Page 39 of Rebound

To my shock, my mom starts to cry but she pulls me into her arms. “You selfless beautiful fool.” She pulls away and cups my face again. “Gaga wouldn’t want you to do this.”

“Of course she wouldn’t. Gaga’s always the one doing the giving. I want to give her this, and when Wakowski—”

“Wakowski? You call your husband by his last name?” my mom asks, clearly outraged.

“It’s a million times better than the names you called me during our marriage, Stella,” my dad reminds her. My dad walks to June Bug and covers Jasmine’s ear. “Or was toddler dick an endearment?”

Donna lets out a snort. “If only it was that big,” she says.

“That’s enough of that,” Seth says and takes Jasmine from June Bug.

“Have some damn class, Stella,” my dad says.

“Look, Lay,” my mom says. “It was one thing when I thought you were finally getting out of your shell and dating, but marriage is a whole different animal. You’ve never even had a boyfriend before. I’m worried about you.” She looks from my face to Seth’s.

“I’ll be fine,” I tell her. “One thing about me is that I not only take care of myself, but I stand up for myself too.”

At that, June Bug takes a step closer to Seth. “If my cousin ever needs to stand up for herself with you, you’ve already done too much,” he hisses. Jasmine, who doesn’t understand June Bug’s tone, claps her hands together before reaching for him. He takes her and spins her around the room like an airplane.

“What June Bug just said,” my mom says. “I will fuck you up,” she whispers. “You fuck around on my daughter, and you’re gonna find out.”

Seth holds both hands up before he takes one of my hands in his, and I intertwine my fingers with his. I’ve never done thiswith a man before. I’ve only ever held hands with my dad and June Bug when they would walk me to school when I was a little girl. Holding hands with Seth is so much better.

“It doesn’t matter what you did before as long as you are committed to my daughter now,” Dad says.

“Thanks, Dad,” I say, grateful to have him here even though I know he always does and says the opposite of whatever my mother says. Right now, I don’t care about that. Dad pulls me into his arms and hugs me. Once he’s done with me, he hugs Seth.

My mom purses her lips in disapproval, and I’m not sure who she disapproves of more right now. Me or my dad. She hugs me too and kisses my cheek.

“Okay. I raised you to be your own person, but I wish you had talked to me about it first.” She hugs and kisses me again. She pulls away and cups my face. “My little girl is married.” She looks at Seth and opens her arm, and he joins our group hug. “Welcome to the family, Seth. This is your home as long as my daughter chooses to be with you.”

She lets us go, but I see tears in her eyes. Right now, I’m sure they aren’t tears of joy. My mom is going to come talk to me about this marriage when I’m alone.

Everyone in the room takes turns congratulating us, and some of the anxiety I’ve had in my stomach since I woke up this morning dies.

“I’m a grandma!” my mom says, taking Jasmine from June Bug. She bounces her in her arms and says, “Can you say grandma?”

“Grum,” Jasmine says.

My dad takes her from my mom next and kisses her cheek, but she looks for June Bug and reaches for him. He takes her.

“Come to Uncle June Bug,” he says. “Let’s go have a word with your daddy.”

“I’m going to make a celebratory dinner for you two,” my mom says. “Leon, feel free to leave now. As always, you’re a disappointment.”

“Disappointment? He’d have to be promoted to be a disappointment,” Donna says with a loud cackle.

Chapter 23

Seth

I roll my eyes, but I follow June Bug down the hall to what I think is his bedroom. He holds my daughter, who is now sticking her index finger in his ear. He doesn’t seem to mind.

We go into a bedroom, and he turns on the TV to a cartoon. He puts Jasmine on his bed, and she’s immediately transfixed by a talking dog on the television.

I cross my arms and wait to hear what bullshit will be spilling from his mouth. It doesn’t take long.

“You disrespect my cousin, and I’m gonna handle it. If I see any pictures of you and some Sethhead or hear any rumors, I’m gonna fuck you up.” He lowers his voice when he says fuck, but Jasmine’s not paying attention to us anyway. “I’m not going to give you time to explain. This isn’t the justice system. You are guilty the moment I hear a rumor. Got it?”

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