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"I guess this is a sign," I stated simply. My hand soaked every drop the clouds above us had to give. Robyn always did say rain was the universe's way of cleansing you on special days as such.
I'd done a lot in my 18 years of living, some upsetting my mother, some making my mother proud.
There wasn't a bone in my body I didn't have control of, though. Everything I did was calculated, powered by the force of my late mother and my ancestors.
"You always think something is a sign," Asa countered. She was a miniature Beyoncé, it was usually the boy who looked of his mother, but Asa contradicted that gene tradition.
"How are you feeling?" Mama entered, stopping a budding feud before it could become more.
"I'm feeling....thankful."
"Thankful!" Robyn yelled from his car seat. His iPad screen was sticky, and if he wanted, he'd have a brand new device in his hand before a tear could run down his precious face.
It was my job to protect his innocence, given that I know for a fact Robyn would have wanted that. She already felt as if she didn't live up to the epitome of a great parent, but that wasn't the case.
After the nasty, gruesome mission Marco failed, our mother found out she was pregnant with our little brother, Robyn.
"Is she still coming?" I perked up at my sister's question. She applied lipgloss and rubbed her two lips together to give her face an effective production of her accessory.
"She wouldn't miss this for anything," Mom rolled my window up and parked next to a car that brought back great flood of nostalgia.
She was here already.
Things changed for....beneficial reasons. But, just because it was beneficial didn't mean it was better. Robyn no longer existed, she was dead. Gone. Deceased.
According the the United States government, she was.
But, Rihanna was alive, well, and thriving. One of the greatest parents to exist in my book, if not, the greatest.
Her heart, dedication, and hustle were what made her. I could still see specks of Kilo here and there, and I never blamed her for her shadow.
No matter how much you heal, you can never forget the place or source that was the cause of your sickness.
"Moma!!" Robyn threw his iPad to the floor, throwing his hands up in excitement. Rihanna exited her Cadillac Escalade with a bag from Audemars Piguet, and smooth skin to die for.
I admired my mother deeply, and that itself was an understatement. There was a rebirth, a shift in the universe, after Robyn went away. Rihanna changed for the better, but our bond softened, still as strong as ever, but soft.
I guess it was the unconditional love I had for her that angered me of her change in lifestyle.....that I ultimately took.
"My first born, in the flesh." She handed me the multimillion dollar watch bag. Though I was grateful, I wanted what money couldn't buy.
And that was her hustle, her brains, and everything I would need to conquer the land she left open for me.
"My hero, in the flesh." I gleamed towards her, my arms wrapped around her body carefully. She had permanent hip damage, and I hated to remind her of the past.
"Your hero? No, you're mine!" She pulled away, with a warm hand on my cheek. I bit back tears as I watched the moments we spent together play back in her darkened eyes.
"Moma, can we go to Paris again? Mommy told me no, but I know you wouldn't tell me no...." Asa pouted, it always worked.
"Whenever you have your bags ready to travel, we can go," Rihanna promised.
That's one thing she never broke, promises. I believe she could never break Asa's heart because she deeply favored her ex-wife, our mother. After breaking apart my freshman year for reasons I don't know, the two remained close.
There were some nights Rihanna would come over, they'd love on each other during the hours the two thought the house would be sleeping. But, I'd always hear them. I always hear the jingle of Robyn's keys along with the soft shutting of the front door.
They were still in love, I just couldn't pin point what was stopping them from re-marrying.
Yet, closer than they were during their marriage. Still, I could see yearning in Rih's eyes, it was a look of abandonment and emptiness. I don't know what transpired between the two, but their relationship definitely changed.
"You're the best, mommy!" Asa puckered her lips for a kiss. Rih laughed and picked the 12 year old up as if she weren't a bag of bones. She smothered her only daughter with hugs and kisses before placing her down to catch the waddling toddler.
"Kiss, moma!" Robyn grabbed her face and Rihanna obliged with butterfly kisses. His wet mouth dripped with blue debris from some candy, but Rih didn't care.
"You're here early," Moma noted, taking Robyn out of her arms.
Rihanna nodded and looked towards me.
"You're gonna open the bad boy or what?"
"Of course," I said. She held my phone for me while I unboxed the watch that costed more than a few life savings.
"It's dope, thank you moma!"
She dapped me up and we smiled while keeping conversation up. The rain slacked a while ago, but outside was still muggy and misty.
Their was a rainbow in the sky, and the sun began to make her presence known.
"This is a milestone that I wish I would've done, it's time for your lift off baby boy. But, I have one question for you......" Rih's words grabbed the ears of Beyoncé, Asa, and I.
"What's that?"
"What something is your faith in?"
I smiled and thought back to the conversation we had one night many, many years ago.
