Winifred

“ O h this is cuuuuuuute,” Reba squealed as Elijah and I walked toward the gate our flight was leaving out of. “I feel like y’all owe all of this to me though. So like, I should at least get naming rights to your first joint pet or something.”

I rolled my eyes at her silly ass as Elijah chuckled.

“Oh, so you’re to blame for this one stalking me?” I cracked, knowing fully well she’d been feeding him information about me in the beginning stages of his pursuit.

Elijah had eventually come clean about her role in our little courting story a few weeks after our transition from hot and ready to good and steady. He revealed that Reba, one of the shift supervisors, would inform him of my whereabouts, giving his persistence a boost.

“Considering how you’re cheesing like Velveeta, I’d say you ain’t too mad at me about it, miss mamas,” she quipped, making Elijah poke his chest out a little since he was most definitely the reason why I was smiling so hard.

He’d awakened me this morning with his head between my thighs, murmuring something about a pre-birthday treat. The way he’d eaten me was like my pussy was made of cake with my clit being the candle he snuffed out to make a wish. And his only wish had been to have my thighs vibrating against his ears as my hands cuffed the back of his head, forcing him deeper into my sweet spot. Needless to say, the normal annoyance I felt at being a traveler instead of the ones who got travelers on their way was nonexistent after that little sexcapade. He’d also managed to dissipate my irrational nervous jitters from introducing him to Jaeden.

I didn’t really date while Jae was younger. I hadn’t wanted him to get too attached to any man I brought around because I had no way of ensuring that their place in his life would be permanent. Thankfully, I’d enrolled him in mentorship programs at an early age, so despite not having his biological father in his life, nor his paternal grandparents, Jae had always been around strong male role models. It had actually been his long-time mentor who’d worked with Jae to convince me to let him even apply to Howard, let alone attend.

I was glad I’d eventually cut the apron strings though because the opportunities my son has had while attending the storied institution were far more varied than if I’d kept him local, under my thumb.

The plan was for Eli and I to be in DC for four days, leaving today, Wednesday, and returning on Saturday. It would be his first time in DC, so we planned to do a mix of touristy and lowkey things during our free time. There was no set agenda. The only day we had concrete plans was when we would be meeting up with Jae and his girlfriend, Tazia. We were set to arrive in DC around two p.m. and I wanted to go to one of my favorite spots in the city, Busboys and Poets, for lunch. It wasn’t too far from the hotel I’d stayed in the first time Jae and I made the trip out here for a visit, which had become my usual spot whenever I came into town.

“Hey, baby, I got a question,” Elijah said once we settled in the gate area, awaiting boarding. “Are you just as much hell on a plane as you are in a car?”

I rolled my eyes with a giggle. “A girl is a little impatient on one lil road trip and y’all are all ready to paint her with a scarlet T for travel out here.”

“That’s not an answer, love,” he replied, which made me roll my eyes again.

“Actually, I just knock out for the entire flight. So, to answer your question… no.”

He pantomimed wiping sweat from his forehead in relief and I smacked his arm, laughing.

“We gotta do something about your penchant for violence, baby,” Elijah cracked before standing. “I’m about to go grab a Celsius, you want anything?”

I shook my head and he departed, leaving me to people watch, one of my favorite things to do in airports both on and off the clock. Based on the sheer volume of people who shuffled their way through the space alone, there was always something intriguing to witness at one point or another. Before I could get too caught up in making up tales about the strangers that surrounded me, my phone buzzed in my bag. I pulled it out, instantly grinning when I saw the picture of me and Jae that I’d saved as his contact photo splayed across the screen.

“Hey, my baby,” I greeted.

“Hey, Ma. Just checking to make sure you and your lil boyfriend don’t want me to pick you up from the airport,” he teased.

Ever since I told him Elijah was coming with me, he’d been nonstop with the lil boyfriend cracks. It wasn’t malicious or ill-intentioned, just payback for years of me being ambivalent about his dating choices until he settled down with Tazia. She was the first girl I’d seen him with who brought out something deeper in my boy. She had a good head on her shoulders, was raised by great parents, and had goals and objectives she had no qualms about leaving Jae behind to achieve. She gave my baby a run for his money and truthfully, I wouldn’t have it any other way. They were too young to be thinking too far into the future, but I definitely wouldn’t mind having her as a daughter-in-law in the future.

“You’re annoying, kid,” I quipped, laughing along with him. “Elijah rented a car so we’ll be able to move around without having to rely on anyone once we touch down. Are you and Tazia still meeting us for lunch today at Busboys?”

“Tay had something come up, but I’ll be there for sure. Gotta make sure whoever this dude is knows my expectations for him,” Jaeden quipped, mock sternness coating his tone.

I shook my head, knowing he wasn’t the least bit serious. For so long it had only been me and him, but after I told him about Elijah, Jaeden expressed how pleased he was that I had found someone. We’d grown up together in a sense, since I’d had him at a fairly young age, so our relationship was pretty open. I gave him freedom to express his thoughts and feelings, with respect of course, which had led to some pretty intense conversations over the years. I wasn’t one of his little friends by any means, but Jae and I definitely had a great bond wherein he felt comfortable speaking his mind to me.

“Now here you go…” I groaned.

“I’m just sayin’. I never got the chance to play the angsty teen who hated his stepdad so I gotta…”

I cut him off. “Stepdad?” I screeched.

“Ma, I know this shit ain’t coincidence. You haven’t gone all these years never bringing anyone around to now including this guy on our birthday of all things and expect for me not to think it means something. So naturally I gotta give you a hard time.”

I chuckled, shaking my head at his logic. “But who said anything about a stepdad?” I replied, with no real response to everything Jaeden said.

“Logic. Might not be today or tomorrow, but buddy finna be around for a lil minute if you letting him witness Birthday Shenanigans is any indication.”

Jaeden had been born on my nineteenth birthday. At the time, I was all out of sorts, a young woman with parents who weren’t exactly thrilled with their baby having a baby, a baby daddy who was into shit that I couldn’t even fathom, and a desperate desire to make sure that this little person I brought into the world wouldn't suffer despite the circumstances of his birth. For him though, every year I made our birthday celebrations a big deal, from extravagant parties with his friends to experiential trips, both domestic and abroad, once I began working for the airline. I did everything in my power to show Jae that there was more to life outside of the little world in which we dwelled, wanting him to know nothing was impossible with hard work and dedication to achieving positive results.

Birthday Shenanigans, our formal name for our joint birthday celebrations, was a term coined by Jae on his tenth birthday when we took a trip to Florida to explore all of the theme parks. We decreed nothing was off-limits on our special day, indulging in all of the food, buying all of the things, basically doing everything that brought us the most joy for those twenty-four hours. The over-the-top celebration style of that day became canon after that trip. I worked hard for about three hundred and forty days out of the year, just to ensure we could ball out on that day. In the beginning, it was usually just me and Jae, but after I became close to Ron and Ken they joined us every now and again. When Jae and Tazia started dating in earnest, she’d even gotten in on the action.

“Okay, you might have a point there,” I agreed. “But let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves.”

Jaeden just laughed at me. “You remember I’m in charge of all of the planning for BS this year, right?”

Something he’d insisted upon this year in particular since he said I needed to let him do some of the treating now that he was a grown ass man. A lot of people were scandalized when they realized I let Jae use salty language in my presence, but I wasn’t really one of those people who got bent out of shape by words. So long as he wasn’t using them to denigrate or disrespect me, I didn’t care if he peppered them into regular degular conversation like an internet chef sprinkling dried parsley over a meal. There were far worse offenses he could be committing, but didn’t because I’d done my job of raising him well. I had no doubt though, that this whole “let me be in charge of the birthday plans” was a charge one hundred percent driven by Tazia.

“Against my better judgment, I am aware.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Ma. I’ve got some good surprises in store…”

“You know I don’t do well with surprises,” I groaned.

“And you also didn’t date folks, but now look at you, with a whole little boyfriend outchea. Trust me, Ma. Who knows you better than me? I got this,” Jaeden replied cockily.

“Why did I answer this phone for you again?”

“Because I’m one of the centers of your universe and you love me beyond anything words can convey. But I’mma let you go because I got a tutoring session in about thirty. Travel safe! I love you and see you soon.”

“Love you too, baby,” I said, smiling as I hung up.

My baby boy really was a grown man now and even though I gave him a hard time about it, I was pretty excited to see what all he had planned for our special day. Even though I’d said I didn’t want anything, Elijah handed me a bottled water and trail mix once he retook the seat next to me. Not long after his return, we were boarding our flight and in the air. I knocked out immediately, not even listening to the flight attendant do her spiel. I awoke with a jolt once we landed because the damn plane felt like it was on hydraulics, bouncing along the runway as we taxied to our gate.

“Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty,” Elijah cracked once I’d turned to him after I finished stretching. Thankfully, we were the only two in our row, so I’d really been able to make myself comfortable by lifting the arm rests on either side of my seat and using his chest as my pillow and curling my feet into the empty chair by the window.

I groaned as I stretched, working out the slight kinks in my body since my semi-prone position wasn’t exactly the most comfy, but it got the job done. We were near the front of the plane so we deboarded pretty quickly. I made a quick stop at the restroom then Elijah and I headed out toward the car he’d rented. Instead of dealing with one of the chains inside the airport, he’d used some new service where individuals rented their cars to travelers so all we had to do was navigate to the parking garage, find the vehicle, and be on our way. Thankfully that was a quick task. The plan was to meet Jae for lunch and by the time we finished, we should be able to check into the hotel.

As soon as we settled into the car, Elijah turned to me before pressing the start button. “You know your job, right?” he asked.

“To sit here and look pretty as a passenger princess?” I replied, batting my lashes.

“That and the music, baby.” He’d already connected his phone to the car for the navigation feature, so he handed it over to me to get our tunes of choice cranking. Since I saw he had already been listening to Dru Hill, and I found it apropos considering we weren’t far from Baltimore, the city the group hailed from, I let it ride, both of us singing along as he merged onto the highway that would take us to DC. Since it was early afternoon traffic wasn’t too crazy, relative to the mess of traffic at home that started at around the same time, so we made it to the restaurant in good time. As soon as we walked in, I saw Jae and couldn’t control my squeal. No matter how old he got, that was still my baby.

He looked up from his phone and gave me the broadest grin that reminded me of when my baby was knee high to a junebug. Now, however, he towered nearly half a foot over me as he walked over and wrapped me in an extra tight embrace.

“Hey, Ma,” he said as he pulled back, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek. “Flight was good?”

“Now you know I was knocked out. All I know is we got here safely, with the exception of the bumpy ass landing,” I said, laughing as I pulled back from him and turned to Elijah, extending a hand.

“Jaeden, meet Elijah. Eli, this is my baby boy, JaeJae.”

“Ma, chill on all that baby boy mess, man,” Jaeden grumbled before extending a hand Eli’s way for a shake. “Whassup, man. Nice to finally put a face to a name.”

“Likewise, my guy,” Elijah replied.

Soon we were seated and ordered, with Eli and Jae having fallen into a conversation about sneakers after Jae noticed that Eli was rocking some rare or special something or others on his feet. I knew Eli liked a nice pair of kicks, but I had no idea how much of an aficionado he considered himself as he and Jae went back and forth about “grails” and all this other sneaker collection jargon that went over my head. Soon the conversation went beyond sneakers, with them talking about drones or computers or something.

I couldn’t even lie, I zoned out as soon as the conversation went above my paygrade and level of attention. I was content, listening as the two of them geeked out over their shared interests. I’d been trying to play Eli off when I mentioned in the past that he and Jae may have things in common, but to see that I wasn’t too far off lowkey warmed my heart. Granted, with the way things appeared, I didn’t expect Jae to be moving back home anytime soon, but knowing that two of the most important people in my life got along with minimal provocation from me did my heart good.

“Uh oh, her eyes glazing over, might be time to switch the subject,” Jaeden cracked when he noticed me pick up my phone while he and Eli conversed.

I grinned, shaking my head. “Oh no, don’t mind me. I’m just…yanno the whole reason y’all have even made each other’s acquaintance or whatever.”

“Sorry, baby,” Eli said, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and pressing a quick kiss to my temple.

“Aw naw, you gotta get up off my mama like that, my guy. Ease me into the PDA, damn,” Jaeden teased.

“My bad, big dog,” Eli replied, but kept that arm right where it was as we continued lunch and chatting about nothing in particular once I inserted myself back into their little tête-à-tête.

Once we finished eating and the server came back to drop the check, Jaeden picked up the check presenter before either me or Eli could reach for it, insisting that he had us. Since I’d raised him to be a gracious recipient when someone was treating, I didn’t fuss about it, letting my baby flex his grown man steez. While we waited for the server to bring Jae’s card back, I tried getting some intel on what he had planned for tomorrow.

“Jae, are you sure you just don’t wanna tell me about what you have planned for BS now?”

He shook his head, resolute.

“I got a question,” Elijah chimed in.

“Whassup?” Jae replied.

“What was it like growing up sharing your birthday with your mom? I mean, I had to share mine with my twin, which had its good and bad moments when we were forced to spend the day together, but I gotta imagine it’s a bit different when it’s your parent.”

Jaeden let out a sly chuckle. “I’m not gon’ hold you, it’s kinda nice. I’m sure a lot of that has to do with how young Ma was when she had me, so she typically did it big in a way that suited the both of us, especially as I got older. Compared to a lot of my guys, I’ve been to so many places and had so many experiences that a lot of them haven’t even done now that we’re of age, you know? And I don’t mean my mama was on some cool mom type shit, but more that she didn’t just make me have a joint down at Chuck E. Cheese until I grew out of it. We’d do the local parties for my friends or whatever, but she also took me to the islands so I could experience snorkeling and to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower up close and personal. Shit like that. We never did make it to Japan, but she keeps promising that will be my grad trip once I finish my master’s program. We’ll see though.”

“Have I made a promise I haven’t seen through yet, son?” I quipped, raising a brow.

He shook his head as he opened the check presenter and signed his name with a flourish on the receipt and put his card back into his wallet. “Never and that’s why you’re the best mama in the world.”

“Best mama in the world but you don’t even wanna tell me what you have planned for BS. How does that work?”

“Dang, lady. Let me work my magic for once. You stayed making miracles happen in my life for all these years and it’s about time I try my hand at paying you back in a small way. Eli, you wanna back me up on this?”

Eli let out a chuckle and shook his head adamantly. “I gotta stay outta this one, respectfully, my guy.”

“I get it, man. Tazia keeps my ass in check too.”

“Jaeden Christopher,” I scolded and he just laughed.

“Chill out, mama. Just trust me when I say you’re gonna be wearing a smile all day long.”

“Can I at least get a hint on what to wear?”

“Something comfortable is all I can tell you,” Jaeden replied.

We got up to leave, with us going our separate ways once we crossed the threshold of the door because we were parked in the opposite direction from Jae. He and Eli dapped each other up with promises of talking more tomorrow before my big baby wrapped me in a bear hug, murmuring lowly into my ear, “I like him for you, Ma.”

I pulled back with a big ol’ Kool-Aid smile, undeniably pleased by their interaction going so well. Something I wasn’t alone in because as soon as we settled into the car, Eli quipped, “Damn, that went better than me bringing you around my people. Now I demand a do-over.”

I laughed, shaking my head at his silly self.

“I didn’t think there would be any friction. Told you y’all would vibe,” I replied, still tittering.

“And you also said that shit when you were tryna play me off,” Eli shot right back.

“Touché,” was my only reply as we eased into traffic and made the short drive to the hotel.

When we got to the desk to check in, Eli halted my attempts to give the woman at the desk my information. I raised a brow curiously, but stepped back and let him do his thing. Apparently, he’d doubled behind my back and upgraded our accommodations to a suite. I wanted to protest, but as soon as we were in the elevator on our way up, he silenced my protests with a soft kiss to my lips, then told me to let my man treat me like I deserved for my birthday and that shut my ass right on up.

We walked off the elevator, down the hall, and into a beautifully appointed, spacious suite with a nicely-sized seating area and separate sleeping quarters with a king bed.

“Oh this is noiiiiiice,” I crowed as I made my way through the space, my mouth dropping when I walked into the bathroom with its massive multi-showerhead, glass enclosed shower space. Just outside of the shower was a tub that looked like it could fit both of us comfortably as well as his and hers double sinks.

Eli came up behind me, pulling me back into his embrace just outside of the glass shower, lowering his face against mine to murmur directly into my ear, “This shower sold it for me, love.”

I instantly caught what he hadn’t expressly said as I took in the stone benches on both sides of the enclosed space, my imagination easily conjuring up images of him and me in this space, with far less clothing, taking full advantage of all of the amenities offered. I turned in his embrace, running my hands up his chest to cup his face as I leaned up and pressed a kiss to his lips.

“This is perfect, babe. Thank you,” I murmured as I pulled back.

“Anything for you, love,” he replied, leaning down to connect our mouths once more.

“Aight, so what’s the plan for tonight? You tryna go out somewhere for dinner or keep it low key and kick it at the restaurant here?”

“I’m cool with whatever,” I replied as we walked back into the main area of the suite.

“Aight, how about we just chill for a bit, take a look at what’s nearby, then make a plan after that?”

“Works for me,” I said as a little yawn escaped me like I hadn’t already slept on the plane ride here.

“You gon’ head and take a lil nap because it sounds like you need it,” Elijah said. “And by the time you’re back up, I’ll have made us a res somewhere for dinner.”

“Can you lay with me until I fall asleep?” I asked, sounding a little pitiful to my own ears, but it was too late to walk it back now.

“It’s your world, birthday girl.”

I changed out of the clothes I’d traveled in, throwing on a sleep shirt and Eli just stripped down to his boxers before we slid between the sheets of the plush king bed. I drifted off hella quickly, clearly more tired than I realized. By the time he was shaking me awake it felt like I hadn’t slept but a few minutes. Eli presented me with three options for dinner and I ended up choosing this cute little New Orleans inspired place that was a short walk from our hotel. He’d already showered, but waited to get dressed based on which spot I chose for dinner. We had less than an hour before our reservation, so I showered and dressed quickly, thanking the lord that I’d gotten my hair braided a little over a week ago so that made one less thing I had to do before we stepped out.

Neither of us were extremely hungry once we reached the restaurant, so we ended up ordering a variety of appetizers including fried boudin balls, BBQ shrimp, chargrilled oysters, and a bread platter that had this sweet potato brioche that was to die for. We also split a bottle of Billecart-Salmon rosé, which had me feeling nice as we strolled back to our hotel to turn in for the night. While we were at dinner, I’d gotten a text from Jaeden saying to be ready by nine in the morning because the transportation he arranged would be to the hotel to pick us up before our day of adventure began.

Upon walking back into the hotel, I took in the people milling about the lobby and saw a woman in the elevator as the doors closed that could have been Roni’s twin.

“Babe, doesn’t she look like Ron?” I asked Eli, nudging my head in the direction of the woman.

“Huh?” he said, looking a moment too late as the doors had already closed.

“Never mind,” I said, pulling out my phone to text my girl.

Sis, you got a doppelg?nger in DC.

My phone dinged less than a second later with her response.

???

Eli and I were coming back from dinner and I swear I saw you in the elevator at our hotel.

LOL. I wish. DC would probably be more fun than being grounded in Atlanta due to weather.

Oh damn. Sorry, babes.

You know how it goes… anyway, how’d Eli meeting Jaedy go? ??

Good… better than I anticipated, actually.

Glad to hear it! Okay sis, I’m about to go drown my sorrows at the lobby bar. I’ll get the full scoop from you when y’all touch back down. Love you, babes!

Love you too, sis!

Since I’d taken that little nap earlier I wasn’t exactly tired, so Eli and I laid up, watching TV until the TV eventually was watching us.

I awakened the next morning to the low hum of Elijah’s voice as he sang the birthday song directly into my ear as he spooned my body close to his, the insistent prodding of his hard dick against my ass feeling like a more than adequate present to start off my day. Fortunately we were on the same type of time as he coaxed me out of bed and into that massive shower where he gave me the first of many gifts I’d receive that day by way of his head between my legs and his tongue and fingers working in concert to bring me to a quick crescendo. I’d barely regained my senses when he repositioned me on the little bench in the shower and slid into me from behind, driving into me with breath robbing strokes that had me damn near climbing the walls. Once we were both spent and panting, I turned to him with a lopsided grin and quipped, “What a start to my day!”

That got me one of his patented rumbly chuckles before we both rose to get clean so we would be downstairs in time to meet up with Jae and Tazia for this mystery day of adventures. Despite not coordinating on what we’d packed, Eli and I somehow found ourselves in complementary outfits, something I knew my smart assed son would comment on when he saw us. But I was riding a little too high on the euphoria of the day to really give a damn. When we got the text that Jae and Tazia were downstairs, I double checked to make sure I had everything I needed to be out for a good part of the day, then Eli and I traveled down to meet them. Imagine my surprise to exit the elevator car to see not only Jaeden and Tazia, but also Roni and Kenni.

“Surprise!” the girls yelled and I just grinned broadly as I made my way over to everyone.

“What the hell! I thought you were in Atlanta,” I squealed as I embraced Roni. “What are y’all doing here?!”

“Nephew planned it all. Just told us to bring our asses, so here we are. Asses brought,” Roni quipped.

“Yeah, what she said,” Kenni chimed in as I hugged her as well.

I turned back to Elijah, face full of suspicion.

“And just how much did you know about this?” I asked.

“I mighta known a lil som’n, som’n,” he replied slyly before Jaeden urged us from the hotel and into the Sprinter van that awaited us curbside.