“Nice to meet you.” I offered Hendrix the bottle in my hand. “I got this for you.”
“Thank you.” He took the bottle, set it in his lap, and grabbed my hand instead. “Nice to meet you.” He shook my hand, then held it briefly and flipped it. I watched while he inspected the ring on my finger. “Is this a real marriage?” he asked.
“Man, watch out.” Drix chuckled as he dapped his brother-in-law.
“It wasn’t a trick question.” His father looked at me. I looked at Drix.
“What made you ask that?” Drix ignored the question.
“The ring’s a little small don’t you think?” Hendrix let my hand go.
Rome, Lee, and I all chuckled. Drix reached over and popped Rome behind the head again, making him duck and laugh harder.
“Rome let me pick that shit out.” He threw his brother under the bus, walked over to the next couch and collapsed, shifting India to his shoulder and rubbing her back.
“We had limited options,” Rome said. “And I was fucked up too.”
“You were fucked up?” Hendrix repeated.
“Mentally,” Drix inserted. “Not with drugs or no shit like that.”
“Mm.” He looked between his sons then back at me.
“Nice to meet you.” Lee sat up and offered me his hand.
“Nice to meet you.” I shook his hand.
“It was after two in the morning and we were at a twenty-four hour chapel. We did what we could,” Rome added and climbed to his feet. “Good to see you again though, sister-in-law.” He hugged me briefly and sat down.
I walked over to Drix and sat beside him.
“So, when are you going to upgrade it?” Hendrix asked.
“It’s not that fucking bad.” Drix reached over, grabbed my hand, and lifted it. He tilted his head one way then the other.
I personally didn’t see an issue with my ring. It was cute to me. It wasn’t a shape I would have chosen but it was a good size.
“Sweetheart, what is that?” Hendrix asked. “One carat?”
“Two and a half.” Drix let my hand go. “And I’m going to upgrade it,” he said. “We just haven’t gotten around to it.”
“Mm.” His father nodded and looked at me. “Make sure he upgrades it.”
“What happened to wedding rings being signs of love and commitment?” Drix asked. “Since when are they status symbols?”
“They’ve always been status symbols, Berlin.” His father shrugged. “If you can spend thousands of dollars on liquor, cars, and that big ass watch on your wrist, you can upgrade this lady’s ring. Shit. You should want your wife to be a reflection of you. How are you going to walk around flexing money and can’t even get your wife a suitable ring? It’s not like you had to pay for a damn wedding.”
“Myome has never complained about her wedding ring.”
I lifted my hand and wiggled my fingers.
“I don’t know. Another carat or two couldn’t hurt,” I teased.
Drix shot me a look. Rome turned his head to stop himself from just full out laughing. Hendrix snapped his fingers and pointed at me.
“See!” He leaned forward “Myome, don’t ever let a man try to tell you that you’ll settle if you love them. If they loved you, they’d rise to the occasion.”
“Yes, sir.” I nodded once.