Second Chances

Dal

I look over my hand and smirk at my fine ass, competitive ass fiancé. I’m spanking his ass so bad in dominoes that I know he’s gonna want a rematch tomorrow. I keep trying to tell him the only person who can beat me is G-Pops, but you can’t tell Patrick anything.

“Yo ass do not be washing these fucking dominoes good enough,” he complains.

“Patrick, you’re losing. You’re the one washing them.”

He mumbles something under his breath before putting down a bone.

“What was that, bae?” I taunt. I only need ten to win, but one of my pieces gets me fifteen, and another would get me twenty.

“I said, go ahead and win, Choc. Yo ass ain’t stopped smiling all game.”

My grin widens as I slap the bone onto the table. “Twenty, nigga! That’s game!”

I shimmy in my seat while Patrick swipes the bones off the table like the sore loser he is.

“Fine, whatever. If I beat his ass at our reception, it’s yo fault and I’on wanna hear shit.” Patrick gets up and starts violently picking up the pieces as I snicker.

“You said you were working on your relationship with him. What’s the problem with inviting him? He’s like a father to me, too.”

“Bae.” Patrick puts the pieces in their case before folding his arms on his chest. “You talking about he like a father to you, you know fathers of the brides pay for weddings right? Last I checked, he ain’t footing the bill for this shit.”

I roll my eyes. “He would if you asked.”

“But I’m not. Because I got this shit. You won witcha cheating ass, so you can invite Raúl… you made the appointment to take your IUD out yet?” He smirks, pulling me out my chair and wrapping his arms around me.

“Gross. Can y’all not?”

Patrick scowls as Macy breezes into the kitchen. “Y’all cooked? This baby is making me a bottomless pit!” she huffs.

“That ain’t the fucking baby,” he seethes. She tosses me the box in her hand before opening the fridge.

“Fuck you, Peanuthead. Whatever. I’m ordering pizza and I’m not sharing.” She winks at me as she scurries off, and her secret grin tells me she wasn’t hungry at all.

I should have been got this package she got from Armand for me, but the garnet I wanted was on backorder, and Mace was able to knock out two birds with one stone, picking it up and letting Armand down easy. 

“The fuck is that, Choc?”

I roll my eyes, snatching away from him to open the box. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

He scowls at me. “You been real funny-acting since Macy came up in this bitch. Do I need to be less Patrick and more Nutty?”

I take out the three velvet boxes and set them on the table. “Go ahead, Pat. Look.”

He cuts his eyes to me before grabbing the smallest box. When he opens it, a grin breaks out on his handsome face. His wedding band is a simple white gold, and when he takes it out and reads the engraving, he sucks his teeth.

Nut & Choc

“Okay, so what’s these?” he asks, setting it back down.

I shrug, and he rolls his eyes to pick up the medium box.

He opens it, taking out a thin yellow gold chain with a heart locket attached. When he opens the locket, his grin turns shy.

“Lil Mama showed me her baby book a few months back. I figured my something new for the wedding could be this. You know I love me some gold.”

On the left side of the locket is a picture of Maurice holding Denver as a newborn. He’s shirtless, during their first skin-to-skin time. It’s one of my favorite pictures of them, and when I saw Patrick had an identical picture with Anaïs I knew I had to get them memorialized. Armand mirrored the pictures so that the babies are on the inside, and I know this will be an every day piece.

Patrick places the box on the table, and stares at the last box. He reaches for it before balling his fists.

“Why you insist on making me a soft ass nigga, Choc?”

I step to him, wrapping my arms around his waist. “My big baby. Your secret is safe with me, bae.”

He reaches for the largest box again and opens it.

The thick fourteen karat white gold cuban link chain has diamonds in each link. He pulls it out of the box, placing the box on the table to stare at the pendant.

A picture of Tati at her baby shower is surrounded by diamonds and garnets, her birth stone. On the back, Forever in my heart is engraved, with the chain long enough for the pendant to rest on his chest.

I was supposed to have it before Tati’s birthday, but at least it’s still January. I gently take it from him and clasp it behind his neck. “Lil Mama looks better with yellow gold, that’s why hers is different… at one point in time both of us thought we’d never love again after experiencing such a pure form of it. But I know Mo and Tati are in heaven partying it up, talking shit about how they got us ready for each other, which is wild, because if it was switched, we’d both be haunting them.”

He snorts, love and adoration shining down at me as he wraps his arms around me.

“I never got around to making a pendant, and now I know why. Thank you, Choc. I love yo ass foreal.” His innocent kiss turns hot and heavy before he picks me up. “Grab them boxes. We gone put these up, and then I’m taking you straight to Pound Town, bae. Better hope yo IUD works, ‘cause I’m ready to complete our lil bended family tonight.”

I giggle, leaning over to pick up the boxes. As he walks me through the house, I slip his chain off and tuck it back in its box next to Lil Mama’s. “I love yo crazy ass, too.”