Cali took a deep breath as she watched Jonah walk outside to greet her. She stepped out of her car and made sure it was locked before meeting him halfway.
"Stop looking all nervous." Jonah said as he kissed her forehead. "C'mon, they're excited to meet you."
Cali took his hand and allowed him to escort her into the house. Jonah showed her where to put her things before joining everybody in the living room.
Cali was first greeted with Heather's warm smile. "Hey, Cali. I'm Heather—Jonah's nana. It's good to see you again all grown up."
Heather got a little hostile towards me and said that I wasn't a part of the family which broke my heart, Cali thought in the back of her mind. She simply smiled and nodded. "It's nice to meet you." She said.
"And I'm the pops, Amaru. Hell, I remember when you used go to sleep with my locs in your hands." Amaru said. "Make yourself at home, aight?"
"Okay, thank you." Cali replied.
Jonah reintroduced Cali to everyone else. He made sure to make her as comfortable as possible. He prepared her a plate and a drink, and she mainly sat with him, Kyran, and Asia. However, she took a liking to Arman because he reminded her of Tristan with his sense of humor.
"Cali, may I ask how your parents and siblings are doing?" Mya asked.
"Umm—yeah, they're good. Actually, my parents told me to tell y'all hi." Cali said.
All of a sudden, Heather began to cry. "Girl, what ails you?" Arman blurted out, making Amaru mug him as he went to comfort his wife.
"I'm sorry. Jonah told us to not be overbearing or anything when you came over here just to give you some time to feel everyone's energy, but my emotions are getting the best of me right now." Heather explained. "I saw the way you looked when I introduced myself before you tried to hide it with your smile. The last time I spoke to your mother, I was harsh and terrible and that wasn't like me. I love your mother, your sister, your father, and you—even your brother although I never met him. Right now, I'm just thanking God for this opportunity to meet you because I know it took a lot for you to come here. Killian has made it very far to make amends with your family and I'm hoping this could be a start for everyone to make amends. We have a lot to do on our part and we're just hoping that y'all are accepting to us."
The story of what happened between the Kings and Cali's family did leave a bad taste in her mouth. However, seeing Heather cry, hearing what she had to say, and seeing everyone else made her see that they were regretful. They all had some kind of explaining to do on their ends and it will happen eventually. Until then, Cali just had to give them a chance.
Cali stood up and walked over to Heather. She gave Heather a hug which caused her to cry even harder. "I'm so sorry, tink." Heather cried, sending a chill down Cali's back.
Jonah bit his bottom lip as he tried to hold back his smile. He didn't want to get too ahead of himself, but he saw a bright future between their families.
-
Killian smiled and stood up as Zuri approached him. She smiled back nervously as she hesitantly went in for a hug. Killian wrapped his arms around her tightly while tears filled both of their eyes.
"You're so grown now, mamas." Killian sniffed once they pulled away from their hug.
"And you're so old now." Zuri joked, making Killian chuckle.
Just as they sat down, the server came over with their food which surprised Zuri. She watched as the middle aged woman placed the plate filled with her usual order in front of her. She sent a small smile his way as the server asked if there was anything else they needed.
