𝐁𝐨𝐲𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝 | 𝐒. 𝐂𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐲

Chapter 3

ALANI CASTILLO
Charlotte, NC.

"Mommy, I'm finished." Raelyn handed me the drawing she'd been working on since we ate lunch today. Home girl skipped lunch just to draw our family portrait.

"This is you and daddy." She pointed at the two stick figures. She drew Wardell taller than all of us obviously and me with long brown hair. "And this is Ri and Ryan." They were also stick figures with golden hair and green eyes. Riley and Ryan exchanged worrying looks while Ayesha and I chuckled lowly. Rae did good for a 2 year old.

"And Cannon and Ishi are over here." Raelyn pointed at the paper.

"This is beautiful, Tiger. I'll ask your Tito to hang it on his fridge okay?" She nodded. "Now, can you eat please?"

"I'm not really hungry, mommy." She shook her head and grabbed a crayon and a new sheet of paper.

This little girl. Where did she even get all this from?

Luckily for me, Wardell was approaching us. We haven't really spoken since I left his mom's house yesterday. I know he's hiding something from me but I won't force it out of him. He'll tell me when he's ready I guess.

"Ah, Delly! You're here." I said as he finally reached us. He stood between Ayesha and I, and threw his arms over our shoulders.

"You just used my nickname. You must want something, Ally bear." He looked at me suspiciously.

"It's not for me, it's for Rae, you idiot. She won't eat. We both know she'll do anything you say." I whispered.

"I'll see what I can do." Wardell grabbed a plate and filled it with dino nuggets and a bit of mac n cheese. Rae's favourite. He walked over to the kiddie table and placed the plate of food before Raelyn. He leaned forward and said something to her and she smiled and immediately dug in.

"I know you see that shit." I say to Ayesha.

"Fathers and daughters." Ayesha shakes her head.

"I'm literally HIM." Wardell said, shimmying his way back to us. Ayesha rolled her eyes. Cocky much.

"You've been hanging around Jordan too much." She said.

"I'm just cooler than the both of you." Wardell replied sheepishly.

"Cool people don't say that." I chimed in. "And by the way, what did you say to get her to eat?"

"Oh, it was nothing really. I just promised that she could have some ice cream when she's done eating." He smirked. He knows how hyper Raelyn is when she gets the slightest amount of sugar in her system. That's just fucking fantastic.

"Wardell, seriously?" I complained.

"Look, I can't talk about this right now. Ayesha and I have something important to discuss, don't we, Ish?" He turned towards her, wiggling his eyebrows.

"We do?" Ayesha asked, looking dumbfounded.

"Yeah, we do. Ally, we'll find you later." Wardell winked before walking in the opposite direction with Ayesha.

That was weird. I watched as they say on the couch in the other room. It appeared to be a rather serious conversation.

Anyways, I focused my attention back onto the kids. I started clearing the table of their half eaten plates of food and carried it all into the kitchen, throwing away their scraps then placing the dishes in the dishwasher.

Being here in my father's house, at this reunion, with his family was still surreal to me. We weren't a very large family but we were quite the diverse group. Some Hawaiian blood and some of Mexican blood. Over the years, it felt like a part of me was messing but being around the family I was robbed of somehow filled that void. Unfortunately, Camila couldn't make it because her and Terrence took a much needed couples trip to the Maldives. Sonya, Dell and my mom were outside, doing grandparent things. I was excited to see my girls as soon as we get back to SanFran though. Gia said she had a lot to tell Tiana and I. I'm secretly hoping it's a pregnancy announcement.