Page 76 of Surrender to Love

“Yeah, baby. She’s gon’ be real happy. She’s been telling me to marry you. She loves you, probably more than she loves me,” I tease but her smile drops again and she shakes her head slowly. Then, a tear falls from her eye, fucking me up. “Ay. What’s wrong?” I ask as I thumb the tear from her cheek.

“Your momma loves me but my own doesn’t,” she cries.

“Yo’ mother loves you. Everybody that knows you loves you, baby.”

“I wish that was true,” she mumbles. Her sadness fills the kitchen and breaks me down. “Why can’t she see I was hurt?”

“She will, baby, and listen, everybody loves you. I promise. Come on now; stop crying. Your mother loves you; she’s just not showing you that shit right now,” I tell her and she nods but her tears don’t stop. “Let’s go upstairs.”

After wiping her new tears, I clean the counter then help her off the stool. I practically carry her up the stairs then lay her down on her bed. She reaches for me, and of course, I sit beside her. I’ll do and be anything she wants or needs.

“Lay down with me,” she requests. “Just hold me until I fall asleep.”

I remove my shoes then hers and ease back on the bed. She inches on top of me and I wrap my arms around her. Her cries are silent but I hear her sniffling and swear my entire body tenses.

Her momma’s shit is fucking with her.

I need to figure out how to fix it.

“Shiro, I swear. We don’t have to go. I can just grab myself something to eat and you can leave. I know how busy you are at the shop. You’re already late; sitting down and eating with me is only going to make you later,” Kyrah insists as I put on my shirt.

“You said you were hungry. We’re going to eat then I’m going back. Tre is opening. Black feels better; he’s there too. I’m already missing dinner with you and Shuga because I’m closing. It’s cool.”

After crying herself to sleep last night, she woke up early and her damn stomach was growling. Although she doesn’t really remember how her night ended, she remembers barely eating and woke up hungry, so I’m going to feed her before I head back to Diamond Falls.

“Shiro,” she pleads but I’m not changing my mind.

“Finish getting dressed, baby, so we can go. You said it’s crowded as hell for breakfast,” I remind her.

“Alright. Okay,” she says, then gets off the bed. “I’m eating fast though so you can leave.”

While she’s in the bathroom, I sit on the bed and put on my Ones. Her words about her mom last night are still in my damn head and fucking with me. All of my family knows and loves Kyrah but I haven’t met her mom yet. I understand now, after hearing about her sister, and I accepted that she’s distancing herself from them. But after last night, I realize she might not really want that distance from her mom. She’s hurt but it’s obvious she loves her mom and misses her.

I’ve really got to fix this before we get married.

“I don’t feel like putting on any makeup,” she says when she walks out of the bathroom.

“You don’t need that shit anyway. You look beautiful with or without,” I tell her. She walks over and steps between my legs. “You ready?”

“Yes. My fiancé says I look good, so I’m definitely ready. You can tell me how it went with your brothers last night.”

“Baby, I told you twice,” I reply as I grab her ass.

“I was tired.”

“You were drunk.”

“You swear I get drunk. I’m never drunk; just tipsy.”

“Yeah. A’ight,” I say, then chuckle. “Let’s go get these damn croquettes you’ve been talking about since yo’ loud ass stomach woke me up.”

She laughs then lightly hits my chest. “Don’t do that,” she says. “It wasn’t loud like that.”

We head to Redmond’s Soul Food. I’ve had dinner from here a few times but never breakfast. They only serve it on the weekends, and according to her, it’s almost better than their dinner, especially the salmon patties and grits. She wasn’t lying about the line either. That shit is out the door and it’s only fifteen after nine.

“Damn, what time they open?” I ask as we walk to the line.

“Seven. I told you. This breakfast is the truth. The line will move fast though.” An employee walks out with small menus in hand and gives them to those in line who need one. Most already know what they are ordering, but since this is my first time here for breakfast, I take one. “Order what you want. The croquettes and grits come with either two or three. I’ll get three so you can taste one and still get what you want,” she says.