THE CHURCH GIRL

Chapter 7

NAOMI'S POV * * * * *
* *
Julia was one of many characters but she was not one to say no to my father. It was like I was the only one who saw reality and it didn't look like my dad's point of view. He hated that I could challenge him, he hated that he couldn't control me, he hated that my mom always supported me, he hated that I made my own decisions, yes he made sure God was present in my life and I will forever be grateful for that but I was never gonna let him do to me what he had done with my siblings.

The dinner table was being set and my brothers were busy chatting with themselves and a very familiar face, whiles their wives and my sister helped mom with the food. My mom took my coat and Julia's and hanged them behind the door. She looked happy when Julia handed her the lasagna and took it to the kitchen. We followed her there and I hugged my sister from behind.

Anna Maria laughed and turned with a loud squeal making everyone in the huge kitchen laugh,"My God you look so beautiful Naomi,I can't believe you took so much after mom. I missed you so much my lil minion", she hugged me again so tight that I almost melted in the ground.

"I missed you too Anna. You really have to stop calling me that. I'm a grown up now", I said through giggles as Anna pulled Julia into a tight warm hug. One thing about my family, they were very welcoming. My favorite sister-in-law was my big brother, José's wife, Diana. She was the whole package, she smiled, friendly attitude, welcoming, even though she was having a hard time having children. My second brother Andrew, his wife Sonia, was a snake in a sheep's clothing. She was good at pretending, she could pretend to be nice to you and the next minute, when alone, she is hating on you. Julia and I knew the kind of person she was and no one ever believed us when we talk about it. She pulled me into a befitting burial hug and then whispered something in my ears. I tensed up and pretended to smile back at her when Everyone was watching. Julia didn't hug her, she pulled me out of the kitchen before anyone started bombarding us with questions to say hi to my brothers. José was the first to see me and he didn't hide his excitement.

"Oh my my my, look who is here. If not the black sheep of the family herself", I pushed past him with a silly laugh and bumped in a hug on Andrew who fell on the couch with his arms wrapped around my waist giggling."Oh so what I called you the black sheep so I'm no longer the favorite brother anymore?"José joked as he pulled me up from Andrew to force a hug tight enough to breaks my bones.

"You were never the favourite brother José, and Andrew, that was for changing my room colour without asking me", I said straightening up.

"Oh so that wasn't a family hug?", Andew asked.

"You wish", I replied. I said hello to Denzel, Anna Maria's husband who gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
The familiar guy walked towards me amd smiled with a stretched hand for a handshake which I gladly took.

"Naomi, Ken, ken, Naomi", Andrew introduced.

"Hi", Ken said," Heard a lot about you".

"I would have said same here but, that would be a lie", I shot back nicely eyeing my brothers one after the other. Ken smiled and wow was that breathtaking. He looked around or more my age, muscular, and very good looking. Curly hair, talk enough and had a broad chest even with the skinny legs. He had no beard or so it seemed. But not as breathtaking as Devon. Oh Christ, where from him and this thought process.

My mom came in with a tray looking all smily at me and Ken as if we were happily married. "I see you've met Ken", before I could talk back she added,"Naomi honey why don't you go call your Pa out for dinner, he is in the study". I knew what my mom was trying to do but I nodded anyway and left for the study.

I knocked three times and no one answered so I went in anyway. The study was just as I had left it. Dark, eerie, overly matured and smelled like fresh wound. Nothing or no one has changed it. My Pa. was reading a novel with his glasses almost falling off. I smiled and walked closer." Dad?", He looked up from his novel at me and bit back a smile replacing it with a serious frown. Yeah, he is always serious except when I have agreed to his terms of living. "Can I come in?".

"Aren't you in already?", he said with his solemn peaceful voice and went back to his novel. I walked over to his seat and knelt one knee up in front of him which got his attention.

"I'm sorry Pa. I know I get silly sometimes but can you blame me, I'm still growing up Pa. And I'm still gonna make mistakes for you to scold and laugh about but the silent treatment you give me, that's not cool Pa.", he looked at me with a concern look and then he did the unthinkable, he smiled. He took his glasses off and lowered his head down to my level and poked my nose. I laughed.

"You will always be my little girl. The favorite still so don't go running your mouth to your siblings", I laughed which made him smile. "I want you to come back home Naomi, settle here and maybe find work in the hospital close by. Honey, I want you to be close by like your siblings and their families", I got up a little angry and rolled my eyes.

"Pa.....I came home to have a lovely dinner with my family which includes you, so how about I fill my rumbling tummy then we can argue", I kissed his cheek and folded my fingers into his to help him up. We joined the rest downstairs in the dinning room with my dad's serious face causing tension in the room except my mom who looked cheerful and content to see her whole family together. My dad took his seat at the far end of the table with my mom on the other end. I took the seat next to my dad on his right and Julia sat next to me. On my dad's left sat Ana Maria, Denzel, ken, Andrew and Sonia respectively. On my dad's right was me, Julia, José and Diana respectively.

My mom smiled delightfully,"Let's say the grace".We all held each other's hand side by side, bowed our heads and my mom said the grace.

We all echoed amen and the food sharing and passing started. It was way too quiet and tensed so Julia and I exchanged funny looks and burst into laughter. We tried the courtesy kind of laughter but it got worse as we continued. You could count the frown lines on my Pa's face but he rested it off with a dusty stern smile at us which made Julia cower back to her food. I turned to my Pa and whispered, "Pa,  you know you could try smiling with your lips more because your handsome face is in dire need of one this very moment", he lowered his eyebrows and tried to relax his face in a bid to say he doesn't frown.

"Where are your table manners Naomi, you can't talk while we eat, is not very mannered. And thank you, I knew I've always been handsome, the smile is just a bonus", he smiled widely this time and went back to his food making me laugh as well.

I grabbed my spoon and scooped up some sauce onto my rice and chunked it inside my mouth.

******^*********

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,....................