Chapter 8

Grandma still didn"t offer any apologies for her role in everything. I didn"t necessarily believe that she would ever provide one. I did tell my mother that she had to forgive Grandma.

Israel talked to my mom and told her something similar to what he told me. He said to say this statement to yourself:

"Forgiveness doesn"t mean that I forget what you"ve done and allow you the same access in my life.

Forgiveness means that I release myself from the guilt of what you"ve done to me, but it doesn"t mean that you get to be close enough to me to harm me again.

"Ms. Francis is the only mother you will ever have. For better or worse, your job is to honor her. It doesn"t mean you have to like her or hang around her," Israel finished.

Mommy took that to heart, and although she still wasn"t ready to speak to or see Grandma, she said she was working on forgiving her.

We were at one of the hotels in the Greenwood District in Saint Louis, waiting to hear from Rylan. My mother, Zechariah, Rylan and I, all took the jet to Saint Louis so we could meet Cambria.

"What did Ry say? Has he called yet?" Mommy asked.

"No, he hasn"t."

"Do you think she took the news well?" Mommy asked.

"I don"t know. I can"t imagine how I would take it if someone told me I had a whole family that I never knew… well, come to think of it, someone did tell me that."

I chuckled. Mommy didn"t find the humor in it.

"I"m sorry. I have to laugh, or I"m going to stress myself out while waiting for this phone call."

"Zechariah, he hasn"t called you, has he?" Mommy asked.

Zechariah looked at the phone and said, "No, ma"am. No missed calls."

"We should"ve just gone with him to the meeting," Mommy said while pacing back and forth.

"No, we have to give her space to make her own decision to meet us," I reminded my mother.

Mommy tried to strong arm her way into the meeting Ry set up with Cambria. It took both me and Zechariah to get her to stand down.

I understood how she felt. I wanted to be at the initial meeting, too, but we didn"t want to overwhelm Cambria. However, the waiting was killing me.

The what-ifs were overwhelming.

What if she didn"t want to meet us?

What if she didn"t attend the meeting?

What if she did meet us but didn"t want a relationship with us?

The whole situation was a lot to bear. Luckily, I had a solid rock in Zechariah. He"d been my constant companion through the entire ordeal.

If I wasn"t sure he loved me before, I was positive he loved me now. He"d taken my crying spells, attitudes, silent treatment, horniness and everything in between in stride. He was everything I needed him to be.

"Come here." Zechariah reached for my hand. "Let"s go out on the balcony and get some fresh air. Ry will call soon."

I took Zechariah"s hand and followed him out onto the balcony.

We were high enough that the noise below was muted. Still, we had a spectacular view of the Gateway Arch and the muddy Mississippi River.

We sat in a comfortable silence until Zechariah said, "You know I admire you."

My eyebrows knitted together before I said, "Huh?"

Zechariah chuckled, his voice filled with a mix of awe and adoration. "Don"t look like that! I do. I"ve watched you maneuver this horrible situation with a grace that"s beyond words, a compassion that"s boundless, and a forgiveness that"s truly remarkable. I honestly don"t know if I have all of that in me. I"ve fallen more in love with you watching you pull yourself up, but not only yourself but your mom too."

"Baby," I swooned, my voice filled with a profound sense of gratitude. "That is the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me. I appreciate your words, but I haven"t been able to do this without you. Thank you for holding me together when I was falling apart. Thank you for being here now."

"I"m going to be wherever you are or wherever you need me," Zechariah said, his voice filled with love and determination. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

We kissed just as my phone vibrated in my hand.

"It"s Ry!"

I rushed back into the room.

"Mommy, it"s Ry."

"Answer it!" Mommy yelled.

"Hey, Ry," I said, trying to sound calm.

"Hi, Billye. Cambria would like to meet you. I"ve scheduled the meeting for tonight at seven. I"ll send over the directions and meet you there tonight."

"Okay. Thanks, Ry." I disconnected the call. "She wants to meet us!" I looked at Mommy. "Don"t start crying. We just stopped!" I said as tears welled up in my eyes.

* * *

We loadedinto the truck and pulled from the hotel"s lot.

"This area is called Greenwood. It"s a lot like Lariece Park. This entire area was neglected and abandoned for years. They"ve worked hard to make it into something beautiful. This is what I want for Lariece Park," Zechariah said.

"It"s going to get there, babe," I said.

"It will," Mommy agreed.

After a thirty or so minute drive we arrived in front of a large house on a palatial estate. The ivory stone house was massive, with intricate ironwork balconies and large columns at the entrance.

"This is Samuel Valentine"s house," Zechariah announced. "He"s the founding partner at the law firm where Morris works."

We walked to the front door of the house. Before we could ring the doorbell, the door opened, and a large man who looked like he played professional football at some point in his life stood on the other side.

"Please come in," he said. After we walked in, the man said, "I am Countee, the chief security officer at Valentine and Belle. Please follow me."

We walked behind Countee, who was not only large and intimidating but handsome and good-smelling.

Countee opened a set of double doors, and there stood Rylan, Morris and Cambria.

"Ms. Antonia and Billye, this is Cambria and Morris, her husband. Cambria and Morris, this is Antonia, Wilhelmina and Zechariah, Billye"s…" Rylan paused.

"He"s my arch nemesis sometimes, but through this process, he"s been my rock," I finished.

"I don"t know what titles kids are giving themselves these days," Rylan said.

Everyone chuckled.

"Hi," Cambria smiled and waved.

My eyes filled with tears. Her voice was beautiful. Her smile was amazing.

"Hi!" I choked out, trying to contain my emotions.

"Hi," Mommy said. "I don"t know if we can or should…"

Before Mommy could finish her sentence, Cambria ran into my mother"s arms.

They hugged and cried.

"I"m so sorry!" Mommy said through her tears. Mommy pulled away from the hug and held Cambria"s face between her hands. "Please forgive me. I didn"t know."

Cambria nodded her head. "I know you didn"t know. You don"t have to apologize."

I stood anxiously waiting for my turn to hug Cambria. After she and Mommy hugged for a while, she turned to me.

"I always wanted a sister," I said.

"Me too," Cambria said.

We fell into each other"s arms. It was as if a piece of me had been missing and was now returned. I couldn"t explain the sensation of feeling my sister"s heart beating next to mine, but it felt amazing. I felt a comfort and familiarity as if our souls recognized each other.

"I"m so happy to…" we both started at the same time.

"Sorry!" we said in unison.

"You go…"

We burst out in laughter. How was it possible that we had a twin thing and hadn"t been around each other.

"What were you about to say?" Cambria asked.

"I was going to say I didn"t know you existed, but I knew at the same time," I tried to explain.

"I feel the same way," Cambria replied.

"You are so beautiful."

"You clearly got the height and beauty as well," Cambria said. "I just never thought I would ever know who my family was. This feels so surreal. I tried to explain to our daughters how important family is…"

"Daughters?" Mommy said.

"We have two daughters and a son: Phoenix, Skylar, and MJ."

"I"m a grandmother?" Mommy smiled.

"You are. And…" Cambria rubbed her stomach.

"You"re expecting?" Mommy said.

"I am, well we are. Morris claims to have done all the work," Cambria said.

"I did," Morris deep timber announced.

Everyone laughed.

"Morris, you"re one of the lawyers at Valentine"s firm?" Mommy asked.

"Yes, ma"am. You remember our meeting?" Morris said.

"I do. I was very impressed. You"d just begun at the firm," Mommy responded.

"Yes, ma"am."

"Where you with my daughter when we met?" Mommy asked.

"No, I met her about a year after that meeting," Morris explained.

"And you"re still at Valentine?" Mommy asked.

"Yes, ma"am, I"m a partner now," Morris answered.

"Congratulations," Mommy responded.

"And Zechariah Aldaine. I had your poster on my wall for years," Cambria said.

"It"s nice to meet you, Cambria," Zechariah said as they hugged.

"Please, everyone calls me Cam. Only Morris calls me Cambria when I"ve really messed up."

"Ms. Antonia, you have a visitor in the library," Rylan said.

"Okay?" Mommy said.

"Zec, can you come with us?" Rylan said.

"Yes."