Page 145 of Smoke

There was nothing but silence as he worked his way from my toes to my neck. When he got to my face, he cupped it and kissed me slowly. As our lips parted, he pressed his forehead to mine.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there… I should have gone with you.”

I shook my head. “It’s not your fault.”

“It is. I shouldn’t have let you drive alone, knowing she was out there. I thought… I thought she would have stayed in hiding.”

“She was watching me. You didn’t see the look in her eyes. She would have made the same move, no matter if you were with me or not. She blamed me for her father and brother’s death. I was always the one who was going to pay for it. I’m just glad it’s over.” I looked at him with hopeful eyes. “Please tell me it’s over.”

He nodded. “Pops is handling everything. The chief, the officers that responded to your calls… Derrick’s wife.”

“The other kids?”

“They’re estranged. The other daughter hasn’t spoken to him in years, and the son lives out of state. I don’t think they are a threat.”

I nodded. “What am I gonna do about the house? I can’t go back there, Devin. I just know I’m gonna see nothing but blood or her body in the spot where she died. And my girls… I don’t want her spirit haunting them. After all we’ve been through, we deserve peace.”

“Then stay here. The girls already have their rooms. If you don’t wanna go back, you don’t have to. I can get our moms and your sister to help pack up what you need, and you and our girls can be here where you belong.”

I stared at him for a moment before nodding. I didn’t have it in me to fight him on this… not this time.

“Okay,” I said softly. “We’ll stay.”

He kissed me again, then stood to his feet and put my items away. I dressed in the pajamas he’d laid out for me and climbed into bed.

“Are you hungry?” he asked when he was done.

“No. I just wanna lay here for a bit.”

“Do you want to be alone?”

I shook my head. “No.”

He didn’t say anything as he kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed with me. I snuggled close to him, wrapping my arm around his waist and resting my head against his chest. A deep, relaxed sigh expelled from my lips, knowing that my girls and I were the safest place… with him.

A Month Later

“Damn, Ju. What did you eat?”

I frowned as I changed the shitty diaper. Baby girl had a damn blowout that went up her back. I knew I smelled something when I went to check on her after seeing she was awake on the monitor, but I wasn’t expecting that.

I settled into daddy mode rather quickly. These girls had a nigga out here making lunches, fixing bottles, changing diapers, helping with homework, and all kinds of other shit. I couldn’t say that I didn’t love it.

Juri was doing well, given her premature birth. I’d been doing a lot of reading on premature babies and their milestones to make sure our girl was on track or if anything felt off with her. Even though she was five and a half months old at this point, her corrected age was more like two and a half months.

Korri was still my sweet girl. She’d taken to this country living like it was nothing. Every day when she came home from school, she’d do her homework, spend a little time with Juri, then she was ready to go see the horses. I’d been teaching her how to ride, and she was getting the hang of it. Baby girl wanted to go fast, but I had to tell her we had to take it slow so she didn’t get hurt.

She loved spending time with my grandmother, who had her in the garden on weekends. Grams was also teaching her how to bake those cookies she loved so much. I still had to beg them to let me have one.

Korri was also spending more time with my siblings. She recognized them as her aunts and uncles. Of course, Jaeda was her favorite aunt because she finally let somebody other than herself go into her basement to see her Lego collection.

Steel was her favorite uncle because he was the one that played her childish games the most. She had that big ass man playing hide and seek, hopscotch, jump rope, and a bunch of other shit. He loved it. I think it was finally hitting him that he was ready to settle down.

I didn’t bring it up to him, but I saw the changes.

“Oh my God,” Romi said, coming into Juri’s room.

I looked back to see her covering her nose, and chuckled.

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