Page 23 of Fever: Love In Scrubs

I shook my head as I sat across from my sister at my mother’s dining room table. We were supposed to be snapping string beans, but sis had her head down and her shades on.

I slammed my hand down on the table, causing her to jump awake.

“Long night?” I asked.

She pushed her shades up and glared at me. “Fuck you.”

I chuckled. “Wynter and her cousin as bad off as you?”

Wynter never called me last night. I took it as she and the girls had gotten too lit and she passed out when she got home. When I checked Asia’s location, I saw that she’d made it home, so I assumed Wynter and her cousin had too.

“You’re talking too loud.”

Johnathan came into the kitchen with a bottle of Pedialyte and handed it to her.

“Drink this, Mayweather.”

My brows knitted together. “Mayweather?”

“Look at her knuckles.”

My gaze dropped to bruised knuckles on my sister’s hands.

“What the hell happened to you?” I asked.

“Your ex-wife,” Johnathan answered. “Apparently, Amandela was in the club talking shit after purposefully bumping Wynter and my wife let her have it.”

“Asia.”

“Don’t Asia me. I told you a long time ago that bitch was mine, Jaxxy.”

I palmed my forehead. “Was it just you or were y’all the three musketeers?”

She smirked. “We didn’t jump her. It was just me. Knocked her ass right out. That was for you, my niece, and my future sister in-law.”

I chuckled. “Sister in-law?”

“I like her. I can tell she’s a little quiet, but when she opens up, she’s a vibe.”

I smiled and nodded in agreement. “She is.”

“Such an upgrade.”

“In every way.”

“Do I have to apologize to my niece for kicking her mama in the face?”

“You did what!”

We all looked up to see my mama walking into the kitchen.

“You heard that, Mommy?” Asia asked, innocently.

“Yes, I heard it. What the hell, Asia?”

“Mommy, she asked for it. She was bumping her gums to Wynter and that just added to the anger I already had toward her for how she did Jaxxy and Jamari. I had to hit her.”

My mother shook her head. “And what if you had gotten arrested? You thought about that? You wouldn’t do well in prison, my dear.”

“Behind my brother, I’d take a charge. Just promise you’ll put money on my books, Jax.”

“I got you, sis.”

My mother’s head whipped in my direction. “Jaxson!”

“Ma, I can’t control your child. She’s gonna do what she wants. That’s on Johnathan now.”

Johnathan chuckled. “I can’t stand on business about this one, Mama. While I don’t condone my wife thinking she’s the next Jackie Chan, Dela had it coming. If it wasn’t last night, it was gonna happen at some point.”

My mother shook her head. “Just don’t bring this up in front of Mari. She doesn’t need to know her aunt was fighting her mother.”

“She probably wishes she got a lick in too,” Asia mumbled.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Ma. Can I go lay in your bed? I have a splitting headache.”

“Go on. Your father is up there taking a nap.”

Asia’s face brightened up. Even at thirty years old, she never missed an opportunity to take a nap with our dad.

I’d come here sometimes and she would be curled up in his lap like she did when she was a kid.

After kissing her husband, she headed upstairs.

The back door opened, and Jamari came in with Kacie right on her heels.

“Uncle John, tell Kacie to stop being my shadow,” Jamari complained.

“Kacie, baby, give your cousin a break. You’ve been in her skin all morning, baby doll.”

Kacie huffed and folded her arms. “I just want her to play with me.”

“How about daddy plays with you? What about a game of UNO?”

She grinned. “Okay!”

She skipped off to the living room with her father right behind her. Jamari went to sit down, but my mother stopped her.

“Go on and wash your hands so you can help your daddy snap these beans.”

“Yes, ma’am.” She went to the sink to wash her hands. “Daddy, when is Ms. Wynter coming over?”

“Soon, baby. Relax. She promised she’s coming.”

It made me feel good that she was excited to see Wynter.

Since our day together, she’d been to the house for dinner a couple times.

She and Jamari were like two peas in a pod.

Every time I was on FaceTime with her, she found her way into the camera.

Most of the time, she’d take my phone and leave the room like I wasn’t having a whole conversation.

Of course, I had thoughts that we were moving too fast, but seeing them together reassured me that I made the right decision.

We finished snapping the string beans, then Johnathan and I dipped out back while my mother started cooking.

She didn’t like anybody in her kitchen so once she got the manual labor she needed out of us, she kicked us out.

I sat outside chopping it up with my brother-in-law while Kacie played for a good hour before I heard a car pull into the driveway.

Knowing that it was Wynter and her cousin, we headed around front through the back gate.

As I rounded the corner, I saw my baby getting out of her car and her cousin getting out of another.

She was looking good as hell in an oversized, white, cropped sweater, high-waisted jeans that hugged her curves, and booties.

Her hair fell down her back in natural curls, my favorite look on her.

When she saw me, she smiled.

I made my way over to her and pulled her into my arms, kissing her deeply.

“Well damn,” her cousin and my brother-in-law said.

Wynter pulled away from me, but kept her arms around my waist.

“Sorry,” she said, giggling. “Let me officially introduce you. Tinka, this is Jaxson. Baby, this is my cousin, Tikayla.”

“Nice to officially meet you, Tikayla,” I said, smiling as I extended my hand.

“Likewise.” She peered around him at Johnathan. “You must be Asia’s husband, Johnathan.”

“That would be me.”

“Let me tell you something. Your wife loves the hell outta you, sir. Before she called you to come get her, that woman ‘my husband’ us to death.”

Johnathan chuckled. “That sounds about right. Nice to see you again, Ms. Driscoll. How’s the house coming along?”

“Great. Slowly decorating, but everything is unpacked and in place.”

“Feeling like yours yet?”

“It’s getting there. I mean, you saw what it was before.”

“I did. I’m very proud of the work we did. I’m sure you’ve made it a beautiful space.” A smirk appeared on his face. “So which one of you let my wife be Chun Li last night?”

Both women stifled a laugh.

“In our defense, we were holding her back,” Wynter said.

“Right,” Tikayla agreed. “She came out of those heels so fast and threw that first punch. I wasn’t expecting that kick to the face, though. That shocked me.”

“Yeah…” Johnathan rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m starting to regret those kickboxing classes.”

The front door opened, and Jamari peeked out before sprinting down the steps with a smile on her face. I let Wynter go, and she ran straight to her, wrapping her up in a hug.

“Hey, honey bun,” Wynter said, kissing her forehead. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too. I’ve been waiting forever for you to get here.”

I rolled my eyes. “The dramatics.”

“Leave my girl alone,” Wynter said, rubbing her back. “You aren’t the only one that gets to miss me.”

Jamari smiled as she turned to Tikayla, still holding on to Wynter. “Hi.”

“Hi, beautiful. You must be Jamari. I’m Tikayla. My cousin has told me so much about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you. She’s told me a lot about you too.”

“All good things, I hope.”

“They were. She said you were her best friend.”

Tikayla smiled. “She’s my bestie too.”

I clasped my hands together. “Why don’t we head inside?”

“Oh!” Wynter released my daughter and went to the back seat of her car, returning with a covered dish. “I didn’t want to show up empty handed, so I made a cheesecake.”

“My granny loves cheesecake,” Jamari informed her.

“Lucky me!”

I grabbed her hand and we headed into the house. Just as we made it over the threshold, my father was walking downstairs, finally up from his nap. He smiled as he reached the bottom step.

“Well, who do we have here?” he asked.

“Pops, this is Wynter and her cousin, Tikayla. Ladies, this is my father, Jaxson Pierre Sr.”

“It’s so nice to meet you, Mr. Pierre,” Wynter said nervously.

“Thank you for having us in your home,” Tikayla added.

“It’s nice to meet you all too. Ms. Driscoll, you have my son and my granddaughter smitten.”

Wynter blushed. “I’m pretty smitten myself. They are a great pair.”

He gave a cheeky smile. “They a’ight.”

I gave him a playful jab as my mother came around the corner. When she saw Wynter, she stopped in her tracks. Her hand flew to her mouth.

“Oh, my Lord,” she whispered.

Wynter looked around nervously. We were all trying to figure out what was going on with my mother. She had tears in her eyes as she walked over to Wynter. With a small smile, she cupped her face.

“You look just like Lianna,” she whispered.

Wynter’s eyes widened. “You—you knew my mother?”

Mom nodded. “She was my best friend from elementary all the way through high school.”

She grabbed Wynter’s hand and led her over to one of the bookshelves in the living room. We all watched as she pulled down one of her old photo albums and flipped it open.

“We used to be thick as thieves,” Mom said.

Wynter took the book from her, and I walked over to look over her shoulder.

The album was filled with pictures of my mother and a woman that could have been Wynter’s twin.

It was like staring into a mirror when it came to them.

My mother had pictures of them as kids and teenagers.

There were pictures with their parents, prom photos, and random photos of them being goofy together.

“Wow…” Wynter whispered. “My father only had pictures from the time they started dating up until I was born. I’ve never seen pictures from her childhood like this.”

“You aunt didn’t have any?” I asked.

“Our grandparent’s old house burned down when Wynter was five,” Tikayla chimed in as she walked over. “They literally lost everything. Years worth of memories gone.” She looked down at the pictures. “Auntie was a baddie back in the day,” she said, smiling. “You too, Mrs. Pierre.”

It was as if my mother had just noticed her. She looked up and smiled.

“You’re Kira’s daughter?”

“I am.”

“You look like your mama too. You feisty like her?”

Tikayla snapped her fingers. “And is!”

They shared a laugh as Wynter continued to stare at the pictures.

Tears brimmed her eyes. I could only imagine what this meant for her.

She didn’t grow up with her mother. She didn’t have memories with her, only the memories of those closest to her, which was really just her aunt from what she told me.

Now she had my mother and knowing that lady, she had stories for days about their time together.

It wouldn’t bring her back, but maybe it would further help her understand who the woman was.

When the first tear fell, the rest followed. Me, my mother, and Tikayla wrapped our arms around her. Jamari came over to join in while my baby cried her eyes out. She came back home to nothing but a house. If I had anything to do with it, she would have a family here too.