Page 24

CHAPTER NINETEEN

MILANA

“ S he’s so beautiful, Rima,” I said as tears fell down my cheeks.

Karima smiled at me. “Thank you. She’s so perfect, . . . an angel.”

Nearly everyone was still here. Karima’s water broke on the way to the hospital, and by the time we all got here, she was in a room laboring.

She said she was already dilated five centimeters when she got here.

It wasn’t terribly late, only seven. Ferris had messaged and said that his mom was cooking dinner for us.

I didn’t want to stay out so late that I didn’t eat.

Karima looked so tired but also so happy.

She was holding her princess, Roselynn Denali Woods.

She had a head full of hair. She was Karima’s complexion, but from what I could tell, she looked like Rhodes.

She was close to seven pounds and was about eighteen inches long.

She could possibly be short like Karima.

Rhodes wasn’t terribly tall like the men in our family, but he was tall, maybe about six two or so.

I walked over to her bed and kissed her forehead then slid my finger down the side of Roselynn’s head. “Congratulations, y’all. I have to go. I’ll be back tomorrow to check on y’all.”

“Okay. Thanks, Lana.”

I hugged everyone else, including my mama, and she followed me out. “Roselynn is so gorgeous,” I said to her.

“She truly is. I’m so happy for Karima. I wanted you to know that I’m going to move the horse to Legend’s house if you want to go to Liberty to practice.

You know he will help you bareback if you wanna practice that.

He helped me tremendously. Red and Shana are going out there to stay with him and Harper for a little while also.

Red quoted scriptures for me, to relax me.

I think you’re getting there. You just need to calm down. You’ll do so much better if you do.”

I nodded. “Why are you talking to me like you won’t be training me anymore?”

She shrugged as we waited for the elevator. “I’m just saying what’s on my mind, baby.”

“Mama, please leave. You don’t need to be there. Let Watchful Eyes handle that shit.”

“Baby, none of us are leaving. Jen and Chrissy are staying too. We refuse to let those fuckers run us out of our fucking town. Big City Nome ain’t shit without us.

We ain’t finna run. We want y’all safe though.

We will all be open for business. I’m not going to let my siblings down. Just pray for us, okay?”

I hugged her tightly as the elevator doors opened. “I love you, Mama. Please be smart, and be careful.”

“I will. Your dad will make sure of it.”

I nodded as Ashanni, Maui, Aunt Chas, and the twins came running to get on the elevator with me.

As it closed, we all stared at my mama. When the doors closed, I succumbed to the tears I was holding back, as did everyone else.

Their dads would be there, in the eye of the storm.

We all grabbed hands, silently praying for our parents, uncles, and aunts, along with our male cousins.

When Jakari said he was staying, all of them stayed.

Angel was an entire mess knowing that Rylan could be in danger.

We were all a mess. The only male cousins that wouldn’t be staying were CJ and Remington.

They were too young. I felt like my brother should have left, too, but he insisted he was staying with his crew of cousins.

This was too much for us. When the elevator doors opened, we released hands and made our way to our vehicles.

They would be following me to Ferris’s house.

Once I got in my truck, I texted him to let him know we were on our way.

I couldn’t bear talking to him right now.

I knew I would break down on the phone. I hated that all my family was there, but they made me leave.

Ashanni had her mom, Maui and the twins had each other and their mom and Remy if need be.

My entire family could be wiped out. I was so thankful I had Ferris.

He would be able to soothe my nerves and calm my fears.

I felt like I should have been in the trenches with them.

It wasn’t like I couldn’t stop through when I was on my way to Liberty, but that wouldn’t be enough.

I needed my family, and they needed me. I could imagine my aunts and cousins thought the same way I did, especially Aunt Chas. She was Uncle Jasper’s ride or die.

As I drove, I said a silent prayer for my family, that they would all be safe and that this bullshit would be over sooner rather than later.

“Mama, this is my girlfriend, Milana Semien. Baby, this is my mama, Paula.”

“Hi, Missus Paula. Nice to meet you.”

“Hi. Nice to meet you too. Who all do you have with you?” she asked as she lightly shook my hand.

I wasn’t getting a good vibe from her ass, and I could tell Aunt Chas and the twins were feeling the same thing. “This is my aunt Chasity. She’s married to my mother’s brother, Jasper. This is her daughter Ashanni. These three are my uncle Storm’s daughters, Bali, Noni, and Maui.”

Everyone spoke and Aunt Chas asked, “Do you need help with anything? Thank you for preparing dinner for us.”

“Sure. If you don’t mind, could you help me bring food to the table?”

“I don’t mind at all.”

Instead of going to sit with my girls, I followed them to the kitchen to see if there was something I could do. “Missus Paula, I don’t mind helping. What can I do?”

“We have tea and lemonade. If you want to pour everyone’s drinks or get bottles of water out the fridge, I would appreciate it.”

I smiled slightly and went straight to the cabinet with the glasses. I could see her frown from my peripheral. “Milana, how did you know where the glasses were?”

I frowned, my facial expression matching hers. “I was here yesterday. I stayed the night to help Ferris.”

Her eyebrows lifted. I wanted to roll my eyes.

She was going to be one of those mothers.

Ferris was twenty-eight years old, and I was pretty sure she would say that he was still her baby.

Aunt Chas glanced at me as she plated the salmon.

Breaking the awkward silence, she said, “The food smells really good, Paula.”

“Thank you so much. I hope y’all like salmon. I didn’t think to ask Ferris ahead of time. I just grabbed it from the sink and brought it here to cook since I’d already thawed it out for us to eat.”

“Yes. We all enjoy seafood,” Aunt Chas said as I poured lemonade in most of the glasses.

I actually didn’t too much care for salmon.

It was too dry. Hopefully she knew what she was doing in the kitchen.

My mama often said that I’d gotten ahold of some salmon that was poorly cooked.

She said she would get Aunt Jen to cook some for me so I could try it, but we never did.

It wasn’t something that anyone in the family just had to have.

Ferris only had a five-chair table, so I placed five glasses there and the other three at his bar.

I remained quiet as I picked up dishes to take to the table.

There was salmon, some type of cream sauce, shrimp, mixed vegetables, rice, and rolls.

I then went to the front room to tell them to come eat.

When Ferris stood, he smiled at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

As we made our way to the kitchen, I said, “Three of us will have to sit at the bar.”

Before any of us could volunteer to do so, Mrs. Paula said, “You, Ferris, and I could sit there. Your family can sit at the table.”

Aww shit. I wasn’t up for no bullshit. My nerves were already on edge because I was worried about my family.

Had my mama not talked to me before I left, I would still be in the calm state I was in after seeing the baby.

That admission about all of them staying had me feeling slightly hostile and on edge.

Anybody could get it if they approached me wrong.

I nodded at her and fixed Ferris’s plate.

I set it on the bar top in front of him and went back to fix my food.

The twins were staring at me as if waiting for me to take them off their leashes. I would do no such thing.

When I got to the bar, I sat next to him. He’d sat in the middle, and I appreciated that. As we all settled in and were about to eat, Mrs. Paula asked, “Do y’all have boyfriends, ladies?”

“No,” they all answered in unison.

“So, umm . . . what do y’all do?”

“Ashanni and I just graduated this morning from Lamar, getting master’s degrees, and my twin sisters are in medical school. They are home on break. Ashanni and I work in the office for the family business, Henderson Ranch and Farms.”

“That’s great! Your parents must be extremely proud. That’s stability at its best,” she said, glancing at me. “What do you do, Milana?”

I knew that her ass knew I was barrel racer, but I played along with her lil game. “I’m a professional barrel racer.”

Before she could respond, Aunt Chas said, “Why you making that sound all miniscule, Lana? She’s one of the top barrel racers in the country.

She’s predicted to go to nationals and win it all.

Plus, she’s training to bareback and in the process of forming an all-black female rodeo team. She’s amazing.”

My cheeks heated up as Aunt Chas winked at me. “Thanks, Aunt Chas.”

That seemed to shut her ass up. Ferris said, “The first time I saw her race in Birmingham, I was in awe. She is definitely amazing.”

“Thank you, baby,” I said to him, and he kissed my head.

She nodded but didn’t offer any words of congratulations or anything.

The twins were watching her like a damn hawk.

Ashanni seemed to be in a different world, and I couldn’t wait to talk to her.

I didn’t know if she was just worried about her dad and brothers or if it was something else. Maui was her normally happy self.

“The food is delicious, Paula,” Aunt Chas said.

Everyone agreed and complimented her on the food except me.

I could be extremely petty, and I was feeling it in this moment.

If she couldn’t compliment me, I wasn’t going to compliment her ass.

I didn’t give a damn whether she was his mother or not.

I thanked her for the food, and that was more than enough.

Plus, it was just okay to me, since I wasn’t a fan of salmon.

She glanced at me and asked, “Milana, is it okay for you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Well, you didn’t say anything when everyone else did, so I was just checking.”

I side-eyed her but didn’t respond. Ferris slid his hand up and down my leg as if trying to calm me down. He knew she was picking with me. I wanted to go sit with my cousins at this point, especially when I heard Maui ask, “Where did Angel go?”

“She went with her mom to Houston. Yendi, Jess, and Brix’s mom went with them, and Mya went to Mesquite to be with her dad. She’s probably still on the road since she came to the hospital before leaving, unless she’s leaving tomorrow,” Ashanni said.

“She’s leaving in the morning,” Aunt Chas said.

“Milana, why didn’t you go with your mom?” Mrs. Paula asked.

I glanced at her. “My mother is a Henderson sibling. She stayed in Nome with her brothers and sisters, my dad, and my brother.”

“Plus, I wanted her here with me,” Ferris added.

I looked up to see the frown on his face.

It was my turn to lightly rub his leg. I didn’t want to see him get into it with his mother on my account.

I went back to my food, forcing the salmon down so I wouldn’t look unappreciative.

Aunt Chas’s and the twins’ eyebrows were lifted like they were ready for the word go.

I supposed Bali couldn’t take keeping her mouth closed any longer, because she said, “We didn’t go with our mother either.”

Mrs. Paula turned to her and asked, “Is your mother a Henderson? I’m sorry, I don’t remember which of your parents she said was.”

“Our father is a Henderson. Our mother went to her parents’ home in Houston.”

“Well, why didn’t y’all go with her to your grandparents’ house?”

“Because they are judgmental, bougie, and they treat my mother like a child. So to keep from disrespecting their asses and airing their dirty laundry, we don’t go over there.”

I wanted to laugh so badly. Bali’s gaze never wavered.

She was staring at Mrs. Paula like she was daring her to say something, and apparently, she caught the hint.

Noni was eyeballing her ass too. Ferris didn’t give a damn though.

He chuckled. That chuckle from him produced chuckles from everyone else.

Then I thought better of it. He probably chuckled to break the tension.

He knew she was talking about his mama, but if he laughed, it would ease things over with his mother.

She knew she was behaving just as Bali described her grandparents to be.

“Well, that’s unfortunate that their behavior keeps y’all away. I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t see my grandbabies.”

She stood from her seat and went to the kitchen to start cleaning up, and Aunt Chas joined her. Bali rolled her eyes, and Noni shoulder bumped her. “I guess she got her straight, huh? I really thought I was gonna have to put my mama out of my house. I’m sorry, baby.”

“It’s okay. I know you have my back, and that makes it worth it. That was the only reason I was able to hold my tongue. I knew if she really stepped out of pocket, you would say something. Apparently, Bali could no longer hold her tongue.”

He chuckled then kissed my lips. “You don’t like salmon, do you?”

“I’m not a fan. Why?”

“Because I know what your eating looks like. You fuck shit up.”

I laughed. “Hush up, fool!” I stood from my seat and grabbed his plate. “Let me go help clean up before I give her something else to drag me about.”

He swatted my ass and winked at me. I knew what that meant, but he was gonna be disappointed. He was on restriction for a week, just like the doctor said.