Two Days Later-
Liyah-
After getting dressed I took a deep breath before leaving the room and everyone else was dressed and ready to go.
My ma gave me a concerning look before pulling me into a hug.
"You sure you're ready ?" She asked and I nodded
It was the day of Marcus's funeral, and honestly I wasn't ready. It felt like shit was happening too fast and I wasn't getting anywhere with this grieving
After a while we pulled up to the church that his funeral was being held at and it was full of cars.
"Zay's waiting for you up front with the rest of his close family members so y'all can be the first to view his body."my ma told me and I nodded before getting out the car and walking through the crowd of people.
Once I saw Zay standing with Marcus's aunt Pam, Teetee, Amoura, and his granny, Zay hugged me and I hugged everyone else also.
"You ready ?" Amoura sighed and I shook my head before taking a deep breath
We walked inside together and Amoura gripped my hand as we walked down towards the casket. It felt like My heart beat was getting louder and louder by each step and finally we reached his casket.
I continued to stare blankly at his lifeless body as tears began to form into my eyes. Amoura let go of my hand before quickly turning off and Zay have Teetee a concerned look before following her. Teetee pulled me into a hug before giving my shoulder a squeeze and I sighed before tears started falling.
The thought of never being able to hear his voice in person or seeing him again ever hit me. This was the last time that I was ever going to be face to face with him and that shit hurt.
I pulled back before wiping my face and nodding at Teetee before we all stepped aside and took a seat in the front, allowing for everyone else to view his body.
.............................
Amoura's daughter Lexis opened the cage of doves and they all began flying before forming in sync. I stuck around while everyone conversed and eventually started heading out leaving me with Zay and His aunty.
"I'm so sorry." I told her and she furrowed her eyebrows
"Sorry ? I'm feel blessed to know that he had someone like you in his life." She told me before hugging me
"I still reminisce on how I accidentally caught you in all the way in LA." Zay lightly laughed and I laughed with him
"I said I needed to get away and Marcus was down with anything" I said before we all laughed
Zay's phone rang and he stepped aside to take it leaving me and his aunt to converse the for a bit, after he came back he sighed
"You good ?" I asked and he shook his head
"I've just been having a bad day." He sighed and I slightly smiled before looking at him
"Mmm, but at least You don't remember bad days, you remember bad moments."I told him and he looked at me in slight disbelief.
"So they boy did listen huh?" He asked before we all laughed
Looking back on the strong impact that we had on each other's lives really made me open my eyes towards life ahead. Shit isn't going to change if you stay in the same pattern. This is a experience that's going to affect me for a lifetime for sure, he wouldn't want me to grieve him forever. He told me not to let this shit throw me off, and the least I could form him is listen.
"Until we meet again.."
.........................
Later that day
Kay-
Zay walked back in the room looking tired and burnt out. He had bags up under his eyes which also hung low.
"You need some rest." I told him and he shook his head
"I still have to handle some of the arrangements-
"We'll take care of it later, right now you need rest." I told him before he sat down and I climbed on the bed, moving behind him
He sighed before resting his head back on my chest and I began lightly massaging his shoulders.
Before I could speak the doorbell rang and I lifted up allowing him to get up
"Who is that ?" I asked and he shrugged before going downstairs. It took him a minute to come back up, so I slid on some shorts before following him downstairs to see James sitting at the island.
"I thought I told you I was giving her more time ?" I asked before crossing my arms
"Kay I can't buy you any more time, this is a real case, and we need everything and everyone that we can get." James said
"And he's not questioning Aaliyah right now, he's questioning me, what's the problem ?" Zay asked before furrowing his eyebrows
"The problem is that you don't even know who you're talking too Zayvion." I told him before shaking my head and James sighed
"Clearly you still have some issues to resolve." James told me
"Yea clearly I do." I told him and he shook his head
"I understand, you're trying to protect Kash just like you always have been, but this isn't just about him
Anymore Kay, this shit is serious."
"James, get out." I told him immediately dismissing the conversation
"Kay-
"Just leave man." Zay interrupted before sighing and opening the door
James gave me w look before shaking his head
"You really haven't changed."
Once he shut the door Zay looked at me.
"What issues do you still need to resolve and what are you protecting kash from?" Zay asked
"Can we not right now, everyone's had a long day and-
"Kay Ima grown ass man, but us being together means you can't be gatekeeping shit like that." He told me and I looked away before leaning against the island and rubbing my head
"I worked for James as his paralegal for a while, but he got sexist and also had a thing for me, but of course I was with kash at the time and wasn't going.. Ary had a situation with my dad and it resulted into kash physically beating him so bad, that he couldn't even walk away afterwards. My dad pressed charges and the only person I had to call on as a lawyer was James. He played like he was gonna help kash, but dumped him off during trial and they arrested him." I explained and he stared at me blankly
"So no, I don't trust him, and I don't want him near my daughters." I said and he sighed
"I can respect that, but at the same time you can't expect me to not react when you not telling the full story." He said before we sat in silence
"Is it really that you don't want him around Liyah and Ary, or are you just worried about Kash?" He asked and I looked at him.
"Both." I admitted and he shook his head
"But it's not like that.. I just don't wanna fuck up like I did last time and make him end up back in a cell again." I said and he looked at me as if he didn't believe me
"Ight kay." He told me before walking off and I sighed before following him
"You deadass ?" I asked
"Yes I'm fucking deadass Kay, because if that's what the fuck you want why waste my time ?" He asked slightly raising his voice
"I never said that was what I wanted, I'm in the wrong for wanting my kid's father to stay safe ?!" I asked raised my voice back
"Shit makes no fucking sense. We grown as hell and you playing." He told me
"Ok, You obviously need some time, so Ima head out because you got me so fucked up right now." I told him before going back upstairs and grabbing my jacket.
"I got you fucked up ? Kay you got me fucked up, you know who the fuck killed my nephew, and the least you not gon do is help so they can figure this shit out ?" He asked
"It's deeper then that, what can you not comprehend ?" I asked
"Yo You are so fucking weird." He told me and I continued getting dressed
"I'm weird for protecting my daughters ?" I asked
"But it's not them that you're protecting." He said before I looked at him
"It's me or him Kay, because I don't have time to do this shit with you." He said and I continued looking
"I told you already-
"Me or him Kay." He repeated bring his voice down to a normal tone
I looked at him before stretching up to kiss his lips, and he pulled me into a hug.
"We've had this conversation before, and if you were unsure about me you shouldn't have asked to make things official." I told him
"Well that was before I knew all of this, you obviously still got some shit that you need to get together." He told me and I furrowed my eyebrows
"Nah, my shit was together before you came in this picture, and you being in the picture didn't change that." I said and he smacked his teeth
"You know what ? Ight kay." He said before shaking his head and putting his hands up in surrender
"I mean if you trying to say that you don't wanna be together right now just say that." I said
"I don't even care, do whatever pleases you." He told me before walking off.
I finished getting back dressed before grabbing my keys and heading downstairs
"You obviously just need some time, so Ima give that to you, but you blew this way out of proportion." I told him before leaving .
Liyah-
"Ima start cleaning it out tonight, so you can go through and grab anything that you want." Marcus's aunty told me and I gave her a slight smile before stepping in the room and she shut the door behind me
Everything looked how he left it, old cans on the nightstand right beside a empty plate. Beside the nightstand there was two gift boxes and i beans down to look at the tags
Merry Christmas, to Aaliyah
Merry Christmas, to Kayonna
I furrowed my eyebrows before running my thumb over the box and I anxiously began opening it.
It revealed a pandora box with a note.
"A promise to always be a friend that you can lean on and call whenever, A lover that'll love you forever, and ever."
Tears began slowly welling up in my eyes before falling and I dropped the box with the ring inside before burying my face into my hands.
This shit was still hard to believe, and I hate that it took him being gone for a lifetime to realize how much I actually loved him.
After pulling myself together I continued looking around before reaching his closet. I pulled out a smal box that had old pictures I f high school, A build a bear, and a couple of old items.
I immediately noticed the bear from when we said we would maintain "joint custody" over it. I clicked the paw before it started making a old noise
"Hey bitch."
I immediately busted out laughing at the sound of his voice before continuing to replay it
After a while I grabbed a couple of more things before taking a final look at his room. My body had gotten chills and I sighed before shutting the door behind me
Kash
"Kay you look like you got some shit going on and I'm just saying she's fine with me." I argued
"No, we agreed on when you take London she can't go back to that house with Angel, I said what I said and I'm fine." Kay said before continuing to help London buckle up
"That shit was unintentional." I argued
"Get out my face, I'm not in the mood to argue with you right now." She told me and I looked at her
Her face was slightly red and she had bags forming under her eyes.
"You good real shit ?" I asked
"I'm fine." She told me before stepping aside to allow London to see me
"Tell daddy bye bye." She told her and London waved before yawning signaling that she was tired.
"What's going on ?" I asked
"Keshawn nothing I'm fine Damn." She defended and I put my hands up in surrender before looking at London who was knocked out asleep
"Obviously it's something and you need to figure it out. Just let her stay for a couple of hours she's already asleep and Angel won't be back until later." I told her and she sighed before shaking her head and going to get London out
"When she comes back I want her home kash I'm serious." She told me
"I got you I got you." I answered
She followed me upstairs before laying London back down and kissing her head. After she came back up she started rubbing her head before sighing
After a little hesitation, I pulled her into a hug and she hesitated before slowly wrapping her arms back and then attempting to pull away
"Just give me a minute, it's been years since I've been able to hold yo stubborn ass in a while." I told her and I eventually heard her lightly Cry on my shoulder
"Real shit what's up with you ?" I asked before rubbing my hand around her back and she didn't say anything
"I'm just stressed while trying to maintain everyone else's stress that's it, but I'm fine." She told me before pulling back and rubbing her eye
"You're human Kay, you be forgetting the shut that you be getting through isn't simple shit." I told her before gently wiping a few tears from her face And she looked at London
"Can we promise that we'll do better with London by any means possible ?" She asked and I nodded
"She's already spoiled as hell like Liyah and Ary, but parenting wise fasho." I told her
Kay left out, so I went downstairs and started doing some work for the club. After a while I heard a knock at the door and I went downstairs to open it to Ary with her face clenched up
"What's wrong ?" I asked before she walked inside quickly
Her face started turning red as she paced back and forth causing me to furrow my eyebrows
"Aye speak up." I told her and she looked at me
"You're not gonna believe who I just saw daddy." She said and I furrowed my eyebrows
"Who ?" I asked before tears started welling up in her eyes
"Ary who did you see ?" I asked before lightly grasping her shoulders and she looked at me
"They let Mike out." She admitted referring to Kay's dad
"What ? Wait where did you see him ?" I asked
"I went out to get some food, and I saw him sitting across from Kyree having a conversation. He saw me and we made eye contact so I ran out." She explained before pacing back and forth
"Ary calm down and breath ight ?" I told her before looking down at her and she shook her head
"No because why were they together ? What if kyree was the one who actually killed Marcus ? Aaliyah is already stressed enough." She panicked and I sighed before rubbing my head
"We know who killed Marcus, it wasn't kyree." I reassured
"Daddy we don't know that."
I pulled her into a reassuring hug before sighing
"Mike isn't going to touch you, and kyree isn't coming near y'all." I told her before she sighed
"So breath, cause all that stressing isn't good for little one right ?" I asked and she nodded before sitting down
"Little ones." She corrected and I furrowed my eyebrows
"Damn." I coughed and she smacked her teeth
"Damn." I repeated snapping into realization
They really were growing up and starting families. This shit seemed like it flew by fast as hell and I guess that's why it took me a little longer to accept it.
I pulled her into another hug before eventually pulling away and looking at her.
Ary and Liyah both had Kay's exact face, but my skin color, sometimes it made me think about all the shit that I've done to Kay, but still was able to look at my daughters face to face and tell them what not to do
"So ma's birthday is coming up and I was thinking about doing something special." She said and I raised my eyebrow
"Or more like gifting her something special." She added.
A few hours later..
Kay-
After a hot bath, I did the rest of my hygiene routine before throwing on robe set. I walked down the hall to check on Liyah and she was already knocked out asleep.
I made my way downstairs and put on some slow jams before pouring a glass of wine, and sitting at the kitchen island to scroll on my MacBook.
After a while I heard a knock on the door, so I got up to open it to Kash who had London on his hip with a smile
"Hi mommy !" She cheesed before reaching out to me and I smiled before taking her from him and kissing her cheek
"Hey baby, did you have fun at daddy's ? I asked and she nodded
"Me and daddy went to the movies ! And he get to go to the aquarium tomorrow !" She cheesed
"Mommy should come with us daddy." She pleaded and he looked at me
"Mommy might need some rest and we're going early, but we'll see. How about you go ahead upstairs and get a bath ready, I'll see you tomorrow ok?" He told her before bending down to her level and she nodded before kissing his head and taking off upstairs
"She's a character, what did y'all go see ?" I asked before stepping aside to let him in
"Sing 2, she wanted to go to the aquarium afterwards and I told her we could, but is didn't realize how long that shit was." He chuckled And I shook my head
"What you drinking on ?" He asked and I look at my glass
"Cabernet, want some ? You sound like you had a long ass day too." I asked and he chuckled before nodding and shutting the door behind him
I slid him a glass before pouring it halfway and continuing to scroll on my laptop
"I'm getting ready to go ahead and tell you something so you won't find out on yo own." He said and I nodded before looking up
"Mike's out." He said and I furrowed my eyebrows
"Ary saw him and kyree together and panicked before coming back to my house." He explained and I shook my head
"How is that even possible ?" I asked and he shook his head
Before he could speak the doorbell rang and I furrowed my eyebrows before getting up to open the door
"Zay ?" I asked before furrowing my eyebrows
..............................
-Thoughts ?
-does Zay just need some time to process or is the situation deeper then it is ?
-Mike being out ? Will he stay out the way or attempt to make peace ?
-How is Zay gonna react once he finds kash inside ?