Page 63 of Steel

“Korri walked over to Jaeda’s, and Juri and the twins are down for a nap.”

She looked at him suggestively. A grin spread across his face as he glanced at us.

“Y’all gotta go.”

Deuce frowned. “You just kicking us out? We were having a conversation.”

“Nigga, we have four kids. I need every bit of alone time with my wife. Either y’all can leave, or y’all can sit here and listen to me blow her back out from the next room. I don’t give a fuck.”

“Devin!” Romi exclaimed.

“Baby, they know we be fuckin’ fucking.”

She palmed her face. “What am I gonna do with you? Finish your conversation and come find me.”

He motioned to me. “We wasn’t talking about shit but this nigga over here finding out he has a daughter.”

Romi gasped. “You have a daughter!”

I shook my head. “Thank you, Devin.”

“Ain’t shit.”

Romi came over to hug me. “Congratulations. How old is she?”

“Ten.”

“What the fuck!”

The fellas laughed at her reaction. Romi was a sweetheart, and it was always funny hearing her curse. I gave her a brief rundown of the story, and even she was mad.

“I’m so sorry, Kerrion,” she said, hugging me again. “Are you okay? That’s a stupid question. Of course you aren’t okay.”

“I’m making it, Romi.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re getting to know her. Do you have a picture?”

I grinned. “Plenty.”

I pulled out my phone and showed them the whole album I now had.

Romi gasped. “Kerrion, . . . she’s beautiful. I can’t wait to meet her.”

“Yeah, man,” Deuce agreed. “Another lil’ princess in the fold. You need to get the ball rolling so we can see her. Don’t make us pull up on Neha like we did when Juri came home. We’ll roll in that muthafucka deep as hell about our niece.”

“Gang gang in that bitch,” Smoke added. He stood and lifted Romi over his shoulder. “All right, for real now. I love y’all, and this was a hell of a conversation, but we can pick it up when this nigga has more details. Y’all gotta go. See yourselves out.”

He slapped Romi on the ass and left the room with her giggles echoing behind them. The rest of us shook our heads. They would be pregnant again before the year was up.

It didmy heart so much good to see Nayelli with friends. She’d been coming home from school and her self-defense class with the biggest smile on her face. We spent car rides and dinner with her telling us all about them. Aside from the little girl threatening to fight her bullies, they seemed like good kids. My heart melted watching them on FaceTime together, showing each other their toys and gadgets.

Things were finally looking up for her, and I couldn’t have been happier about it. Today was Saturday, and she had a play date with one of the little boys from her class. She’d begged me to go, and after speaking with his mother on the phone, I agreed. She said it would give us a chance to get to know each other since her son talked about Nayelli all the time.

Currently, we were on our way to their house. Baby girl thought it would be nice to take flowers for the woman of the house, and I thought it was sweet. She picked them out andpaid for them, with her own money. When we pulled into the neighborhood, I was shocked to see how grand it was. I’d been to a couple different sides of town since moving here, but this was new to me.

The two-story brick home we pulled up to was absolutely stunning.

“They got money,” Nayelli said in awe as she looked up at the house.