One and Only

Chapter 26

Avaa POV

"Hey, hey!" I yelled making everyone stop. It was mostly the men reaching like heathens, "y'all know better than that. Baby say grace" I instructed him with a nudge.

"Aight everybody, close ya eyes and bow ya heads" he said before beginning prayer, "Dear Lord, thank you for allowing this clan to gather before you on this blessed Christmas holiday. Thank you for the food placed on the table and the hands that prepared it. Lord, purify it of all impurities and I pray we all enjoy. Amen" he finished, "now dig in" he said and the guys' hands flew back to the middle of the table.

"All the kids have paper plates and utensils on their table" I said and Anya and Gianna got up to make their children's plates. I stood up to make my own plate, but Khalil quickly shut that down.

"I told you I got everything today, did you think that changed because we had guest?" he whispered in my ear making me blush a little and sit back down. He filled my plate with all of my favorites and placed my plate in front of me and then did the same for himself, "and don't let your mama stop you from eating that whole plate and however much more you and my babies would like, you hear?" he spoke in my ear again and this time I nodded in response before digging in.

In the middle of my meal, one of the babies delivered a swift kick to my rib making me audibly hiss mid chew, which Khalil noticed because the man misses nothing.

"What's the matter?" he asked just loud enough for me to hear over the conversation being held at the table.

"Nothing Lil, just one of the babies kicked my ribs" I waved him off, but his face still conveyed concern, "Seriously, I'm fine, enjoy your food" I urged.

"Promise you'll tell me if there is something really wrong"

"I swear" I promised and he turned back to his plate. I discreetly rubbed my belly, willing them to calm down- I do not need to be back in the hospital anytime soon.

The rest of dinner went by without another interruption from the trio and now it was time for everyone to open their presents, so we made our way to the family room. I was particularly excited for Khalil to open up his gifts because I think I outdid myself, but first was the fellas. Khalil gathered a bunch of wrapped boxes in the middle of the floor and handed one to Hakim, Jay, Yan, Sam, Shanny, Jerome, and Alex with the instructions to wait to open it until each of them had gotten theirs.

"Okay, open it" he said after handing out the last box and they tore off the wrapping paper and opened their respective boxes. Jay was the first to get his opened and he jumped up immediately, "YES, thanks man! I been wanting this jawn for forever!"

"Ohhh this jawn nice as shit" "Sure is man, thanks bro" "Yeah I've had my eye on this thing for months!" Hakim, Yiannis, and Jerome said expressing their gratitude, followed by Sam and Shanny dapping up Khalil who stood there with the biggest grin on his face. In the box was a set of virtual reality goggles, a game console attachment, and I threw in a card that Khalil suggested that would allow them to connect their various types of game consoles.

Next up was mine and Lil's gifts to our parents; I'd gotten my mom a charm bracelet and Khalil got her an edible arrangement and we got my dad a navy blue Nike sweat suit and matching colored huaraches. And for Khalil's mom, we got a candle basket that included about 5 candles and a bouquet of flowers and for his dad, we got him a football signed by his favorite Philadelphia Eagle of all time, Donovan McNabb. Then was our sisters, Julia, and Kina, whom we got an individualized jewelry set with their names on the necklace and bracelet and a corresponding set of diamond earrings and everyone seemed really happy with their gifts. Thank God because I was more than nervous for my gift for the guys.