Page 25 of Free to Love You
I didn’t want to run into him because he made his stance clear. Although I knew my mother felt different, I also knew that she would want to keep the peace in her home.
My mother gave me a warm smile. “I love you, Lovina. I wish we had what you needed here, but I’m so happy you found it somewhere else.”
With a tear in my eye, I walked over and kissed my mother’s cheek. I missed her and would continue to. “Goodbye, Mother. I pray for your recovery.”
Erie said goodbye, then we walked out of the hospital room hand in hand. I walked into that room unsure of how it would go, but I left with a full heart. I don’t doubt that my parents loved me, but they had very different views of what they wanted for my life. At the end of the day, it didn’t matter what anyone else wanted but me. What I wanted was to be free to love.
EPILOGUE
Some Time Later. . .
“Okay, y’all done had ya time. Give me my gran’,” Mama Beauvia demanded. “I been nice to let you get ya time in wit ya nephew, but he miss his granny.”
Mama Beauvia took Erygon Carson Jr. from his Auntie Rachel. When Rachel turned twenty years old and was proposed to by Patrick, a boy in the community who courted her since she was sixteen, she realized she too was bigger than the community. She kept in touch with her sister over the years and was happy that she did. The biggest shock to Rachel and Lovina was that their mother knew about their continued communication and protected it.
With a giggle, Rachel handed over her nephew without a fight. “Yes, ma’am. I think he misses his granny too.”
Mama Beauvia pointed at her. “See, I knew I liked you! When Lovina brought you down here, I thought she been tryin’ to make me an Amish smuggler.”
Lovina burst into laughter. “Mama, really! At least you got a baker to replace me while I was out on maternity leave.”
It didn’t take Rachael as long to acclimate to her new lifestyle as it did Lovina. It took less than a week for her to stop wearingher bonnet and other attire. They all equated it to Rachel’s youth. Mama Beauvia allowed her the same privileges that she gave Lovina when she moved to Charleston. Rachel lived in the apartment over the garage and worked in the bakery. Lovina took time off at Erie’s insistence when she was five months pregnant. Her swollen feet proved that Lovina should not be on her feet.
“Auntie, you had him most of the morning except when Lovina had to put Junior on her breast. I need some time with my godson,” Beyuna whined. She sounded like she would have a tantrum at any second.
Lovina sat there silently with her breast pumps in her bra and watched her family fuss over her son. She would let them have their time now. When her husband came home from work it would all be put to a stop. Four-month-old Junior was a daddy’s boy except when it was time to eat or go to sleep. She watched her son lean back on his grandmother after she sat down.
“Lovina, did you get the quilt that Mother sent?” Rachel asked.
A few things had changed in the Stoltzfus household. The major change was the cell phone that their mother purchased and told her husband that she refused not to know her grandchild. He was not pleased, but after two daughters left his home and the community, he softened to her wish. Besides, what went on in their home was no one’s business. At least that was how he suddenly felt.
I sat up. “Yes, it was so beautiful! Erie and I plan to take him up there close to Thanksgiving so she can officially meet him.”
She wasn’t sure how they would work that out since she wouldn’t be welcomed in the community. Lovina just trusted that it would. She made sure to send pictures almost biweekly of Junior for her parents to have. Unfortunately, she had not talkedto her father since the visit to the marketplace. Her mother did mention that he asked about her and Junior often. He also smiled when he looked at the pictures that she sent. It didn’t seem like a lot, but it let her know that love was there.
“I hope they treat my gran’ right. I’on mind coming up der and beatin’ a Amish bitch ass,” Mama Beauvia said with conviction. No one except Rachel was surprised by her brash words.
I shook my head. “Mama, stop! My parents wouldn’t hurt my son. They don’t want to deal with me or Erie. You know he’s going to be on them.”
They all jumped at the sound of Erygon’s voice. “You damn right I’m gonna be on their ass about my boy. I don’t play behind my wife and son.”
He greeted his wife first with a kiss to her lips. Junior’s limbs flailed from the moment he heard his father’s voice. Junior was the spitting image of his father with his mother’s chocolate skin tone. He was perfect just like they all knew he would be.
Erygon grabbed his son from his granny, then threw him in the air. Every time he did it, Junior exploded with laughter and the women jumped in fear. This time was no different. “Y’all chill out. I’m not going to drop my chap.”
Lovina stood from her seat to go to the kitchen and bag her breast milk that she’d just pumped. Everyone talked among themselves while she labeled the bags. After she bagged that session, she would have another. Such was the life of an over supplier.
Erygon stood with his son in his arms and watched his wife do her thing. His feet walked him to her side. He wrapped his arm around her waist, then kissed her neck. “You know you sexy as hell when you doin’ ya mama thing. Fuck around and I’ma have another baby in you by the time Junior is one.”
She jumped with a giggle when he smacked her ass. Junior was too busy in his own world playing with his daddy’s work badge. She turned slightly to the man that she loved more every day. The man that loved her, cared for her, protected her, and talked her through it almost every night. “A year old? You need that much time?”
His head bucked back and his brows hitched. “Oh, shit. E like that!” His head turned toward his son. “Junior, you ga have ta go wit’ ya granny. Me and ya mama ’bout to go make ya a lil brotha or sista.”
When Erygon realized that his Geechie dialect truly turned his wife on, he code switched less. She loved it, and he loved that she loved it. When he grabbed her hand to pull her out of the kitchen she laughed. “Wait, baby, I have to pump again.”
“Man, I’m ’bout to give my boy to my mama. Put dat cup pump in ya bra and meet me in da bedroom ta take des back shots. That shit run on remote.” He was serious and Lovina knew it.
If she learned anything about being married, it was that a well fucked husband tended to be a happy husband. The one thing that stuck with her from her family life in Bird-In-Hand was the desire to have a big family. She wanted at least four kids, and in her mind, she got a late start.
