Page 53 of Rhodes to Love

“I know. You don’t owe me an apology. I’m gonna go talk to her.”

She kissed my head, then I grabbed Rhodes’s hand to get the hell away from here. As Rhodes helped me in the truck, he asked, “Can you just call Milana tonight? You can go check on her tomorrow. You need your rest.”

I nodded, and he kissed my hand. When he closed the door, I released my tears, my sadness, and my hurt. My family was in turmoil and the devil was happy as shit right now.

* * *

As I sat at the table with Rhodes and my immediate family, I rubbed my stomach, trying to calm my baby down. She had been moving so much during the funeral it had my stomach hurting. Then again, it was probably stress. The funeral was hard. Aunt Tiff cried so much, which caused everyone else to cry just as much. I knew she and Grandpa were close, but I wanted to believe the situation with Milana and how what she did connected to Grandpa’s death broke her heart.

Grandpa’s funeral was supposed to be a celebration of his life, but no one could even celebrate. Uncle Jasper was supposed to stand and talk on behalf of the family. He would have had everyone crying with laughter, but with as emotional as everyone was, he didn’t even go to the mic. Literally, no one in the family could keep it together, and it was the first time I didn’t hear a word from God during our family’s time of distress.

I supposed all had been already said and it was up to them to take heed to my words. I could only pray that after today, what I said at the hospital the day Grandpa died would resonate in their souls. God didn’t forget about us, but I felt like we’d forgotten about Him. It was like we couldn’t see past that sorrow and grief.

“Baby, are you okay?” my mama asked.

“I think so. My stomach is hurting.”

Her eyebrows lifted. Rhodes immediately brought his hand to my belly and rubbed it in circular motions, and Kingsley brought a chair next to me for me to put my feet up. Rhodes turned his seat to where I could rest my back against him and continued rubbing my belly as my mama sat next to me and lifted my legs to her lap.

Everyone was staring at me and trying to figure out if I was okay. I couldn’t speak. I didn’twantto speak. Today had been rough, and after this, I just wanted to go home and rest. Rhodes kissed the side of my head and my cheek as I closed my eyes and focused on my baby.

“Everything will be fine, baby. In Jesus name, all is well.”

I opened my eyes and turned to look at Rhodes. It was like he was sort of confused as to how he knew to say that. He didn’t talk that way. I had to accept that God was using my man to speak to me. For once, I was the one being ministered to, and it felt good that God chose to use Rhodes to do that. He kissed me again and closed his eyes.

“After you eat, we’ll go home. I love you.”

“Okay. I love you too.”

I could see that my mama wanted to ask questions, but she remained quiet after that. I truly believed that her questions were gonna further stress me out and make me anxious. It was like Rhodes’s words were for her as well. I wasn’t having stabbing pains or anything like that. My stomach just felt somewhat sore.

As we sat, waiting for the food to be served, Aunt Jen set a to-go container in front of me. “You need to go home and rest, baby. Oftentimes, people that God use as mightily as He uses you, need more rest. Your spirit is drained, and it doesn’t help that your princess is pulling from you too. The family will be fine. God said so. I love you so much, baby, but I need you to tend to your needs.”

She kissed my head, and I gave her a soft smile. She was right. There was nothing more for me to say. Whatever was gonna happen was gonna happen, whether I was here or not. My mama lowered my legs, and as I stood, Rhodes scooped me up in his arms. My parents, brothers, and Cassie all followed us out and offered hugs and kisses. Rhodes put me in the back seat of his SUV then took off my shoes and lifted my feet to the seat as well.

Once he closed the door, I leaned against it and before he could get inside, I had fallen asleep.

* * *

“You have to tell Rhodes that I will never forget today,” Mekayla said.

I chuckled as I lifted my foot from the water. He’d rented out Massage Envy for us to receive maternity massages and enjoy an entire spa day. Mekayla, Cassie, and I were so relaxed we’d all fallen asleep at some point. This past weekend had been a lot for all of us, but even more so for me. Cassie and Mekayla had their families to lean on and to escape to. There was no escaping it for me. This was my family.

“I will definitely tell him,” I said with a chuckle.

“Karima, how are you feeling? Did it take long for your stomach to stop hurting?” Cassie asked. “I was so worried about you. I believed everyone else was too.”

“When we got to Cheek, Rhodes brought me straight to bed. I’d fallen asleep on the way there. I think my body was just exhausted. When I woke up a couple of hours later, the pain was gone. I immediately checked to make sure I wasn’t bleeding. I was so nervous about that. Rhodes was nervous too.”

“I’m glad it all worked out. You needed the rest, sis.”

“How was everyone after I left?”

“It was quiet for a while. My sisters didn’t know what to say or do. Girl, then Uncle Jasper kicked up the music and said that we were supposed to be celebrating Grandpa’s life and what was a celebration without music. The way everyone came alive was the Hendersons I was used to. Unc said everybody had him so stressed and depressed he smoked up his whole stash and hadn’t had a chance to reup,” Mekayla said and laughed.

I laughed. “That’s just like Uncle Jasper. I’m glad he got everybody out of their heads and their feelings. What about Aunt Tiff and Milana? Were they at least talking to each other?”

They were my biggest concern. Their relationship had been shattered from everything that had happened. Milana was sinking in depression, and Aunt Tiff was so angry, it scared me. I glanced at Mekayla and Cassie to see them both put their heads down. That gave me all the answers I needed. However, Cassie said, “They stayed on different sides of the barn. Ashanni and Maui stayed with Milana the entire time, though, so she wasn’t alone.”

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