May 1st, 2008
6:14 PM
Serenity POV
"But do I invite Kaelyn?" I asked Jill as we sat in my living room.
"I don't know!! You have to look at the facts," Jill said, shifting in her seat. "That's your godmother, your aunt. You love her, and she loves you. Yet, this is the grand opening for your mother's business. They haven't spoken since January, not to mention that Tae is the business manager. I'm pretty sure he would rather not see her there." I stared at Jill blankly.
"That does not answer my question. That makes the decision even harder!!" I yelled, getting frustrated.
Finding teachers, easy. Getting people trained, easy. Figuring out the guest list, the hardest part of the grand opening.
"Well, technically anybody can come so why are you so worried about specific people?" I looked at Jill blankly.
"Would you like it if you knew I was having a grand opening and didn't invite you personally?" She pursed her lips. "Okay then. You know Kaelyn Wright would definitely be offended if she didn't get a personal invite."
"True... sucks for you," She said, hopping up and heading into the kitchen. I sucked my teeth and looked back at my guest list, reviewing the names. "Serenity, just leave it alone. Looking at it will not make the decision any easier."
"Yeah, yeah," I waved her off as there was a knock on my door. "It's open!!" The door swung open and in walked Ashley, Bey's dancer and a very talented one I may add. We ended up clicking on tour since we were so close in age. "Hey, Ash."
"Hey, Ash!!" Jill yelled from the kitchen.
"Hey," Ashley smiled. "Why's your door unlocked? Is that safe for you?"
"I had it unlocked because I knew you were coming, but you can lock it now." Ashley locked the door and walked over to the living room as Jill walked out of the kitchen with some grapes.
"Have you heard from Bey?" Ashley asked as she plopped down next to me.
"Yeah, she got back from her honeymoon right before I left and she's back in the studio." Bey & Jay tied the knot on April 4th, 2008 in a very intimate ceremony. They had it at Jay's penthouse and only 40 people were invited. I was pleasantly surprised that I made the cut.
I was glad I did though because it was beautiful. It was really a tearjerker. But I didn't know if I was crying for them or for myself.
Either way, I loved it. I had fun, we partied all the way until 5 am the next day and I got to take home two bouquets of white dendrobium orchids since Bey had 70,000 of them.
"She needs to hurry up," Ashley groaned, throwing her head back and I chuckled at her dramatics. "I'm bored. I could've been taking classes this semester if I knew that I'd have this much free time."
"You're going to be bored for a little longer honey. Unless..." Ashley's head popped back up and she looked at me. "You want to work at the Wright Steps NYC for the summer? You may not want to because I'll have you do a Bey class-"
"Yes please!!" Ashley yelled and Jill & I started laughing. "I need to do something, and I would love to do that."
"Great," I scribbled the note down in my notebook. "You mind performing at the grand opening too? My daddy and auntie will be there." Ashley's eyes lit up.
Ashley told me that if she had the opportunity, she would want to dance with daddy and auntie Jan. This would be the perfect opportunity to meet them.
"You think i'm going to say no to that?" Ashley asked like I was stupid and the three of us laughed. "I'm in."
"Great, we'll start rehearsals next week," I said, writing that down too. When I finished, I looked at my two friends. "This is going to be great."
May 20th, 2008
6:41 AM
Sky POV
"No again?" Michael asked as he leaned in the doorway of the bathroom. I shook my head.
"Nope. Negative," I said as I dropped the negative pregnancy test in the garbage. Michael blew out a breath of irritation and walked out of our bathroom, me following behind him.
"I'm not understanding," Michael said frustrated as he sat on our bed. "It's been almost two years since you got your tubes untied and still nothing. It only took one time to get the twins. And Melody."
"I know," I huffed, sitting next to him. "But i'm also in my 40's and age can have an effect on fertility ."
"Pretty sure getting your tubes tied didn't help much either," Michael mumbled, playing with his fingers. I looked at him raising my eyebrow.
"Do you really want to go there?" I asked, and he looked at me, shaking his head. I went there anyway. "For one, we both originally agreed that Maiya was supposed to be the last child anyway. I tied up my tubes to ensure that since you don't like to pull out or use condoms," I shot him a tight-lipped smile and he rolled his eyes at me. "Second, that may be a factor, but also it could be my age like I first said, stress from running your company, my businesses and other things, or maybe your soldiers aren't marching anymore." Michael scoffed, frowned up.
"I'm sure my soldiers are marching just fine," He replied, sounding offended. I shrugged, smirking.
"Not nice to hear that something may be wrong with you huh?" I asked and Michael sighed.
"No," He mumbled.
"Thought so," I said, laying back on the bed. I knew it was probably me with the problem. My age, the reversal procedure, and the stress on me all played a role. It didn't help that I wanted it so bad either, my yearn for another child had increased since the twins moved out. Melody was about to be 12, Maiya was about to be 10. Before I knew it, they would be gone too.
Of course, I couldn't keep having babies to replace my growing children, but I wanted one more. Just one, just another boy, before my chance closed.
If it hadn't already.
Michael laid back next to me. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay, we're both high strung about this situation." Michael nodded and it got quiet for a moment. I felt him grab my hand and I looked over at him to see him staring at me.
"Do you think we should try our luck at adoption?" I chuckled.
"Do you see the hell that Kiana gives Dawn on a daily basis?"
"Malik doesn't."
"That's because she adopted him when he was..." I trailed off as I thought about it.
"A baby." Michael finished, tucking his bottom lip between his teeth. "We can adopt a baby Sky. Or we could get a surrogate."
"You mean like how you wanted Debbie Rowe to be the surrogate of your kids?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. Michael chuckled.
"Not like that. We'd give her your eggs-"
"Oh, gestational," I realized and Michael nodded. They would be good, that way I wouldn't have to go through the process of the actual pregnancy and snapping back, etc. But I also wasn't too sure, about that and adoption, because I felt the people involved would somehow end up being out to get my husband. That seemed to happen a lot to him, no matter what he did. Michael stared at me as he waited to respond. "Let's just..." I started to shake our folded hands. "Wait and see what the doctor's say about us. We can go after we come back from New York."
"Okay." He moved his face closer to mine. "I love you." I smiled.
"I love you too, you big softie," I responded, leaning over to give him what was supposed to be a little peck, but he, as always, turned it into more.
I giggled in his mouth and he pulled away. "Wanna try our luck?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Always baby." Michael rolled on top of me, making me laugh loudly. He started kissing on my neck but the phone rang, making him groan loudly.
"The fuck??" He climbed off of me and answered the phone on the nightstand. "Hello?" I snickered at his change in voice. He sighed. "Okay, here we come." He hung up the phone. "I forgot that fast we were supposed to be leaving. Damn," he pouted. I stood up.
"It's okay baby, we'll finish on the plane." I winked at him as I went to grab my suitcase.
"With everybody on it? With the girls on it?" Michael asked and I looked back at him.
"Let's not act like we haven't had sex with our children in the other room before," I deadpanned and Michael bit his bottom lip, laughing a little.
"I guess you're right. Let's go."
We got to LAX a half an hour later, and the rest of our travel crew was already on board.
"Why black people always gotta be late?" AJ asked as soon as we boarded. The girls excitedly ran to the back to sit near their cousins, which included Deanna, Kaleb, Devante, Princess, and little Aaron (who really wasn't so little anymore). I looked AJ up and down.
"Why you questioning me on a plane I paid for?" I asked, folding my arms. Everybody else busted out laughing while AJ looked embarrassed.
"Mommy tell her to stop terrorizing me," AJ said to mama and she shook her head, snickering and looking out of the window as she rubbed Bash's head as he slept on her. I smirked at AJ as Michael and I took our seats. We were seated face to face with Madison and Dawn, and Tae & AJ sat across the aisle from us. I looked around and frowned a little at the group.
It felt weird without Kae being with us. Usually, she would already be cursing at somebody or playfully joking on them. I was never going to be used to her not being around.
The plane took off and as soon as we were up in the air, I leaned over to Dawn, who was reading 7th Heaven by James Patterson.
"Have you talked to Kaelyn?" I asked lowly and she sat her book down looking at me.
"Somebody has to," She said lowly and I gave her a look. She sighed. "I didn't mean it like that." I knew she didn't.
"How is she?" I asked.
"She's... as good as a person can be after splitting from her husband of 15 years. She said the twins still won't really talk to her." Me, her, and Michael (who hadn't said anything but was listening with his nosey ass) looked at the twins, who were being annoyed by their younger cousins and brother. They were smiling though, which was good to see. Michael and I looked back at Dawn. "So yeah, she's not doing so hot."
"Is she still messing with Oliver?" Michael asked lowly and I sucked my teeth. "What?"
"Why would she still be messing with the person that is causing her divorce?" I asked and Michael shrugged.
"Besides, he's unemployed now and I don't think she wants an unemployed man," Dawn pointed out. "Which was kind of wrong on your point."
"How?" Michael frowned up. "He was supposed to maintain a professional, friendly relationship with the family. That was out of line, and why would I keep him around to remind poor Tae of what happened?"
"Yeah but he's been around since the twins were born. You could've at least downgraded him somehow, sent him out there with Serenity, something."
"He wasn't about to seduce my baby," Michael frowned up and I shoved him. "What??"
"You're so stupid," I snickered, shaking my head.
"Look, I hated to let him go too, but family is family."
"Yeah, and Kaelyn is your family too," Dawn pointed out and I sighed. Dawn had been trying to convince me that this was between Kae and Tae and I shouldn't have let their problems come in between our friendship, but it wasn't that simple. I wish it was though.
"Dawn..." I drawled.
"She misses you, Sky."
"You think I don't miss her?" I asked lowly. "It hurts, not being able to talk to the girl that has been around for as long as I remember. It does. But he's my cousin, and he hasn't even made it to the process to forgive her. Why would I keep hanging out with her, bringing her around, having her in his face while he's trying to get over what she did to him?"
"You don't have to have her around. But at least call her." I sighed.
"I can't." Dawn groaned in frustration and Madison leaned forward.
"Come on Dawn, you know that Tae has to get over it first before they can move forward. That's what I had to do when AJ & I broke up."
"Yeah, but you talked to Sky when you did."
"Yeah," Madison nodded. "Only Sky, and Mrs. Wright, because I didn't want to talk to him while I was hurting. I didn't talk to anyone else, and it took me like a year to start coming around again." Dawn pursed her lips. "Just give it time."
"What the fuck are yall over there whispering about?!" AJ asked loudly. The four of us looked at him.
"Can you please act like our parents taught you something, and stop cussing in front of mama and the children?!" I asked.
"So damn obnoxious," Madison mumbled. AJ stared at her for a minute before looking back at Tae. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked back at Michael, who was smirking.
"He misses her," Michael said lowly, snickering.
"Oh yeah."
2:24 PM
Serenity POV
I don't make the list, don't be mad at me
I just make the hits, like a factory
I'm just one-to-one, nothin' after me
No Déjà Vu
"FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT!!" I yelled and as Jay's verse ended, Ashley and the other dancers started the breakdown for 'Déjà Vu'. I watched them all closely, making sure that they didn't miss a step. The Wright Steps NYC would be opening in two days, and I didn't need a thing out of place.
Ashley was really embodying Bey with the breakdown and I smiled to myself, proud.
Know that I can't get over you
'Cause everything I see is you
And I don't want no substitute
Baby I swear it's Déjà Vu
They finished off the dance and as I started to put my hands together to clap, someone else started to. We all looked over at the door to see daddy and mama standing in the doorway and I heard some of the dancers gasp. I looked over at Ashley and saw her eyes wide. I held back my laughter as I turned back to my parents.
"Excuse me, this is a closed rehearsal," I joked as they walked over to me.
"Not in the building I paid for," Daddy said as he hugged me.
"With my name on the lease," Mama added as she hugged me too. Then they both turned to greet the others. "Hey guys, you look great." Everybody started grinning and thanking her.
"She hasn't been working you too hard has she?" Daddy asked, grinning and they all shook their heads. I smirked.
"Good answer," I smirked at them. "Um, let's take a quick break. Go get lunch or something." Everybody started to leave the studio. "Ashley you stay." She turned around, eyes wide. I gave her a look that said 'I got you, stay cool'. I waved her over to us and she walked over. I looked at my parents. "This is Ashley Everett, one of Bey's dancers and a very good friend of mine."
"Nice to meet you, Ashley," Mama said, smiling at Ashley.
"You did a wonderful job on that dance," Daddy added, smiling and I thought Ashley was going to pass out.
"Th-thank you," Ashley managed to stammer out. I put my arm around her shoulders.
"Where's the girls?" I asked my parents.
"In the lobby with everyone else," Mama said.
"Wow, you brought the whole crew here?" I asked.
"They wanted to come." I snickered, shaking my head.
"Let me go speak," I said, removing my arm from around Ashley. "You can go to lunch if you want to," I said to her. She nodded then looked at my parents.
"Nice to meet you," She squeaked out, then scurried out of the studio. I looked at my parents.
"You're one of her influences if you haven't realized," I said to daddy. He smiled cockily.
"I'm everybody's influence." Mama and I both rolled our eyes and headed out of the studio. "What?" He asked following behind us.
"You're so full of yourself, it's sickening," Mama scoffed.
"Well, am I lying?" We headed towards the front of the building, and my sisters were the first ones to notice me.
Kiana was the second.
My sisters ran over to me, hugging me excitedly as I stared directly at Kiana, who stared back at me.
How dare she come here after what happened? What, did she think I didn't know or something? Or did she not care?
I continued to stare her down as I greeted everybody else and boldly, she walked up to me, giving me a smirk.
"Hey Serenity," She greeted me in a fake sweet voice. She tried to hug me and I all but shoved her away from me. I checked to make sure that no one was paying attention before giving her a deadly look.
"Don't touch me, you nasty hoe," I gritted and she looked surprised for a moment. Then she shot back.
"What's the matter? Mad cause I had Mica first?" I scoffed, shaking my head.
"You know what, i'm not even about to entertain you. All you have going for yourself is dick sucking and fucking. You not even worth it." I walked past her, shoulder checking her as I did, and headed over to my parents.
She was not going to ruin my grand opening and birthday.
May 22nd, 2008
4:23 PM
Two days later, it was the big day. I kept my word on not letting Kiana ruin my mood by keeping busy with dance rehearsals and final preparations. I managed to get away with not seeing her the previous day, but I wasn't so lucky on this day sadly.
"Oh my god, the crowd is huge," Dawn said as she and the rest of the nosey adults stood looking out of the windows.
"This may be the biggest crowd yet," Tae added, then looked back at me. "I don't think we can fit all of those people in here."
"They're not all coming in," Mama said, sure of herself, as she walked away from the window. "They just want glimpses of Michael, Beyoncé, Jay-Z, and whatever other celebrities they think will be here. They won't be getting too much though because Serenity will be the only one going out there." She looked at her watch. "In about 6 minutes. You ready baby?" Mama asked looking at me. I nodded even though I was a little nervous. That was to be expected in this situation though.
"Wow, an established choreographer and director of a dance studio all before the age of 21," Daddy said, grinning proudly as he walked over to me. "You really are a better version of your mother." Mama shoved him and he cracked up. "I'm just kidding baby." He tried to hug her but she pushed him away and walked off. Daddy chuckled following. I saw Kiana sitting by the window, glaring at me and I rolled my eyes, walking over to the spot by the window next to Tae.
The media were in front, ready with their cameras and microphones. Behind them stood people of all different ages and shades, either ready to see a celebrity or ready to dance their hearts out. I smiled to myself. Whenever I wasn't busy with Bey, I'd be able to come and help people with the same passion as me. Knowing that made my nervousness go away and it was replaced with excitement. I headed towards the front door, even though I still had another couple of minutes.
"Let's get this baby opened for business!!"
6:17 PM
Sky POV
"Look at her," I said to Michael as he grabbed two champagne glasses off of a tray of a waiter passing by. He handed one to me. "Thanks. Look at her." He looked where I was looking and saw Serenity mixing and mingling with different people.
"She's putting that Jackson charm to work, getting people registered," Michael smiled. I playfully rolled my eyes.
"Oh no baby, that is all Skylar Wright right there," I smirked at my husband and he scoffed.
"If that's what you want to believe." I giggled as I looked back over at Serenity, watching her do her thing. As I looked her way, I saw a familiar person walk past, making me furrow my eyebrows. "Uh, i'll be right back baby." I walked away without letting Michael respond. I followed the person towards the front door and out of it. "Kaelyn!!" I yelled out and she turned around, shocked like I was the one out of place.
"Shit," She mumbled as I walked over to her. "Skylar..."
"What are you doing here?" I asked, folding my arms.
"Serenity invited me. And while I may be exiled from the family, I wasn't going to not miss my god baby's grand opening." I sucked my teeth.
"You're not exiled."
"I can't tell. My soon to be ex-husband hates me, so do my oldest children. My best friend of over 40 years no longer speaks to me and I had to fly to New York by myself for my goddaughter's grand opening while everyone that I used to spend most of my time with flew together on a private plane." I pursed my lips.
"I don't know what you want me to say."
"You don't have to say anything Skylar. Now if you excuse me, I was just leaving." I watched as Kaelyn walked away, and I wanted to say something. But there was nothing else to say.
Serenity POV
"What time is it?" I asked as I walked up to Tae. He looked at his watch.
"Almost time for you to show off your choreographer skills," Tae teased and I grinned. I turned to walk away when I felt somebody crash into me, hugging me. I felt more people join the hug and laughed, realizing who it was.
"Serenity!!!" I could hear Lauryn squeal excitedly.
"Heyyyy!!" I beamed as the five of them let me go. "I'm so glad you made it!!" I individually hugged them all.
"You thought we weren't?" Johnna asked as I hugged her and Brittany.
"Now you know black people don't turn down anything free. Especially not a free trip," Taj said as he hugged me.
"This place looks amazing," Lauryn said as I hugged Leon. He was the last of the group. Lauryn looked at me, beaming like the positive person she was. "I'm so proud of you!!" I giggled.
"Thank you."
"Yeah, you did your thang sis," Taj said, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Director of a dance studio at 20. Who's doing it like you?"
"Nobody," The rest of the group sung and I giggled. I missed their shenanigans.
"So what are you dancing to tonight?" Leon asked.
"I'm not." He scoffed.
"Yeah okay. I know the dancing queen-" He stopped in his tracks and furrowed his eyebrows at something behind me. The rest of the group looked at him confused, and we all looked the way he was looking.
Kiana was leaning against the wall, texting away on her phone.
"Why is she here?" Lauryn asked and I looked over at her, squinting my eyes. She looked back over at me, frowned up.
"Since when did any of you have a problem with her?" I asked confused and they all exchanged looks. I sighed, realizing they knew. "Mica told you, didn't he?" They all nodded. "All of you?"
"Well he told me just me at first," Taj started. "But then I told Lauryn, Lauryn told Johnna-"
"And you mutherfuckers told me last," Leon said bitterly. I shook my head as I got out of Taj's hold. I turned to all of them.
"MJ doesn't know right?"
"Hell no," They all said. I let out a breath of relief.
"Good. Let's keep it that way." They all gave me concerned looks. "What?"
"Why didn't you tell us?" Lauryn asked. "At least me and Johnna." God, this was not what I wanted to spend my birthday and grand opening discussing. I shook my head.
"I don't want to talk about this. I didn't then, and I don't now."
"Serenity-" Lauryn started.
"Serenity it's almost time," Tae walked over to us. Saved by the bell. I gave my friends a tight-lipped smile and walked away.
"Can I have everyone's attention?!" I asked loudly as I got in the middle of the foyer. All eyes fell on me and it fell silent. "Can everybody please head to the second-floor studio for a special presentation?" People started doing as told and went up both sets of stairs to the second floor. I started to follow them until Taj grabbed my shoulder. I turned to him and saw him handing me a few envelopes.
"Read the top one first," He said as I took them then he walked away to follow the crowd upstairs. I looked down at the top envelope. My name was written on it in familiar handwriting and I sighed, wanting to throw it away. My curiosity got the best of me though, and I started opening it as the foyer cleared out. I pulled the paper out of the envelope and unfolded it.
I hope that you don't throw this away without reading it.
I know you're angry at me, and that you hate me, and probably hope that I die, but I couldn't let this day go by without speaking to you. I haven't missed any of your birthdays since we met in 4th grade, and even if you never speak to me again, I'll never miss one.
I do hate that i'm missing your grand opening though, but that's no one's fault but my own. I bet you did an amazing job at organizing it, and that you'll do an amazing job as director of the Wright Steps NYC.
Serenity, there's a lot that I want to say, but I know that you don't want to hear, especially today of all days. So I'll keep this letter short and sweet, and say that I once again apologize for what happened, and I hope you have a wonderful birthday and grand opening.
Happy birthday to the woman that I hold in the highest regard. I love you Serene.
-Freckles
P.S: Check the envelope for your gift.
I looked inside the envelope and saw a little gold necklace. I pulled it out, seeing more clearly that it had my name on it. Well, my nickname. Serene.
I let out an exasperated sigh as I dropped my hands. He was not going to make moving on easy huh?
"Serenity," Mama said, appearing at the top of the stairs. "Come on, everybody's waiting." I nodded and put the letter and necklace back in the envelope and headed upstairs, Mica's words swirling in my head.
Damn him.