Page 48 of Pills and Potions: Kase
A few months later…
My image and being the number one club owner used to be my priority, where everything else didn’t matter for shit. Yet so much had changed in the last year, starting with my relationship status. I was no longer a single bachelor. In fact, I was engaged to my fiancée, Blyss, who was carrying my baby. My damn baby. And I didn’t know if it was her being who she was, but that woman flipped my whole life upside down. She still wears those thick-ass glasses, stays dropping facts nobody asked for, and snores a little when she’s too tired to fight sleep. And I love every bit of it. I used to chase women I couldn’t remember the next day. Now I’m out here reading baby name books with highlighters and arguing with her about stroller wheel suspension. Blyss didn’t just change me.
As I was on a business call, talking through the new lounge and restaurant I was getting ready to launch, some slick concept with a residential jazz vibe and curated menus, when Blyss came waddling in with her big-ass belly and that same goofy smile thatstill makes my chest tight. I hung up without a second thought, kissed her lips, and placed my hand on her stomach.
“Baby, hurry up,” she said, wide-eyed. “We gotta get to the planetarium for Tuesday and Jace’s baby shower. They already called me six times to see if we were on the way. You and your brother live ten minutes away from each other and act like y’all be dying,” she laughed.
I smirked. “I’m coming, mama. Don’t hate. He is my Irish twin.
Just as she walked out the living room, my phone lit up with a FaceTime call from my mom. I picked up, and her face filled the screen like she’d been waiting all day to check in.
“Look at my oldest baby,” she beamed. “How are you? How are the businesses?
“Killin’ it,” I smirked.
“Aww, I’m so proud,” she gushed. “My oldest baby is a business owner who actually used his Howard business degree, and my youngest is an engineer from NYU. I did that. I’m so proud.”
“We glad we makin’ you proud,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “How’s Robert?”
“Amazing. He’s flying me out to Hawaii tomorrow.”
“Didn’t you just get back from Jamaica?”
“Absolutely,” she said, flipping her hair. “My man loves to spoil me. We both got grown kids, so now we just focusin’ on our love.”
I chuckled. “Y’all living good.”
She tilted her head. “Anyway, how things goin’ onyourend? How is Blyss? Is she taking care of herself, keeping my grandbaby good?”
“Yeah, she is,” I said and then switched the subject. “I got to ask you something, ma.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Did I use to be a good person?”
Her face softened instantly. “Oh, baby…. “Youarea good person. Flawed? Yes. Stubborn? Absolutely. But you got a good heart. You just get in your own way sometimes. You overthink, overprotect, and push love away like it’s a threat.”
I nodded slowly, swallowing back the tightness in my throat. “Sometimes I feel like I am gonna be like him when it comes to my baby.”
“Your father?”
I nodded.
She leaned closer, voice quiet but firm. “Kase, you arenotyour father. You may have his walk, his smile, even his quick temper, but you’re not him. You know how I know? Because youaskquestions like that. He didn’t.”
“And for what it’s worth…” she added gently, “he called the other day.”
My eyes flicked up. “He did?”
“Mmhm. He said he’s been thinking. Said he owes you and Jace an apology. That he knows he fell short and he’s trying to be man enough to own it.”
I didn’t say anything right away.
She smiled softly. “None of us are perfect, baby. Not me, not your daddy, not even you. But growth starts with honesty. So, keep being real with yourself. Don’t run from your feelings like he did. Face ‘em. Deal with ‘em. And if you really care about that girl… show her the version of you that’s trying. Not the one that’s scared.”
He cheated on you with that hoe?” I asked, the words slipping out before I could catch ‘em.
But my mom just smiled, one of those tired, knowing smiles. “He was to blame. Not her,” she said gently. “She didn’t take anything from me. I left because I refused to raise you and your brother in a house with no love. I chose peace. Found a man wholoves me and respects me enough not to have me out here lookin’ stupid.”
