Roman smiled as he took another toy out of Kaiya's hand, putting in in the red shopping cart that he'd gotten from the front of Target. This toy joined the rest of the toys that basically overflowed in the cart, and Roman knew his daughter wasn't even close to being done running his pockets.
He'd originally came up here to take Faye shopping for whatever she wanted to get, but of course Target was every kid's dream and he could never say no to the puppy dog pout his daughter wore because she knew him and his wallet got soft behind her.
To tell the truth, this was more of a sympathy shopping spree kind of thing. He still felt bad about the heart attack his grandmother suffered from two days ago, and he knew going to her favorite store would help brighten up her mood as she'd been pretty sad ever since she left the hospital.
His heart also wrenched for Kaiya-and for himself too-because they hadn't seen Angel since yesterday morning and they were both obviously going through withdrawals without her; though Roman was really trying not to show it.
Literally a day after completely moving into his house, Angel had went to stay with her sister the day after Faye was released from the hospital. She and Roman didn't really talk much about their previous disagreement-they really didn't speak much at all after leaving the hospital.
Even Kaiya had become a little distant following the hours of that talk she had with her dad in her bedroom before the hospital visit. That made Angel really sad, so she left after making sure that Faye was alright.
Her feelings were more than hurt and she typically dealt with her emotions better when she was alone.
Being away from her was driving Roman crazy, and everyone could tell. He wanted her to come back home with him so badly, but knew he would have to talk about the mom thing with her before she could since it obviously bothered her-and him, too. He really did hate this constant conversation.
"Mhmmmm, caught ya'." Faye looked over at him after putting a set of dining plates in the basket of the motorized electric cart she was riding on.
"You ain't caught nothin', woman. Get you some business." He playfully rolled his eyes at her, knowing she was referring to catching him thinking about Angel. It was all he did, for real.
"Oh, please. My baby Angel is my business. I would kick your ass for making her leave if I could."
"I ain't make her leave ma. I already told you that."
"Who else did? Casper?" One of her eyebrows perked in curiosity, causing him to roll his eyes again.
"You not talking to her about tension that you caused would've made me leave too, hell. All that baby try to do is be there for you-for all of us. And you too damn old to be playing this back and forth game with her about a conversation y'all already had." She fussed at him, talking to where Kaiya couldn't hear; though she was too busy scanning the aisle for more toys anyway.
"I didn't even bring that shi-stuff-up. Kaiya did. I told her quit doing that but she don't listen to me." He was getting frustrated all over again.
"Honestly, how did you think a seven year old would react to her dad bringing a girl home-after having me as the only woman around her entire life. Angel takes her out for girls day, gets her early from school, buys her all of her favorite things, tucks her in to bed, cooks dinner for her-the whole nine yards."
"I don't wanna talk about this no more ma." Roman reached in his pocket to grab his phone, and Faye took it out of his hands as soon as he did.
"You never do and that's why that baby done left now. You can't keep running from a conversation that obviously needs to be had, Roman. If it's causing static in your relationship, you need to talk it out to fix it."
"Ma I c-,"
"No. Shut up and listen. You do enough talking as it is." She shut him down before he could even get a statement out, waving her hand at him.
"You think I don't know what this is about, but I do. You won't let her step up and be Kaiya's mama 'cause you think she's going to leave her like your mom left you. Tell me that I'm wrong." She looked over at him again, and he remained silent, proving her correct.
"See. You steady blaming Angel for something she had nothing to do with. She is not Kimora, Roman. Stop treating her like she is." Faye referred to his mother, whom was her first and only child.
Roman used the tip of his finger to wipe the corner of his eye before a tear could fall, upset with himself for becoming emotional. He hated confronting the truth, which explained why he was always so stubborn about everything.
"That baby is good for you, and for Kaiya too. Angel loves that little girl like she had her. But you gon' run her away if you keep on with your foolishness." Faye finished up, coincidentally at the same time that Kaiya came back over to talk about the new toy that she found.
Obviously stuck on how she had just read him like a book, Roman remained quiet during the rest of their time at Target. He could barely provide responses for the conversation Kaiya kept trying to have with him-probably about nothing anyway-because he was too caught up in his own thoughts.
His grandmother was the only person who always knew what he was thinking and how he felt about something even if he didn't know himself. At this point he didn't even ask how she did it anymore; she'd had the same empathetic ways since he was a kid.
And he hated how she was always right, too. Every time, it never failed.
He tried not to dwell on the conversation nor on his feelings after they left the store, but he was obviously failing. He wanted to talk to his girlfriend more than anything right now. She didn't deserve his stubbornness and he was upset with himself for how he'd pushed her away.
Getting back on her good side was the only thing he was worried about right now.
"See, you is a good man! A good man!!" One of Angel's cousins greeted him at the register of Hugga Mug Cafe, seeing a large bouquet of red roses in his hand.
"Nah, I still got some shit to work on. You'll get her for me?" He chuckled, knowing that Angel was probably somewhere in the back stocking.
"Yeah, but before I do, you got a cousin or sum'? A brother??" She questioned with her hands on her hips, and he just shook his head with another chuckle since she didn't look older than 18.
"Take yo' ass on and go tell Angel her husband waiting up here for her." Another family member of theirs gestured at her, making the younger girl roll her eyes.
Every time he came up here they referred to him as her husband and it boosted his ego every time. Angel's family loved the way that he treated her; always showing up with flowers or gifts, taking her on flights and shopping sprees. She'd definitely bagged a good one.
"What are you doing here?" Angel's eyebrows were furrowed with confusion, even though she expected nothing less from him.
"Stop it. I don't want any kisses right now." Her tone softened as she pulled her head back from him before he could press his lips against hers.
"And those are really pretty but I don't want them either. I want to talk. I don't want to be buttered up with flowers." Which hurt her to say because the roses were gorgeous, actually.
"I know. I'm sorry. I just didn't know how else to start." He rubbed the back of his neck in slight nervousness, removing his gaze from hers. This was their first official argument and he was definitely having a hard time.
"Hold on, let me go grab my stuff." She untied her apron from behind, and he nodded, watching her walk back into the kitchen area.
Angel went towards the employee area in the back, and hung her apron up on one of the hooks. She then grabbed her purse and her hoodie, clocked out, before joining Roman in the front again.
Seconds later they were getting in his truck together, and Angel thanked him for opening up her door for her. When he pulled out of the parking lot, she looked over at him to watch him drive.
"When I was younger, I had to deal wit' my emotions on my own. Now that I'm an adult, that shit still wit' me and it made me develop uh-like, like an insensitivity towards other people emotions 'cause nobody ever helped me wit' mine so I feel like I shouldn't have to be cautious of nobody else's."
"And I'm sorry for that. I know I hurt your feelings and I want you to know I didn't do it on purpose. I didn't mean to cuss or yell at you, and I been tryna work on my temper but that shit a lot harder than I thought it would be." He continued, and Angel could tell that the last part really bothered him.
"You being mad at me isn't what hurt my feelings. I won't ever blame you for being mad about anything because I can't tell you how to feel. I don't like being ignored though. That's what hurt my feelings. I want you to learn to talk to me, Roman. So much stuff could be solved if we just talked about it."
"I know baby. I'm sorry." He really had been trying, but he guessed not hard enough.
"That's okay. I'm sorry too, if you feel like I was overstepping my boundaries with Kaiya. I don't mean to make it a constant conversation but you confuse me sometimes. One day you're okay with it, and then the next you get upset because of it.." She trailed off.
He waited to respond since the sound of the garage letting up was a bit loud, and waited until his truck was in park to continue the conversation with her.
"My mama was never really in my life, you already know that. But whenever she did come around, it was nothin' but hell. She used to tell me that I'm the devil and that my kids would be the same, and the woman who ended up pregnant with my kids would kill herself when she realized she'd be stuck wit' me for a while."
"She was obviously strung out, that shit still got to me though. Especially when Samaiya died. It felt like my mama words had some truth to it, feel me? I was a reckless ass young nigga, I wouldn't be surprised if Maiya really did die from some stress I caused or somethin'." He chuckled, leaning back in his seat.
"That's not funny Ermias." Her eyebrows furrowed together with concern, unsure of why he had a small smile on his face.
"Sarcasm baby." He told her, and she mumbled an 'oh' while nodding. She still didn't find it funny though, not even slightly.
"I don't really have good experiences with women as moms, you know, besides my nana. My mama ain't want me, Samaiya died before she could even become a mom-she died hating me and her mom hated me before she did, and that lady still hate me til this day."
"I just d-I don't know.. I guess I'm scared of the possibility of you failing me, and failing my daughter too. I been blaming you for shit you had no parts in but I never wanted to admit that out loud 'cause I know how dumb it sound.." He could barely hold eye contact with her, which was a first for him.
"Being with you is like that one saying, 'it's too good to be true'." He chuckled again, pausing for a moment. "It's just hard for me to believe you really this perfect."
"Like, I been waiting for you to fuck up, and since you haven't yet, I keep urging you to 'cause I won't let myself believe that something good done finally came my way." He continued ranting to her.
"My nana said I'm messing up with you by doing shit like that, and I know it's the truth. I know I'm making my daughter miss out on having a mom 'cause I keep pushing you away from her. That shit hurt my feelings 'cause I swear to god I'm not doing it on purpose."
Angel reached over to wrap her arms around him in a hug after hearing his voice tremble, and as soon as she felt her neck become wet, she climbed over the middle console to be in his lap.
"Please don't cry. I'm not going anywhere, I promise." She held him as close as he could get to her, rubbing her hand down his back.
"I'm so proud of you for talking to me. I love you so so so much. You don't have to cry baby." She was low-key panicking because she'd never seen him full on cry like this. She almost wanted to cry with him.
Her hands rested on each side of his face as she left soft kisses on his lips, trying to do whatever she could to get him to stop crying. Seeing him like this made her so sad.
"I won't fail you, okay? I'll be here with you through whatever until whenever. But I need you to have a little more faith in me, and in yourself too. Can you do that for me, please?" She rubbed over his thick eyebrows, watching as he nodded.
"And also, I would never kill myself. So, your mom is crazy for saying that." She added, a smile spreading across her face at the sight of him laughing.
"I don't know what I would do without you. You everything to me." He laid his forehead against hers, sliding his hand underneath her shirt to rub the small of her back.
"I love you so much." He gently pulled her bottom lip into his mouth, making her hand travel down to hold his face as they engaged in a kiss. She smiled against his lips at the feeling of his hand wrapping around her neck, getting carried away like always.
Roman pulled away for just a few seconds to drop his spit on her tongue, and her eyes dazed once he sucked it up from the surface before dropping it in her mouth again for her to swallow.
"You are the only person I know that can be this nasty right after crying." She licked over her lips at the sensation she got from his spit sliding down her throat, and he smiled at the look on her face.
"I love you." He told her again.
"I love you too." She gave him one more kiss on his cheek, before sitting upright in his lap. "So, is it okay if I talk to Kaiya about her calling me mom?"
"Yes. No more back and forth." He was really saying that more so to himself than he was to her, knowing that he was the cause of it.
"Good. Let me go. I missed her." She tapped his arms that were locked around her waist, and he chuckled while doing as told.
Angel got out of his truck, hoping that Kaiya wasn't taking a nap because she really did miss her. She'd only been gone for a day, but in Roman's words, that was 23 hours longer than she could stand.
When she made it to Kaiya's bedroom she could see her having a tea party at her small table with Faye, and she damn near knocked over the whole thing trying to get up and give Angel a hug.
"I missed you!" She wrapped her arms around Angel's neck as soon as she was swooped up from the floor, repeatedly kissing Angel's cheek.
"I missed you too baby. Not y'all having a tea party without me?" She playfully frowned at Kaiya, who just continued to smile while holding around her neck.
"Chile you can take my place. It's 'bout time for me to take a nap anyway. It's good to have you back home, baby." Faye kissed her cheek as well, and the sight put a smile on Roman's face.
"No heart attacks this time." Roman told her as she walked past him, resulting in the back of his neck being popped, which made Angel and Kaiya laugh.
"Did you go to Shay house 'cause you was mad at me?" Kaiya asked Angel as she carried her over to the bed, familiar with who Angel's sister was.
"No. I just needed a little time to think but I'm back now and I won't leave again." She assured, before continuing on with her next statement.
"I'm sorry that I didn't answer you the other day, when you asked if you could call me mommy. I was a little nervous at first because I've never been a mom before, but I think that with your help, I'll be fine. So if you still want to, you can call me mommy." Angel told her, watching a smile grace her small face.
"And I don't have to wait until you have your own baby? I can say it now?"
"Yes. You are my only baby." She said, and Kaiya's smile spread further across her face, showing off one of her side teeth that was a bit crooked since it was close to falling out.
"Daddy it's okay now?" Her eyes traveled to meet Roman's, who nodded, trying not to show the emotional affect this had on him.
"I love you sooooo much. And you are already the best mommy ever." Kaiya tackled her in another hug, causing Angel to laugh as the force made her fall onto the bed.
"I love you way more."
Lmaooooo is it really a Dave East book if the girl fc don't become a step mama???? There really is no him without Kairi fr 😭😭😭