side of the door.
"Eat up baby!" I said, "Today is your day, my little man is turning 8 years old!" I said showering his face with kisses. He giggled at my display of affection, while Mariella was pouting.
"How about me!" She whined, reaching her arms up so i can pick her up. I giggled at her jealousy, picking her up almost immediately and walking to open the door.
"Jussie?" I was definitely confused. I invited August to breakfast with is, but I was not expecting Jussie to come. "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"Girl, you cannot invite your ex boyfriend over and not expect me to be here for moral support. Get over yourself sweetie." He said with an eye roll. Over the past couple months, Jussie and I have became extremely close. We weren't dating or anything, and he recently opened up to me about him being gay. It made my life so much simpler, except the constant comments about my personal life.
"Hello, earth to mani" he said, waving his hands in front of his face. I rolled my eyes again and opened the door wider, letting him in. I set Mariella down, and patted her butt so she could go play with her brother. She almost instantly ran into the dining room where all the food was, and Jussie followed. I enjoyed having Jussie around, he was good with the kids and they loved playing with him. Jussie made everything easy, and was a good friend. There was silence as the three of them where stuffing breakfast down their throats, while I was checking my emails. It was silent, except the sound of chewing, until a doorbell interrupted us.
"Mommy who is that?" Mari asked me, a confused look covering her face.
"I dunno baby, want to come with me to see?" I asked with a smile.
She nodded. Hopping off her chair and reaching for my hand. She gets a little wobbly after she jumps so i just decided to pick her up instead. I looked out the peephole to see August in a nervous manner, and I slightly smiled at that. I opened the door slowly, I didn't want to make it seem as if I was super excited to see him or anything.
"Hi, Gabe is in the dining room" I said to him in a monotone voice the second I opened the door.
"Oh.. okay, " August replied in a stunned voice. "These are for you" He said as he handed me a bouquet of the most beautiful flowers. I accepted them, admiring the arrangement
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for a second. "I saw them at the market and I remembered how much you loved them. I looked into his eyes for a moment and instantly wanted to forgive him and take him back. He was looking at me like a sad puppy, and I just wanted to be in his arms again. But before I got over emotional our moment was interrupted by a crash and a string of curse words.
"Jussie oh my god-" I said, rushing over to the accident. Luckily, it was only Jussie and his clumsiness that dropped a cup of coffee. As long as Gabe or Mariella wasn't hurt, I really didn't care that much.
"Okay kids, go get changed okay! we have a lot of plans!" I said, rushing the kids to get changed. August was supposed to keep them busy until the surprise party that was happening later today, and I was so excited to go and check everything out.
"Mama am I going out with August?" Gabe asked me excitedly. I nodded in response and watched as he raced up the stairs two steps at a time. Once they were out of eyesight I started cleaning up the mess in the dining room.
"Imani can I-" August started to say but I cut him off.
"There is breakfast on the table if your hungry, Grab a plate now because I'm cleaning up later." I watched his reaction from the corner of my eye and realized that he was preparing to say more. I was trying to avoid any conversation so I went up to my bedroom to "get dressed." I checked in on the kids, and then entered my room to see Jussie sitting on my bed with an outfit laid out.
"Boy what are you doing here?" I said with a chuckle.
"Baby daddy is here today so I'm gonna make sure you look hot" He replied, putting an emphasis on "hot."
I giggled at his silliness but followed his directions. I went to my bathroom and did my morning routine and quickly dressed up, leaving my straight hair down.
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I walked down the hall, knocking at the kid's door so they know to come downstairs. Surprisingly, the kids were downstairs playing with August, and even Mariella seemed to be having a good time.
"Kids, why don't you pick a movie you can watch in the car, " August said, handing them his phone, they ran out to his car, looking through movies on Netflix, leaving us alone. "Imani, look, I am so sorry for everything I put you through. I know it was wrong of me to betray you like that and I'm sorry, you deserve so much more and I swear i will prove to you that I can be a good man, but baby, I love you, I always will and I will fight for you beautiful." He said, looking at me with puppy dog eyes, hoping for a response .
I was silent.
"Please bring the kids back by 1, you have a couple hours so you can take them to the mall or the park. I want to know where you are taking them, and make sure they dont eat a lot since they will probably get a stomachache later. Also, Gabe's asthma is acting up so make sure you have the inhaler on you at all times. Keep them safe and they are waiting for you." I responded after a moment, turning around to answer a phone call.
