Page 73 of Search My Soul (Taylor Family Saga #3)

Four Months Later

“What are you doing here?”

“I can’t come visit?” Darion asked with his usual handsome grin on his face.

“Well, I don’t recall giving you permission to show up at my house unannounced.” I stood in the doorway with my hands on my hips and my face turned up.

“If you want me to go I can, but I brought you food.” Darion held up the to-go bag from The Pancake Palace. My fat ass immediately began to drool at the thought of eating some good food.

“Fine, you can come in, but only because you brought some food. I haven’t eaten yet.

” As I stepped aside to let him in, I noticed a car that seemed out of place creeping down the street.

The windows were tinted so I wasn’t able to see who was in the car.

Hurriedly, I closed my door and headed inside.

I’d only been in this neighborhood for a few months and while it seemed safe, I wasn’t trying to test my luck.

“I said you could come in. You seem a little too comfortable in my house right now.” I observed as Darrion moved around my kitchen. You would have never known this was the first time he’d been here from the way he was moving.

“You used to be my wife. I think I should be comfortable here. Hell, this could have been half mine, if I hadn’t fucked up.

” He laughed, but his words unlocked some core memories from our childhood.

I recalled us getting married on the basketball court at school in fifth grade.

There used to be a time in my life when I believed Darion and I would be together forever, but as quickly as those thoughts popped into my mind, they were gone.

“What did you bring me?” I searched through the bags, inhaling the intoxicating scent.

“I got some cinnamon roll pancakes for me and some strawberry cheesecake one’s for you.

I know how much you love strawberries.” I tried to hide the smile on my face, but he got a brownie point for that.

Dee always paid attention to the small details about me.

He used to make me believe I was special which meant a lot to me because of my relationship with Rochelle.

We both took a seat at the table, allowing the silence to surround us. The moment I bit into those pancakes, I wanted to scream. They were even better than I imagined they would be.

“Mm, this is so heavenly.” My body was shaking from how good it was.

“I’ve never heard a woman make that kind of sound from eating. I might need to bring you food more often.” I paused in the middle of chewing to glance his way.

“Boy, go on. I told you I haven’t eaten all day, so this tastes like heaven right now.

Anyways, what brings you by? I’m sure this wasn’t some random visit.

Especially since we aren’t exactly friends.

” Although he’d apologized for the way he treated me all those years ago, we still weren’t close.

I’d run into him a few times, but it was nothing more than casual greetings.

“What if I want to change that?” I almost choked on my food when he made his declaration.

“Why?”

“What do you mean by why? Do you know how dope you are? Everybody needs a friend like you.”

“You’re laying it on kind of thick, aren’t you?”

“No. I mean everything I say. When we were teenagers, I didn’t realize how important your energy was to me until I no longer had you in my life. One dumb ass moment cost me everything, and I want the opportunity to right my wrongs.”

“You’ve already apologized, and I forgave you.”

“Yeah, and I appreciate that. However, I want us to be close again. I’m not lying when I say I’ve missed our friendship.”

“I guess that wouldn’t be the worst thing.” I snickered.

“I still can’t believe you’re about to be someone’s momma.

Damn. I never thought I would see the day.

You down to watch a movie with me? We already practiced this morning, so I have the rest of the day to chill.

” Darion stretched his arms as if he was tired and it made me giggle.

He wasn’t slick at all, but lucky for him, I wasn’t due to be anywhere today.

“I get to pick the movie,” I expressed.

“Hell no. I don’t want to watch those scary ass movies you like to watch!” Darion shouted, making me laugh so hard I almost peed a little.

“You are still afraid of scary movies after all of these years? I thought for sure you would have grown out of that by now.”

“Go to hell, Nee-nee. The last scary movie I watched with you had me checking my clothes in the middle of the night. My granny said those movies bring all types of spirits into your house and I believe her. I damn near karate chopped my coat rack that night.”

“What about Final Destination ? Technically, that’s not a scary movie.” I batted my eyelashes innocently knowing I’ve already watched it fifty thousand times already.

“Hell no. Actually, let me be clear. Hell fucking no. I haven’t been able to go through a drive-through the same since I watched that movie.

Most women want to watch cheesy romance movies, but your twisted ass wants to see people be killed.

” D scoffed, holding his hand out to me.

I grabbed it, allowing him to lead me over to the couch.

We got settled and decided to watch Black Panther .

I’ve never been into superheroes, but this movie was one of my favorites. I loved the black representation.

We watched the movie from beginning to end, enjoying one another’s company. We both loved to talk through the movie and his commentary had me bursting with laughter.

“You are a nutcase.”

“How? King T’Challa was too fucking nice. He should have took that nigga’s head off when he first stepped onto their land. He was an outsider regardless of what his DNA showed. You never give your enemy more than one chance to come after you.”

“You sound very passionate about that.”

“Hey, it’s a lesson you can apply to everyday life.” I nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I agree. How’s your mom doing?”

The heat from his eyes burned into me. His mom got injured at her factory job when we were kids and ended up becoming addicted to pills. Even with her habits, she was always one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met.

“Clean.” My ears perked up when I heard the news. Mrs. Jordan wasn’t a bad mother by choice; her addiction made her struggle. However, she cooked the best food, and she had a way of making you smile with her bright personality.

“What? That’s so amazing. I know you’re happy to have her back.”

“Hell yeah. We went through a lot of shit to get here, but she’s been clean for eight years now.”

“Wow, I’m really happy to hear it. If anyone deserves a second chance at life, it’s her.”

“Yeah, she still asks about you. I told her we spoke recently, and she begged me to invite you over for dinner. You know she still likes to feed the whole damn community.” We both laughed as I remembered the times I spent over there.

She would always fix my plate and make sure to tell me how beautiful I was.

“Aww, I’ll have to go see her one of these days.”

“Why wait? I mean, my family is having a cookout for my little cousin who got drafted into the NFL. He’s moving to Seattle in a few weeks, so they wanted to throw him a going away party.

I’m sure she would love to see you.” I peered at him with hooded eyes.

He seemed genuine, but Darion had that kind of aura about him.

Most people thought he was a sweet, innocent church boy, but I knew better than that.

“Is she making her famous lemon poundcake?” My mouth watered at the idea of tasting that delicious slice of heaven. Mrs. Jordan knew her way around the kitchen, but her desserts were in another league of their own.

“You know it. She never misses an opportunity to bring one to a family function.”

“Hmm, then I might have to see what I can do. I’m a sucker for something sweet.

Especially now,” I responded, rubbing my belly.

I still couldn’t believe I was pregnant.

It wasn’t on my bingo cards for the year at all.

In fact, I never saw myself becoming a mother.

I always envisioned myself being the rich auntie.

“Yeah, I bet. Congratulations by the way.” The way he stared through me made me uncomfortable.

“Why are you looking at me that way?”

“I don’t know. You seem so different, but the same. If that makes sense.” We both laughed, but I nodded in understanding. His presence felt so familiar to me, even though so much time had passed, so I understood what he meant.

“Oh my goodness. This ice cream tastes like Heaven.” I moaned as the flavors danced on my tongue.

It was something about having your cravings satisfied that triggered a special dose of serotonin to be released.

I think it was safe to say my son agreed because he was doing all kinds of twists and flips inside of my belly.

I never thought I would want to be a mother, but every day I grew more and more attached to the tiny human growing inside of my body.

Regardless of the current status of my relationship with his father, our little bean was conceived from love.

Even though this was uncomfortable, Soul checked on us daily and made sure I had everything I needed.

He missed a couple of appointments in the beginning, but he had finally started showing up.

The awkwardness between us was something I hadn’t quite adjusted to, but I appreciated the effort.

“I need you to chill out with all of that moaning and shit. At the end of the day, I’m still a man,” Darion voiced.

I almost forgot he was here because I was so focused on the ice cream.

We’d become pretty close over the last few months, and I really appreciated our friendship.

Outside of Puma and Normandee, I didn’t have many female friends.

Even growing up, I connected to the boys in the neighborhood more than the girls.

The girls hated me for it because they thought I was trying to step on their shoes.