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Priest raised his brow, wondering what King was curious about. "What's up, little man?"

King let out a sigh, causing Priest to assess how his shoulders slouched a bit. "I saw on the news that they said you were dead. Why would they lie like that?" King asked.

Priest could see the shock that panned over Tasha's face. She thought she had been doing a pretty good job of keeping the news and outside talk away from her children, but King managed to still catch wind of it all. The question was completely unexpected, and Tasha didn't know exactly what to say to King.

Britain glanced away from the computer screen, shifting her orbs to Priest. She could see the level of discomfort in his face. She could tell he was trying to find the best response to the question without overly exposing King to everything and without having to lie to him either. He could remember being King's age, wanting answers about who his father was and why he was never around. The last thing he ever wanted was for the person he was seeking answers from to lie to him. Clearing his throat, Priest tried his best to gather his words to refrain from lying to King. "It's a lot going on, King. The news is just doing their job by spreading the rumors they hear. Don't trip out on what they say too much. Their stories are what makes them money, so they're willing to say anything, whether it's true or false," he explained and shrugged his shoulders.

He believed he handled the situation well. Tasha and Britain definitely thought he did better than they would have. If Britain had to respond, she was sure she would have spiraled into a full tangent about the media and all their ways of influencing the youth.

Tasha pursed her lips as she glanced over to King and Jaden. She really wished King had gone without asking the question. It would have saved her from the talk she now needed to have with him later. "Let me have a word with Priest and Miss Britain for a second. I'll call you two back when we're ready to release the balloons," she told the boys.

The boys obliged and headed elsewhere so she could talk with the adults. Once they were out of earshot, a look of sorrow etched Tasha's face. "I'm so sorry about that. I had no idea he was about to ask that. I didn't even think he knew," Tasha apologized while shaking her head.

Priest shook his head, assuring Tasha that there was no need to apologize. "It's cool. He's curious, and he has the right to be. Shit is confusing for him right now."

"I'll have a talk with him," Tasha's said, earning a head nod from him. Things always felt and sounded better coming from your mother. Tasha would be able to smooth over what Priest told King perfectly. "I've been meaning to talk to you about something, but with this crazy time difference between us, I just never knew when to get in contact with you.”

Priest sighed, knowing that this time difference was going to be a strain between him and the people back home. "I keep both of my phones on me all the time. You can reach me whenever, and if you can't get through to me, you're free to hit up Britain," Priest assured Tasha.

"I'll take note of that. But just a few days ago, a woman… what was her name?" Tasha snapped her fingers, trying her best to remember who had knocked on her door at the early hours of the morning last week.

Priest furrowed his brows as he watched Tasha reach for her purse and search through it for something. She remembered she was rushing out with the kids to get them to school on time. She could barely retain anything the woman said since she was such in a rush, but she managed to drop her business card in her purse. Once she found it at the bottom of the bag, she extracted the business card out of it.

"Paula Howard," she read the name on the card, causing Priest and Britain to glance at each other. "She claimed she was working alongside you with the mayor to get Jamari's case thefrontline coverage it deserves. What she was saying sounded very nice, but I'm skeptical because she popped up at my door so unexpectedly." A frown crowded her face as she spoke to Priest.

He could tell Tasha wanted answers, and Paula popping up at her door when only a select number of people knew where she lived had her a bit on edge. "I called her after work last week, and we talked for a bit. She told me about her gun violence foundation for mothers who lost their sons. It's a really great cause, and I'm interested; however, she was very interested in my relationship with you. It confused me a bit because she barely mentioned Jamari, which is why I haven't returned any of her calls."

Priest nodded his head, keeping his face bleak and emotionless. If he showed signs of any anger or frustration, it would’ve just caused Tasha to worry, and he didn't need that, especially when he wasn't around to settle everything. "I appreciate you for running that by me, Tash," Priest expressed his gratitude. "You won't have to worry about her no more, and I apologize for my security letting her get to your doorstep like that."

Tasha waved Priest off. "It's fine, Priest. Those men have been great. It isn't unlikely that one person would slip through the cracks. She was a smooth talker, so I'm sure she talked her way up here," Tasha jested, causing them to laugh.

Priest decided not to further the conversation about Paula. This was something he had to handle without Tasha involved. Paula had some fucking nerve trying to recruit people to support her side of things. He didn't even know when she built this type of friction with him to want to be on the opposing end. Last time they spoke, she was clearly still chasing a chance to redeem their lifeless relationship. Her sides flipped quickly, but that had always been a nasty trait of Paula's, so he wasn't surprised.

Eventually, Tasha called the boys back out so they could watch Priest and Britain released the balloons on their end. It was late at night in New York, and on their end, they had already released their balloons and visited Jamari's gravesite.

Britain carried the laptop out in front of her, angling it so Tasha and the boys could see Priest carry the thirteen balloons toward the start of one of the grassy acres to release them into the air for Jamari. Britain could see a bit of hesitation in Priest. A part of him didn't want to release the balloons. He felt like he was breaking a part of his promise to Jamari by being all the way out here in Italy while his family was in New York. "It's alright, Priest. Let him know that you're there," Tasha encouraged from the FaceTime call. Even she could see the resistance in Priest.

He nodded his head while untying the strings of the balloons so he could release them. Together, they watched them soar freely into the sky. "Happy birthday, little man, from Italy," Priest murmured, quickly pursing his lips to keep from spilling too many of his emotions.

On the other end of the call, Tasha, King and Jaden shouted how much they loved Jamari as Britain angled the camera so they could see the balloons float away. Despite how heart wrenching it was that Jamari wasn't physically present to celebrate his thirteenth birthday, it was touching that Britain still made a way to bring Priest and Tasha's family together for this.

"He always said he wanted to travel. You made that happen for him, Priest." Tasha smiled as she dabbed her teary eyes with a tissue.

"Yeah, I did," Priest nodded his head in an accomplished manner as he agreed and continued to watch the balloons soar.

As they stared at the sky in amazement, the sun seemed to radiate brightly in the clear blue skies before rain began sprinkling down on Priest and Britain. They looked at each otherin amazement at the fact that rain fell from the sky despite it showing no signs that the weather would change. This gave them the notion that Jamari was present in the moment with them.

"Is it raining over there?!" Tasha exclaimed in shock.

Britain turned the laptop around so Tasha and the boys could catch sight of Priest and herself, and she nodded her head. "It is," she confirmed as they began making their way back to the backyard area where there was enough coverage to keep them dry from the rain.

"Oh my God! He made it rain out here too! As soon as we got in the car from visiting his grave," Tasha explained in amazement. "That boy is having a field day in heaven right now.” She had no other emotion to feel but happiness. Her son was still his vibrant and joyful self all the way in heaven. As long as he was happy, she felt is was okay for her to be happy again as well.

After a couple of more minutes of watching the rain and talking a bit more, Priest decided to let Tasha and the boys go. Britain shut the laptop, sitting it aside. Making her way over to him, she wrapped her arms around his torso, holding him in an embrace. "He's not angry with you. See, look." She pointed at the rain that continued to pour from the bright and clear skies.

Priest grinned down at Britain before placing his hands at her sides. "Thank you for this," he expressed his gratitude as he lifted her from the ground with little to no effort. "I love you so much. You never cease to amaze me.”

Chapter Fourteen