Page 66 of Quiet as Kept
“Yeah, you did that, cous, and I’m thankful.” He took a breath. “Anyway, Xarielle had only been here a day or so when she first stepped foot on this deck. I think her first words were something like ‘this is a big ass deck.’”
The crowd cracked up as people mumbled about how much they agreed with me because the deck was, in fact, big as hell.
“I told her that I didn’t know why God led me to build such a large deck when I lived here with my two little girls. And Xarielle told me that God had a plan. If I remember correctly, her guess at the time was that Trinity or one of my girls was gonna get married on this deck one day. That, of course, didn’t happen. Trinity and Marcus were married in a church. Still, little did we know then all of the momentous occasions that would take place on this deck—Xarielle’s bridal shower, several of Dakota’s and Destin’s birthday parties. We celebrated both girls’ graduations from kindergarten out here. My thirty-fifth birthday celebration was held out here. The baby shower and gender reveal for our son, Duncan, was held out here. And now, to be celebrating Xarielle’s adoption of Dakota and Destin, it’s just . . .”
“Take your time, baby!” Vivienne called out, acting like one of the church mother’s encouraging a youth member.
Kept grinned. “Yeah, if you’re familiar with either mine or Xari’s backstory, you know neither of us were raised by our biological mothers. That had a very real impact on both of us. So, to stand here today with a family, a wife, two daughters, a son, and a baby on the way, it means more than I can even put into words.” He held out his hand. “Baby, come up here for just a minute. I won’t keep you in the spotlight for too long.”
I joined him at the deejay booth set-up.
“I just want to publicly thank you for being the best thing that’s ever happened to me and my girls. Thank you for loving them the way you do, the way you always have since the minute you got here. Thank you for helping me raise them and our son.Thank you for agreeing to become my wife, and thank you for holding me down through all of life’s challenges. You’ve been my biggest cheerleader, my fiercest teammate, and my closest confidant.”
Tears started rolling down my face. Kept kissed my cheek, and the crowd let out a collective “aww.”
“Dakota and Destin,” Kept called out. “Come up and bring your brother.”
My three children joined us. Kept handed the microphone to Destin, who at five years old, was an entire character.
“Mom,” she began.
They started calling me mom right after the wedding, and it still gave me heart palpitations to hear them say it.
“You know how you and daddy always say we’re team Boudreaux?”
I nodded because I wasn’t about to test if my voice still worked. The lump in my throat was too big.
“Well, I thought we could just get jerseys, but Daddy said no. So, we had to come up with another idea. GiGi found this symbol and Daddy had it made into necklaces for all of us to wear.” She handed me a gift bag.
My hands were shaking so badly that my sweet, observant girl Dakota took it from me and opened it. Inside were five black velvet boxes.
“We’ve been knowing about the gifts, but Daddy said we had to wait until today to get them,” Destin assured me.
The guests chuckled.
Each box had a name written on masking tape. I handed each person their box with the exception of Duncan, who was too young to even understand what was going on as he rested in Kept’s arms. I got the one with my name and lifted the lid. Inside the box was a beautiful silver necklace with a diamond-incrusted adoption symbol—a triangle intertwined with a heart charm dangling from it. I smiled at Kept through my tears.
“The girls’ and Duncan’s are made of sterling silver. Both yours and mine are made of platinum.”
I noticed that his was a Cuban link, and mine was herringbone. I threw my arms around him and Duncan.
“Thank you. I love you.”
“I love you too. I love you so much,” he whispered to me.
I released him and hugged my daughters. Destin’s hug was quick, because like the busy bee she was, she had things to get back to. Dakota held on for dear life, squeezing me so tightly that it reminded me of one of her daddy’s hugs.
I spotted my family members seated under an umbrella at one of the tables, so I made my way over to them. I gave a hug to Nisha, Aunt Bobbie, and my granny. In the three years that had passed, I’d been able to cultivate a relationship with my grandmother. Once I got to know her, I found her to be funny and kind. She wasn’t perfect, but she was human as opposed to being the robot she was while I was growing up. I could work with a human—flaws and all.
“You and your husband know how to throw a party,” Aunt Bobbie said as I took a seat at the table.
“Thank you. And thank y’all for coming.”
“Thank you for sending for us,” Nisha said, wrapping her arm around my shoulder and giving me a side hug. She looked around the deck, taking in everything. “It’s so beautiful here, and I don’t just mean the material things like your house and your deck . . . even though your home is absolutely stunning.”
“Thank you.”
“I mean the nature. It’s the feel of the sun laying on my skin, the smell of the water out here. It’s the way the air tastes different. Jackson Island is a little slice of paradise. I can see why you’ve never considered leaving.”