Epilogue

ONE YEAR OR SO LATER

I woke to the sound of “My Girl” by The Temptations playing through the surround sound. Rolling over, I noticed that the room was empty. After a good stretch, I got out of bed and slipped into my robe and house shoes before leaving the bedroom and following the sound of the music. What I was when I entered the kitchen warmed my heart. There was my husband dressed in nothing but a durag, basketball shorts, long ass socks and slippers, dancing with our baby girl.

Darlyn Dream Dillinger was three months old and her daddy was obsessed with her. My entire pregnancy, that man worked my nerves so damn bad that it was no surprise she came out with his whole face. There was no way he could deny her even if he wanted to.

As he danced and sung to her, she stared in his face with a smile on her face.

“That’s Daddy’s baby,” he said, kissing her cheeks. “My favorite girl.”

I smiled as I made my way over to them. When he saw me, he maneuvered her into the crook of his arm so he could welcome me into a hug.

“My other favorite girl,” he said, pecking my lips. “How did you sleep?”

“Like you had me up until the wee hours of the morning trying to make Darlyn a sibling. I was tired as hell.”

He laughed, knowing it was the truth.

“Good morning, MaMa!” I sang to my baby. All I saw were gums as she grinned at me. “How is Mommy’s pretty girl?”

“She’s been washed and fed. We were just waiting on you to get up. You hungry?”

“When am I not hungry?”

“You right.”

He passed Darlyn over to me and went to fix my plate while I sat at the table with her. As I watched him, I swear I fell even more in love. The past year had been amazing to us. In addition to us having our daughter, I completed my program and got my degree. I was very pregnant walking across that stage, but I was determined to finish. My mother, several of my family members, Shar, Deuce and his entire family were right there to cheer me on as I crossed the stage.

The Dillingers threw me a graduation party at the compound. Mr. Dilliger, Deuce’s Uncle Blake, and his grandmother each presented me with a check to help start my business while Deuce presented me with a deed to my building.

Iconic was currently undergoing a complete renovation to make it into everything I wanted. We were a few weeks shy of it being complete, but once it opened, I just knew things would pop off. My very first event was going to be Ms. Stephanie’s wedding. Surprisingly, Deuce had come around to his soon to be stepfather. He was no longer “that nigga”, he was simply Aaron. Watching him give up on hating that man was hilarious because Mr. Aaron was completely unbothered by him.

My father-in-law, on the other hand, wasn’t so happy about his baby mama getting married. He showed up here drunk one night, begging Deuce to ask her to reconsider giving him another chance. My husband cursed him out before he took him back home and put him in bed. He called the next morning to apologize.

Ms. Stephanie would be the last of the original woman to finally move on from him. Ms. Maddie was still around, but they weren’t together. She moved out of his out and off the compound, but still came by to see Mia. She was still very much a part of the family business, so she wasn’t really going anywhere.

Deuce was still active in the family business, but he was holding off on jobs that required him to travel too far away from home for right now. He wanted to be with me and Darlyn as much as possible, and I appreciate that. Him being so far away terrified me now that we had her. I worried about his safety and now I fully understood why my mama wanted my father to get out of the game with his life.

Every time he made it home to me, I hugged him a little longer and tighter. Breathing him in after a job just gave me a sense of comfort. We had a ritual at this point. He’d come home, we shared that special moment, then he would shower and make love to me like it was the last time we’d ever be together.

That part I wasn’t mad about.

“What are you smirking at?” he asked, placing a plate of food in front of me.

“Just thinking?”

“About what?”

My eyes dropped to his crotch and a grin spread across his face.

“I thought you were tired.”

“I’m never too tired for that.”

He chuckled as he leaned in to kiss me. “Nasty ass.”

“You made me this way. It shouldn’t be so good.”

“I know it’s goo, baby. You don’t have to tell me.”

“Your arrogant ass.”

“You love my arrogant ass.”

“I do. I ate my words on that one cause here I am going on two years after I met you, married to you and fresh off birthing your baby.”

He slapped his chest. “You are gonna learn to stop playing with me, woman. Didn’t I tell you what I want I get?”

I rolled my eyes as I place Darlyn in her stroller. “Boy bye. You’re lucky I let you smell my pussy.”

As soon as I got baby girl settled, I felt him pulling my chair until I was seated between his legs. He draped my legs over his and pulled me onto his lap. His hands gripped my bare ass as he adjusted me into a comfortable position.

“You talking shit, Mrs. Dillinger?” he asked, peering up at me. “I told you that pussy was gonna be mine and look what happened? I married that muthafucka.”

I giggled. “You just wanted me to be your wife so bad.”

His face turned serious, and so did his tone. “You are my everything, baby.”

“You’re my everything, too, Deucy.”

“Watch me drop your ass on this floor.”

He pretended to drop me, but I held on tightly to his neck. He pulled me back upright and wrapped his arms around me.

“This is what you get for the rest of your life. You cool with that?”

I smiled. “I don’t think I could ever want anything else.”

I pressed my lips to his and kissed him softly.

I meant that shit. We had a crazy start, but next to Shar, this man was my best friend. He was a little crazy, but his craziness was only about me. If your nigga isn’t a little fool over you, is he really your nigga? He never failed to show me that was, am, and always would be it for him. Even in his unorthodox ways at times, I couldn’t ask for anything better.

THE END