Page 40 of The Only Shot that Mattered

Their conversation halted as they rounded the corner into the living room and saw Jendaya and Skylar lounging on the couch.

Skylar turned with a smile on her face that quickly faded when she saw Kenna. She turned back to the show on the TV. “Hey, Daddy.”

Her voice was dry, but when Jendaya spoke, she sounded the complete opposite.

“Hey, Kenna! I was wondering when I would see you again.” Jendaya hopped off the couch and hugged Kenna while Damien stood back and observed in amusement.

Jendaya had never changed up. Since they were young, she was always the most positive person in the room with the brightest light. Everyone liked her, and there weren’t many people she disliked. She was the truest version of a people person.

“You ain’t got no love for me, Zendaya?” Damien joked, knowing it would piss her off.

Immediately, she stepped away from Kenna and her eyes narrowed. “Boy, I will cut you.”

“Believe her, Daddy. She’s in a bad mood today,” Skylar said, without turning to look at him.

Jendaya lightly slapped the back of Skylar’s head while Damien asked, “What are you guys doing here anyway? I thought I told you to call if you were going to stop by.”

“I did call. Your spoiled brat over there wanted to come a day early. I hope that’s okay.” Jendaya glanced over at Kenna, who had become extremely quiet since stepping into the living room. “Please say yes. Grayson actually has some time off and wants to take me on a date.”

Damien released a breath and looked at Kenna, who immediately nodded. He could tell she was frazzled and probably a little uncomfortable. He was a bit frazzled as well, but he should have known something like this was bound to happen eventually.

“Of course. I have a game tomorrow, so we’ll have to coordinate that.”

Jendaya sucked her teeth. “You act like I don’t keep up with your schedule. I’ll be at the game, thank you very much. My mom can hang out with Sky while we’re kicking the Celtics’s ass.”

Damien chuckled. “Bet.”

They did their handshake before Jendaya walked toward the back of the couch and grabbed Skylar by the forehead, pulling her head back. “I love you,” she said before kissing her daughter’s head.

“Love you too, Mama,” Skylar replied, tilting her head forward again so her eyes could land on the TV.

Jendaya walked past Kenna and gave her hand a quick squeeze before disappearing from the room. A few seconds later, the front door opened and closed, leaving the three of them alone.

Before either of the adults could say a word, Skylar jumped up and announced, “I want to go see a movie, Dad.”

Damien sighed. “Baby, I’ve had a long day. Can we go in a couple of days?”

Skylar pouted. “I want to go seeWicked. Please? You probably won’t feel like it in a couple of days either.”

Damien reallyreallydidn’t want to go, but he felt himself about to cave. Before he could, Kenna spoke up.

“I can take you,” she offered. “Alanzo told me the other day that he wanted to see it too. Maybe I can call Annalise and see if I can pick him up.”

While Skylar’s eyes turned to slits as she looked at Kenna, Damien felt a sense of relief. Not only was Kenna taking the initiative to spend some one on one time with Skylar, it would give him a moment alone to simply rest. The past month had been great for him, but he felt himself stretching thin.

Skylar finally stomped her foot and looked at him. “Daddy?”

“Sky, if you want to see the movie, going with Kenna is your best bet. I ain’t really in the mood to sit through a three hour musical right now.”

Skylar sighed and rolled her eyes to Kenna. “Do you even know whatWickedis?”

Kenna cracked a slow grin. “When I was young, my mom took me and… my brother to the play. I played Elphaba in my third grade play after that. I’ve been wanting to see the movie too. I normally just wait to stream new movies, but I could conquer a movie theater this once, I think.”

Skylar’s face screwed up. “Conquer the movie theater? Is you cool?”

“Skylar,” Damien warned, “you wanna go or not?”

Her bottom lip poked out. “Fine. I’ll go get my things. There’s a movie starting in thirty minutes. I’ll get the tickets.”

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