Shawn saw Abrielle talking to CoCo with the baby in her lap. He was sitting with Shayla watching Hector and Francis talk. Shayla was glaring lasers into Hector like she could set him on fire.
"Shay," Shawn called, snapping her attention back to him.
"What?"
"Why you lookin' at that man like you wont him dead?" he asked her.
"I hate him," she told him.
"I understand that, Shayla. But if you ain't go do nothing about his existence, let it go. He giving yo son the opportunity to do what he wonna do. And Larielle would be crushed if that man came up missing."
"You don't even care about Larielle."
"Yes I do. But even if I didn't, you do, Shayla. That's your daughter-in-law. I would love to wipe that nigga off the face of the earth. But you know how the girl carrying your grandchild is going to feel about that. Just let it go."
Shayla looked up at her little brother. "I know. But you don't understand, Shawn. He was supposed to be my friend. I trusted him. And when I was having a child, suddenly our friendship was bad and Brisa didn't like it. I was thirteen and naïve. I raised a child alone. Without his father. Why could he raise one and not the other? Why did my son have to meet his father through a chance meeting set up by his girlfriend? I hate him, Shawn."
"I hate him with you, Shay. But what is putting your energy on him go solve? 'Cause we cain't kill him."
"I don't want to kill him, Shawn. That would mean that he doesn't have to think about the first eighteen years that he missed."
"You said he wanted to meet Evan four years ago."
"How would you feel if you were me, and your son went fourteen years not knowing his father and then suddenly I put this man in front of you and say this is your father?"
"Well, Shayla, they met. There's nothing we can do about that."
She just got up and went to her son, putting her arm around his shoulder, smiling and talking to him.
Shawn sighed, shook his head, and turned, bumping into Pedro. "Sorry," Shawn told him, trying to walk around.
"You're related to Evan?" Pedro asked.
"Who's asking?"
"Oh, my name is Pedro. I'm Larielle's friend."
"Oh. My name is Anonymous, and I'm not your business," Shawn said, shaking Pedro's extended hand before he walked off.
Pedro looked at Shawn's back, knowing something about him was off. He went and sat with Abrielle kissing her. He'd heard that Abrielle had had a child, but he didn't believe it until he saw it in the flesh.
Abrielle smiled at whatever Shawn was saying to her. Pedro wasn't worried about that, though. He saw Larielle over getting food and went to her.
"Hey, Lari, congrats," he told her with a smile on his face. He wasn't happy about her marrying Evan though.
"Thanks," she said with a bright grin on her face, her eyes bright, a glow in her skin. She was so happy. And for that, he didn't hate Evan. He made Larielle happy, and even if he had to watch someone else love her, he was glad to see her smiling.
"So you're pregnant?" he asked. She knew people were saying it although she hadn't announced the news.
"Yea," she admitted. No point lying or evading it. "I hope it's a little girl," she said with a grin.
"Well, I hope that whatever you have, the baby is born healthy."
"Thank you."
Evan came over before Pedro could say anything else, and he wrapped his arms around Larielle, whispering in her ear. "Okay," she agreed. "I'll see you later, Pedro," she told him, giving him a side hug and heading off with Evan who looked at him over his shoulder. Pedro glared at him, but Evan just smiled, his hand on the top of Larielle's ass.
Abrielle shook her head watching the two of them go in the house. "Your nephew is a mess," she informed him.
"Your mother's daughter."
Bri socked him. "Play with me," she warned him.
"Don't invite me," he warned her, and she rolled her eyes.
"You can't feel on me at a wedding."
"Is this a challenge?" he asked, raising his brow. She shook her head no quickly, because Lord knew he'd do it. And she wasn't giving him an open invitation to be feeling on her in public. No she wasn't.
Shawn took Vincent and the baby smiled, slobbering on himself. CoCo came over to the couple. "Have you kids eaten?" she asked.
"You know Abrielle has and will again and is likely to take food home," Shawn answered.
"Well, what about you?"
"Oh, I'll eat later."
"Okay, let me know if you guys need anything. - Oh, Abrielle, I was in Target the other day and I saw the cutest little outfits for Vince. I have them in the house."
"Okay. Gracias. I'll be sure to take them home."
"Okay."
CoCo rubbed her shoulder and left the two alone. "Larielle was adopted," Shawn decided.
"Why do you think that?"
"Because her mother is nice."
"So was she. Until she met your nephew. And you. Mostly you."
Shawn rolled his eyes and saw Shayla over by the food talking to Erma until Hector went and tapped her shoulder.
"Here, hold the baby," he told Bri, putting the infant back in her arms, getting up with a narrow view and single focus.
Shawn went to stand beside Shayla while Hector made his way over. "Hey, Shayla," he greeted. "Shawn." He nodded to the younger man, but Shawn just mugged him.
"Shay, Bri wants you."
"She wants food, right?" Shayla asked, rolling her eyes.
"Great idea. Yes."
It was then that Shayla realized what Shawn was doing, so she made her sister-in-law a plate and went to sit with her.
Shawn turned to Hector. "My sister don't wanna talk to you, man. Why you'ont seem to understand this?"
"I just want us to be able to be friends again for Evan's sake."
"Evan is a grown man, if you didn't notice that," Shawn hissed. "He don't need y'all to get along. As far as he can care, all you are is a mentor to him. Someone who employed him. Leave my sister alone. If she wanted to be bothered by you, she woulda told you that she wanted to be bothered by you. Do you understand me?"
Hector frowned. "That's my son as well. I wanted to meet him-"
"Had you never abandoned him, you wouldn't have had to want to meet him. You would know him like I know him. You would've been in his life. And in any event, Evan is the one who has that decision now, not his mother. So leave my sister alone, like I said. I'm trying not to be rude and a dick about it. But it seem like you want me to do that to you," he told him.
"I just miss her. But I'll leave her alone," Hector said before he walked away, watching Shayla with Abrielle and the baby.
Shawn went back to the women and Shayla looked up at her younger brother. "Thank you."
"You're welcome."
She just knew that she would have lost it on Hector if he came talking to her. She wasn't in a mood for him. She had just given her son away and it was a bittersweet moment for her. She didn't want the sweet taken out and leaving her bitter.
"Hey, where did Evan go?" she wondered.
"To continue the reason he's a father now," Shawn told her.
"Ugh. I don't want to know that."
"You asked," Bri pointed out.
Shawn agreed and Shayla gave them dirty looks. When she saw CoCo, she wasted no time going off to her, leaving the other two alone.
"CoCo," she called, going to catch up with her.
CoCo turned with a smile on her face. "Hey, Shayla. What's up?"
"I was just thinking we future grandmothers could have us a little chat. We haven't had a chance to sit down just us two," she told her
CoCo smiled. "We haven't," she agreed. "We can go inside if you want. Let me just tell Francis I'll be inside."
CoCo went to inform her husband of her whereabouts and took Shayla inside to the living room. The two women sat down having spiked lemonade.
"Are you excited about the baby?" CoCo asked. She was plenty excited.
"Well, not the timing of the baby. But I'm not upset about it. Maybe it has to grow on me."
"Oh yes, you had Evan very young. I can understand your feelings," CoCo said.
Shayla nodded. "I know Evan can still do what he wants. But it's going to be much harder. And those two had their whole lives ahead of them to do this."
"I think they're actually very fortunate," CoCo said honestly. "They're young, but they have us, each other, and the resources to provide for a child. Lari's daddy liked telling people he wasn't rich, but the man was loaded," CoCo said with a light chuckle, reminiscing on him telling Larielle money was earned and did not grow on trees, he was not rich. "Not own an island loaded, but bringing home six figures."
"Sounds like my daddy," Shayla said with a chuckle. "And the funny part is that he was actually a billionaire. But he wanted me to realize the value of a dollar I suppose."
"To work?"
Shayla shook her he had no. She had never worked a day in her life. Hell, she hadn't even graduated high school. It was why she wanted her son not to be a father. She wanted him to get what she never had. To get to enjoy being a teenager and to party and go to college and everything before he settled down. But she wasn't going to hate that it happened. That was her unborn grandchild and she was going to be there for him or her regardless.
"I couldn't get a job at the market if I wanted. I never finished school. Don't even have a GED. But I know that I can't just blow through what I have."
"Well, you seem intelligent, Shayla. But I think Evan would be very proud of you if you got your diploma or equivalency. Evan is grown. Now you can go back and do what you wished you did."
"Evan will always need me."
"This is true. But he won't need you as much. He has a wife now," CoCo reminded her gently. "Don't even do it for him. Do it for you."
Shayla thought about it. "I didn't get to be a kid ever," she whispered. "I never got to have a childhood. Normal, everyday things that kids take for granted and hate, I never got. And maybe it's why I'm clinging to Evan. I want him to get to have the last of his teenage years and his early twenties. I didn't even get my single digit years. I can't see how having a diploma or equivalency is going to show the knowledge that I really have, CoCo. There is nothing that school is going to teach me that I'm really going to use. But if I change my mind, I'll let you know."
CoCo was mildly disappointed that Shayla didn't find anything wrong with staying uneducated. But she left it alone.
They both heard it at the same time: the headboard banging and Larielle moaning. CoCo frowned because Larielle's bed didn't usually...
"Oh my God," they said together out loud. They were listening to their children having sex. And it horrified them both enough to make them vacate the premises, CoCo muttering that she was going to kill them.
When they got outside, Hector pulled Shayla aside. "Shay-"
"Hector, I'm not in the mood for-"
"I'm sorry," he told her, looking down with sincerity in his eyes. She was astounded as the breath left her lungs.
"Sorry?"
"That I just ditched you. But it wasn't a lie. Brisa really didn't want us to be friends. And at the time, I knew you weren't in love with me. Have you ever been in love, Shayla? Do you know what that feels like?"
She tried to hold back the tears that she felt stinging her eyes. She had become an emotional wreck after Abasi's death.
"Being in love feels like what you gave me when I was thirteen when you talked to me like I was intelligent enough to understand and when we would look at the stars and you pointed out the constellations. That's what it felt like to be in love nineteen years ago. Now it just sounds like a word and an emotion that I don't have anymore."
Hector didn't know what to say. But Shayla began to walk away and he caught her. "I didn't know, Shayla. I thought you just thought we were friends."
She laughed without humor. "I did. Because I was thirteen. But when you ask me, that's what love feels like. At least, I thought it did. You chose Brisa. And you chose to raise only one son. That's who got the happily ever after and the big happy house and the successful architect. Funny how much sooner my son could've met his wife had you raised him. Give no mind to the friendship I thought we had."
"I'm divorcing Brisa," he told her.
"Sorry," she said drily. "Why should I care?"
"Maybe we could try it over, Shayla. Call me."
"No."
She walked away from him and went into the house, ignoring the kids having sex as she went to the bathroom in tears.