Page 48 of Our Mother's Sons

“You know I love surprises. Hold on let me get my house keys.”

I was sure Grams didn’t want to hear Jovani’s mouth, so she chose to ride with me and Rainah. A nigga was happier than he’d been in a long time. Jonah’s was doing so well that I could live off the money I made monthly and not even touch any of the dope money I had stashed unless I wanted to splurge on some shit. As far as material things went, I had everything that I wanted. Including a woman that wanted to work and make her own bread.

Rainah never had to pay a bill as long as she was with me, but I liked knowing that if push came to shove and my back was against the wall for whatever reason, she could make some shit shake. The only thing that would have made life better than what it was at the moment would have been the chance to know my father, but lame ass racist muhfuckas took that from me.

It was all good though. The life that I’d live had shaped me into the man that I was. I gave Joanna Mitchell credit all day every day for raising me and instilling certain things in me but the more I got to know Melissa, one thing that I could never deny was the fact that I was indeed my mother’s son.

Chapter13

Voyage Ridley

“Jovani, this doesn’t look like Orlando, Florida?”

It had been two months since I got my daughter back. I was so obsessed with my girl that I didn’t let her leave my side. We were all headed to a family vacation at Disney when I got a call from my doctor asking me to come in and get checked. Scared the shit out of me too. I let Jovani convince me to let Atlantis fly ahead with Grams, Rainah, Jeovanni, Jonah, Jordan, Rainah’s cousin Ashton, Baela, Ida Mae, Ms. Alisa, Deuce, and Sammi. The twins rented a villa on the Disney property, and I couldn’t wait. We were celebrating Atlantis’s first birthday late since she’d had an emergency surgery on her birthday. Girl scared me to death when she walked up to me one day with her fingers bleeding. The day of Baela’s birthday, three weeks before her own she just got up and started walking. I was elated that I hadn’t missed that milestone. Her walking caused me constant stress though. She’d cut herself on glass trying to grab noodles out of Jovani’s pantry and the cut nearly separated one of her merged fingers. After arguing on the matter, we decided to get the surgery that separated my baby’s limbs. I was on the fence about it because her having the birth defect is the reason why Jovani was able to find her in the first place. Had she been born perfect, no telling where my baby would have been sold off to.

So, we let the family fly ahead while we went to my OBGYN. I wanted to scream when the nurse let us know calling was a mistake and that the twins were fine. Yes, I was pregnant, and yes, it was twins. Identical twins. Jovani claimed he knew all along because twins were all he could make. Jovani put me in a jet apologizing over and over like it was his fault the Doctors made a mistake, and when he gave me some award-winning head while we were thirty thousand miles in the air, I was good. I’d already FaceTimed everyone around Atlantis, and seeing my baby in her cute Minnie swimsuit as she ran through the gorgeous villa had me itching to get to her. That excitement faded when the plane landed, and I noticed this wasn’t Orlando.

The truck we were in the back of slowed, and I saw that we were parked in front of a nice two-story home. I turned to face Jovani, who had his palm on my belly. I was getting big fast and embraced it all. I missed the first eleven months of Atlantis’ life, and although that made me sad, I was ready to get to do that God awful newborn stage. We’d moved in with Jovani at his beach mansion. Since I took a leave from the bookstore, wanting to spend every waking minute with my baby girl, we spent our days at the beach, on Jovani’s boat cruising the waters, dining at the best restaurants Ausnor had to offer, and shopping until our hearts were content. Eventually, I would get back to reading and trying to figure out how to get more black authors on the shelves, and I would probably take the Praxis, too, but right now, that was all on the back burner.

Jovani also sexed me like a starved animal every damn night. I was for sure paying what I weighed in coochie. The good life came with a price; my girl below paid it nightly and sometimes daily.

“Jovani! Why are we not at the Villa? Please, I need to be with Atlantis-”

“Aye.”

Jovani had a voice that made my pussy moist. It was like fucking genie in a bottle. He spoke and I did whatever the fuck he said.

“Hmmh?” My eyes fluttered. I was so ready for Orlando that I wore Minnie biker shorts, a sweatshirt, and matching pink Minnie Crocs. We weren’t going to the first park until tomorrow, but still, I was ready. I knew my feet would be burning by the end of the week since we planned to do five parks, including Universal, and two water parks during our ten-day vacation.

“You trust me?”

“More than anything,” my heart panged as I spoke the truth. I’d fallen so head over heels with this man that it didn’t scare me that I’d gotten pregnant and fell in love with him faster than I did Dutton. With Jovani, I had no worries. I didn’t even know when the last time I saw a bill. He loved my mind, body, and soul. I couldn’t get enough of this man. Rainah and I often bantered over who had the better twin. I did for sure. But that rock on her finger begged to differ. Even though the Bendetti twins shared the same face, they had different personalities. My twin was funny and forever laughing me out the panties. Life was extraordinary, but there were days Jovani and I fought because my daughter wanted to be in his arms instead of mine. They’d formed an unbreakable bond, and while she called him Dada, I was still Yemon drop Bish. We were working on that, though.

“Okay. We still going to Disney. We just had to make a pit stop in Jagoda Bay.

“Jagoda Bay!”

I clutched my chest, thinking about how far I was away from my child. Jovani tugged at my hand, gently placing it in his. I’d bought him a matching Mickie shirt, and even though he fussed, he put it on. Jeovanni clowned us when he got a peek at it on FaceTime, but I thought we looked cute.

“Hey. She’s fine. Girl is good. She is surrounded by muhfuckas that ain’t gone let her out of their sights. You don’t have to worry about that no more,” he kissed my lips.

I liked to be near my daughter because I was afraid that she would be taken from me again. I hadn't had a depressive episode since I got her back. Babies no longer triggered me. My life was perfect. To perfect, but I still had nightmares of the day she was snatched.

Jovani led us out of the truck. There was a Benz parked in the driveway that looked like it needed a wash. I still had my Hyundai, but I also had a Range Rover and a Lamborghini, thanks to my man.

Pushing the door open like he owned the place, I kept my lips shut as Jovani pulled me inside. If my man said to trust him, that’s exactly what I would do. I didn’t get the chance to scope out the interior because I’d stopped dead in my tracks.

“Took you long enough,” Melissa Bendetti said, standing, and for the first time, she wasn’t in high heels. I’d bought her a pair of Crocs to match our theme, and Jovani swore his mother wouldn’t wear them. Here she was, Maleficent ears, Crocs, and a matching silk wrap dress that stopped below the knee. Only my man’s mother could make Crocs look expensive. It was a running joke that Melissa was just as cold as the Disney villain.

“Oh my God!”

Dutton was strapped to a chair with duct tape sealing his lips. Sweat poured from his hairline as tears sprang from his eyes.

“Ma what you do to the nigga?”

Jovani grinned as he hooked an arm around his mother and kissed her forehead. I was glad to see that they’d gotten close. Melissa was intimidating as hell when I first met her. Baela swore she was going to be one of those moms that acted like they were fucking their sons but, that wasn’t the case. She was cool and spoiled her grandkids rotten. She and Ms. Mitchell, though, were like World War III every time they were in the same space.

“He tried to run, so I had to do what I had to do.”

---