When Sunday morning rolled around, Shanelle and Jaylin made their way to Shanelle's church where they managed to find a seat near Christy, Gabrielle and Gia along with their guys. Behind them were Jai and John.
As soon as Shanelle sat next to Christy, she leaned over and whispered into her ear. "Did you know you were walking funny?"
Shanelle's mouth dropped open at Christy's words. Gia and Gabrielle were giving her knowing looks as well. Jai just sat there grinning and shaking her head.
Stephen wrapped his arm around Christy. "You're in church. Don't talk like that in God's house," he grinned. He looked over at Jaylin and shook his head. Jaylin just shrugged and reached over and grabbed Shanelle's hand.
Stephen knew without a doubt that Jaylin was head over heels in love with Shanelle and that she was just as in love with him. Over the course of their relationship, he'd seen with his own eyes as Shanelle began to open up more and more with Jaylin. Not only did he think that, but so did the others. The two of them were meant to be together and they shouldn't let anything get in the way of their love.
A few minutes later, the pastor of the church instructed everyone to stand for the opening prayer. All thoughts of Jaylin and Shanelle's business forgotten as everyone stood.
After church, the girls pulled Shanelle away from Jaylin and began grilling her about her weekend. When Shanelle refused to tell them, they all gave her ugly looks, telling her that she was no fun.
"Y'all sure are some nosy women," Jai said laughing. "Let the girl spend time with her man without y'all giving her the third degree. For all we know, they could've gone to bible study."
Gia rolled her eyes. "Fat chance of that happening."
Shanelle laughed. "Gia, I don't know why you're even talking. I know for a fact you and Christy doing the nasty deed on a regular basis, so with that being said, when y'all give up the details on your dirt then and only then will I give up mine," she said hugging Jai.
"You'll tell us sooner or later," Gabrielle said with her arms crossed over her chest. "Oh and I hope you guys are ready for an interrogation."
Shanelle frowned at her words. "Interrogation? By who?"
"Daddy and mama want us at the house for Sunday dinner. You know how Frank Harris can get. Since we apparently didn't move fast enough and introduce our little secrets, meaning the guys, he's making it his business to do it himself."
Shanelle laughed. She knew once her godfather got a bee in his bonnet he was going to make sure everyone knew about it. "Guess Jaylin better get ready to meet the other important man in my life," she said with a grin on her face, as she walked over to where the men stood waiting followed by the ladies.
When Jon saw the women coming, he cleared his throat "So umm, we were wondering, are y'all cooking today? I'm tired of eating take out."
Gia laughed. "No. My mama and daddy invited us all over to the house for supper. We're expected over there no later than four. We have to help cook while my daddy grills you guys."
"Say what now?" Marcus asked.
"Guess my daddy got tired of being left in the dark. You're about to meet Frank and Debra Harris today Mr. Richardson," Gia replied with a grin.
Jaylin looked down at Shanelle with a frown. She raised her hands in surrender. "Don't look at me like that, I just found out. Besides you have nothing to be worried about. My godfather isn't all that bad."
Jaylin just shook his head and took a deep breath. He knew sooner or later he would have to meet the man, he just hoped he approved of him and Shanelle.
"Umm, can I take a rain check on this one?" Marcus asked nervously.
"Marcus I know you're not trying to back out," Gia said with her hands on her hips with a brow lifted.
"Forget about all that. I'm just glad I won't be eating take out for the thousandth time this week. I love my baby but she can't cook nothing but bacon and eggs."
When Jon saw the murderous look on Jai's face he cleaned up his comment real quick. "What I meant to say was that uhh.. baby, I love you?" he replied giving Jai an apologetic smile.
All the guys started laughing at him. "Dude, you hung yourself with that one," Marcus said laughing. "You should have just stood there like the rest of us."
"He better be glad we're still at church. Best believe he's in the right place to get a blessing of healing after I smack his black ass into next week."
"Jai," Gia whisper yelled. "You're on holy ground, stop cursing."
"I'm stressed, God forgives me."
Gia just laughed and shook her head. "You need Jesus." Jai just shrugged and walked off. Minutes later, everyone was getting in their separate cars and heading over to the Harris residence so that they'd all be on time for dinner.
When they pulled up Debra and Frank's, they all walked inside. As soon as Mama Debra saw all of them, she gave them all a hug and kiss before she sent the guys to the living room to watch the ball game so they wouldn't be in the way of the women cooking. Before they left out, she handed them a bowl of chips and a glass of sweet tea.
"Auntie Debra, do you have a beer or something?" Jon asked, looking expectantly at Debra with the guys standing behind him waiting for her answer, but scattered when they saw the look Debra pinned Jon with.
"Jonathan Leon Amor, does it look like I drink alcohol to you?"
Jon lowered his head. "No ma'am, but-"
"Does your uncle drink alcohol?"
"No, ma'am. Or at least I don't think he does."
"Okay then, there's your answer. Shouldn't be drinking no way. Just got outta church and wanting a daggone beer. You should be ashamed of yourself," Debra chided as she walked off ranting to herself.
Jon turned around and headed for the living room where all the guys sat snickering and grinning. He sat on the recliner pouting as he tuned into the football game that had been turned on.
Jai saw her aunt tear into her husband and couldn't help but laugh to herself as she turned and walked back into the kitchen. When she walked in, she was about to start making biscuits but Debra stopped her with the quickness.
"Naw baby, go make some more tea. We got the cooking."
Jai sucked her teeth. "Auntie, I can cook!" Debra gave her a yeah right look and kept sprinkling this and that into her candied yams.
Gia laughed loudly at Jai. "Girl, you know you can't boil water," she said teasing Jai. Jai flipped Gia off and did as her aunt told her mumbling that she knew how to cook.
"Don't worry Jai. I got you, honey," Shanelle said, smiling as she peeled the potatoes that sat in front of her.
Before long the ladies had the kitchen filled with varying delicious scents. Debra even made her famous triple chocolate cake.
When Frank came into the kitchen thinking he was going to get a piece, his feelings were hurt real fast and in a hurry. Seeing as he has to wait like everyone else he headed into his living room and saw the young men sitting on his couches. His eyes landing first on Marcus.
"Well hello there, welcome to my home. Hey Jon, long time no see, son."
Jaylin and the fellas quickly got up off the couch to show respect for the older man standing before them.
"Hello sir, my name is Marcus Richardson. It's a pleasure to finally meet you," Marcus said as he held his hand out to Frank. Sweat dotting around his fresh edged up hairline.
Frank laughed. "Calm down, son. I'm not going to hurt you. It's a pleasure to meet you as well. Which of my girls are you dating?"
"Gia, sir."
Frank nodded. "Handful ain't she?" Frank asked with a grin.
Marcus saw the laughter dancing around in the older man's eyes and let some of the tension leave his body. "Yes sir, she can be. She's a great girl though."
"That she is. Marcus, it's great to finally meet you. But to warn you, if you hurt my baby, I hurt you. You understand?"
Marcus' smile faded quickly from his face. "Yes sir. Perfectly."
"Good," Frank said as he slapped Marcus on the back good naturedly before he moved on to Stephen and soon to Travis. When he stopped in front of Jaylin a smile pulled at his lips. "I know exactly who you are. It's very nice to meet you Jaylin Cunningham, the Gridiron King. Can't believe I have celebrities in my home. It's real nice to finally meet you, Jaylin."
Jaylin was a bit taken aback by Frank's words. Clearing his throat, he grasped Frank's outstretched hand and shook it firmly. "Same here, sir."
"How are you treating my Shanelle? You are treating her good aren't you?"
"Yes, sir. Always."
"Good to hear, son. My Debra told me she met you a while back and thought you were a great match for our daughter. You aren't going to prove her wrong are you?"
"No, sir. I love Shanelle and wouldn't dream of hurting her."
Frank's eyebrow perked up. "So you love her, huh?"
Jaylin swallowed hard. "Yes. I love her very much, sir."
Frank nodded his head slowly before he looked at each of the young men standing around his living room before looking back at Jaylin.
"If you say you love her, then I can't do anything but take your word for it. But let me let you in on a something. If you ever dream of hurting Shanelle, you better hope I don't find you. Ex ball player or not, I will become your worst nightmare, do you understand me?" Frank said, low enough so only Jaylin could hear. "The same thing you do to Shanelle, I do to you. Understand?"
Jaylin saw the hard look in the older man's eyes and knew without a shadow of doubt that he would make good on his threat.
"Yes, sir. You have nothing to worry about."
As long as Jaylin had been old enough to date, he'd never had someone threaten him like that to his face. Nevertheless he could understand where the man was coming from. If it were his daughters or even niece for that matter, he would most definitely make the snot nose kid know not to fuck with her heart. He didn't have to like the way the man said it, but he sure did respect it.
Frank stared hard at Jaylin before speaking once again. "That's good to know, son. Real good to know," he said before he turned to the others with his signature smile. "Now that the Billy Badass show is done, how about we go out to my garage and grab that beer?"
Jon laughed. "Hell yeah, let's go."
Frank squeezed Jaylin's shoulder before he turned and headed out the living room without another word.
Jaylin took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I think I need a cold one all of a sudden."
Stephen laughed lightly. "You're definitely not by yourself, bro."
Marcus nodded his head in agreement. "We all need that drink."
Jaylin chuckled to himself as he and the guys headed in the same direction as Frank and Jon had gone.
*****
A little after five that evening Debra called everyone into the dining room to eat dinner. When the guys walked into the dining room, they were all drooling over the food that the ladies had prepared. There were collard greens, fried chicken, roast with mixed vegetables and onions, homemade buttermilk biscuits, corn on the cob and Gia's loaded smashed potatoes. To top it all off, a pan of Debra's chicken and dressing sat in the center of the table with cranberry sauce and gravy sitting alongside it.
"Stop staring and sit down," Debra said with a smile. The guys hurriedly sat down and Frank blessed the food.
As soon as Amen left everyone's lips, the delicious food began to circulate around the large table and afterwards shoveling the food into the mouth was underway. Debra just laughed as she began eating.
"So Jaylin how are things with the youth football league?" Debra asked.
Jaylin swallowed the food in his mouth and grabbed his napkin and wiped at his mouth before speaking. "So far, so good. Stephen and I have signed forty or so little guys up for the summer camp. I'm waiting on a friend of mine that I played ball with to let me know if he'll be able to conduct one of the clinics that we're planning on having. If you're up to it, I could use your help."
Debra frowned. "Help with what exactly?"
"You are a former nurse, correct?"
"Yes."
"Travis is going to be on site to help with any injury's that may occur but I think the younger boys may need a little bit of tender love and care, if you know what I mean. Travis can be a bit, callous when it comes to the ones that need a bit more attention. He calls it toughening them up but I say otherwise. "
"Mrs. Harris, he means he wants you to baby the whiners," Travis laughed.
Debra smiled. "I would love to, haven't been around children in a long while. It'll give me something to do. And Travis, don't let me catch you toughening nobody up, do you hear me, young man?"
Travis lowered his head, trying not to laugh. "Yes, ma'am I hear you."
"Good. Now Jaylin, you have to let me know when this camp is taking place. I want to make sure the little ones have a proper breakfast and lunch. Can't have them hungry."
Jaylin smiled. "I will, I'll call you and we'll iron out the details later on in the week if that's okay with you."
"That's fine," Debra said with a smile before she turned to Jon. "So how is the job? Jai was telling me you and your supervisor had words the other day."
"It's nothing your nephew can't handle," Jon replied around a mouth full of food.
"Jonathan, I know what that means. Don't be putting your hands on people, there's a thing called an assault charge."
Jon just winked and continued to eat his food.
"Ma, eat your food," Gabrielle said laughing.
"I am eating. Since you decided to speak up why don't you tell me what you've been up to, don't lie either. Just because I don't talk to you every day doesn't mean I don't know what you're up to."
Gabrielle laughed as she wiped her mouth with her napkin. "I swear you're a spy. You're working with the FBI aren't you?"
"A spy huh?" Debra asked with a grin. Gabrielle just winked at her and laughed. "So what's going on with you two?" she asked, pointing from Travis to Gabrielle.
"Nothing much, nothing much at all," Gabrielle replied as she rolled her eyes at Travis.
"Don't tell me y'all have a non-sexual relationship." Gia said with a grin. When Gabby and Travis just looked at each other, Gia laughed. "So you really are in a celibate relationship, aren't you Oh my goodness! Gabby, how are you dealing with this?" Gia asked grinning.
Travis laughed because Gia hit the nail right on its head. Since Travis and Gabrielle had become exclusive, he wanted to start their relationship off of communication, not sex. Even though it was killing him, he had to make sure they were on the right track with a healthy relationship. If it pissed Gabrielle off, so be it.
"Shut up, Gia. Travis and I have our ways so don't worry your big headed ass about it," Gabrielle said glaring across the table at her twin.
Frank looked at Gabrielle and Gia and shook his head as he continued to eat his food and drowned the conversation out. Debra could listen all she wanted, but there were certain things a father shouldn't and didn't what to know about his grown daughters.
"I'm not even going to ask. That's y'all's business. Let's keep dinner conversation clean, please?" Debra said as she held up a hand dismissing anything that Gabrielle or anyone else had to say about what they thought or knew about what Gabrielle was talking about before she turned to Gia.
"What ma?" Gia asked before Debra could get a single word out of her mouth.
"Nothing. I was just going to ask if you were taking care of Marcus, that's all. Why are you getting defensive?"
"Oh. My bad, I thought you were going to say something else."
"Yeah, shut it up. It doesn't make sense for you to be so mean," Debra said before she turned to Marcus. "So how's she treating you, sweetie? You don't have to lie to me either. I know my daughter. She can be a mean little something, only God knows just what."
Marcus laughed. "She's treating me good. Her little attitude don't scare me, she knows that already. She tries to get bossy with me from time to time, but I got this. Ain't that right?" Marcus asked as he leaned over and tried to kiss Gia, but got mushed in the face.
"How are you going to talk about me to my mama? Just wait-"
"No ma'am, not at my table! You know better than that. You don't hear me speaking to your father that way nor do you hear your father speak to me like that. Keep your hands to yourself, do you understand me?"
"Yes ma."
"Gia, you're never too old to get a whooping," Frank added around a mouth full of roast.
"Daddy, really?"
"Yes, really. Don't play."
"Exactly. Besides he was answering a question. If you don't like it, oh well. Suck it up."
Everybody was grinning at Gia get chastised by her parents. They all were so use to her abrasive attitude, so seeing her getting cut down to size by her mother was definitely a treat.
For the rest of the meal, Gia sat at the table pouting. Debra laughed and talked to everyone, getting to know each of the guys better while Frank didn't say much but was sure listening. He'd said all he needed to say to the guys in the garage and had a feeling that he wouldn't have to repeat himself.
It was after eight in the afternoon when everyone decided to call it a night. They each kissed Debra and hugged or shook Frank's hand before they walked out the door. When it was time for Gia to hug her mother, she got pinched.
"Ma! What was that for?"
"For being a smart ass. You better behave Gia or you're in for a whooping. Like your daddy said, you're never too old for the belt. Now give me a hug, me and daddy are going to miss our show messing around with you."
Gia rubbed her arm and grudgingly kissed her mother and father on the cheek and let Marcus lead her back to his car after he said his farewell.
When Debra closed her door, she couldn't help but smile and thank God for giving her girls what their lives had been missing. God knows she couldn't have picked better men herself. Now if they started making her some grandbabies, everything would be just peachy.
"I just love the boys. Aren't they the cutest thing?"
"Debby, cute is for puppies."
Debra rolled her eyes. "Come on, grumpy man. It's our cuddle time."