Reality (Sequel to Future)

Chapter Twenty-Five

I walked into my house to hear Miss Mabel and Devin in the kitchen talking. I approached the doorway while I held Deon and stood by to listen. My only hope was that he didn't cry and blow my cover.

"He probably just misunderstood, honey. If there's one thing I know about Chresanto, it's that he's a very impulsive person. Just give him some time then talk to him" Miss Mabel said comfortingly.

"You don't understand, Mabel. He hates me" Devin replied shamefully.

"Chresanto doesn't hate you, baby"

"He does. He hates me, Bahja hates me...I don't know what to do" he sighed.

"You give him time...give them both time. She'll come around. You mean a lot to them both I'm sure. You're taking care of his family while he's away for Christ's sake"

"Apparently that doesn't mean shit to him" he mumbled.

How dare he? After all he did to Chresanto and still had the nerve to make himself the victim. And apparently Miss Mabel wasn't aware of what he did to be sympathizing with him about it. I walked in to the kitchen holding Deon acting like I hadn't just heard their conversation.

"I'm home" I softly said with a smile.

"Hey, honey! How was your visit? Is he okay?" Miss Mabel asked with a hand on her hip and a smile so genuine that if I hadn't heard it myself, I wouldn't believe she had just been talking to Devin about me.

"Chres is fine. He can talk now. Sounds awful but he can. He still has a lot of healing to do" I said while side-eyeing Devin in search of a reaction but he simply stood there trying to avoid any eye contact with me. I continued.

"But he's feeling a lot better now because this little one" I said bouncing Deon in my arms "said his first word today!"

"What? That's great! What'd he say?" Miss Mabel beamed.

"'Daddy'! He called Chres 'Daddy'. It was beautiful, Miss Mabel. I wish you could've seen it"

"Well who knows, maybe I'll catch him some other time" she said walking over and pinching Deon's cheek between her thumb and index finger. "That's great, hon, really"

"Yeah, that's amazing, Bahja" Devin added in.

I looked at him briefly and nervously cleared my throat.

"Thanks" I mumbled. "Listen um...can we talk?"

He nodded and Miss Mabel looked reassuringly at Devin as if this was his chance to make things right. Little did she know that I was really about to give him an eviction notice. With the hint that we wanted to be alone, she took Deon from my arms and disappeared upstairs. I looked back at Devin and he stared at the counter as he drummed his fingers on it anxiously.

"Devin-"

"I wanna say something first" Devin said finally looking into my eyes.

I motioned for him to continue speaking.

"I'm sorry that I've been distant these past few days. It's just hard, you know? Chresanto being so mad at me like he was. He's always been like a big brother to me"

The comparison made me sick.

"Also, I'm sorry if I made you feel a little torn. I don't want you trying to pick between me and your fiancee"

"I was never torn between you two" I quickly responded. "Devin, Chresanto is my fiancee and the father of my child. There never was any competition between you two"