Page 7 of Rags to Vegas
Berkley chuckled. My baby had her face chubby, but she looked good with a fat face. Even when she was nauseous and throwing up, Berkley still looked good.
“No. You said your people are cool, and I believe you.”
I gave a slight nod. I wasn’t nervous that they wouldn’t like her. I’d never taken a woman to meet my family before. My father, Bryan, Alisa, and my nieces were going to be present. When Bryan found out I had a baby on the way, he wanted to meet the woman that I had gotten pregnant. My only concern was that they’d do too much, but I had already warned her.
Before I went to the NBA, Bryan, who was a year older than me, worked as a firefighter. Even after I entered the NBA, he continued to work. He was a man that wanted to provide for his family and not leech off his brother, and I respected that. But I still did nice things for him. I bought him a car, paid his mortgage for a few months, and paid for him and Alisa’s wedding. When I got injured and decided to start a sports management firm, only then was he comfortable quitting his job. He wanted to work for the money he made. Of course, I had retired my father with no questions asked. He was a man as well,and he didn’t like sitting around doing nothing, so he did yard work for elderly people that couldn’t do it themselves and that couldn’t afford to pay someone to do it.
After Bryan and I started working together, he sold the house he was living in and got him and Alisa another home. He didn’t live too far from me. When I arrived at his house, my father’s truck was already parked out front. Berkley stayed put while I walked around the car and opened the door for her. Once she was in front of me, I kissed her on the lips. I did that often. I had no clue what it was about her, but I couldn’t keep my hands or my mouth off her. There were days that I craved eating her pussy the same way I craved stroking her walls. I had been with many women, but Berkley had some kind of hold on me that was foreign as hell to me, but I liked it. I liked that shit a lot.
I had to wonder if I was tripping when I contemplated going ring shopping. It was kind of crazy to say I didn’t want to move too fast because she was already pregnant. The pregnancy wasn’t planned, however. A marriage had to be intentional. I’d rather have a baby out of wedlock than to marry someone that I wasn’t sure I wanted to attempt to spend forever with. With that, I decided to give it some more time, but it crossed my mind often. I wanted to do all the things with Berkley that I’d never done with anyone else.
Less than ten seconds after I rang the bell, Alisa answered the door with a wide smile on her face. “Hiiiiiii,” she sang. “I’m Alisa. It’s so nice to meet you.” She was smiling so hard her face had to hurt.
With a groan, I shook my head. “I knew you were going to be doing too much.”
“How am I doing too much? I’m just being polite,” Alisa actually looked clueless.
“Yeah, okay.”
We followed her into the den, and the moment Bryan’s eyes fell on us, he started grinning just as hard as his wife. “It’s a miracle. A whole miracle,” he marveled, and I grabbed Berkley’s hand.
“We’re leaving.”
She laughed and pulled her hand out of mine as Bryan walked over and hugged her. “I can’t help it if we seem so shocked. This man is almost thirty and has never introduced the family to a woman.”
Berkley smiled. It was my father’s turn, and it was mind boggling to me how happy everyone appeared. Damn they must have wanted me to be tied down bad as hell. My life as a single man wasn’t terrible. Shit, I had a lot of fun over the years, and I was glad that I’d gotten it out of my system. I wouldn’t change a thing about the way I’d lived my life. I found the person for me when I was supposed to find her.
“I’m Crenshaw’s father, Erias. It’s nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you as well.”
“I hear you have a little bun baking in there. When are you going to find out the gender?”
“In two weeks.”
“Are you having a gender reveal?” Alisa asked. She was having another girl. My poor brother was stressed the hell out. He had to deal with never getting his boy, or having a house full of kids trying to get a boy.
“I doubt it,” Berkley sat down on the couch. “My mom is deceased and most of my family is in North Carolina. The only people I have in Vegas are my friend, her husband, and Crenshaw.”
“Well now you have us. And it doesn’t have to be anything big. You can cut a cake or something small. We can go to a five star restaurant, have a nice dinner, then the server can bring out some kind of dessert that reveals the gender.”
“I’d like that,” Berkley smiled.
I was lowkey grateful that Alisa was so extra and over the top. I knew she and Berkley would get along well, and my shorty wouldn’t have to feel like she didn’t know anyone. Bryan had the grill fired up out back. He passed me a red Solo cup with tequila inside, and I followed him into the backyard. Our father joined us, and Berkley stayed inside with Alisa. Her mother had just arrived with the twins. Alisa’s mother was just as friendly as her, and I knew she’d treat Berkley the same way she treated everyone else. Before we left, she’d probably be offering to babysit if we ever needed her.
Alisa was really good with graphic design, and she did a lot of freelance work. She designed book covers, coloring books, journals, flyers, you name it. She stayed booked and busy. And because Bryan was the provider and paid all the bills, she used her money to retire her mother. Therefore, her mother spent a lot of time with the twins.
“I like her,” my father gave a nod of approval before sipping his beer.
“You don’t even know her,” I chortled. “Let me find out you’re just happy that I finally found somebody, so you’d like anybody.”
“Nah. Hell nah,” he shook his head. “I already know if she locked you down, she’s special. But energy doesn’t lie. She has good energy. Seems like a very respectful, nice young woman. You did good son.”
“Yeah, he did,” Bryan agreed. “I was starting to lose hope for you, but you redeemed yourself well, brother.”
All I could do was laugh. Extra and over the top per usual, but I loved my family just the way they were. Having a close-knit family was the only reason I survived losing my mom and having to leave the NBA because of an injury. My family kept me grounded and sane. No one could ever replace Berkley’s motherbut if I had anything to do with it, she would always feel included and loved when it came to my family.
“How did you two meet?” Bryan pried.
