Page 39 of Passion

“That wasn’t very nice. I wanted to throw flowers at the wedding.”

“I know. One day, we’ll have another one where you can do that. Okay?”

“Okay.”

Gentry grabbed my hand and kissed it then got out of the car to help us out. As soon as the children were out of the car, they took off for the front door. Gentry grabbed my hand and said, “I’m proud of you for telling her the truth.”

I gave him a slight smile. “I try so hard to protect my kids in order to maintain their innocence. If she remembers her dad’s ‘playtimes’ when she gets older, she’s going to know what she witnessed. I hate that. All this time, he was claiming to be protecting them. That was bullshit. You were right. Something is up, and I’m going to get to the bottom of that shit. I need my mama to calm me down first though.”

“Shit, I could have calmed you down.”

I smirked. “Yeah, but we have the kids. I had to settle for the next best thing,” I said as I rubbed my hands up his chest. “I’ll let you make good on that once they go to sleep.”

“Sounds like a plan. Come on.”

He draped his arm across my shoulders, and we made our way to the door where the kids were. Once we’d gotten there, my mama was opening the door. “My babies!” she screamed.

The kids screamed right back. Their excitement made me excited. I could hear my daddy yelling from the back room, asking what was going on. I chuckled as we walked in. My mama picked up Dakota, and Kizzie ran to find my dad. “My goodness, baby girl. Thank God,” Mama said to me.

“Hey, Mama. I really need to talk to you. It’s important.”

“Okay, baby. Hey, Gentry. How are you?”

“I’m good, Missus Solé. How about you?”

“I’m so much better,” she said, then kissed Dakota’s cheek and let him down to go meet my dad.

My mama hugged Gentry and me then led us to the back room where Daddy was watching TV with Princess Tiana on his lap. She loved my dad, and they’d established a close bond. My mama snatched her from his lap, tickling her and kissing her cheeks. Dad stood from his seat and shook Gentry’s hand. “How’s everything, son?”

“It’s good. How about with you?”

“Well, if I can stop these bones from aging, I’ll be okay. Hey, baby girl.”

I smiled at my dad and hugged him. He kissed my head then released me from his embrace. I glanced at Mama, and she said, “Come on, baby.”

I kissed Gentry’s lips. “When I text you, can you send the princess to us?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, baby.”

He lightly slapped my ass as I walked away. I turned to him and winked at him. It felt good to be this way with him again. Depression was weighing me down. While I was angry as fuck right now, just having my children with me had me in a better mood.

My phone vibrated before I could get to the room. It was a text from Clayton. What in the hell are you talking about? I ain’t fucking nobody with them in the house. Bring my kids home or I’ll come get them. By the way, my lawyer works weekends. I filed for custody already. You’ll be getting served soon.

I walked inside of my mama’s room and threw my phone against her padded wall. “Whoa! G, what’s wrong?”

“That trifling ass nigga filed for custody!”

“What?”

“Clayton filed for custody! Apparently, he knows a lawyer and a judge that would do this shit for him on the weekend. Fuck!”

She ran to me and hugged me tightly as I cried audibly. This couldn’t be my life. She released me and grabbed my hand, leading me to her couch. I lay on my back and prepared to tell her everything, starting from last night. She already knew Clayton and Gentry’s first meeting didn’t go well, but I didn’t tell her they were having a do over last night.

“He played in Gentry’s face, acting like he was so concerned, and didn’t come home. I ended up staying with the kids at his place last night instead of going home with my husband. Gentry nearly broke things off with me last night. He’s been so irritated with this shit and the way I was handling it. When Clayton got home, I threatened him, promising to file for custody on Monday. But that shit ain’t even what’s got me so damn hot.”

My mama frowned slightly. “There’s more?”

“Oh, much more. First off, he’s listening to vulgar music with my children in the car. Kizzie knows who GloRilla is! What the fuck? Oh, but it gets worse,” I said then chuckled. I was almost at the point of no return. That laugh was me teetering on the edge of sanity. “He’s been allowing random women in the house around my babies, and Kizzie saw him fucking one of them through the crack in his door.”