The next day, Stone held Roman in his arms as Mia followed them down the stairs of the apartment building. A warm Suburban truck waited for them down below. Roman gave her a very Minnelli smirk like he was leaving her behind.
"I don't know why you smirking. I'm coming too." she playfully fussed at her baby. The baby is disappointed in this. "That's why yo head long like his too."
"Damn, Mia. That's low. You know I'm self-conscious bout my head." Stone plays hurt. She mhms him and strapped the baby in comfortably. He waits for her to put her seatbelt in before taking off.
"You said your house is an hour outside the city? I heard that right?" Mia takes off his coat and snow boots. Then, she turns the tv on in the back to Roman's baby learning channel. He has on noise canceling baby headphones.
"Yes. You know this..."
"Okay, Mr. Minnelli. Who are you?" she pokes her head toward the drivers seat. "How did you get into these different things?"
"You really wanna know?"
"Well, I'm stuck in this backseat for an hour with a baby that don't fool with me anymore...I mean."
"You sarcastic as hell."
"You knew this though." She throws his words back at him. "I'm serious." she bats her brown eyes at him flirtatiously.
"So, you know I have a twin and a triplet sister, then a set of boy-girl twin siblings too. Outside of them, Greyson and Everest are who I consider my brothers too. Greyson is my first cousin; my pops and his pops are brothers. His pops is actually the baby brother out of them. My dad has three brothers and a sister. Tied for the most siblings in his generation."
"But I remember Everest saying he was from Miami in my interview..."
"The other three of our group are from Sunset Valley, California. It's a very LA-esque area in northern California."
Mia is intrigued by his profile, his focus on the road ahead. The small details about his skin, the different moles and freckles in it. The small grey hairs in his beard. The small tattoo going down the side of his neck. Flutters in her stomach caught her off guard and she blushed.
"I was the CEO of the Minnelli Family Headquarters at twenty-three years old. And bored. I felt I had reached the heights of my goals.
Everest moved to Colorado first because he has a horse named Phoenix and he felt he should go to a climate more suited for horses. Soon after that he started his horse mating/racehorse thing. So one night, in the man cave of his pops wing of the mansion in Miami, he goes into detail about starting his own consulting firm. I'm interested because, I'm bored...I need a new challenge."
"You don't look like a man that likes risks."
"Depends on what risks we're talking about. So, me and Royce twenty-three. Ev is about twenty-two when we start the talks up. We decided to do it in Colorado because it was Ev's idea."
"But you're stable..."
"Back then, I didn't care bout stability like I do now. None of us did honestly. We have no problem picking up, dropping jobs and going somewhere else. And to some degree, I'm still like that. I'm constantly looking into shit to invest in, pull out of. That comes with being wealthy and a daredevil in business."
"Okay...just how old are you?"
"Dirty thirty shawty. I told you to do ya research."
"Anyways! Back to the story."
"So, we build a new building downtown because I like new shit. I'm a bourgeoisie (bougee) man at heart. Greyson joins us a year later and we grow from just a little something to a real force. At that point, I feel good because we weren't used to shit not working out in our favor. Never mind that business savvy runs through my veins. We moved from California permanently and the rest is history."
They turn off the main road and go down another road. A Maserati honks at them on the other side. "Ev on his way to Miami with Si." Stone throws his hand up in acknowledgement.
They pass three other homes. "Where's your house?"
"In the back." The snow is coming down now.
Mia's eyes widened in awe at the beautiful scene in front of them. Roman had slumped himself in his seat, asleep. She puts his coat and boots back on.
A maid runs to meet them with a big smile on her face and hot chocolate on a tray. "It's gonna be a blizzard coming later on tonight." The garage is surprisingly warm as well. "My name is Renee." She hands Mia a mug while taking the baby from her arms.
They go upstairs and there are maids moving around everywhere
"Oh...okay." She moves out of the women's way.
"About thirty minutes on dinner sir. That should be plenty of time to show the estate." Renee announced. Roman was giggling and holding on to the woman. Mia reached for him and he declined.
"It be ya own kid." She mumbled. Stone moves around the home, showing her the different rooms. A movie theater, spa room, many bedrooms and game room. One of the bedrooms was already prepared for Roman as well. He didn't finish before dinner was finally done.
"What are you thinking?" he finally asked. Roman is playing in his high-chair.
"Overwhelmed a little." She admits. "I just feel...a lot of different things. I'm nervous."
"Why?"
"Because, I just think it's too fast. But maybe that's because I'm pregnant." She admits again. "I think you should tell your parents the truth up front."
"You sure? I can take the heat from them, if that's what you're worried about."
"No. Don't delay your mother's involvement. I may need her." she looks away from the table to the falling snow with a sad face. "I have a final due by Wednesday of thanksgiving week. Let me go."
School was always her security blanket. Stone watch her take Roman, who was grinning at him like he won something.
Later that night, Stone FaceTimed his parents.
"Why you just now telling me I have a grandbaby! And a Bond Baby! Stone Alessandro Minnelli!" Ivory stuck her head in the camera further. "When I see you, I'm fucking you UP! You hear me."
"Ya mama is happy for you, boy." Tyson pulls her out of the screen.
"Expect me and ya Nana! I'm telling!" Ivory hits the end button.
Not my Nana...Stone's face paled.
The next morning, Mia woke up first and started to walk around the premises. Maids constantly asked her if she was alright, what they could get her, and what she wanted for breakfast so they could relate it to the chef in the kitchen. She politely declined each and every time.
"I would prefer cooking for myself." She smiled. The women are impressed.
Mia found herself wandering in the kitchen. The chef, a black woman, was humming and making pancake batter.
"You must be the girl Mr. Minnelli brought home. He never brings a woman here. What's your name?"
"Mia Henderson." She shook the woman's hand. "do you need any help?"
"Nope. I pretty much got it." Mary, the chef smiled. Humble...the woman thought. She watches Mia put the baby in his chair with a bottle.
"I cannot do a perfect pancake to save my life." She watched her whisk the batter.
"Then I'll show you." Mary offered. After several attempts to get the perfect pancake, she got it.
"Thank you Mary!" She hugged her gratefully. Stone watched the last attempt and their celebration.
"I think you'll do fine." He kisses her cheek.