Made For Me

The Softest War

Giselle Pov:

If you'd asked me ten years ago where I'd be today, I would've met you with silence.

Twenty-year-old me couldn't have imagined this life. A wife. A kid. A business. I probably would have laughed in your face if you told me I'd be out of the streets... happy. In love.

But I was. Happily in love with my wife, raising our child. I didn't have to look over my shoulder anymore. I had nothing to prove.

According to the stories, we'd won.
And if it ever crossed anyone's mind to fuck with us—they didn't.
I made it out alive, with a clean face. For now, that was enough.
But I knew it wouldn't be for long... not for my wife. She was going to need change.

I'd mix the good and the bad in a place I wanted her to call home.
The uncertainty of our relationship when I bought the house still lingered—painted over with wedding pictures and family photos.

A reminder of how far we come. The journey.

But Onika still carried the weight of it all—The night she left, and why. What we gave up.
Her coming back. Me getting shot.

It still haunted her. I'd faced so many demons, hell felt like a second home. Chaos didn't scare me—I'd learn to live in it, even thrive.

"You found a place you like yet?" I asked, eyes locked on Nevaeh's gummy smile.

"I could—if you'd help. You're living there too, remember?"
We could live in a shoebox for all I care as long as I had my girls with me.

"Not the one with the pool. Or the one with the stairs," I said, kissing Nevaeh's cheek. Both were too dangerous—my baby will be learning to walk soon.

"No stairs is crazy—you're not thinking long-term," Nicki sighed.
I smiled. I loved that these were the types of disagreements we have now.
"I'm with you on the pool, though... for right now."

"So... that leaves two?" I asked, picking Nevaeh up and stepping closer to Onika. "We gotta lock in soon—before someone else gets it."

"The two-story is literally a family home.
The neighbors won't be all in our business. Did you see the kitchen, baby?" She was pleading now, holding up the laptop so I could see the photos. "Big backyard for Kash. We could even add a pool later."

I glanced at the screen, pretending I hadn't studied every listing she bookmarked.
I knew the kitchen. I knew the backyard. I knew how many steps led from the front door to the hallway upstairs—how many times a toddler could fall if we blinked too long.

"I like it," I said, settling Nevaeh against my hip. "I just like us safe more."

Onika rolled her eyes, but it was soft. "We are safe."

And maybe we were—on paper. But safety wasn't just about fences. It was time. Distance. Silence.
Things I was still learning how to trust.

"You don't have to convince me," I said quietly. "Just... need a minute to adjust."

She nodded. "I know." She reached out to touch Nevaeh's hand. "I just want a place where nothing reminds me of the old shit. A clean start."

That part I understood too well.

I leaned in and kissed her forehead. "Baby gates?"

She laughed, and the sound filled the room like sunlight. It made me wonder how much of this I truly deserve—a laugh like that, a baby with sleepy eyes, a woman who didn't flinch when I hesitated.

Maybe hell had felt like home once. But this? This was something different.

I sat Nevaeh down in her bouncer, then dropped onto the couch beside Onika.
She climbed onto my lap, straddling me, trailing kisses along my neck.
"You get me that house..." she murmured against my lips, "I'll give you a son."

"Okay." I slid my hands under the oversized t-shirt she had on, squeezing her ass and pulling her down harder against me.

Nicki giggled, moving my hands off her and placing them at my side. "You're actually so easy," she teased, handing me my phone.

"I can't wait until you tryna get in my draws—imma show you easy," I scoffed, lowkey offended.
"I text the man—hopefully he hits me back soon."

"Thank you, baby." she straddled me again and kissed me slowly.