MAMI ✔️

Chapter Twenty Six

"Try them on." I encourage.

Jada nods and takes them from me. She walks to the vanity table in the bedroom and puts them on.

"Perfect, now you have your something blue and something old." I say.

Her something old is a big diamond and rhinestone forehead headpiece hair vine crystal crown that's holding her hair and veil back. It was a gift from her grandmother that she wore on her wedding day.

"My dress is my something new, I just need my something borrowed." Jada sighs.

"Renee is handling that." I reassure her.

"Okay but before she gets here, I want us to talk just the two of us ..." Jada requests.

"Sure, is everything okay?" I ask the serious look on her face scaring me a little bit.

"Yes and no."

"Jada you're my best friend, you know we don't have secrets. You can tell me anything." I reassure her.

"I know." She sighs making me even more worried.

"Then what is it?" I insist.

Jada takes my hands and guides me to the bed so we can both sit down. I'm really worried about what she wants to talk about so her next words worry me.

"I want to apologize." She expresses.

I give her a confused look wondering whether she is on something. "For what?"

Jada takes a deep breath and looks at me square in the eyes.

"Ever since Darius died I've been acting like more of an overbearing mother hen than your best friend." She explains.

"Jada ..." I whisper sadly when I start connecting the dots.

"Let me finish." She pleads.

"Okay." I nod.

"I know it doesn't make up for it but I really am sorry. After Darius died you were broken, so broken I was afraid we were going to lose you too. Then we buried him and you shut down on all of us, cut down all communication for weeks. Then you re-emerged as if everything was fine and dandy and I felt like you were putting on a show. I've seen it on patients who've received a terminal diagnosis. They get depressed for a while, then they accept it and try to fake it but it only works for so long and they end up going back to the same depressed state they were in and some even commit suicide. You know what I'm talking about?" She asks.

"Yes I do." I nod.

I've seen it plenty of times in the emergency room.

"I was scared for so long that this was going to be you but lately I've been re-evaluating and letting myself see that that isn't the case. Yes your healing process is different but it's yours and I should have respected that. I just didn't want to lose my best friend so I held on tighter than I should have. I'm sorry. You are my best friend Hannah and I don't want to lose you." Jada cries.

Jada's words strike me to the core because for the first time she lets me see how scared she is. I had no idea she was feeling this way. Sure she was being more overprotective and overbearing than usual but I thought it was just the stress of the wedding not this.

"You were loving me the only way you knew how at the time. How can I hate you for that? You are never gonna lose me Jada. You, Tom, Renee, Ben and baby Taylor are all the family I have left, blood or not." I reassure her.

Jada smiles through her tears nodding at me.

"There's a new addition to the family. You're growing very fond of a young man named Diego and his big brother might just be the love of your life." Jada teases.