Page 35 of Sweet Love From Saturn

“You and your brother gon’ stop treating my wife like some bald-headed stepchild,” my dad added.

“I didn’t do anything. That’s your daughter,” I said.

The banter between me and my sister continued as I drove to the restaurant. Occasionally, my mother inquired about a place we passed and Saturn gave her a brief rundown. When we finally made it to the restaurant, the host asked my name before seating us in a round booth. The lights were on the dimmer side and jazz music played lowly in the background. The air smelled like they had nothing but grandmas in the kitchen and the autographed pictures of Black legends hanging told me everything I needed to know.

“So Saturn, are you from Pleasant Springs? Like born and raised?” Stacey asked as she set her menu in front of her.

“I am. Pleasant Springs is all I know. I love to travel and see other places, but as far as home, it’ll always be Pleasant Springs.”

“So you wouldn’t be open to relocating?”

“I’m not closed off to the idea, but with having the flower shop, my feet are planted for now. Plus, I haven’t had my house for five years yet.”

“Smart girl. I’ve never owned a business, but I’ve owned a home for many years and it has its challenges. If you’ve already invested time and money into your home, I wouldn’t move anytime soon,” my dad added.

“I agree. Just trying to see where your head is. When Mccoy told me he was buying a house here, I knew he’d be here for a while. Buying a house isn’t something I take lightly. I’ve only visited Pleasant Springs once, and that was many moons ago. The only thing I remembered was that it was a small town still being developed. Now that I’m seeing it as an older woman, it looks like the perfect place to settle down.”

Nodding in agreement with my mother, I turned my attention to Saturn to read her body language. Although everything had been going well in my opinion, I still wanted to make sure she was comfortable. The genuine smile she gave me let me know all was well. As the night went on, the conversation switched from topic to topic. My parents and Stacey got to know Saturn a lot better and even suggested we do this again and invite her family. I was down with that and appreciated my family supporting our relationship.

“Which design do you like better?”I questioned as I held the flyers in front of Saturn.

Since I’d talked her into entering May’s Flowers in the town’s competition, I felt it was only right that I help her prepare. I’d been helping promote the event and would also help her make the arrangements to sell. The event was next week and I couldn’twait to see what Saturn had in store. She didn’t give herself enough credit, but I was hoping the small changes I suggested would help with that. She’d hired another employee to make deliveries and even that was a win.

“I like this one, but I like this font better,” she expressed.

While she looked between both designs, I stayed quiet until she was sure of what she wanted.

“Yeah... If you put this font with this design, it’ll be perfect. It gives everything I represent,” she admitted.

“I think so as well. Are you sure you’re ready to go through this big of a rebrand? I know you said you were ready, but renaming May’s Flowers is a big decision,” I vented.

Last weekend, Saturn and I had a long talk about the direction she wanted to take the shop in. She expressed that she wanted to start over on a clean slate. As much as she loved her grandmother, Saturn wanted the shop to feel more like her own. Instead of feeling trapped in obligation, Saturn simply wanted to change it up. When I gave her suggestions about making the shop more modern, I didn’t expect her to want to go this far. Since she seemed to have a vision of what she wanted, I decided that I would just support her instead of pressing her too hard.

“I’m sure. I thought long about everything and even spoke to my parents about it. They’re good with whatever I choose to do. They said they want to be hands on with helping for the festival. My sister said she’d be getting us all shirts made.”

“Oh yeah? When is she placing the order? I’ll get some made for me and my family as well,” I admitted.

“You think your family would do that for me?”

“It’s a shirt, Saturn. Plus, you know they love you already. My mom calls to check on you just as much as she calls me.”

“How are they anyway? I feel like I haven’t seen them in forever.”

“You’re more than welcome to stop by the house anytime and see them.”

My parents and sister had been here for a few days already. I’d missed my family and wanted to enjoy some quality time with them, but I was over it. I loved my family dearly, but my social battery was getting low. My father insisted on them staying in a hotel, but there was no way I’d let that happen when I had the extra space. When I made it home from work earlier, I let them know I’d be staying the night at Saturn’s. I knew she wouldn’t stay with me while they were there, and to be honest, I needed the escape. Tonight was the first night I could relax and not be in host mode.

Right now, Saturn and I were laying in her bed, pecking away at the keys on our laptops. Neither of us were paying attention to the television playing lowly in the background. Sparky was in his corner of Saturn’s room, snoring like a grown ass man. When I first heard him snoring like that, it was on a video Saturn had sent me. Although I saw it with my own eyes, it was hard to believe he snored like he worked twelve-hour shifts every day. This was the routine I’d gotten used to. It was the one part of my day I had to look forward to.

Saturn and I could be laying in silence and I’d still be content. Being next to her calmed my soul and made me forget about the chaos of everyday life. Closing my laptop, I put it on the nightstand before taking my shirt off.

“Give me like five minutes and I’ll wrap it up. I’m just placing some orders for the shop,” she explained.

“Cool.”

After calling for Sparky, I left the bedroom when I knew he was behind me. He used to sleep in the same room as us, but Saturn and I both decided he should sleep in the living room. One night he looked over and saw us being intimate and the shit felt awkward. Now, we closed the bedroom door or made surehe was nowhere in sight. I walked around the house and secured each lock and the alarms. Satisfied that everything was good, I walked to the kitchen and found Saturn’s favorite tumbler in the dish rack. Grabbing it, I opened the ice maker and put a few scoops of ice in. I pulled out two bottles of water and poured one of them in Saturn’s cup.

My baby didn’t play about having her ice-cold water at her side throughout the night. When I made it back to the room, Saturn was laying down with the covers pulled up to her chin. Her bonnet covered her copper curls and she looked relaxed.

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