Page 60 of So This Is Love

I nod my head, “Yes ma’am.”

“I’m going to go check on RJ,” Shannon says, sliding off her chair.

Lauryn nudges me. “Don’t pay her any mind.”

Without Shannon, the mood in the kitchen improves dramatically. Talking with Lauryn and Bryce’s mom comes easily as we finish preparing for the party. They don’t interrogate me, or make me feel uncomfortable, like my nerves made me want to believe before I arrived. If anything it’s the opposite. Before I know it, everything that was left to do is finished.

“Is there anything else you need help with?”

“You’ve done more than enough. I’ve got it from here.”

“Are you sure?” I ask. “I don’t mind.”

“Honey, go on and find that son of mine and enjoy yourself,” she replies, shooing me out of the kitchen.

Someone walks in and gets her attention, whisking her away to do something else, so I follow her direction and go off in search of Bryce.

In the backyard, I see that the party is in full swing. The music has been turned up and there are a lot of people talking, eatingand overall enjoying themselves. I scan the yard for Bryce and see him across the yard with who I assume to be his uncle on the grill. I leave him to talk and grab a seltzer from a nearby cooler and take a seat at an empty table.

Only a few minutes pass before I see Bryce walking towards me.

“Hey you good?” he asks.

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You sure? You’re over here hiding out by yourself,” he says, skeptical.

“I’m not hiding,” I argue back. “I was just hanging back and letting you be with your family.”

“Nah, none of that. Let’s go get you a plate.”

He takes my hand and leads us to where all the food is set out on warmers and we take our spot at the end of the line.

“Is this all your family?” I ask, looking around at the growing number of people arriving.

“For the most part yeah. There’s some of my mom’s friends, but she’s been friends with them for forever so they’re damn near family at this point. Everyone else is related to me in one way or another.”

He points out different people throughout the yard, aunts, uncles and cousins, telling me their names.

“Wow,” I reply. “I didn’t realize people actually had big family gatherings like this.”

“You don’t have family parties?”

“Not like this,” I say, gesturing to all the people. “My mom is an only child and she isn’t close with her extended family.”

“My mom is one of six and my dad was one of four and they all had a bunch of kids so I’m used to having a lot of family around for events and stuff.”

We inch forward in the line and the older man Bryce was talking to earlier, walks up to the both of us. “This you nephew?”

He holds his hand out to me and I take it, shaking it. “Hi, I’m Laila.”

“Laila, what is a beautiful lady like yourself doing with a knucklehead like this one here?”

“You trying to take my girl right in front of me Unc?” Bryce says, joking. “That’s cold blooded.”

“Just calling it like I see it nephew,” Bryce’s uncle says before turning back to me. “If Bryce here ever gives you any trouble, you let me know and I’ll make sure to get him in line.”

I laugh at the back and forth that Bryce and his uncle go through before his uncle pats him on the shoulder and leaves.

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