Page 138 of Smoke

He stood and reached for my hand. I slipped my palm into his and stood to my feet. He led me upstairs and down past his bedroom to a set of three doors.

“Now, I might be overstepping like a muthafucka, but I wanted to do this for our girls. Maybe I’m thinking too far ahead. Maybe I’m doing the damn most, because we know I tend to dothat. But I want y’all here with me. Whenever you’re ready, I want this house to be our home. That means my girls need their own space.”

He opened the middle door to reveal a pink and white themed bathroom. Everything was so cute and girly, perfect for Korri and Juri. It was stocked with pink and white towels, a baby bathtub, and every product I had for them at my house.

The bathroom had two adjoining doors. When he opened the first one, it led to a nursery similar to the one Juri already had, except it was lavender, white, and gold themed. The second door led to a little girl’s room, perfect for Korri. It held a canopy bed set, a huge TV mounted to the wall, and a corner for her toys. The other corner was set up with a desk, a bookshelf, and a shelf full of brand-new Lego sets.

Once again, I was in tears.

This man really outdid himself. I collapsed against him, crying profusely.

He chuckled. “I take it you like it?” he asked.

“I love it.” I pulled back and looked up at him. “Thank you for thinking of us, Devin.”

“Baby, these days, you’re the only thing on my damn mind. Keeping you safe and happy is all I want to do.”

“I love you… so fucking much.”

He smirked. “I’m a lovable nigga.”

I playfully smacked his chest. He lifted me and wrapped my legs around his waist as I wrapped my arms around his neck.

“I don’t know what I would do without you,” I confessed.

“Well, you’ll never have to worry about that. I’ve got you in every way. Go put on some shoes. I’ve got one more thing to show you.”

I pulled back and looked at him. “What did you do?”

“You trust me?”

“With my life.”

“Then go put your shoes on and meet me in the truck.”

He placed me on my feet, and I followed his request. When I made it outside, Granny Dillinger was about to pull away on her golf cart. I stopped to hug her and thank her for her company before getting into the truck with Devin.

He put on some R&B and grabbed my hand as we pulled onto the road. That was how I knew this man loved me. He loved hip hop and trap music, but with me, he was down for the sappy love shit, as he called it. We drove into the city, bypassing most of the busy streets until we came to a stop in front of a big, stand-alone building.

I was familiar with that space. It was built a couple months back, but the owners never did anything with it. All this time, it had been sitting here unoccupied. Devin got out and came around to retrieve me. We stood in front of the building, me looking confused.

“What is this? Why are we here?”

“This…” He reached into his pocket and handed me a set of keys. “This is your new location.”

“W-what? How did you… when did you… what!”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about all that. I told you I got you, and I’ll always have you. Go take a look.”

I stood there for a moment, completely flabbergasted by this gesture. I had to will my feet to move. With trembling fingers, I unlocked and opened the door, then stepped inside. The place looked practically new. It was huge and still had that fresh paint smell. It would need some updates to make the suites, but the foundation was perfect.

Currently, we were standing in a back room that I could see me making my office. There was a huge desk and bookshelf combo built into the wall and so much space left for decorating. So many visions of what I could do here flooded my mind.

“It’s big enough to add a workshop in the back to make your skincare products,” Devin said from the door. “Shar’s daddy is a contractor, so I can commission him to do the work. Whenever you’re ready, we can jump on that.”

I turned to face him. “Devin… this is too much.”

“It’s never too much for you, love. I’ve also contacted your staff. They’ve been paid enough to keep them afloat until this place is up and running. All of them promised to return, and they are available if you need any help.”

---