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SERENITY brADSHAW

" Y ou all packed, Tootie?"

My daddy’s voice broke through my focus as I sat on my bedroom floor, zipping up my last suitcase. I turned my head, meeting his warm brown eyes.

"Almost." I smiled.

This trip to New York had been all I could think about for weeks.

Getting my early acceptance into NYU-Tisch over Christmas break was the best thing that had ever happened to me.

After all the screaming, crying, and happy dancing, my grandparents had suggested that my cousin and best friend Arielle and I get an apartment together since we’d both be on the East Coast for school.

The apartment was their gift to us, and I couldn’t have been more excited.

Arielle had already been in New York since August living her best pre-law life at Columbia.

She was only six months older than me, but my late Halloween birthday meant I started school a year behind her and everybody else my age.

That shit was always annoying, but now that I had college locked in, all I had to do was make it through the rest of senior year.

Daddy walked further into my room settling on the edge of my bed. He exhaled, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe this was real. "I can’t believe you about to be on your own."

"Not yet." I shoulder-bumped him. "Still got a few more months at home. Then you and Mama gonna be empty nesters."

"This is crazy." He let out a low chuckle, but his expression turned more serious. "It’s also harder than it was letting Sevyn go."

I snorted. "You ain’t really let Sev go though, Daddy. He got his own place, but he be over here all the time. You know your wife ain’t letting her golden boy be away too much."

Daddy gave me a pointed look. "My wife, huh? You mean your mama?"

"Debatable."

He sighed that deep, familiar sound I’d heard too many times when it came to me and my mama.

"Tootie—"

"She ain’t up here checking on me though," I muttered, standing up and stretching my arms. "She always got some negative shit to say. I’m over it. Being in New York means I get a break from her."

"So basically, she the reason you running away to New York?"

I smirked, grabbing my carry-on. "No. And yes. She’s infuriating. But also, New York has always been the dream."

Daddy nodded, his expression softening. "I know, Toot. And I’m sorry about Juilliard."

I shrugged like it didn’t matter even though it still stung. Juilliard had been my dream forever. But I hadn’t gotten in. Tisch was a damn good second though, and I refused to let rejection kill my joy.

"It’s alright. I’m still gonna be in New York."

He nodded, standing up and grabbing one of my bags. "Alright then. Let’s go. Sevyn should be here soon."

As we made our way downstairs, I heard her before I even saw her. "You’re all packed and ready to go, I see."

My mama’s voice was smooth, polished, the voice of a woman who always made sure she sounded like she had it together with the slightest hint of her New York accent shining through.

She had been born and raised in Brooklyn but after all this time you could barely tell, except when you made her mad, that accent was front and center.

"Yup," I mumbled, keeping my expression neutral.

"Despite what you think, I am glad you’re going to New York for school," she said, crossing her arms over her silk blouse.

"My issue is you staying in an apartment as an eighteen-year-old with your nineteen-year-old cousin. For the life of me, I don’t understand why your grandparents thought this was a good idea. "

I sighed already knowing where this was going. "Ma, please, let’s not have this conversation again. It’s happening. Nona and Poppi already agreed to pay for it. At least it ain’t coming out of your pocket."

"That’s not the point. I could pay for it if I wanted to."

"Yeah, and we both know you don’t want to, so they will." Her jaw tensed, and before she could clap back, my daddy cut in.

"Let’s not do this right now," he said, his voice carrying a warning.

I stared at my mama, but she wouldn’t look at me. Typical. I loved her, I really did. But I had given up on us ever being close a long time ago.

She adored Sevyn. Worshipped the ground he walked on. But me? Her actual child? She treated me like an obligation, like my whole existence had been a mistake. The irony was, Sevyn wasn’t even biologically hers.

My brother’s mother had passed away when he was one.

What we now knew was postpartum depression had overwhelmed her, and she had taken her own life.

My grandma said my daddy was devastated, that he had loved her deeply.

But he had pulled himself together for Sev, raising him as a single father until Sienna came into the picture when Sev was three.

She had fallen head over heels for my dad and his son.

Sev was supposed to be her only child. She had never wanted kids of her own. But Sevyn, her stepson, had been enough for her. It wasn’t until Sevyn begged for a sibling that she finally gave in.

That’s how I ended up here. The child she never asked for.

I knew she loved me. She had to, right? But she never really liked me. Never made me feel like I belonged to her.

"Lenox, you’re encouraging this," my mama scoffed. "You know she’s not ready to be on her own."

"She’s basically on her own now," Daddy shot back. "Come on, Si, this ain’t that deep. When you and I are gone, where is Serenity? Here. Alone. With nobody but Marlena and maybe Sev if he decides to show up."

Mama narrowed her eyes. "If you hadn’t insisted Sevyn move out, she wouldn’t be alone."

"I ain’t insist shit," Daddy snapped. "Sevyn didn’t wanna follow my rules, so he got his own damn place."

While they continued arguing, I took my exit, slipping into the kitchen where Marlena was chopping up fresh fruit. She glanced up, raising an eyebrow.

"They at it again?"

"Yup. Sienna just don’t know when to quit," I sighed grabbing a container of pineapple and strawberries.

Just then, the front door opened, and I abandoned my snack practically running into the foyer.

"Sevy!" I squealed, launching myself into his arms.

"What’s up, Toot?" he laughed holding me tight before setting me down. "You ready to go?"

"Hell yes."

Sevyn had wanted me before I even existed. He had begged for a little sister, and since the day I was born, I’d been his world.

And he was mine.

As we grabbed my bags I could still hear our parents going back and forth in the other room.

"Mama still not happy about this, huh?" Sevyn asked, amused.

"Hell no," I muttered. "Maybe you need to talk to her, since you her golden child."

"Here you go."

"We both know it’s the truth. Let’s go before she convinces Daddy to change his mind."

He sighed but didn’t argue. We made it to the front door just as our parents appeared in the foyer.

"I know you lying," Sienna’s voice rose. "You were just gonna leave without saying goodbye?"

"We were gonna say something," I shrugged. "Eventually."

Daddy stood in front of the door; arms crossed. "Listen. Call me every night. If I feel like you not taking this seriously, you’re getting dorms instead of that apartment."

I shot a look at Sienna, already knowing this was her idea.

"Unbelievable," I muttered before storming past them and out the door.

As we got into the waiting SUV, Sevyn slipped on a pair of shades, then smirked.

"Cheer up, buttercup. It’s New York, and we about to have a blast. Fuck what they talking about."

As soon as we arrived at Van Nuys Airport, our Gulf-stream G650 was ready with it’s engines humming and the steps down. CJ, our longtime family security, was already talking to the pilots, making sure everything was set.

"You ready, Tootie?" Sevyn smirked as he grabbed my bags from the blacked-out Escalade our family’s driver had just pulled up in.

"Been ready," I shot back heading up the stairs to board the jet.

Inside, the cabin was all cream-colored leather, gold accents, and polished wood. A flight attendant greeted us with glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice and chilled lavender-scented towels for the flight. The moment I sank into one of the oversized seats, stretching my legs out, I sighed.

"This is so nice," I muttered, closing my eyes for a second.

Sevyn chuckled. "Ain’t it?"

I didn’t know why we were acting as if this was not our normal way of travel.

Being a Bradshaw meant luxury surrounded us.

My grandfather Leo Bradshaw Sr started Bradshaw Legacy Group in 1976.

Originally Bradshaw Legacy Group started in the real estate business but soon developed into multiple entities under the company’s umbrella.

My uncle Leo Jr and Auntie Aimee who were Ari’s parents ran Bradshaw Law and Associates.

They were our family attorneys and in the courtroom they were some of the most ruthless individuals I’d ever known.

But outside they were just Uncle LJ and Aunt Aimee.

Sienna being the entertainment expertise in the family ran Bradshaw Luxe and Entertainment and Sevyn who was a trained chef ran Bradshaw Hospitality and Fine Dining.

Through Sevyn’s culinary and business savvy genius, we owned and operated 20 of the top upscale restaurants throughout the country.

My daddy was the head of it all. As a whole our family business was worth over 1 billion dollars, so no expense was spared in anything we did.

The flight was smooth as hell. Five hours, a catered brunch, a mid-flight nap, and a fresh fruit platter later, we touched down at Teterboro Airport in New Jersey.

As expected, the moment we stepped off the jet, CJ and another security team were already waiting, our black Cadillac Escalades idling on the tarmac.

"Tootie, you riding with me?" Sevyn asked, stretching his arms as he tossed our bags into the back of one of the SUVs.

"Duh. I ain’t about to ride with security like a damn kid."