Killian sighed as he knocked on the door with a gift sitting in his other hand. It slowly opened and Raya gave him a slight side eye. "What do you want?" She asked.
"Can I come in?" Killian asked. "Please."
Raya hesitated a bit, but she allowed Killian inside. He was shocked; however, he wasted no time walking into the apartment because he didn't want to give her a chance to change her mind.
They went and sat on one of the couches in the living room. "I got you a little something." Killian said as he handed her the small wrapped box. "Merry Christmas."
"Thank you." Raya replied. She slowly opened it and slightly smiled at the diamond necklace. "Thanks, it's beautiful."
"You're welcome. I was hoping you would like it." Killian told her.
Raya sighed. "I should've went with you and Jonah." She blurted out. "That was my biggest regret."
"My biggest regret was letting you go." Killian said. "I should've fought harder for you, and I should've never treated you the way I did at the end—you didn't deserve that. I still love you."
"I still love you too." Raya sniffled. "We have so much to catch up on and so much to fix."
Killian nodded. "Yeah, I'm already knowing."
"But we can worry about that later." Raya said as she quickly went in for a kiss.
Killian was shocked, but didn't waste any time kissing Raya back. She straddled his lap as she used her tongue to part his lips.
They both knew this was the last thing they should be doing with each other. However, they've been craving each other for the last two decades. Plus, Raya hasn't had sex since she was with Killian—it's been a very long time. Thank God this happened before she started menopause and before Killian's soldiers retired.
Killian's phone began to ring, making him pull back from the kiss reluctantly. He had one arm wrapped around Raya's waist with his hand sitting on her ass while he used his other hand to take his phone out of his sweatpants pocket.
"I gotta take this." He said as he answered the phone for Heather. "Hello?"
"Hey, somebody wants to say good night." Heather said on the other end of the phone. "Go ahead, peanut."
Killian smiled as he heard Madison's giggle. "Good night, daddy. I love you, see you tomorrow!"
Killian chuckled. "I love you too. Sleep tight, okay?"
"Okay, daddy." Madison replied.
Killian and Heather exchanged a few more words before they hung up. He went back in to resume kissing, but Raya turned her head. "Are you in a relationship?" She asked.
"What?" Killian said.
"You heard me. Are you in a relationship? Your daughter sounds like she can't be no more than three or four." Raya replied. "I'm too old to be a side bitch and you're too old to be cheating."
Killian sighed. He began to tell Raya about what's been going on from Thanksgiving to the present. Raya was shocked and sick. She never understood how someone could hurt an innocent child.
"I'm so sorry, Killian. I can't imagine how hard it is to go through that." Raya said.
"It's tough as hell. I'm thinking about moving back to Memphis just to be closer to family so I can have that support system near again. I refuse to hire another nanny—that was the biggest mistake of my life." Killian told her.
Raya nodded. "I understand."
"But I have some frustration and anger built up that I need to get out of my system. The gym isn't enough." Killian said as he squeezed Raya's butt.
"Carry me to the bedroom." Raya said with a smile. Killian stood up with his hands still on her ass. Raya wrapped her arms around his neck and he legs around his waist as he made his way to the bedroom. "Can you still do that thing with your tongue I liked?"
Killian chuckled. "I sure can."
-
"I got in trouble last night." Cali said as she ate a forkful of pulled pork. They were at her favorite barbecue spot that Jonah has never been to. However, he was enjoying the Memphis barbecue.
"Why? You covered everything, right?" Jonah asked.
Cali rolled her eyes. "He went into my room and saw your head print on one of my pillows."
Jonah laughed. "Damn, what'd he say?"
"He gave me a lecture. Then we went to my grandparents' house and told them what happened. LoLo got pissed, my siblings thought it was funny, and mommy and nanny were pretty much chill about it." Cali explained. "Then LoLo and daddy felt bad because I started crying and apologized."
"Aww, man." Jonah chuckled. "They hate me now?"
"No, they don't hate you. I did let them know afterwards that it was my idea and you tried to talk me out of it." Cali replied.
"Aight, cool." Jonah said.
"Y'all doing alright, babies?" The older black woman asked them.
"Yes ma'am. May I have more sweet tea?" Cali said.
"Of course you can, honey." The waitress said as she refilled the cup with the pitcher that was on her serving tray. "You okay, handsome?"
Jonah blushed a little. It was something about older women calling him handsome. "Yes ma'am, thank you."
She smiled back at him before walking away. "Not you blushing." Cali teased.
"What? She called me handsome and I couldn't help it." Jonah replied.
Cali laughed. "You're full of it."
"Let me take you back to the townhouse so you can be full of something too." Jonah said, putting Cali on hush mode which he found amusing. He did this every now and then just to see her reaction. She's speechless every single time.
"Is that a promise?" Cali asked, surprising Jonah.
He leaned in and studied her face. "You want some dick, Cali?" She lowered her head as she began to blush. "Don't be shy now, baby. Just let me know."
"Umm—in due time. My hands got a little clammy." Cali spoke softly.
Jonah chuckled. "I got you, mamas."
-
"Sorry I'm late." Raya said as she walked into Karis and Taylor's house, taking off her coat.
"It's alright." Taylor replied. "We're just now getting to the itinerary."
Karis and Taylor were having everyone spend the night on the 23rd, 24th, and 25th. They did this every two years and it was finally time again.
"What about the sleeping arrangements?" Raya asked.
"You can handle that." Karis quickly offered. She hated figuring out the sleeping arrangements. "Tristan is going to give his room to mom, and dad and he's going to room with Cali."
"Okay, got it." Raya replied.
"What's that on your neck?" Taylor asked his aunt.
Raya touched her neck with a look of confusion on her face. "What?"
"It's a hickey." Taylor said, answering his own question. "You got a man now?"
Raya quickly went and looked into the decorative mirror that was located in the corner of the living room. "Oh my gosh." She gasped.
"I think I have some foundation in my hair room that matches your shade. Cmon before Tristan comes back from basketball practice." Karis said and Raya quickly followed her upstairs.
Raya sighed as she sat down in the salon chair while Karis looked for the best shade to use. "Killian came over to my place to talk." She blurted out, making Karis whip her head around to look at her. "We didn't talk much because he was looking so good and it's been so long since I had a man's touch. I was longing for it."
"Whew, chile!" Karis exclaimed.
"Don't say anything to anybody." Raya told her.
"I didn't plan on it." Karis assured her. She found the perfect foundation for Raya and applied it to her neck. "But Taylor just might have some questions."
Raya sighed. "Yeah, his nosey ass."
"Okay, it looks good." Karis said once she was done.
Raya looked in the mirror and took a breath of relief. "That's perfect." She said as Karis picked up a random bottle of setting spray and sprayed it on Raya's neck. The two of them returned downstairs and found Tristan now stretched out on the couch.
"I hope you showered." Karis said as she kissed his forehead.
"I did." Tristan replied. "Auntie, you going to my game tomorrow?" He had two more games to play before he was able to fully enjoy Christmas. Both of them were home games and almost everyone was going to be in attendance.
"I told you I will be there, honey." Raya assured him.
"Aight, cool. I'm gonna hook you up with one of the assistant coaches. His wife just left him and he's been sad ever since." Tristan said.
Karis laughed. "Boy, you a mess."
"She's already spreading holiday cheer so I don't see why not." Taylor said, making Karis hit him.
Tristan sat up and smirk. "Auntie, you've been busting—"
"Too far!" Karis fussed. "Go upstairs now!"
Tristan sucked his teeth as he stood up and snatched his gym bag off the floor. "Daddy needs to go upstairs too because he started it."
"I'm grown!" Taylor retorted.
"Go upstairs, Taylor." Karis told him, shocking him and making Tristan laugh. "You shouldn't have been talking out the side of your neck!"
"Ain't this some shit." Taylor mumbled as he stood up. "I pay the bills around this bitch."
"And you keep on, you'll be paying the hospital bill too once they remove my foot from up yo ass." Karis threatened.
Tristan laughed. "Ma, you ate that one."
Taylor sucked his teeth as he pushed Tristan towards the stairs. Taylor will never admit it, but Tristan was just like him in his teenage years and he loved every bit of it.
-
"Uncle! Uncle!" LJ shouted, trying to get Tristan's attention as he warmed up on the court. The little boy looked cute in his Memphis Tigers hoodie, dark blue jeans, and blue and white dunks.
"He probably can't hear you, baby." Zuri told her son.
Malik sat down on the other side of LJ with two bags of popcorn. "Sit down, man." He said and LJ did as told. Malik handed him a bag of popcorn before giving Zuri the other bag.
"Malik, you need to help him eat that so he won't choke." Zuri told her husband.
"Aight, I got you." Malik simply replied—whatever Zuri said goes.
"Aww, look at him." Eva said to Cali who were sitting behind Zuri, Malik, and LJ. "He's so excited."
Tristan was dancing to Glorilla's new song, Yeah Glo, while a few of his teammates hyped him up. This was his first game as a starter even though he was one of the biggest recruits in Tennessee. One of the upperclassmen was injured and it was finally his turn.
Cali laughed. "Cant take him nowhere."
"Absolutely nowhere." Zuri chimed in.
"Stop talking about my baby, yall." Karis told her daughters.
The game finally started and Tristan was on fire from the first whistle to the last. He was making three pointers, layups, and free throws. He led his team with 39 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists. Tristan was marking his territory to be in the starting lineup for the Memphis Tigers basketball team.
"That's my baby!" Karis yelled as Tristan looked up in the stands and waved to his family.
While everyone hyped him up, Taylor had no words because there weren't any words he could describe on how proud he was of his baby boy. All he could do was smile. However, they were most definitely going to celebrate his big win tonight.
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Thoughts?