baby

i told you we would last

16 years later
calabasas, california

"boy if you not gonna retwist these damn dreads you need to cut them" baby said to a grown up tru who sat in the kitchen while she made breakfast

"im tryna grow them out ma" tru expressed to his mother who just didn't get it. after all she married a mexican who swore he was black.

"grow them shits out why, when i was your age i used to low cut my shit and dye it" he explained

"but pops your shits straight" tru reasoned

"that don't matter" manny exclaimed as tru sucked his teeth

just as the food was finishing up their 6 year old daughter, imani, came running into the kitchen, "daddy i had a bad dream last night" she ran full force into manuel's back. he turned and swooped his daughter up

"i would ask if you wanna sleep with me and mommy but we have business to discuss tonight" he tried to explain, he heard tru snicker and shot him a glare, trying to protect his baby girls innocence. imani was more of a daddy's girl where as tru loved his mother. both were great parents but one on one the dynamics just worked better.

"have you guys spoken to your grandmother? especially you miss i didn't buy that phone for no reason" she scolded her daughter who hid her smile behind a strawberry

"nah she don't pick up the phone" tru said twisting his dreads, baby popped his hand

"boy stop playing with your hair in the kitchen"

"mmcht, my bad ma" he removed his fingers from his hair. manny watched the interaction and laughed, happy that it wasn't him in trouble with his wife

after everything, the pair got married just like they planned to. after living in dc for the first three years of tru's life they bought a condo in cali. the move away from home was hard on both baby and manny but they realized they had their own family to think about.

when tru was around 10 baby got pregnant again, she was content with her two seedlings.

manny and taniya ended up getting married and having a baby of their own, they still live in texas which makes it easier to see family over the holidays.

the two had the usual hardships but stayed in love with each other, nothing had changed since the day they met.

"oops the boys wanna come over and run 2k with you" tru laughed knowing how much his friends enjoyed being around his dad. he was young and funny.

"yall can't get it any day" manny simply said stuffing his mouth with bacon

"you're ass" tru taunted

"you talking shit yet you came out my nutsack, remember that"

"yall" baby said reminding the boys that imani was sitting at the table

"daddy what's a nutsack?" imani innocently asked

"don't worry just know you from there too" he said making tru bust out laughing

"mommy i'm from nutsack!" imani exclaimed, excited over feeling included

"oh my god" baby hid her smile behind her hand, "what would i do without yall" baby said as she smiled at her beautiful family

the end 😘