Today was my mother's cookout and I'm bringing Giovanni. I'm a little nervous but I know I shouldn't be because my mom will love him.
Giovanni is downstairs waiting for me while I finish getting ready. I'm wearing a white puff dress that goes out at the waist and ends mid thigh. My hair is in a high bun with two strands lefts out at the front. I had minimal makeup on and I had on my white sandals. I grabbed my keys, purse and phone and headed downstairs.
"I'm ready babe," I announced as I descended the stairs.
"You look absolutely beautiful babygirl. Come here." Gio says and I step into his arms.
"You don't look to bad yourself, but aren't you hot?" I asked.
He was wearing a black turtleneck and black pants. He looks incredibly sexy.
"Nah, I'm okay." He said before leaning down to kiss me.
"Come on let's go. I sent you the address." I say to him and we make our way to the car. "You have the wine?"
"Yea, I brought it out earlier." He said as we got in the car.
"Okay, Kaia and Macy are already on their way." I told him.
It was a 45 minute trip which was filled with teasing and laughter. I was often having dirty thoughts about him once the silence took over. He just looked so hot driving with one hand and his other hand sitting perfectly on my thigh.
He would often look over and smile at me or kiss the back of my hand. It is literally impossible not to fall for this man.
"We're here." He said and took me right out of my daydream.
I sat the seat taking in the familiar surroundings. Giovanni came around to open my door for me. I thanked him and grabbed my sunglasses and stepped out.
There was music playing in the backyard and kids playing on the front lawn.
"Sunglasses or no sunglasses?" I asked Gio as he grabbed the wine.
"Baby you look great both ways but keep them on since the sun is extra bright and hot today. Not as hot as you though." He winked.
"My boyfriend is such a cornball." I shook my head and he smiled at me.
"I love dancehall music." He says bopping his head and I laugh.
"There's Kaia and Macy." I said as their car pulls up behind ours.
"Hey guys." They greeted as they stepped out the vehicle.
"Hey, and how come we made it before you guys even though y'all left way before us?" I asked.
"We had to make a quick detour." Kaia says and Macy's face went red.
Okay then.
As we were making our way to the front door my mom flung the door open and came running towards us.
"Yasmine," She gives me a hug. "Kaia," She says turning to give her a hug as well.
"Hi mom." I said giving her another hug.
She then turned to the red head next to us.
"You must be Macy, it's really nice to meet you." She says pulling Macy in for a hug.
"And you must be Giovanni. The man that stole my child's heart." She says pulling him into a hug.
"It's great to finally meet you Ms. Carol, Yasmine had nothing but great things to say about you." Gio says.
"Just Carol is fine dear, and she better." My mom playfully side-eyed me.
"Macy and Gio are actually brothers and sisters." Kaia mentions.
"Really? I wouldn't have guessed with the hair difference," My mom says. "Come come guys."
Kaia and Macy were the first ones to enters the house. Kaia skips towards the house with Macy in tow.
"XOXO my love is very special." Kaia sings on her way inside.
"Still the same Kaia." My mom says chuckling.
She led us inside and walked us around to the backyard. My family was scattered everywhere. I smiled seeing everyone together. It's been so long since I've been at a family gathering. The last time I came to one was two years ago and Jared got way too drunk and embarrassed me in front of everyone. I was too ashamed to show up here again, especially because I was still with him.
"Get ready for everyone being in your face." I told Gio and he chuckled.
"I hope you like Jamaican food Giovanni." My mom said looking over her shoulder briefly.
"Love it actually," Gio says and turned to me with a smile.
"That's good to hear, well there's plenty here. So when you're ready to eat just go over to those tables and fix yourself a plate." My mom said pointing to the table with food in big foil pans.
My mom walked us over to a table with some chairs under the tent.
"It's so good to see you Yasmine, you must visit more often and you must come along with her." My mom told me then turned to Gio.
"Thank you for the invite Carol." Gio says smiling warmly at my mom. "You have a wonderful place here by the way."
"Thank you, I try to upkeep it as much as I can." My mom says bringing her cup to her lips. "So, Minnie here tells me you're a fitness trainer."
"Mommm!" I whine. Not the silly nickname in front of Gio. He'll never let me hear the end of it. And by the way his lips twitched into a smile I knew he heard it.
"What? Is that not what I call you? Since you were a child?" She then turned her attention back to Gio.
"Yea that's how we met actually." Gio gave a smile before looking over to me and raising the back of my hand to kiss it.
"Yasminee!" I turned to see who was calling. My cousin Essie. I smiled big when I saw her making her way over. My favorite cousin, we grew up together. Me, Essie and her brother Romaine.
When she reached over I stood up to hug her.
"Essie, it's been so long." I said pulling back to look at her.
Her hair was in braids and she looks glowing and happy.
"I'm great actually. Doing really good." She smiled then her eyes briefly flickered behind me and her smile got wide. "Mi si yuh ave a white man now. Yuh finally dash weh Jared." (I see you got a white man now, you finally got rid of Jared)
"I did, best decision of my life." I said turning to Gio who was in a full on conversation with my mom. "Gio this is Essie my favorite cousin, and Essie this is Gio my boyfriend." I said introducing the two.
"Hi Gio it's really nice to meet you." She reached out to shake his hand.
"Likewise Essie." He have her a welcoming smile.
"Favorite cousin ehh? What about me?" I heard a voice behind me.
I turned around and saw Romaine smiling at me.
"Romaine! Hi! It's been so long." I said reaching out to hug him. He returned my hug and laughed.
"Gio this is my other cousin Romaine, he and Essie are brother and sisters." I introduced again.
"It's good to meet you man." Gio says. They did a bro hug and everyone fell into a conversation.
A few minutes later Romaine turned to me.
"I have someone I want you to meet." He says and we walked over to the house. Just then I saw his wife Kailyn.
"Kailyn hi, it's good to see you again." I said giving her a hug.
What shocked me was the stroller Kailyn was pushing back and forth. I looked from Kailyn to Romaine.
"Nooo! You guys had a kid?" I say, my face lighting up.
Romaine took the baby out of the stroller. It's a girl, she had the chubbiest cheeks ever. A bow was in her curly hair. She looks adorable.
"This is Olivia." Romaine says handing the bouncing baby over to me.
"Hi little one." I coo. "You are just so cute, are you sure Romaine is your daddy?" I joked.
"Hardy ha ha, very funny." Romaine says and Kailyn laughs.
"Here, take our picture." I said handing Kailyn my phone.
"Say cheese Olive baby." I held her in my arms and turned her so she was facing the camera.
She was clapping her hands and babbling.
"Olive, I might have to steal you from time to time. You are way too cute." I coo.
"Please do, she can be a handful at times." Kailyn let out a giggle.
"Oh I can imagine." I say.
We fell into a conversation, talking about old times and what's been happening in our lives.
Just then Essie comes around the corner.
"Okay it's my turn now. I also have someone for you to meet Yassie." She says and I hand Kailyn the baby and went with Essie.
Essie brought me back outside to the backyard and I looked over to see Giovanni fixing himself a plate. He looked up as if he felt my eyes on him. He winked then went back to fixing his plate.
Essie stops over by a tall dark skinned man with broad shoulders.
"Honey this is my cousin Yasmine, the one I grew up with. Yasmine this is my fiancé Noah." She said smiling brightly.
"Hi, it's really great to meet the once who's marrying this crazy ass girl over here." I smiled and shook his hand.
"It's good to meet you too Yasmine, and someone's gotta do it." He chuckled, wrapping his arms around Essie.
They look like a beautiful couple. It's so funny to see how we all grew up and have our own lives now.
I look over to see me mom with Kaia and Macy. I looked back to Gio to see him sitting down eating. I excused myself from the couple and walked over to him.
"So? Did my mom introduce you to the whole family yet?" I asked.
"I have officially met every aunt, uncle, and cousin." He said smiling. "You have a beautiful family Yasmine."
I smiled and looked around. My mom was now dancing with her neighbor Mr. Jones. I smiled knowing Daniel has liked her for years.
"Thank you, how's the food?" I asked and he smirked.
My mom came over and sat by us.
"Your cooking is lovely Carol, I see where your daughter get her skills from."
"Thank you Gio, you're welcome to grab the rest to take home. I think everyone ate and grabbed their to go plates already." My mom says and his eyes lit up.
"I definitely will do that." He says getting up and walking over to the food containers.
"That boy can eat," My mom says.
"Yea, he does love his Jamaican food." I said laughing.
"I'm really glad I got to see you Yasmine. It really has been a while." My mom says taking my hand in hers.
"Don't worry mom, you'll be seeing a lot more of me." I gave her a soft smile.
"I really like Gio for you sweetheart. He's a real good man, unlike that dog Jared." She scrunched up her face.
"Yea I know mom, he's really an angel. He makes me very happy."
"I can tell and you make him happy too. Just by the way he lights ups at the mention of your name and the way he looks at you says a lot Minnie. That man loves you." She says and I freeze.
"It's too early for love mom." I say and look over to Gio.
He was bringing the foil pan containers to the vehicle. He is actually serious with this. This man is grabbing every single container with food on the table.
"It's never too early for love Minnie. You can spend one whole day with someone and fall in love. You can't put a time on it." She says tapping my hand.
I knew she was right, but I've been trying to be careful and not move too fast. With everything that happened with Jared I didn't want there to be a repeat of that.
One thing I need to start doing though, is stop comparing Gio to Jared. Gio is a million times the man Jared ever was so I know he wouldn't hurt me.
Do I love Gio? I mean it's been two months and I absolutely love being in his presence. He makes me extremely happy and always puts a smile on my face. I can't go a workday without thinking about him.
And lately I've been imagining a future with him.
"By the looks on your face I can tell you love him too." My mom says smiling.
"Enough about me mom what's going on with you and Mr. Jones?" I smiled. She tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.
She's blushing!
"I don't know what you're talking about." She says.
"Mom a blind man can see how much that man likes you." I say.
"I know Minnie and I decided to give him a chance. We've been hanging out but it's nothing serious." She said and I smiled.
"That's great mom, I would love to see you happy with someone."
After talking with my mom. I walked over to Macy and Kaia to join in on their dancing. They've been having the time of their lives all night.
"Your mom is amazing Yas," Macy says and I joined their little party.
"Thank you!" I yelled over the music.
It was now nighttime and they've been playing more adult dancehall and reggae music.
We all danced and laughed. Essie and her fiancé joined us and soon after I felt Gio's hands snake around my waist.
We danced, sang and laughed. We had a really good time.
We all hyped up my mother who was dancing with Mr. Jones.
By the end of the night everyone was exhausted.
"Carol are you sure you don't want us to stick around and help with the clean up?" Gio asked my mom for the third time.
"No that's alright dear. It's not much cleaning anyways. Just need to take the tent down and fold the tables and put them in the shed and Daniel here is going to be helping me." My mom smiled as Mr. Jones came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
Nothing serious my ass.
"Okay mom, we'll get going now." I said walking over to kiss her cheek. She gave me and everyone a hug.
"Thanks for the food Carol."
"Take care of my baby Gio." My mom says as she gave him a hug. "Be good Kaia and Macy. Take care. And remember to come visit again soon."
"Bye mom, I love you."
"I love you too sweetheart and remember what I said." She says kissing my cheek.
We made our way down to the car and began our journey home.
...
What do you guys think of the story so far? I'd love to hear your feedback :)