While Ava and Lucky were getting updates on their little one, a very irritated King was trying to understand why his youngest decided to make nice with the blue side but the conversation grew a bit intense.
"Whoa there, what the he— what's going on?" Renae asked, turning the vacuum off when Assyria slammed the front door.
"Your husband acting like a lunatic," she mumbled, trying to walk away but Renae grabbed her arm just as King barged in with his face twisted up.
"Sy, I will give my life for you but don't you ever in yo life tell me to mind my fucking business!"
Confused, Renae stared at Assyria and quirked a brow, "You said what?"
"He was in there acting crazy,"
"That's not what I asked," Renae tilted her head slightly.
"It slipped ou—"
"What in your right mind possessed you to walk into a building full of detectives and shady ass cops?!" The anger was laced heavily in King's tone as he cut Assyria's response off.
"Okay wait," Renae sighed. This was their official day back from vacation and this was not how she expected things to be. "King... sit down, you too," she stared at Assyria.
Staring at her father for a moment, Assyria slowly headed into the living room. King glanced at Renae and she gave him her famous look before he sat down.
Renae sat in between the pair then glanced at Assyria, "Ok, what happened? Did you get called in or something?"
"No, I just wanted to ask some darn questions about how they caught dad and stuff."
King frowned, "Dat doesn't even make sense, why would you go up there asking about me?"
Assyria shrugged.
"Sy," Renae stared at her.
"I just... you guys don't tell us things and I just wanted to know."
"Know what?" King frowned. He was upset because the parts of him that he tried to keep away from his kids seemed to be making their way around.
"Did you really kill like a hundred innocent people?"
"Where'd you get that from?" It was Renae's turn to frown.
"I googled us... well Dad," she muttered.
"I'm just..." Renae paused, "why? You know enough as is Sy."
"Well, I wanted to see what a stranger would find if they dug deep enough."
"A stranger... like your girlfriend?" Renae queried.
"Maybe."
"And you decided dat your best bet would be to go in a building full of detectives?" King stared at her dubiously. "You don't need to know everything."
"I'm old enough to know."
"And so are your siblings and does it look like I'm telling dem about tha' stupid stuff I've done? I tell y'all what y'all should know not what you want to hear. It's called a past for a reason."
"It almost got me killed!"
Renae and King stared at one another then at Assyria and tilted their head in sync.
"Say less," standing, King walked away.
Renae's brows furrowed as she eyed Assyria, "What was that? What happened with you had nothing to do with your father Assyria."
"Murphy was there!" She screamed.
"Who you yelling at?!" Renae matched her tone.
Closing her eyes, Assyria took a deep breath, "Things dat has happened to us somehow line up with dad's past."
"No ma'am," Renae turned her body fully towards her, "If you're talking about Ava getting shot, that was because of his ditzy ass therapist and dumbass kid not knowing how to handle rejection. Kairo got himself in that mess with Delano and asked for help too late. You..." pausing briefly, Renae exhaled. "You know that wasn't because of him so I'ma leave it at that."
Staring at the carpet, Assyria frowned, "Is he... Von said he was a serial murderer."
"Von had no business telling you that bullshit and you had no business asking questions like that. I don't care how you think others view us, what he shows you should be enough as is. He's your father and a great one at that, that's all you need to be worried about," Renae fussed.
"I um..." stopping herself, Assyria slowly stood, "I didn't mean to yell at you."
Renae smirked, "Yes you did but I'll let it slide, go apologize to your father."
"Alright," staring at her for a while Assyria smiled before walking away.
Shaking her head, Renae stood and headed back into the dining room just as the front door opened.
"Auntieeee,"
Smiling, Renae glanced over at Dante, "Hi baby boy."
"Welcome back," he smiled, embracing her. "You have fun?"
"We did," she sat at the table and motioned for him to take a seat. "I heard you're doing a paid internship for your dad, you like it?"
"Yeah, I do paperwork and grab lunch."
Renae frowned, "I know Dajon did not make you an errand boy."
Dante chuckled, "No, I still get to participate in the mock trials and I even get to attend some live trials with him."
Renae folded her arms, "Do you honestly like it?"
Dante nodded, "Yes ma'am."
Renae smiled, "What brings you by?"
"I came to check on you and Unc."
"Have I ever told you you're my favorite?"
Dante smirked, "Maybe."
"If you need your Godfather, he's in the back talking with Sy."
"I'm here," King's voice came into play as he turned the corner. "Wassup Nephew?"
"Sup Unc?" Smiling at him, Dante stood to embrace him, "can we talk real quick?"
King glanced at Renae but she was just as confused. "Um, yeah."
"I guess I'll leave you two be," Renae stood and headed into the kitchen.
Dante headed into the living room with King behind him.
"Wassup? You okay?" King asked.
"Yeah yeah," he laughed nervously, "Don't laugh but um... so like... well, I never engaged in sex before and I'm kinda embarrassed to tell people I'm a virgin," he whispered.
King stared at him briefly then nodded, "Did you talk to your pops first?"
"I wanted to talk to you... I don't want him thinking something's wrong with me or anything like that."
"Why do you think he'll feel like that?" King queried. "If you're a virgin, I don't think he'll make fun of you."
Dante slouched and stared at his sneakers, "Is it uncommon for guys my age? All my other friends aren't and whenever they ask I just lie."
"Oh," King leaned forward and cleared his throat, "are you trying to figure out if you should have sex?"
"Nah, I ain't easily pressured like that but my pops said he wasn't in love when he lost his. He just slept with someone older who showed him what to do... but like... with me, I don't just want to sleep around as practice."
"You wanna be in love?" King asked, trying not to smirk.
"Is that weird?" He whispered and King chuckled.
"Hell nah, ain't nothing wrong with dat. Not a lot of people talk about guys being virgins, it's always women having their bodies policed. But you may come across some immature dudes dat will poke fun but they ain't shit. Sex ain't for kicks and giggles, you gotta be careful. You can catch a disease or get somebody pregnant or catch some shit dat would make your mans down there cry for help. So nah, you good and if you wanna wait, go for it."
"I'm not trying to date now or anything but say I start, will I know when I'm ready?"
"If you pay attention to your body, you'll know when it's lust and when it's something you actually wanna do. I know it may seem difficult being in dis family but there's a lot of us dat wish we would have waited for tha' right person."
"Did you sleep around like Kai did?" He asked.
King chuckled, "My son ain't get dat from me. Believe it or not, I was selective of who I slept with, Kai was just a dog in heat whether he wanna admit it or not. Some dudes get a taste of sex and can't shake it. Some get a taste, savor it, understand it and choose wisely for their next encounter, and then there are people like your father who was fine with being committed and stuck to one woman."
"That makes sense, I'ma wait it out," Dante spoke more to himself.
King stared at him for a moment then furrowed his brows, "Have you talked to your pops about alternatives?"
Dante stared at him confused for a second until it dawned on him, "You mean... Unc."
King chuckled, "just asking."
"He did... but I ain't answering that."
"Well," King paused, "don't get too consumed if you've been watching certain stuff," he gave Dante a look.
Dante inwardly groaned, "Unc..."
"Ok," King laughed, "a'ight, I'm off dat. Anything else?"
"That was it... how was the vacation? I thought y'all got lost out there."
King smirked, "I was holding yo aunt hostage, might go away again next month."
"Forget us huh?"
King laughed, shoving him, "You know you my dawg, wassup? Cause I read tha' texts you sent. You sure you okay?"
"I'm good Unc," Dante smiled softly, "I was trying to get your advice about what we talked about. I did talk to Ria tho but I'm good."
Studying him, King nodded, "Ok."
"Oh yeah, you heard about Gramps and Lay?"
King shook his head, "What happened?"
"The judge gave him full custody and ordered Lay's mom to pay child support until she finishes school. She's supposed to stay over this weekend."
"Child support?" King was shocked.
"Yup," he nodded, "since she tried to do it to Gramps, the judge countered the request."
"That's wassup, how do you feel about dat?"
Dante shrugged, "I'm happy for Lay, she'll get to come around more."
"What about your pops?"
"He's cool with it, Lay calls him during her lunch just because."
King chuckled, "I'm glad she's happy."
"She is, but look, I got a lunch date with my mom, so I gotta dip."
"Don't keep her waiting," King replied after embracing Dante.
"See you later Unc, see ya auntie!"
"Don't leave without my hug," Renae said as she peeped around the corner.
Smiling, Dante headed into the kitchen and embraced her.
"Be safe ok? I love you," she tightened her hold.
"I will and I love you, see you later," he gave one last squeeze before heading out.
"He stays to himself, I can't even be mad at dat," King said as he entered the kitchen.
"He acts just like Ary," Renae replied.
"Lil dude always so calm, I needa take note," King cracked and Renae laughed.
"King, bye! Cutting up is in your blood, sir!"
"Yours too!"
"Not like you!" She laughed harder.
King sucked his teeth, "You 'ont even believe dat."
***
"Let's start by saying, welcome back, how have you two been?" Elise asked, smiling at Ava and Lucky as they got situated.
"Pretty good, what about you?" Ava asked.
Elise smiled, "I'm always working, so I've been busy. How have you been dad?" she turned to Lucky.
"No complaints, waiting on lil mama to get here," he casually replied.
Elise stared at him for a moment then pushed her glasses up, "I'm sensing a disconnect."
Lucky cleared his throat then shrugged, "I'm cool."
"Okay..." her eyes lingered on him briefly before she turned to Ava, "alright... so we were talking about toxic relationships and I believe we stopped at the part when you said that your parents had a toxic love cycle that just got better?"
Ava nodded, "They were young when they met, my mom never had an example of what love or what a healthy relationship looked like and my dad had an example of it briefly until his father died. Which was why he didn't like putting up with much of my mom's issues."
Elise went to speak but Lucky beat her to it.
"I mean... you can't just say it like it's unimportant. She had a messed up childhood and adulthood and just imitated tha' bad."
Ava pursed her lips and stared at him, " she never imitated tha' bad she just didn't know how to do things tha' way a person in a stable environment would have."
Lucky chuckled, "You just proved my point."
Elise scooted back and stared at the pair awkwardly.
"And it was toxic. Their relationship was toxic for tooooo many years and look at tha' kids repeating tha' cycle."
"Only ones dat repeated it was your eldest and you. Kai and Sy are fine," he stated.
Ava squinted, "What?"
"What you mean what? Tell me I'm wrong."
"You are," she frowned.
"But I'm not," he softly laughed, "we weren't even dating officially and you were tryna argue with me over small things. Putting your hands on me—"
"Hold onnnnn!"
"Time out," Elise finally decided to intervene before things could escalate. "I need you two to take a breather and try this again. Where is this animosity coming from?"
Ava stared at Lucky in disbelief, "I would love to know."
"I don't have any animosity or ill feelings towards you," Lucky turned to Ava, "I gave my opinion because it seemed like you wanna put all tha' blame on yo moms and it takes two to tango."
"I am confused... like what is dis?"
"Your pops ain't innocent but it always seems as if Kai is tha' only sibling dat goes to bat on your moms behalf... what's up with dat? She gave you life," his face hardened.
Stunned, Ava looked to Elise, "I'ma get some air."
"No," Elise casually replied, "you're running, you do that a lot. What is it about this conversation that's making you uncomfortable?"
Ava ignored her.
Lucky shook his head, "How we go from fuckin' to arguing?"
Elise's eyes widened.
"Swear I said dat in my head," he mumbled, "my bad," sighing, he slouched into the cushion.
"Ava?" Elise stared at her. "Why are you uncomfortable talking about this?"
"Maybe I blame my mom for some things."
"What about your dad?"
Ava shrugged, "Only thing he did wrong was cheating."
Lucky inhaled slow.
"Lucky, what do you feel?"
Elise queried.
"Her parents met at a young age, das cool or whatever but she can't just say her mom was tha' only toxic person in tha' relationship. Say dat was tha' case, after they had kids, they were still doing their hot and cold thing in front of tha' kids but she only see tha' flaw in her mom... das fucked up," he explained.
"You barely know their history other than what I tell you and half tha' time you don't want to hear anything," Ava reminded.
"And I don't because it ain't my business. But I have a right to piece together what I've been told, what I've witnessed involuntarily, and what I've read in your moms books... she was abused. A damn newborn getting abused and toyed with like a doll... dat shit fucks a person up mentally and emotionally."
"Again, dat is why I said what I said," she stared at him crazily.
"No," Lucky mirrored her, "you see no fault in your pops and I get dat 'cause you love him and all dat father-daughter shit, but you can't even see things from how your moms view tha' world cause you never lived her life. A person in her shoes moves about tha' world differently than a sane person. If it wasn't about your uncle, her brother nothing else was important to her, not even herself and dat was her only fault while dating your pops."
"See," Ava took a deep breath then chuckled, "talking about dem will get us nowhere, so let's just move on."
"Cool, whatever," he shrugged, facing a stunned Elise.
Looking between the pair for a moment, Elise took a deep breath then pursed her lips, "Lucky, you see things from Mrs. Stone's view because of your mom, yeah?"
Lucky shrugged, "Nah, I just know she ain't all to blame. If their relationship was dat bad, dude could have left before they got married."
"Now you're crossing tha' line," Ava tilted her head, "Their relationship wasn't always bad, which is why they stuck it out. Like, be serious right now."
"Fuck you mean?"
"Safewords," Elise reminded.
"What is your issue with my dad?" Ava decided to ask.
Lucky's face twisted up, "What tha' fu— issue? I don't have any issues with yo pops, Ava... shorty... change tha' subject," he diverted his focus to Elise.
"Alright..." she cleared her throat and lifted her notepad. "Um... the next thing I wanted to talk ab—"
"We should just get it out," Ava cut her off.
"We can come back at a later time," Elise smiled awkwardly.
"We ain't, 'cause it's dead now," Lucky replied casually.
Ava stared at him for a moment then faced Elise, "whatever."
Closing her eyes, Elise laughed to herself.
"Ain't expect dis huh?" Lucky smirked.
"Nope," she chuckled, then exhaled, "Alright... moving on... how about this, Lucky are you familiar with Ava's love language?"
"Mm-hmm," he nodded, extending his left leg.
Elise smirked, "what are they?" She grabbed her laptop.
"I only have one," Ava mumbled.
"You have two," Lucky corrected.
Elise quirked a brow in amusement.
"I have one," Ava repeated.
Lucky sucked his teeth and stared at Elise, "She wanna argue so bad, she has two and they're physical touch and words of affirmations."
Elise glanced at Ava, "is he correct?"
"Maybe."
"You so damn mean," laughing, Lucky reached over and pulled Ava into him, "chill out man," his voice softened.
Elise sat there grinning when Ava began blushing, "Ava," she cleared her throat, "can you tell me his?"
"All five,"
Elise's brow rose as she glanced at Lucky, "Is that so?"
"Is dat weird?" He chuckled.
"No, not at all, I just usually hear two at the most, never all five... what makes it all five tho?" She asked.
"Quality time is his number one, he always wants to be around me even when we were dating, he would always have to sit right next to me," Ava explained.
"What's my second smart-ass?" Lucky smirked.
"Physical touch," she mirrored him.
"As in... sexual or..." Elise queried.
"Not sexual, he likes to be babied," Ava giggled.
"Babied... how so?"
"I do not like to be babied," Lucky frowned.
"Yes, you do."
Elise smiled, "enlighten me."
"He can be gone alllll day, come home and I'm minding my business or doing something and he'll come in my space and just lay on me or lean on me until I give him attention."
Lucky sucked his teeth, "what's wrong with dat? Am I wrong?" He stared at an amused Elise.
"No you aren't, some women aren't aware that men love to be held or as I say it, loved on. Whether it's emotionally or physically, they love it... sometimes more than women because they were taught that boys were supposed to be tough. Meaning, a lack of physical touch from a parent, i.e. hugs, a pat on the shoulder, a helping hand, or comfort. When men find a woman that they can experience that with, they unconsciously aren't aware that they're always seeking that comfort touch. It may seem like a burden or annoying to you, but for him, it's his love language and how he silently expresses himself."
"She right," Lucky said.
"What would rank in third place for him?"
"He tries to hide it but he loves whenever I buy him something or surprise him with a gift," Ava smiled at Lucky.
"So we can tie receiving gifts in with acts of service since you said that you surprise him with things as well."
"Acts of service would be tha' fifth one because words of affirmations would be his fourth," Ava clarified.
Lucky nodded then tucked his arms, "I guess you know me better than I thought."
"You spent part of your life watching peo- I pay attention," she caught herself.
Elise stared at her for a moment then glanced at Lucky, "You two are doing that secretive thing again."
Lucky chuckled, "It's none Doc... but um what's tha' next topic?"
Amused, Elise stared at the laptop screen before glancing at her notepad, "We are gearing toward the premarital section I created, but since you two decided to have a baby first then marriage, how do you two plan on raising your daughter? Will she be homeschooled? Public or Private?"
"What do you mean by raising her?" Lucky queried.
"Have you two discussed an upbringing plan? Will you be strict?"
"Oh..." Lucky glanced at Ava and smirked, "I plan on spoiling her if dat counts."
Ava laughed, "Sir, dat is not what she meant."
Elise snickered, "I expect you to spoil her," she stared at Lucky, "but far as teachings..."
"One thing dat we agreed on was to make sure our home is always full of love and a safe spot for her," Ava answered.
Elise nodded as she began typing, "Will you maybe use what your parents taught or showed you?"
"It depends..." Ava mumbled.
"We'll do our thing but will welcome advice," Lucky replied.
"Sounds fair," Elise nodded, "What about schooling, any ideas on how you want to do that?"
"I wanted to do private but..." Ava paused, staring at Lucky.
"Dad wants public?" Elise tried not to laugh.
"Why not? She did it, I did it."
"But I want something different for her," Ava told him.
"But how do you know it'll be what she wants?"
"Good question which is why I would suggest waiting until she's old enough to figure out if she wants to continue doing public or move to private... what about homeschool?"
Ava and Lucky shook their heads, "We want her to be able to interact with other kids."
"And there is nothing wrong with that, any schools in mind or are you two not thinking that far yet?"
"Nah, just thinking about her getting here," Lucky admitted.
"Understood," she paused her typing before speaking again, "do you two have a plan for managing finances once you're married?"
Lucky shrugged, "It doesn't really matter to me, I turned tha' deed over to her a long time ago."
"Oh..." Elise resumed typing, "and who handles the bills?"
"I do," he casually answered.
Elise glanced at Ava, "Are you okay with that?"
"He won't take my money, he'll give it right back."
Elise smirked, staring at Lucky, "You don't think she should at least have a tiny bill to handle?"
"Nah 'cause I always pay things in advance, it's how I'm wired, no point in adding on something like dat to her plate when I can handle it easily."
"But it seems as if she wants to help out tho."
"She does enough, Doc," he chuckled.
"Okay," she held her hands up, "don't bite my head off."
"No disrespect," he corrected his delivery, "I just... look, I never thought I would fall in love let alone be preparing for a family of my own. For me, just being in my space and carrying our child is work in itself... to me at least," he explained.
"Are you okay with that?" she asked Ava.
"Tha' men in my family do tha' same, so I'm sort of used to it."
"Interesting... are there any chores that you two do or divide amongst each other?"
Ava smirked, "We're both neat freaks, so if he isn't cleaning or finding something to clean then I am. We both grocery shop and stuff like dat."
"So it's equal, that's good. When the baby gets here, Lucky, do you plan on staying in with Ava to help out or will you still oversee your businesses?"
Lucky frowned, "What you mean? I'ma be home with her and our daughter until she gets tired of me."
"Trust me, he already has things mapped out," Ava laughed.
"I see, his eyes always light up whenever I bring the baby up," glancing at the time, Elise clicked her tongue, "we can rest here until our next session."
"You be ready to kick us out," Lucky laughed as he pulled Ava up.
"I do not," Elise laughed, "but you two are already ten minutes into my lunch hour."
"Oh shit, well get yo grub on Doc, my bad."
"Worrisome butt, come on," Ava tugged on his hand as she opened the door, "See you later," she waved at Elise.
Elise smiled, "Enjoy yourselves."
***********************
Questions or thoughts?
We are about to reach the end (Hallelujah!)