"Girl, I know you did not come tiptoeing in here without saying hello!" Zen teased when she spotted Samara and Zay setting their bags down in the living room.
"Zenny!" Samara said happily reaching out to hug her. "Hiii!"
"Heeey!" she grinned wrapping her arms around her. "Somebody had a good time I see!"
"Yes. The best time!" Samara said letting Zen go. "And thanks so much for the flowers! That was so sweet of y'all," she gushed. "They were beautiful."
"Aw. You are so welcome sis. We knew you'd love them." Zen perked up. "You know, the place we—"
"Wow. It's like I'm not even standing here," Zay interrupted. "I was gone too, shit," he joked. "Where's my love?"
Zen laughed and went over to greet her brother. "Sorry Zay," she said hugging him. "You know how me and Sam get. No matter how short the days apart, when we link back up we start gabbing like two old ladies. We can't help it!"
"You right," he laughed. "My fault. I did have her sewn up for a few hours. I should have known better," he said grinning. "You and Samara can go chop it up and I'll put our bags away," he suggested.
"No, don't go," Samara pouted playfully.
A smile tugged at the corners of Zay's mouth. "Don't be like that," he said swiping her chin. "I gotchu later." He leaned in and gave her a few pecks on the lips.
"Kay," she said kissing him back. "Love you."
"Love you too."
"You know what? Y'all are too damn cute," Zen cheesed. "I can't even!" Zay chuckled to himself and went to grab their bags. "Samara, come help me with the snacks. I gotta talk to you real quick." Before she could give a response Zen was already pulling her out of the living room.
"What's going on?" Samara asked once they were in the kitchen.
"Okay so look," Zen said walking over to the pantry, "I don't wanna alarm you or anything, but Lovie and her parents are on their way over here."
Samara gave Zen an inquisitive look. "For...family movie night?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "Mom invited them and let me just tell you, her parents love Zay, like love him," she emphasized.
"Oh boy. Okay," Samara sighed as she looked up at the ceiling and then back at Zen.
"It shouldn't be a big deal, but I just ain't want you to feel blindsided tonight."
"Thanks for looking out. I really appreciate it."
"Girl, you already know what it is," Zen smiled. "Don't mention it." She went back into the pantry and grabbed a few more snacks.
"Okay, so what do you need me to do?" Samara asked, wanting to give her attention to something else.
"You know what?" Zen said setting everything down onto the counter, "You can take the drinks out of the fridge and take them down into the basement for me. Just set them on the bar."
"Ar'ight. No problem. Is the liq already down there?"
"Girl, you know it! The Adams family don't start no function without it. We just restocked the bar last night."
"Aye! Is your daddy makin' that juice you had at homecoming? That shit had me feeling nice."
"Yep," Zen said nodding her head. "We gon' be lit tonight!"
"Sho is," Samara said dancing her way over to the fridge and opening it up. "You want all this on the top shelf to go down?"
"Mmhm. We not trynna have too much back and forth when the movie starts."
"Ar'ight gotchu." Samara grabbed as many drinks as she could carry and made her way down to the basement. She was only down there for about a minute when she saw Izzy breeze past her with his arms full.
"These are the rest of the drinks," he said placing them on the bar top counter.
"Oh, perfect!" she exclaimed. "Thanks Izzy."
"No problem, lil sis!" he said cheesing in her direction.
"Oh gosh," Samara smiled, "What did Zay tell you?"
Izzy shrugged and smiled. "Aw, well you know, not much. Just that he's really happy."
"Really? He said that?" she asked, unable to contain her smile.
"Yeah," he said nodding his head. "He speaks very highly of you."
"Aw. For real?" Samara felt all warm on the inside.
"Yeah," Izzy laughed. "Why are you surprised?"
"Because I know how he feels about me, but I never think about what he tells other people about me. So, I'm surprised, but I'm also really flattered."
Izzy nodded his head. "Yeah. I get that."
"Sam!" Zen yelled down the steps. "Can you grab a bottle of whiskey for me? It's behind the bar."
"Yeah!" she yelled back. "Gimme a sec!" Samara went over to the bar and was met with a few different options. "Uh Izzy, which one should I grab? Jim, JD, or Uncle Nearest?"
"Definitely Uncle Nearest. We gon' do it Black tonight."
"I know that's right," she said picking it up.
"Have you had this brand before?" Izzy asked as they headed back upstairs.
"Oh my goodness, yes! My dad put me on. It's real good. Smooth. And ever since he found out it was Black owned he goes out of his way to buy it."
"Oh that's what's up! I been puttin' the homies on. They really rockin' wit it too."
"Rockin' with what?" Zen butted in.
Samara handed Zen the bottle of whiskey. "Uncle Nearest," she answered.
"Oh we doin' it Black tonight! Yas!" Zen smiled. "We bouta take a shot, hold on," she said setting it down on the counter and heading towards the cabinets.
"Hey! What's going on in here? Is this where the party is?" a deep voice asked rambunctiously. Zen turned around.
"We bouta take a shot daddy," she grinned. "You in?"
"Oh yeah," he said nodding his head. "You can pour one for me baby girl."
"And one for me too," Zay said walking into the kitchen. "I'm ready to get fucked up," he joked.
"Zay, stop all that cursin'," Imani said walking into the kitchen with Lovie's parents trailing behind her. "We have guess."
"Oh, my fault," he started, then his face broke out into a grin when he saw who his mom was referring to. Lovie's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, stepped into view.
"Isaiah!" Lovie's mom grinned. "Come give me a hug!" When he did she squeezed him tightly.
"How you doing Mrs. Lelah? It's so good to see you!
"You too honey! I can't believe how grown you are now." She let him go and looked him over. "Oh my goodness! And you are as handsome as ever."
"Thank you Mrs. Lelah," he grinned.
"I know the girls be all over you Mr. basketball star! You know, me and Peyton caught your first game of the season when it aired live."
"Forreal?" he grinned. "That's what's up. I'm glad y'all got to catch it."
"Aw man," Lovie's dad chimed in, "That was one hell of a game. You really played your heart out there that night. We are so proud of you man. You know we gonna be keepin' an eye out for you when the NBA drafts starts up? You'll definitely be the top pick for a lot of teams."
"Thank you Mr. Peyton. That means a lot coming from you."
"Of course man," he said dapping him up. "You know the family will always support you."
"Hey hey everybody!" Lovie said entering the kitchen and breaking up their little reunion. "I know y'all like to start the function off with a little kick, so what we drinking?"
"We finna take a shot of whiskey," Zen responded. She started to fill up the shot glasses. "Y'all in?" she asked.
"What brand is it?" Lovie's dad asked.
"Hey Mr. Peyton!" she said looking up from the glasses, "It's Uncle Nearest."
"Oh yeah. I'll have me some of that. You can pour me one." He turned to his wife. "Baby, you wanna lil taste?"
"Oh, no no, baby. I'm good. I'm good."
"Oh. We have wine too," Imani offered. "Come on Lelah," she said grabbing her hand. "I'll get you the good stuff." The two ladies headed out of the kitchen and down to the wine cellar to drink a little and catch up before movie night officially got started.
"Ar'ight. Y'all ready to take these shots?" Zen asked. She looked around the room for everyone's response. Scattered replies came from around the room as they walked up to the counter to grab a glass.
"Hey. What about me?" Demi asked. "Don't leave me out. I wanna get lit witchy'all," she laughed.
"Whatchu want baby?" Izzy asked.
"She's pregnant, Iz. What liquor she bout to drink?" Zay laughed.
"Man shut up," he grinned, "Just give her a shot of apple juice or something."
Zen chuckled and went to grab the apple juice out of the fridge. "Imma get you right sis. Imma make sure you get a double shot," she smiled pouring the juice into its respective glass.
"Yes! Hook me up, sis!" Demi laughed. With a smile, Zen shook her head and handed her the small glass of juice.
"Here you go miss mamas."
Demi responded excitedly."Thanks boo!"
"No problem Dem," she smiled. Zen looked at everyone with their glasses already in their hand. "Okay. Now we're ready. On three y'all! She started the counted down. One. Two. Three!" Within seconds glasses were being clinked down onto the island counter one after the other.
"Whew. That was good," Izzy said. "Anybody down for another one?" The twenty-somethings in the room said yes. The father's in the room declined and settled on grabbing a beer out of the basement fridge.
"What else y'all got besides whiskey?" Lovie inquired.
"What you want?" replied Zen.
"Since we doing dark, y'all got some Courvoisier?"
"Yeah. You just want a shot or a glass?"
"I'll take a glass. Thanks Zen," she smiled.
"No problem girl."
While Zen fixed a drink for Lovie, Izzy poured everyone else another shot of whiskey.
"Does anyone know what movie we're watching tonight?" Demi asked. "The girls been asking me all day."
"I think The Perfect Holiday," Zen responded.
"Is that the one with Gab or Queen La?" Samara asked.
"Gab," Zen said handing Lovie her drink, "The one with Queen Latifah is Last Holiday."
"Oh, that's right. Sometimes I get the movies confused."
"Ar'ight y'all," Izzy interrupted. "Let's take this last shot before we head downstairs." The four, out of six of them, picked up their glass and drank the dark liquor quickly.
"Put y'all glasses in the sink if y'all done," Zen instructed. Zay took Samara's glass from her and walked it over to the sink. With watchful eyes, Lovie peered over at him while taking slow sips from her glass.
"You ready to go downstairs?" she heard Zay say. She looked at Samara and watched her grab his hand.
"In a sec," she replied. "I'm gonna go change real quick. Save a spot for me."
Zay grinned and assured Samara with a smile. "I will," he promised. Lovie watched as Samara's hand slowly left Zay's when she turned to walk away.
"There's Uncle Zay's girlfriend," Bailey said to her twin sister Blair. Girlfriend? Lovie's ears perked up.
"She looks so pretty. Do you think we should say hi?" Blair wondered.
"Well she's really nice," Bailey reasoned, "and I think mommy likes her. We can't possibly get in trouble for saying hi, right?"
"Yeah," Blair agreed.
Lovie overheard the girls conversation and decided to butt in to see what they knew. "Did I hear you girls say that your Uncle Zay has a girlfriend?" she said with fake enthusiasm. The girls shook their head. "And who might that be?" Lovie inquired.
Blair spoke up and pointed, "The girl in the pink."
"Did your Uncle Zay tell you that?" The girls nodded their head yes again. "How is that possible?" Lovie mumbled.
"Well. He said that she's a girl and that she's his best friend, so that makes her his girlfriend, duh!" Bailey facepalmed.
"You're older than us. Shouldn't you know this already?" Blair questioned.
"Yeah," Bailey said sounding a little bemused, "Don't you have a boyfriend?"
"Hey! Girls," Demi interrupted, "Basement now," she reprimanded. "I am so sorry," she said to Lovie, while guiding the girls towards the kitchen doorway.
"But mommy she started talking to us first," Bailey complained. "Why are we always the ones getting in trouble?"
"Aw man," Blair sulked, "Now we can't say hi to Sam. This isn't fair," she said crossing her arms.
"You can talk to her later, but right now we're going downstairs. Let's go you two." From a short distance away Izzy saw Demi pull the girls away from Lovie. "Babe, what happened?" he called out. Demi just looked back at him and shook her head. "Aw damn," he sighed, "I'm coming," and then he started to make his way to his wife.
Lovie, seeing that Samara was no longer around, walked over to Zay who was about to head downstairs. If his definition of girlfriend is that simple version he told his nieces, then I still stand a chance, she thought. Zen, who was still over by the sink, slowly looked up and watched Lovie approach Zay. This girl is out of her mind, she thought. She gon' get her heart broken if she don't stop.
"Hey," Lovie said stepping in front of him.
"What's up Lovie?" he said leering at her. "You did see me about to leave, right?"
"I just wanted to talk to you real quick," she answered. "Have you had a chance to cool off about yesterday? I would hate for you to still be upset about that."
"I'm cool," he said nodding his head slowly.
"Are you sure?" she said trying to get a read on his laid-back demeanor.
"Yeah I'm cool. I said I was cool."
"Damn okay. No need to get short with me," she responded playfully.
"I'm not being short with you. I just don't have nothing to say to you right now," he said insouciantly.
"Come on Zay," she said sucking her teeth. "I'm trying here. Give me a chance. Like I said the other day we used to be friends. Can we...maybe, I don't know try to be friends now? We're both adults." Zay was silent, so Lovie continued. "I know Samara is," she paused, "whatever the hell she is to you, but that don't have to affect what we got going on."
"We ain't got nothing going on," he replied quickly.
"Relax, okay. I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that you don't have to allow y'alls lil thing to fuck up the history that we have with each other. You can be friends with the both of us."
"I 'on't know 'bout all that."
"Why? You think you gonna start catchin' feelings or somethin'?" she laughed. Having moved back to the island counter now, Zen cleared her throat.
"What Zen? What is it?" Lovie said sounding slightly annoyed. "I know you ear hustling like shit! What do you want?"
"We should be heading downstairs. It's almost time for the movie to start."
"You wanna watch it so bad then go. I'm having a conversation with Zay."
"But is he having one with you?" she snapped back.
"Yo Zen what's your problem? You been acting real funny towards me since I've been back in town."
"Girl, no I haven't. Let me tell you whatchu peeped. Me not fucking with that entitled ass attitude of yours."
"Entitled? Me? No ma'am you got the wrong one."
"Oh do I? You came up in here yesterday starting unnecessary drama and shit over an old relationship that you still feel entitled to."
"Unnecessary drama with who? I ain't start shit. I made a comment and that bitch got mad."
"I see you know who I was talkin' about though," Zen retorted.
"Aye, you betta watch your damn mouth!" Zay said stepping up. "You don't ever call my girlfriend outta her name or else we gon' have some problems."
Lovie stepped back, having no time to process Zay referring to Samara as his girlfriend. "And you betta watch your tone," she replied. "When have you ever talked to me like that? Are you crazy?"
Zen stepped in between them. "Okay. Um, Lovie you need to go downstairs and give him a minute."
"You really can't give me five minutes Zay? It's really like that? You was just happy to see me on Sunday and now on Wednesday you treatin' me like shit? That BITCH must really got you by the balls don't she?"
"Lovie, leave!" Zen snapped. "You ain't bout to ruin our Christmas break with your bullshit." Lovie was about to say something else when Zen gave her a threatening look that made her decide otherwise. Lovie huffed and stormed off angrily.
..
Completely unaware of what had just transpired between Zay and Lovie only moments ago, Samara headed down to the basement with everyone else. To her delight, she found Zay sitting comfortably on a big floor pillow. She walked up to him and hugged him from behind.
"Hey," she said leaning over his shoulder and kissing his check.
"Hey," he said grinning up at her. "Come sit down. I was startin to feel lonely sitting over here by myself."
"No you wasn't," she said moving around him.
"Yes, I was," he laughed. "I be missing you. Come sit right here," he said motioning for her to sit in front of him. Samara moved her body in front of his and sat back. Zay, in an effort to get more comfortable, readily wrapped his arms around Samara and kissed the side of her neck.
"Alright y'all," Imani said dimming the lights. "We're about to start the movie. There is plenty of food on the table in the back and a lot of drinks at the bar. Eat and drink as much as you'd like and most importantly enjoy yourselves."
As the opening credits rolled Zay's mouth grazed Samara's ear. "I gotta tell you something," he whispered to Samara.
"Okay. Wanna talk about it later?" she whispered back.
"Nah. I rather say it now."
"Okay. What's up?"
"I got into it with Lovie and let it slip that you're my girlfriend. I don't know if you want people to know that or not."
"It's fine. If you didn't tell her then she would have definitely figured it out now. I mean we're pretty obvious."
"Yeah we are," he smiled.
"You're not a secret. I love you and I really don't care who knows."
"Damn, that shit just kinda turned me on. Let me get a kiss real quick," Zay said smiling in her ear. Samara giggled and leaned her head back so that she could kiss him.
"Boy, you so damn goofy," she mumbled against his lips. "I fucking love you."
From a short distance away Lovie's eyes fell on Samara and Zay. They were sharing an intimate embrace that left her feeling wounded. She wanted so badly to pretend that she was unaffected, but her eyes were hot, as she could feel the tears welling up, and there was a lump in her throat that made it hard to swallow. She tried to hold all of her emotions in, but all it did was cause her heart to break even more. Feeling saddened by the truth she so desperately wanted to ignore, she left and went upstairs to clear her head.
After a couple of minutes went by, she stepped outside and FaceTimed her sister.
"Hey Lena. Can you put London on the phone for me?"
"Yeah. Hold on Lov." In the background she heard her sister calling for London and then after a few seconds saw a cute little face come into view.
"Hi mommy!" London waved into the camera.
"Hey baby! How's my big girl?"
"I'm good. Me and Aunt Lena made a gingerbread house today and then we got to eat it!" she gushed.
"Wow! That sounds like fun!"
"Yeah. It was! Tomorrow we're gonna go shopping for my early birthday gift. Aunt Lena said that because I'm turning five I can pick out whatever I want. Do you wanna come with us?"
"Of course. I'd love to sweetie!"
"Yes!" she cheered.
Lovie smiled into the camera. "Okay baby. Mommy's gonna go now. I just wanted to see your sweet face. I love you. I'll be home soon, okay."
"Muah!" London blew her a big kiss. "I love you mommy!"
