Winifred

Epilogue

Two and a half years later…

“Auntie Freddie, Uncle Lij told me to tell you to come here,” Anaya yelled, busting into the room where me, her mother, Mrs. Marie, and my homegirls were all congregated.

“Tell my impatient brother that he isn’t supposed to see her before the ceremony,” Elisha shot back.

“Sha, now you know damn well that’s the rule for your man,” I cracked, shaking my head.

“That rule doesn’t apply to the bridal party too? Oh,” she said with a sheepish grin.

Anaya had been running back and forth between the suite where all the ladies were getting dolled up for these impending nuptials and the salon where the men gathered to prepare as well. I was actually surprised they’d allowed her into their inner sanctum where I was certain there was a lot of shit talking, brown liquor drinking, and maybe cigar smoking going on. But Papa Jeff wasn’t any more immune to the charms of our Lady Bug than the rest of us.

After that trip they took to Cali a few years ago, Jeff and Elisha had let go of the “just friends” act, falling into a relationship that had been beautiful to watch unfurl.

The most beautiful thing was seeing his bond with Anaya. Strangers wouldn’t have been able to tell that wasn’t his biological daughter. From the way they interacted, it was evident that they shared an unbreakable loving bond. And that bond hadn’t even been impacted when news that they were expecting a little bundle of joy was revealed. Anaya was excited for her potential baby brother or sister to boss around and Mrs. Marie was over the moon about having a new baby to spoil since Anaya was in her Miss Independent stage these days.

Not all of the past few years had been so beautiful though, as we lost Mr. Chuck a little over a year ago. Though he wasn’t their biological grandfather, he’d been in their lives for so long that his loss was felt deeply. Elisha had taken it the hardest, but she was much better now. The grief still lingered, especially once they started making plans for this wedding, but Jeff had remained a rock solid support system for her and of course she had her professional therapist to also guide her along the way. In lieu of their grandfather, Elijah was due to walk his twin down the aisle, something that made everyone around us emotional when he’d done so at the rehearsal dinner a couple nights ago. No one was more touched than Mrs. Marie, as she ensured us that despite her highly emotional response, she was okay. And undoubtedly she would be, with the way our families came together and supported not only her, but each other in the wake of the loss. Even Jaeden had flown back to Chicago for the funeral and spent a lot of time in Mrs. Marie’s presence at her request. They’d met months prior and immediately bonded, with him already calling her grandma by the end of their first time being in each other’s presence. I thought it was hella cool the way she’d done a one eighty and embraced my baby like he was one of hers from the very first brush.

Since Elisha and Jeff were getting married and Elijah and I were still living in sin, we were at a crossroads with what we would do with the building the Woolfords had lived in. Mrs. Marie wasn’t interested in being a landlord and also wanted to downsize into something smaller, so we were in the process of renovating the units the twins used to occupy as well as trying to find her a spot in one of those nice senior citizen development communities. At first she fought us tooth and nail, saying she wasn’t going into some old folks’ home. But once we took her to one of the independent living communities and she saw how nice the places were and the amenities offered to residents, Mrs. Marie quickly changed her tune.

“Are you coming, Auntie?” Anaya pressed, bringing me out of my musings.

“Tell him I’ll be there in a minute, Lady Bug,” I called out.

She nodded and took back off out of the room, the beads at the ends of her braided hairstyle clacking as she zoomed away.

“Anaya Marie, stop all that daggone running,” Elisha called out but she was too late because our little track star was already out of earshot. “Oh hey, since you’re headed that way, can you please give this to Jeffrey for me?” She held out a sealed envelope with his name on the front in script.

“You got it, sis,” I replied, grabbing it and heading over to see Elijah.

I had an idea of what he wanted since he’d also been texting me all morning while we were apart, intermittently. I walked down to the room the men were in, expecting to see him, but he wasn’t anywhere in the vicinity. So instead I gave Jeff the envelope from Sha and headed back toward where the women were. I hadn’t gotten more than five steps out of the room where the men congregated before I felt a pair of strong hands at my waist, gripping and pulling me into one of the empty rooms along the hallway.

“Eli,” I said mock sternly as I pressed my hands into his chest as he drew me nearer.

“What’s good, beautiful?”

I raised a brow in question. “You tell me. I was the one who was summoned.”

“Damn, that makes it sound dire as fuck. I mean, my need for your fine ass is dire, but…”

I rolled my eyes, but smirked, falling for the flattery immediately, especially when it was paired with his mouth at my neck, pressing lingering kisses along the column. My eyelids fluttered as he hit a particularly sensitive juncture that caused my knees to buckle. Before letting myself get in too deep with what he was tryna start, I gathered my wits and pulled away from him, crossing my arms as I tried to look perturbed.

“This is not the time for milk , sir. If that’s what you called me in here for…”

“I mean you can’t fault a brotha for trying, have you seen yourself in this dress?”

The bridal party was small, only consisting of me, Mrs. Marie, and Anaya, so Elisha elected to not have us in matching dresses, but a coordinating color scheme. The colors were shades of brown and I’d found the perfect, silky slip dress in a hue not far from my skin tone that hugged my body like it was in love with me. The fit of the dress combined with hair in an elegant chignon, my subtle yet chic makeup look, and the shimmery body glitter I’d slathered on had me looking like a golden chocolatey goddess, so I understood his predicament. But there was no way in hell I could let him get just the slightest taste because neither of us understood moderation when it came to indulging in one another.

Elijah was my biggest vice and I wasn’t ashamed to admit it.

“I look good, right?”

“Damn right you do,” he growled, trying once again to bring me into his embrace.

“Eli, no. I can’t go back in there looking like I let you have your way with me. Me and Mrs. Marie just got to a place of understanding,” I joked, knowing the issues she and I had in the beginning were now water under the bridge.

“Fine,” he grunted. “I’ll save the pre-ceremony hanky panky for our day…”

I raised a brow again, laughing this time. “ Hanky panky ? That’s the choice of words you wanna use.”

“So you just skating past the rest of my statement?” he countered, digging into his pocket.

“If you are about to…” I started, then quickly snapped my mouth shut when I saw he was retrieving his phone and not what I thought talk of “our day” would bring about.

He glanced at the screen, replied to whatever he had been sent, then brought his attention back to me.

“If I’m about to what?” he jeered, walking up and looping an arm around my waist once again. “Propose? What you gonna do about it besides say yes?”

I opened my mouth to give him a snappy comeback, but faltered because he was absolutely right. If he asked… when he asked , saying anything but yes was not an option. I loved this man unreservedly and knew I’d spend the rest of my days doing just that. So lying to him or myself at this moment would just be ridiculous.

He placed a hand to my chin, raising my jaw to reclose my mouth.

“Don’t wanna let any flies in there,” he cracked, then leaned forward to press a soft kiss against my lips. “For the record, I’d never step on my twin’s day by trying to steal her shine in that way, but it’s good to know we’re still on the same page.”

“Same chapter, same book,” I confirmed with a wide grin.