Stella & The Playboy

Stella & The Blue Plate

My mother looks up with a smile, "Oh Stella, you'll never guess who dropped by! Your cousin Randall. There was a family emergency and he asked to bring little Isaiah here."

"What was the emergency?" I ask with concern.

My mother scoffs, "It's not a real emergency. You know how overdramatic your aunt can be. She claims she broke her hip, so Randall, his wife, and Thomas dropped everything and ran over to Baltimore to be with her. So they left Isaiah here with me for the next few days."

My mother didn't get along with her older sister. And I hardly got along with my older cousins Randall and Thomas. They were know-it-all's, always had been, and still are.

I squat down to the less than one-year-old child as he sucked his thumb mindlessly, "Well hello there Isaiah. I'm Stella and this is my friend Sheila." The baby boy looks over at both of us, seemingly unamused. I bite my lip awkwardly before standing up, "Um okay. We're going to be going now." I tell my mother.

My mother lets out a small laugh as she stands up with the child, "He's just shy right now. I'll see you later sweetie. Have fun with Julius tonight!"

"Thanks mom!" I call out as Sheila and I head toward the exit.

"That was the cutest little baby I've ever seen." Sheila gushes as we get into the car. I shrug as I start the engine, "He was alright."

We both laugh as I begin driving in the direction of Sheila's house to drop her off.

-

As I applied my last layer of lip gloss, I heard a knock on my door. "You ready babe?" Julius asks from the other side. I screw the tip of the lip gloss tube before standing up from the vanity.

I open the door to my bedroom and Julius is standing there in his ever so handsome glory. He wore a dark button-up shirt with the top few unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up. His gold pendant necklace drew even more attention to his finely sculpted chest. He looks me up and down with a smile, "I am the luckiest man on earth."

I blush slightly as he pulls me to him, "Yes, yes you are." He chuckles before kissing me on the lips softly.

"Let's go before I decide we should skip dinner and go straight to the bedroom." I giggle before grabbing my purse and allowing him to lead me out of the room and to the car.

"I'm driving." I announce as I grab the keys from him. He sighs before getting into the passenger seat of his car. I get into the driver's seat eagerly and start the engine.

We arrive at the restaurant at an appropriate time and check-in with our reservations. "For two, under Ashford." Julius tells the host. The man nods and grabs two menus before leading us to our table in the outdoor dining area.

"This place is beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as you." He says with a cheesy grin.

I chuckle, "You're ridiculously cheesy do you know that?"

"Because I know you secretly love it."

I playfully roll my eyes at him as I pick up the menu.

The waiter appears with a notepad in his hand. "Are you ready to order?" We nod before reciting our meal choices to the man as he writes them down and walks away.

"So what's next for us?" I asked suddenly as he looks over the dessert menu.

"I was thinking we could go downtown for some gelato, the dessert options here seem boring."

I chuckle lightly, "No I mean the whole marriage thing. When are we calling it off? And what do we do after that?"

He looks up at me with a small laugh, "Oh of course. Right after my dad steps down we can have dinner and tell them. Next week maybe?"