Page 35 of Steel

She squeezed me tightly, and I felt like she knew I needed that shit. Now would have been the perfect time to tell my family about my daughter, but I couldn’t. They were sharing happy news, and while my news was happy, too, it had a sour ass undertone because of the way my daughter came to be.

“Can we talk?” Jaeda asked quietly.

I nodded. She grabbed my hand and pulled me away from everyone.

“Where y’all going?” Maceo called.

“Y’all know they have that same mama, same daddy sibling thing,” Deuce said.

I shook my head. It was no secret Jaeda and I had a special bond, just like Smoke and Maceo. Of course, we loved all our siblings. It was just different when you and that sibling were raised in the same house.

Jaeda led me out the back gate and down the road a ways before she said anything.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“I don’t know what to feel, Jae. She had my baby and kept her from me. I wanna choke the shit outta her.”

“I know, I know. Maybe you should talk to Mama or Daddy.”

“Soon.”

She stopped and looked up at me. “She’s a beautiful little girl. I can’t wait to spend time with her, KD.”

“Me too.”

As if we’d talked her up, my phone rang with a FaceTime call from Nayelli. My baby must have sensed I needed her because I smiled for the first time in days. Swiping the screen, I answered her call.

“Baby girl.”

“Hey, Mr. K! What are you doing?”

That Mr. K shit stung, but I wouldn’t rush her to call me daddy. She could do it in her own time.

“Taking a walk with your auntie.”

I turned the phone so she could see Jaeda.

“Hey, beautiful!” Jaeda said, waving.

“Hey, Auntie Jae! Mr. K?”

“Yes?”

“Can you come see me?”

I felt the tears swelling in my eyes. She wanted to see me. It had been a few days since I’d pulled up on her mama. I needed to calm my nerves before I did something I regretted to her ass. I definitely didn’t want to do anything to her in front of Nayelli.

“You wanna see me?” I asked, all choked up.

“Please?”

I dropped the phone from my face and pressed my fingers into my eyes to stop the tears from falling. Jaeda hugged me and rubbed my back.

“Go to her.”

“Mr. K?”

I cleared my throat and came back into view.