“Is Kiano home?” she asked.
“Nah. He should be here any minute now though.” I quickly walked over to help her down the stairs but she ignored my hand.
“I can walk by myself, Stone.” She rolled her eyes with a big smile on her face.
“I know, baby.”
“Where’s Joss?”
“He’s up and dressed. I think he’s just playing the game until Kiano gets here.”
“Is the baby’s bag packed?”
“Yep and I double checked it.”
“Okay.” She smiled. “Thank you, daddy.” She tiptoed and I quickly put a hand to the small of her back and leaned down to kiss her. “Say thank you daddy,” she told Rocky, who smiled at her mama happily.
Jiselle wore motherhood well. Rocky had been created intentionally, and a blood test proved I was the father of our family’s firstborn. Our second daughter, however, was supposed to be Kiano’s. She and I had purposely refrained from unprotected sex while she was ovulating and she and Kiano had done the opposite. We were hopeful the baby growing inside her would be fathered by Kiano but we’d also agreed that no matter how the paternity test came back we were done having children.
Jiselle made it clear that she’d only wanted to go through childbirth twice. She’d told us from the beginning she would even be fine with hiring a surrogate but her uterus was locked. Of course, we’d both been fine with that. Shit. We were down with anything Jiselle said, just like we’d always been. She ran shit around here and knew it.
Plus, while we only had two children between the spiritual marriage we’d entered as a trio, I’d legally married Kiano at Jiselle’s insistence and the two of us adopted my younger siblings. There was no age limit on adoption, and honestly, it made sense. They would be taken care of if something happened to us and the entire family, down to Leann and Junie, had been able to get on Kiano’s company’s insurance.
As if on cue, the front door opened and he sauntered in, loosening his tie.
“Just give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready to go.”
Kiano walked over and kissed Jiselle, me, and baby Rocky, then rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
Jiselle started toward the kitchen and I headed around the staircase to Joss’s ducked off bedroom.
He and Xy both technically lived with us. Xy was a full-time college student and lived on campus but he was home nearly every weekend and liked living in the pool house. So it was untouched, exactly how he’d left it.
Joss, our high school sophomore, was still figuring shit out. He’d gone to work with Kiano a few times and was thinking about going into computers, knowing he’d be guaranteed a job if he finished. But he’d also picked up basketball and was good; so a lot of his free time went there. I wasn’t mad at that, even if I knew he’d never go pro or make a career out of it. I was just glad he was doing shit for himself because there had been a time where we didn’t have the support or finances for him to even think about extracurricular activities. I was happy he wasn’t still functioning in survival mode.
I knocked on the top of his door frame and waited for a beat before I pushed the door open. He was playing video games, a headset covering his ears.
I walked over and collapsed at the foot of his bed, watching as he played a mission-based game with his friends. Rocky reached for his headset and I pulled her back and made her squeal as I flipped her upside down.
“Don’t do that, Rock.” I shook her lightly then flipped her back upright.
She giggled as she wrapped her arms around me and I patted her on her back.
As soon as the game finished and Joss’s stats popped up on the screen, he looked at me.
“What’s up?”
“Kiano’s home. We’re about to head out.”
“Alright. I’m ready.” He tapped buttons on his controllers. “I’m getting off,” he declared to his team. “I’ll be back online in a few hours though. Yeah. Alright.” He snatched his headphones off, looked over at me, and smiled at Rocky. “Come here.” Heopened his arms to her as he climbed up and I handed her over. “Who’s your favorite uncle?” He shook her side to side until she laughed loudly and I pushed myself up.
“You spoke to Xy?”
“Yeah. He’s about twenty minutes out. He may beat us out there.”
“Alright, cool.” I clapped my hands. “You got her?”
“Yeah. Tell Big Rock your uncle got you.” He shifted her closer and she lightly pushed me away with her little hand.