Page 63 of Quiet as Kept

I knew she still hadn’t caught on to what was happening, so I dropped to one knee.

She looked down at me, her face still a mask of confusion. Then suddenly, understanding bloomed in her eyes right before me. Her hand went over her mouth, and tears sprang to her eyes.

“Xarielle—”

“Wait, Kept. Wait.”

I waited while she stood there still covering her mouth with her hand.

Finally I asked, “Wait for what?”

She giggled and tears poured from her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m overwhelmed. I can’t believe this.”

“When we were young, I used to see you around the way always carrying some random baby in your arms or on your hip. I’d never seen nothing like that before. The last thing the girls I knew would do was take on some baby that didn’t belong to them.

“I used to think to myself that you had a good heart, and that you would make a good mother one day. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would be the recipient of the love that comes from your good heart, nor did I ever imagine that my girls would reap the benefit of your maternal instincts. Every time I think about it, I wonder how I got so lucky. Lucky is not a word I would use to describe myself. Actually, I’ve always thought of myself as being very un-fucking-lucky. But then Goddropped you in my house, into my life . . . into my heart, and I don’t know, man. It’s like you shook everything up. Now, I’m out here in life holding all four aces.”

She gulped.

“You are so fucking beautiful to me, Xari. I look into your face, and I think that it’s unfair to other women just how damn pretty you are. But for all of your physical excellence, nothing can compare to your spirit or the way you care for me and the girls, the way you handle us, the way you love us. I don’t ever want to be without that. Xarielle Nicole Simpson, will you marry me?” I extended the ring that Yahirah helped me design for her.

“Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh. My. God.” She sniffled. “You had this planned all along? Oh my?—”

“Xarielle,” I said gently, bringing her back into the moment.

Sometimes, she reminded me of Destin. Maybe that was why I fell for her so quickly.

She came back to me.

“Yes.” The smile on her face was the sweetest thing I’d ever known. “I’ll marry you.”

I slipped the platinum, three carat, three stone, vintage art deco styled ring onto her finger. She stared down at her hand.

“It’s gorgeous,” she muttered.

The clapping startled her, and she yelped before turning around to find Yahirah, Ayden, Nehemiah, Cecily, Gannon, Vivienne, and Trinity behind her.

“What?” Her jaw dropped. “I can’t stand y’all! You all tricked me.”

She walked over to Nehemiah and thumped him in the chest.

“Talking about you were hungry again.” She turned her gaze on Cecily. “And you pretending like you were so tired and needed to get ready for your flight home tomorrow. I can’t believe you did this.”

“Boo,” Yahirah began.

Xarielle cut her off. “Don’t boo me. Didn’t we put you and your husband in a limo so you could start your staycation honeymoon?”

“You did. You did,” Yahirah confessed. “But we couldn’t miss this. Listen, I wanted Kept to propose at the house. I wanted to bring in a gazebo and have it decorated with flowers, candles, and fairy lights. I wanted to make it an entire moment.” She cut her eyes to me. “But you know Kept. He’s way too reserved for that. He didn’t want the spotlight on him. Plus, he said he didn’t want to steal me and Ayden’s thunder on our special day. But I wanted to share my special day with two of my most favorite people. The day I’ll remember as the day of my reception, you’ll get to remember as the day of your engagement.” She started to tear up, and I figured it was the pregnancy hormones.

They hugged.

“Did she say yes? She better have said yes. Take me closer, Nee.” Aunt Reese’s voice came from Nehemiah’s phone. “Yo, your second mother is on video chat,” he explained to Xarielle.

She released Yahirah and took the phone from Nehemiah. “I said yes, Mama Reese.”

She flashed the ring at the screen, then she noticed Dakota and Destin’s faces.

“Hi, babies. Are you two being good for Auntie Reese?”