Page 32 of Mafia Kings & Wedding Rings 2: The Finale
“So you plan on staying here?” I checked with her.
“Is that a problem, Staten? I’m still their mother.”
“I fully understand that. I just don’t want to make this uncomfortable.”
“Uncomfortable for who? For Cambrie? What about your children?” she sneered. “Do you care how they feel at all?”
“Don’t try to put this on me like this is my fault. You walked out on me a long time ago when I decided to leave the Bluffs.”
“And you came back and never said a word!” Nadia screamed.
“The fuck I gotta do, check in and out with you on how I move? Fuck that! The only reason you here now is because you scrambling trying to fit into my life somehow because this is all it was about for you! The money, the power, the clout, and connections! Shit damn sure wasn’t about no fucking love!”
“How can you stand there and say that! I gave you two kids, Staten. You made decisions without even talking to me about it! How do you think I felt being uprooted to Chicago and forced to live some mediocre life because you were going through a fucking crisis!”
“You know what, I’m done with this!” I tossed my hands up. “I’m not having this conversation with you again. It’s over. We co-parent and move on with our lives. I don’t need you to accept a damn thing. It is what it is. When you come back, why don’t you go talk to Rossi, since she’s the one that brought you here, and see if you can stay with her. I don’t want you here.”
“You’re kicking me out?” Nadia asked, a tinge of hurt in her tone.
I didn’t want shit to go left like this, but there wasn’t anything else left to say. At this point, we were beating a fucking dead horse, and I refused to keep going back and forth with her. Boundaries had to be set for everybody.
“This ain’t your house. You’re a visitor. So go visit her. The kids can come up there anytime.” I swiped my beard and backed away. “Y’all have a good time with your mama. I love you.”
“If you loved us, you wouldn’t treat our mama like this,” Tavi muttered, rushing to the front door.
Nadia quietly followed behind her, but Saga paused before stepping outside.
“It’s cool, Pop. I ain’t mad at you. You know they both dramatic though.” He nodded over his shoulder to his sister and mother.
“You ain’t wrong about that.” I laughed, and he dapped me up before turning to leave.
For a moment, I stood there just soaking in how maturely Saga was handling things. I had to remember that he was a teenager now and was a lot more perceptive than I gave him credit for. Piaget and Rogue sat side by side at the counter when I strolled into the kitchen. Cambrie had just served them both French toast, sausage links, and scrambled eggs. Now she was slicing fresh fruit and dividing it on two separate smaller plates.
“Everything OK?” she asked, probably overhearing the raised voices in the front of the house.
“Yeah,” I assured her.
She slid the fruit across the counter and stacked another plate for me. Pausing at her side, I stared down into her pretty face and swept some of her hair behind her ear. She didn’t have on a drop of makeup, but she was fine as hell.
“Have something to eat. I’ll keep an eye on these two while you sleep.”
“Nah, we taking a nap,” I said, gripping my plate and grabbing the fork.
I scooped some eggs into my mouth.
“What we supposed to do?” Rogue queried with his mouth full.
“Watch a movie, or you could go back to sleep,” I suggested.
“That’s boring. How come we can’t go nowhere like Tavi and Saga?” Piaget pouted.
“I’m taking y’all out to dinner later.”
“Yeah!” they both cheered.
“Daddy needs a nap first though.”
“Can we pick the place?” Rogue checked with me.
