“That is wonderful, you have anybody in mind?” A look of pure panic crossed his face.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You moving too fast!” I laughed shaking my head at him. Men!
“I still need to find a girl like you. You are a rarity Yas. I tell my boy all the time he’s blessed. Hell, these girls these days, they all about what you can buy them, how fast you can get their hair and nails done.” He shook his head. “Most of em’ can’t even cook!”
“Goodness! Mac! It’s more to a girl than if she can cook or not.”
He chuckled. “Sure… it is, but you old school. You what women use to be before they started bugging out. I ain’t never seen my brother so protective of a woman. He’ll do anything for you. Give his life for you. And do you know why that is?”
I shook my head.
“It’s cause you make him feel like what God created him to be. You make him feel like a king.” He looked at me.
“Not every woman got what it takes to do that job, shorty. For real! Only a queen can make a man feel like a king.” His words brought tears to my eyes. Dang it, I was extremely honored by them. Mac didn’t give compliments too often. He said the reason being was because he wasn’t impressed with most folks. So, if or when he did give one, you know he meant it.
He settled back on the bench. “Hell, they don’t make women like you for us normal brothers. We got to be satisfied with the buzzards!” My mouth dropped.
“Mac, you shouldn’t say stuff like that.” He chuckled.
“It’s true!”
We sat for a minute in silence, just taking in the beauty of the garden. I thought about how Gabriel would react when I told him I was pregnant. Then my gaze went back to Mac, who was clearly the mature one of their little group.
“Mac.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m pregnant.” His head whipped around.
“For real?” I nodded. He shot up off the bench.
“Yeah!” He yelled, fist pumping the air. I laughed at his enthusiasm. His response was so much like Gabrielle’s, it was amazing.
He leaned down and kissed my cheek loudly.
“Thank you so much Yas, you saved my boy’s life!”
“Wait!” I grabbed his arm as he went to walk away.
“Let me tell him… okay.” He grinned.
“Of course, shorty… that’s y’all moment. My lips are sealed. Plus, I have a lot of things to do for tonight.” I frowned.
“What’s going on tonight?” This was his second time mentioning that. He grinned.
“It’s a surprise!” Was all he said before he turned and walked away. A short while after that, Gabe found me and told me he had made arrangements for me and Stacy to have a little outing for my birthday.
As you know, Stacy can’t hold water. So, it was during our little outing that she mistakenly told me about the surprise party Gabrielle and Kenny were planning for me.
“What party?” I asked, as she held a beautiful cream dress close to my body. My question caught her off guard cause her eyes rose to mine before they looked back down at the dress before stumbling back to mine again. She blinked.
“What party?” She asked repeating my question. I narrowed my eyes at her.
“You said this will be the perfect dress for your party.” She shook her head.
“No, I didn’t.” I laughed.
“Yes, you did.” She pulled the dress back, thinking over her words.
“Oh, if I said that, I meant, this will be the perfect dress for you to wear to dinner tonight. I’m sure Gabe has made plans.” I continued to look at her, knowing she was lying.
“Is there a party for me Stacy?” She shook her head holding the dress back to my front.
“Not that I know of.” I snatched the dress from her.
“Come on! Tell me the truth! You already slipped. You might as well just tell me.” I pleaded with her, barely being able to hold on to my excitement. Me, Gabrielle, Kenny, Mac and Gabe were just talking the other night over dinner when I told them I had never had a birthday party. They had all been surprised. And now it all made sense. Kenny asked me my favorite color and foods. Gabrielle asked me if I preferred chocolate or vanilla cake.
I laughed. Even Gabe’s grouchiness made sense; because of course he hated parties. Stacy grabbed my hand pulling me to the other side of the boutique were Jerome couldn’t hear or see us that well.
“You can’t tell anybody I told you!” She whispered. I zipped my lips. She exhaled looking disappointed in herself. Poor baby, she couldn’t help it that she couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.
“Okay, Gabrielle and Kenny are planning you a party at the Four Seasons. I’m supposed to take you out shopping, bring you back to my place, get you dressed and then Gabe is going to come and get you pretending to take you to dinner.” I squealed clapping my hands together, but she put her hand over my mouth.
“Shh! You have to continue to pretend like you don’t know.” I nodded.
“I can’t believe Gabe is going along with this!” She laughed.
“Just barely. Mac said when they ran the idea by him he panicked and lied; telling them he bought you tickets to Paris for your birthday. But of course, his boys knew him well and asked him to prove it by producing the tickets. When he couldn’t, Kenny and Gabrielle started planning.” I did a little dance. This was by far the best day of my life, then a thought hit me. I stopped dancing.
“Wait, who’s going to be there. You guys are my only family and friends.” She chuckled.
“Girl please, your husband is
