Elise Riley-Tate moves through life in search of her happily ever after. After suffering a devastating loss, Elise questions her womanhood and place in her life and marriage. An unfortunate sequence of events leaves Elise in a conflicted situation...
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Zach was here at nine on the dot to pick up the kids. I didn't tell them he was coming. I watched them trudge sluggishly throughout the house and play over their breakfast. I packed their bags once they were soundly asleep last night and placed them in the coat closet near the entrance.
When the doorbell rang, no one made a move to answer it. "Kiya," I yelled.
"Mam," she yelled back.
"Come to get the door," I responded. She emerged from the back of the house with a huff. I guess the audacity of me asking her to answer the door, when I was the closest to it, pissed her off. She walked up to the door with her hands on her hips staring at it as the doorbell rang again.
"Who is it," she yelled in an annoyed tone. I giggled at her attitude that she had apparently gotten from me.
"Ya daddy," I heard Zach chuckle. Zakiya's hands worked overtime as she fiddled with locks getting hung up on the deadbolt.
" Mama, help me! Its It's my daddy," she screeched. I laughed at her impatience and flustered state.
"Kese, come help me! I can't get it," she yelled turning red in the face. Zykese came flying around the corner seemingly out of breath. Zach's ringing turned into knocks in the form of a beat.
"Girl! What's wrong with you," Zykese said huffing trying to catch his breath.
" Daddy is at the door, and I can't twist the big lock. It's too tight," she yelped. Zykese cut his eyes at me and then proceeded to twist the lock. Zakiyah snatched the door open and flung her small body onto her dad's leg. Zach picked her up and began peppering her face with kisses. She giggled like a mad woman, throwing her head back to escape him and slinging her tiny body from side to side trying to dodge his kisses. It warmed my heart to see my baby girl so happy.
I nodded a silent hello at Zach and went to grab their small overnight bags from the closet. I never really had to send things with them because they had just as much stuff here as they did at his house. But we would have no educational resets over break, so I packed them some books and handwriting pages. Even though Zykese was older, he still writes in hieroglyphics. He got that from his daddy. He had his teacher thinking he was slow and needed to be tested.
After saying my goodbyes to the children, I made my way to the kitchen to prepare for this small lunch I was having with my girls. I sent a group text last night letting them know I needed to have a seat at the table.
Around 3 pm they all had finally arrived. My girl Leslie was the first to come. Leslie was a single mother of two and a cosmetologist. She had recently opened her own shop near the campus. Next to arrive was Dria. Dria was married, with no children. She was currently in school preparing to defend her dissertation. Always last to arrive was my childhood best friend, Xorielle. Xorielle was single, no kids, and was a manager at the local Walmart. Then there was me, a single mom of 2, working as a patient care tech at a local rehabilitation center.
