2
Kai
Let’s Get Ready to Rumble
June
We made the big move almost three weeks ago. Seeing the house on video didn’t compare to seeing it in person. Austin and Lexington did their big one. The house already had good bones because Mr. Payne didn’t play and kept it up over the years. We’d had a new roof put on, upgraded the bathrooms, kitchen, had new carpet installed throughout the house, and new appliances in the kitchen and laundry room.
The only room we asked Lex not to complete was Baby Girl’s room. It was tradition for us to do the nursery together and we wanted to continue that in our new home. Nini hadn’t decided on a theme for Kaila’s room, so it was still a blank canvas for now. I knew that within the next three weeks or so it would be just as decorated as the rest of the house though.
Because our parents already had decks in their backyards, we opted for a screened in porch instead. I also had the gates surrounding all three houses replaced with tall privacy fences and had Austin cut an opening on both sides that led to both parent’s backyard. That way the boys could go through the backyard to get to their grandparent’s houses. They loved that feature.
Since it was summer, they’d wake up, eat breakfast with us, and get missing for the day. The only time we’d see them during the day, is if they were running through our yard to get to their other grandparents.
Being in the kitchen, allowed me to hear the opening of the gate and the clunking sounded it made when it was slammed shut. Then I listened for the screen door on the porch to open and finally the back door being pushed open.
“What’s wrong, Kian?” I asked not looking up from my task of seasoning the steaks for dinner.
“How’d you know it was me and not the other one?” he mused, climbing onto the chair on the other side of the island.
I laughed. “Because you slam the gate when you close it instead of letting it close on its own. Which means your brother probably made you mad. Now what’s wrong?”
He sighed. “He talks too much and he’s annoying me today.”
“Why?”
I saw his shoulder go up and come down out of my peripheral. “He thinks he knows everything. And he watched all the new episodes of One Piece without me and had to tell me what happened instead of letting me watch them myself.”
I chuckled. “He gets that from your Auntie Phi. She used to do that same thing to me and your Auntie Wil when we were growing up. So we started doing it back to her with the books she liked to read. One of us would ask her what chapter she was on and the tell her the plot twist.”
He laughed. “That’s cold, Dad.”
“She started it. Shouldn’t dish it if she couldn’t take it,” I replied with a shrug.
“Can I hold your phone, Pop?”
“Yea, it’s on the couch.”
He left the kitchen and came back quickly to reclaim his seat at the island. I heard the trilling of the line and I knew that he was calling his Auntie Phi, to give her a piece of his mind.
“Yes, Bald One,” Phi answered her voice filling the kitchen.
“I’m not bald, but I guess you thought Dad was calling you,” Kian said flatly.
“Your nephew has a bone to pick with you, Phi,” I called out.
Sapphira sucked her teeth. “You can’t possibly have anything to pick with me about Kian Roman Dennis. Besides, I’m your favorite auntie.”
“You think so?” he probed.
I laughed and Phi sucked her teeth again. “What’s the problem?”
“The problem is you and Uncle Key passed y’all bad habits and traits to the other one, and I haven’t known a moment of peace since he’s started talking and walking,” Kian fussed. “Not only does that boy talk entirely too much, but he also tells me stuff that happens in our shows before I can watch them. I want a refund.”
I bit the inside of my cheek in an attempt to hold in my laughter, but I failed and laughed so hard and loud that I had tears flowing down my face. When I stopped laughing, Kian was looking at me the way Nini does when I laugh when she’s being serious about something. Phi hadn’t said anything yet.
“Dad, I’m not sure why my pain is funny, but you’re lucky I love you or else I’d be asking Mommy if I can get a refund on you as my Dad,” Kian teased.
That wiped laughter from me but caused Phi to start cackling loudly.
My first born was big mad.
“Auntie Phi, you can stop laughing because you’re still on my list,” Kian admonished. “And if somebody doesn’t get the other one to get his life together, he can go live with Nana and Chief or PopPop and BonBon. I need peace before my sister comes.”
Phi’s cackling dulled down to a giggle and I just shook my head because I knew he was serious. Kian and Kenyon didn’t fight often but when they did, one of them always wants the other to go live with their grandparents.
I taught them that it’s fine for them to disagree and if they couldn’t reach a resolution using their words they either agreed to disagree or they could box it out. And after boxing, the situation was dead and they couldn’t bring it up anymore.
Admittedly so, this issue with Kenyon telling the show or movie was an ongoing thing. And they had yet to put on the gloves and duke it out. I was deading it.
“Y’all putting on the gloves about this tonight,” I said with finality.
“Oooo I need a livestream,” Phi chimed in.
“I have no problem with that,” Kian affirmed. “Let me go tell the snitch. Auntie, we still got beef too. So we’ll be boxing next.”
Phi sucked her teeth. “Kian, I’ll dust you like them girls I used to do in high school for playing with Wil. You don’t want this smoke.”
“You old and washed up now, Auntie. Your knees not as strong as they used to be,” he joked, reminding Phi of when she blew out her knee in college during her championship soccer game.
“Boy, that was a low blow. Gone on,” Phi admonished.
“You just said you was gonna dust me like I was one of them girls in high school. If you can dish it, you better be able to take it. Stop all that crying,” he admonished.
I chuckled. “Both of y’all cut it out before you say something you can’t take back.”
They both grumbled and pouted but stopped their back and forth.
Phi acted just like a kid sometimes especially when someone pushed her buttons. She automatically reverted to the little girl who used to follow me around and the one I had to whoop ass over.
“Love you, Auntie,” Kian mumbled.
“Love you too, Munchkin,” Phi replied.
Kian ended the call. “I’m putting the gloves on with her and Uncle Key when they come up for the party,” he professed, hopping down from the stool he was sitting on. “Both of them gonna pay for giving that boy them bad habits. And that’s on me.”
I laughed. “You think you can beat everybody until you meet somebody bigger and better than you.”
He smirked and raised his right eyebrow. “Now, Dad, we both know I’m nice in the ring. We also both know I’m undefeated. I’m the family champ. I’m only gonna get better.”
While he talked about the bad habits his brother picked up from his aunt and uncle, he’d picked up some of their bad habits too. He got his cockiness from me and Key, but mostly Key. He got the trash talking from Phi. Willow and Zain were both mild-mannered and only turned up if you were messing with the other or their nephews.
I couldn’t lie though, my first born was nice. He took the lessons I’d given him and his brother serious. While Kenyon would get mad and shrug off the critiques.
“Aight, I’m off to ruin your other son’s day,” Kian affirmed, heading out the back door.
A few minutes after he left, the front door opened, then closed.
“How was your visit?” I asked Nini walking toward the door.
Nini went to the cemetery to see her mom and her best friend Sariyah. Ray grew up with us, married my best friend, Roman, she was also the boys god mom, and passed away five years ago from breast cancer. This was her parent’s house that we’re now living in.
The wind had tossed around her mostly ginger hair one way while the skunk patch of blonde in the font by her left temple went the other way. I smoothed her hair in the same direction then shifted my focus to the rest of her face.
Her hazel eyes with flecks of gray and green eyes were red and I could see the dried tears on her caramel skin. I rubbed her cheeks and kissed her forehead as she hugged my waist. Getting as close as her seven-month belly would allow.
“It was good. I miss them so much,” she answered with a sniffle. “I want to change Kaila’s middle name to Ri’Elle. It’s a combination of Mom’s nickname, Elle, and Sariyah name.”
I nodded. “I think Ri’Elle sounds better.”
She smiled. “Good. What y’all been up to?”
After she stepped out of her shoes, I led her into the kitchen and began making her the toasted turkey sandwich she asked for this morning.
“Kian is mad at Kenyon for telling him what happened in the all the new episodes of One Piece. When I told him that Phi used to do the same thing to me and Wil, he decided he would take the issue up with her. I told him that they’re putting on the gloves today. Your son also decided that he needed to put on the gloves with Phi and Key for teaching the other one as he referred to him all their bad habits.”
Nini laughed while holding her belly. “He thinks he can fight everybody. I agree with him though, Ken definitely has some of their bad habits. The more annoying ones at that. He really does act just like Keanu when he was that age.”
“Don’t I know it. Anyway Phi wants me to live stream it so she can see it.”
“Might as well get the whole family on video so nobody misses out.”
I nodded. “I’ll set it up.”
As I finished making her sandwich, I heard the gate and the boys bickering. Nini groaned. Me knowing they were about to be insufferable until they fought it out had me devising a plan. The back door opened and when they saw their mom, they immediately stopped.
“Hey, Mama,” Kian said, walking to her and hugging her.
“Sup, Mommy Moms,” Kenyon added.
“How’s Sissy?” Kian asked.
“She’s fine. Y’all okay?” Nini questioned.
“We’re fine until we put the gloves on,” Kian replied giving his brother the look that he’s gotten from me when I didn’t want them worrying their mother.
Kenyon grumbled. “I’m fine.”
“You sure?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kenyon said sulkily.
He kissed her cheek and stomped upstairs.
“What did you do to your brother?” I probed.
“Nothing. Just told him you said we were putting the gloves on,” Kian replied with a shrug. “Told you it was going to ruin his day. He should’ve just let me watch the episodes in peace, but he had to run his mouth.”
“Kian,” Nini chastised.
He held his hands up in mock surrender. “I’m done ‘til we box later. We already had lunch with Nana and PawPaw, so I’m going to shadow box around my room.”
We shook our heads as we watched him leave the kitchen.
“I’m not getting in that. I’ll be in the house with my feet up, eating ice cream. Oh! I decided on the theme for the nursery.”
I finished her sandwich and slid her plate across the island to her then grabbed her favorite chips out of the pantry and handed them to her. “Don’t keep me in suspense. I’m sure you already started ordering stuff.”
After chewing her first bite, she replied, “A garden theme with flowers and butterflies. I only ordered the crib because it’s going to take a week to get here. In the meantime we can go to The Toolbox and pick a color for the wall. I’m thinking a muted green.”
I nodded. “It’s your world, Baby. We can go tomorrow.”
“Yay! I can’t believe in about eight weeks we’ll have a new little person in our home.”
“I know. I’m anxious to see who she’ll look like. I’m already knowing she’ll have your eyes, well Mama Ellie’s eyes. The boys do.”
“They didn’t at first. I thought they got your sultry browns, but then they lightened into hazel and the flecks came in little by little.”
I smiled reminiscing on the memories of both boys births. They both were tiny and long, still are. I loved being their dad. I lost my way for a little bit and I wasn’t sure if Nini would ever forgive me or love me again, but we’d found our way back to each other.
More importantly, I found myself falling back in love with being a father to my sons. I wanted to be to them what I never had, but also what Chief and Pop Russell are to me even to this day. I’d been on track for several years now and I tried my best daily to be the best version of myself.
“Robby, come back,” Nini urged. “Don’t think about the past, just focus on right now. I’m proud of the strides you’ve made to be the man I’ve always known you to be. I love you.”
A few tears rolled down my cheeks. We moved in sync towards each other. She dried my face then wrapped her arms around my waist, and kissed the middle of my chest while I hugged her neck. We stood there holding one another for a few moments before Lil Mama started kicking.
“Little Girl, let me love on my husband without interference please,” Nini joked.
I rubbed her belly before giving Baby Girl a few kisses and she calmed down. “I love you, Nini. Always. Thank you for constantly believing in me.”
I looked up at her from my lowered position and she leaned down to kiss my bald head. It was something about the gesture that brought me comfort and peace. It was one of the things I didn’t realize I missed until we were separated for those two years.
“Come lay down with me until I fall asleep,” she urged, already leading me toward the stairs.
With a chuckle, I followed her to give her what she wanted.
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