One to blame

54☘️

                    Jaylen's POV

Today was the day that I was meeting Cleo and Grace's mom for the first time.

To say I was nervous was an understatement

What if she didn't think I was good enough for her daughter?

I mean Grace needs somebody to be there for her and the baby but my job requires a lot of traveling.

"Should I be nervous?" I asked as Jayson helped Deuce fix his hair

"No." He chuckled

"I don't know why I asked you as if you're not married already" I scoffed

"Dude. I met her mom over zoom when me and Cleo first got together. They weren't even on great terms back then so imagine the pressure I had on my back; I had to be prepared to stand up to some lady I didn't even know just in case everything went left"

I just sighed

Grace filled me in on the entire situation on the way home from our first date and every date after that she had another bit to add to the story

I honestly thought the whole situation was fucked up.

I couldn't imagine being in a house full of people who KNEW I wasn't related to them.

I also hated the fact that they treated her different because she used to ask "too many questions"

All that shit could've been avoided had people just taken the proper accountability

I honestly hated the whole thought of Grace going to her friend's house and realizing she looked more like her friend's family and felt safer over there.

I understood the position each adult was in but I still found it fucked up and traumatizing

"Go tell your mom and your aunt to hurry up" Jayson said to Deuce

I watched as he nodded and ran off

"Listen, I've spoken to Jess a bunch of times; she's a real loving lady. Between me and you..you've got an upper hand" Jayson said

"How?"

"Her youngest daughter is pregnant, the father of the child is a piece of shit, and you're stepping up to help. That's a big step man" he nodded

I just looked at him like he was dumb

"Trust me. When you have a child it's like your soul is outside of your body. you care for your child more than you care for yourself; I'd give my life for my son if I had to. I already liked Cleo from the moment I first saw her..but her stepping up and connecting with Deuce is what solidified everything for me." He said as he put his hand on my shoulder

"I promise you that as a parent, somebody stepping up to help you  means a lot more than you think it does because they don't HAVE to; they love you so much that they're willing to take on the responsibility of caring for a whole ass human that you didn't have no parts in creating" he nodded

"You never worried that she'd change her mind?" I asked

I watched as he shook his head

"In the beginning me and Cleo had an argument and she stopped talking to me for a couple days..Deuce wasn't having none of that shit." He chuckled

I was confused

"That lil boy asked for her all damn day to the point where I got fed up and put her number on his tablet so he could call her ass personally" he laughed

I slightly smiled

"Even though we were kind of pissed at each other she never took that shit out on my child; she even texted me to let me know that  she had spoken to him and to make sure I was cool with it. She saw him as HER baby right away and had his best interest at heart from the very beginning; that's what really mattered to me" he finished