Prove Your Love (Worth It: Book 2)

Chapter 20: The Davis'

   "I'm nervous. What if I make a bad first impression? I want your mom to like me," I said looking up at Kevin.
   "You'll be fine," he said grabbing my hand. "Come on. Let's go." He opened the door and pulled me into the house with him. "Hey everybody!" He greeted.
   "Hey! Look who's home!" His dad called out.
"Hey dad," Kevin said walking over to hug him.
   "Is that my baby," a voice called out from the kitchen. She pushed past everyone in the living room and ran up to where her husband sat to greet him. "Welcome home," she beamed just before pulling Kevin into a warm embrace. When she finally let him go she gave her attention to Alyssa. "Oh my goodness! Where are my manners? You must be Alyssa. Hi baby! It's so nice to meet you," she said hugging me warmly. I smiled.
   "It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Davis."
   "MmMm," she said shaking her head, "there will be no Mrs. Davis up in here! Just Rita," she grinned. "Now, I see you gotta growin' belly there," she grinned. "You hungry? I got some cornbread in the kitchen, some collards, sweet potatoes, mac and cheese, fried chicken. Go on in there and have my daughter make you a plate." Rita looked over at Kevin and grabbed his hand. "I'm gonna steal him away for just a moment," she smiled. "We only gon' be a minute." She turned towards the kitchen. "Ashley," she yelled, "Make Alyssa a plate," she looked down at Alyssa's round belly, "make sure she getta lil bitah ev'rythang!"
   "Okay mama!"
   "You can head on back there," Rita encouraged. "Eat as much as you can handle baby."
Kevin and I exchanged smiles toward each other as we parted ways. I walked through the living room past some of Kevin's other relatives who had stopped by to see him before Rita's party on Sunday. "Excuse me," I said as I walked by.
   Finally standing in the large kitchen, I looked around in amazement. It was beautiful. The countertops were elegant, white marble while the cabinets and floors were cherry wood. The aroma of food that filled the air gave the kitchen its southern charm. Ashley's back was turned towards me as she fixed my plate. I finally spoke up.
"Hi. I'm Alyssa."
Ashley turned around. "Oh. Hi!" She said walking over to me, "I'm Ashley! Kevin's little sister." Without thinking Ashley pulled me into a hug. "It is so great to finally meet you," she squeezed.
   "You too!"
   "So, I gave you a lul bit of ev'rything," Ashley said as she headed back over to the kitchen counter to grab my plate. "Our mama throws down so I am positive that you are going to love ev'rything!" She placed the plate down in front of me. "Do you want anything to drink? We have water, sweet tea, soda's in the fridge, and lemonade."
   "Water's fine. Thank you," I said smiling politely.
   "Of course," she beamed as she walked over to the fridge. "So Alyssa, we've been dying to meet you. Tell me something about yourself. Kevin said you're from Shreveport."
   "Yeah. I'm from Shreveport. I have six siblings, and I'm a art history major."
"Oh. Nice," Ashley replied as she sat the water down in front of me. "What made you want to major in art history? You don't hear that too often."
"My dad inspired me. He's an artist."
"What do you do?" A voice asked from behind me. I turned around.
"Well, aside from being a full time student, I am an art gallery co-owner with Kevin and the owner of a small boutique not too far from Prescott."
The girl nodded her head and pursed her lips showing that she was impressed. Ashley rolled her eyes at her smug expression.
   "Alyssa, this is Queen," Ashley sighed. "Queen this is Alyssa, Kevin's—" Queen cut her off.
   "Friend, right," she said extending her hand. I took Queen's hand in mine and smiled politely.
   "No, fiancée actually," I corrected.
Ashley could not contain her smile.
   "That's what you get for trynna be messy," a voice cackled behind me as they walked into the kitchen.
"Hi," the girl said as she walked up to me. "I'm Del, Kevin's cousin. It's so nice to meet you," she smiled. "Kevie told us a lot about you—"
   "Yes, it's so good to finally put a face to the name," Queen said butting in.
   "Q, why you frontin'? This is your first time hearing anything about her at all," Ashley snickered.
   "Whatever."
Alyssa smiled. "So Q. Tell me about yourself."
   "It's Queen," she glared.
   "I'll call you Queen when you start acting like one. Until then I'll address you as Q like Ashley does."
   "Bitch," Queen mumbled.
   "Oh no. I disagree. I'm just not putting up with your sh—"
   "Hey!" Kevin said cutting me off, "I see you met everyone." He walked over to the table to hug them. He looked at Queen and shook his head.
   "Kevin," she said folding her arms across her chest.
   "Queen."
   "See. Kevin knows what's up," she taunted. Kevin ignored her and walked over to me. He gave me a few pecks on the lips.
"How's everything? You good? The food good?" He asked. I looked up at him and tried to contain my laughter. He was making sure Q knew her place and where he stood.
"Yeah. I'm good. Everything's good," I smiled. "You?" Kevin nodded his head and grinned at me.
"Yeah. Yeah," he said happily, "When you're finished come find me. I wanna share something with you."
"Okay," I smiled as he leaned in and kissed me, making a show of it. We shared a quiet laugh. When we pulled away Ashley laughed, then Del. Queen just walked away.
"Will y'all keep her company? I'm gonna go catch up with Hosea and Alex real quick."
"Of course," they both quickly agreed. When Kevin was out of earshot I grabbed their attention.
"Okay. So what's the deal with Q? Her and Kevin used to date or something? Cuz I don't have time for petty drama. I'm here for Rita's birthday party and to meet y'all, not to put up with her."
"Girl, please," Del started, "she's had a crush on Kevin since middle school. They went out a few times in high school, but nothing serious. He broke things off with her, because he just didn't feel the same way she did. She was heartbroken about it and never seemed to get over it. I promise you, you have nothing to worry about," Del reassured. Ashley shook her head in agreement.
"Yeah. I've heard the way he talks about you and he is in love with you."
I smiled. "Thanks y'all."
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