My Brother's Keeper

Chapter 5: Free Agent

The smell of apple pie and cinnamon filled Diana's nostrils as she walked through the doors of her old home

It still had the same homey feeling to it as it did growing up and until she moved out on her own.

It's been a while since Diana came back home or even seen her parents, but she has talked with them a few times out of the month to let them know that she's doing okay

"It's about time you two made it," Valerie said coming out of the kitchen with a small piece of a pie that she was biting into

"Look who we brought along with us," Zayn said as he pointed to the far corner where Diana was looking at the family photos

"Oh, my baby girl." Valerie smiled as Diana ran to Valerie and gave her a hug

"Mommy, I missed you."

"I missed you too, dear, I haven't seen you in quite some time," Valerie said as she ran her hand through Diana's curly hair like she used to do when Diana was a little girl

"Alright, let's get this show on the road, the sooner we start, the sooner you moochers will be gone," Ryan said as he was walking down the steps and just hearing his voice made Diana feel a thousand times better

"Daddy!" Diana said happily as she ran over to Ryan, which caught him off guard at how fast she came and hugged him

"Diana, I didn't expect to see you tonight."

"I'm glad I came to see you. I missed you all so very much."

"You couldn't have missed us that much, you haven't visited us in over five months." He teased as Valerie hit him on the arm as Diana sadly looked down

"Don't say that."

"What?" Ryan shrugged.
"I was only kidding, she knows I was kidding, right Diana?" He asked as she put on a weak smile

"Of course."

"See Val, another harmless joke. So now that the freeloading crew is here, can we eat now?" He said letting go of Diana's hug, but she still wanted to hold on to him longer

"Is that all you think about is when to eat? Is that all I'm good for to you?"

"Ugh, here we go. You see what you kids have done, you started something and I have to listen to it." He said as he went into the kitchen with Valerie following behind him as the twins chuckled

"It's always a joy to come home," Zayn said with a smile as Isaiah and Diana followed him into the kitchen

"Sometimes dear, you just need to swallow your pride," Valerie said to Ryan as he was standing behind her rolling his eyes

"I can name something you could've swallowed, long time ago." He mumbled as she quickly turned around

"What did you say?"

He smiled, "Nothing baby, come on now. Why are we even arguing, huh? You know you are too gorgeous to even be mad at." He said as he kissed her on the forehead while she just stared at him

"You're trying it right now, keep it up and you'll be sleeping by yourself."

"Come on babe, you can't take a joke? I was only kidding and you know that you and I both know I love our children very much." He said with a smile as Valerie wasn't buying it and she rolled her eyes at him and sat down at the table

"So what have you boys been up to today?" She asked as Isaiah and Zayn were digging into their food like they haven't eaten in days

"Nothing," Isaiah said with a mouth full of food

"We just came from Diana's house, she called us over," Zayn added

"Oh really? For what?" Valerie asked as Diana answered before the twins had a chance to

"I wanted to know if they could help me rearrange some things in my apartment, I didn't want to do it by myself."

"Hey! Hey! Stop stuffing your mouth with food! What are you two, four?! Your mom and I taught you two animals better than that!" Ryan scolded the twins as they slowed down eating

"Like you're the one to talk about table manners. You're not exactly eloquent yourself when it comes to eating with others." Valerie said

"Okay yeah, but at least I'm not continuously shoveling spoon full of food into my mouth knowing it's already full."

"Sorry, mom," Zayn said sheepishly
"Yeah, me too," Isaiah said

"So how is our favorite soccer playing doing these days? I saw you on the cover of Sports Illustrated the other day, and I was so happy and proud to say that's my daughter." Valerie said with a smile as it made Diana smile knowing that her mom was proud of her. Growing up, all Diana ever wanted to do, was to make her parents proud

"Thanks, mom, and I'm doing okay."

"Okay? You're doing amazing! You're in almost every commercial, you have sponsorships, and endorsement deals, honey, you should be happy."

"I am, but I don't let all that other stuff get in the way of what's really important to me and that's soccer."

"That's good, honey, do what you love and love what you do."

Shortly before dinner was over, Ryan had left and gone back upstairs to finish some work and soon Diana went to go find him in his office at his desk

"Hey dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" She asked knocking on the door as he had his head down writing something on some papers

"Sure, come on in."

She came into the room and sat down in the chair in front of his desk as he never looked up. "Are you mad at me?" She asked as he continued to write

"Mad at you for what?"

"For what I did." She said as he chuckled and put his pen down and looked at her

"Is this about what I said before dinner? I thought you knew you me by now that I don't mean half the stuff I say, I just say shit just to say it."

"No, not that. What I've done, meaning my name."

"You're talking about you wanting to only be referred to only by your first name."

"Yes."

"Why would I be mad about that?"

"Because you've always taught me about self-pride and where I come from and to never deny any parts of myself. I feel like a traitor because I've never embraced myself like I should. I knew when I made the decision to only go by my first name that you would immediately disown me because I disowned the family name."

"Oh princess, I could never do that. I respect your decision if you think it's best for your career. I've always been very proud of you and I always will. Just because you may want to refer yourself as only Diana, that doesn't take away from the fact that you're still my daughter."

She smiled as her eyes were watering up, "You called me, princess."

"Of course I did because you're my princess, that's never going to change no matter how old you get." He said as she ran into his arms

"Oh daddy, you don't know how much that meant to me. I do love you very much."

"And I love you too, princess."

Will Diana tell her father what is going on with her and Vance? Or will one of the twins tell instead?

I hope you've enjoyed and I'll catch you on the next one. Peace. 💁🏽