Page 37 of If You Love Me

“I remember this,” she said, tracing her embroidered name.

She flipped the book open. A smile spread across her lips as she turned each of the pages.

“Damn… Summer looks just like me as a kid.”

“It’s the hair.”

“Look at how tiny I was. It was giving lollipop with that big ass head.”

I chuckled. “You were adorable. You’ve seen my kid pictures. I was all ears.”

She giggled and reached out to rub my ear. “You grew into them.”

“I had to. I got sick of niggas telling me I was gonna fly away like Dumbo.”

She continued flipping through the album, bypassing pictures of her in middle and high school. She stopped when she came to the picture of us from our first date.

“We looked so innocent,” she said softly.

“Iwasinnocent.”

“And I wasn’t?”

“Did your Daddy know you were trying to touch me? I distinctly remember me trying to drive and you had your hand on my thigh.”

“I distinctly remember you inching my hand higher. Don’t play me like I was some fast ass little girl.”

I laughed. “Okay, so we were both being fast.”

She rolled her eyes as she flipped through the book. There were pictures of us at prom and high school and college graduation. There was a whole section with us renovating our home.

“We had so much fun,” she said, picking the album up and placing it on her lap. “Your grandfather was so proud of the finished result.”

I smiled. “He was. “He said he couldn’t have done a better job himself.”

“I wished he could have lived to see Summer grow up in it.”

“That man would have spoiled her rotten. His first great grandbaby? She would have gotten anything she wanted out of him. You see the way he was with you. Low-key, I think you were the main reason he gave us the house.”

My pops loved him some Evenie. From the very first time he met her, he said there was something special about her. She reminded him of a younger version of my grandmother, and that man loved her something serious.

“I can’t help it if I was the favorite grandchild,” Evenie teased.

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever.”

She kept flipping through the pages until she got to Summer Rose’s section. Tears immediately filled her eyes as she looked through every photo. I gently stroked her back in an attempt to comfort her as they began to fall.

“I really missed my baby’s entire life,” she said, sniffling. “Look at this… crawling, walking, solid foods, her first tooth… I’ve missed everything, Tyrion. I don’t know my child at all.”

She burst into tears, and that shit made me want to cry my damn self. I pulled the album away and placed it on the table before pulling her into my arms and holding her tightly.

“I know it hurts, love,” I said softly. “But you have all the time in the world to get to know her now. You’re here, and she’s here. I know it isn’t fair, but this is what we have right now. We’ll make the most of it. She already loves you so much. That’s what matters the most.”

She pulled away and looked up at me. “This wasn’t supposed to be our life. We were supposed to be three kids in by now with a fat little fur baby chasing them around the house. We were supposed to take family vacations and have big holiday celebrations together… We were supposed to be happy. Now it’s ruined. That man ruined my life, and you ruined me coming home by getting a fucking fiancée!”

She shoved me away and sprinted from the couch.

“Evenie!” I called, following her down the hall.

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