Prove Your Love (Worth It: Book 2)

Chapter 23: Good Heavens!

   "Hey daddy," I said greeting him with a hug. "Is everyone else here?"
   "Almost. We're just waiting on Terrance. He said he would be here in five minutes. That was ten minutes ago," he huffed.
   "Oh, daddy relax. You know he's never on time," I said shaking my head. "Don't worry about it," I said lightly touching his arm, "I'll handle it." I walked away from him and into the family room to greet my siblings. "Hey y'all," I smiled. "I feel like I ain't seen y'all in months."
"Uh, that's because you haven't," Keyona teased as she walked over to me. "You could call every once in a while."
   "I'm sorry Key. I've been super busy."
   "We see," Faye laughed.
   "Shut up," I said sticking my tongue out at him. "Does anyone know why daddy called this meeting?" Everyone shook their head no.
   "Nope," Faye said, "not a clue."
   "Me either," I said rubbing my baby bump.
   "Aw look at that belly," Keyona beamed. She bent down to get a closer look. "Hi princess," she cooed.
   "I wanna see the baby belly," Mya said hopping out of her seat. She rushed over to me and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek before rubbing my baby bump. "Lyyys. I've missed you. We gotta do something together before babygirl gets here." I smiled and hugged her back. I loved being around Mya. Her love was infectious and she was the sweetest nineteen year old I knew.
   "I've been missing you too Yaya. We'll definitely work something out soon." I looked over at the couch and saw Tyreek stretched out near Faye. "Dang Ty. You don't see nobody," I teased.
   "Aye Lys Lys," he said pulling an AirPod out of his ear.
   "That's cuz he on the phone with his girl," Faye said nudging him.
   "Shut up man," Ty laughed.
   "Oh you gotta boo," I cheesed. "Imma come find you when this meeting is over." Tyreek laughed and nodded his head.
   "Aight," he said agreeing.
   "Oh. Before I forget. Ty, have you seen T," I asked. He shook his head no and then resumed his phone conversation. I pulled out my phone and walked out of the living room. I knew exactly who to call. After the second ring the phone was picked up.
   "Hey Lys what's up?"
   "Hey J. Is Terrance there with you? Our dad called a family meeting and he's not here yet."
   "No. He left fifteen minutes ago. He should be pulling up any minute now."
   "Okay. Thanks Nellie," I said giddily.
   "No problem," she laughed. "See ya later boo."
   "Later." When we hung up I went to find my dad. "Daddy," I called out as I slipped my phone into my back pocket.
   "In here," he called from his office. I walked over to him and peeped my head into the doorway.
   "According to my source," I grinned, "Terrance should be arriving any minute now."
   "Hey Lys. Where everybody at?" A voice said from behind me. It was Terrance.
   "See," I said grinning at my dad. He shook his head and stood from his desk. I laughed and turned around to greet Terrance. "Hey T," I said embracing him. "Took you long enough to get here. Everyone's in the family room," I said letting him go. "Come on."
..
About ten minutes later, once everyone was settled, my dad started the family meeting.
   "Okay. So I know you're all wondering why I called this meeting since the last time we met like this it ended in chaos. However, I am confident today will be different." We all sat quietly, curious as to where this was going. "Now. As you all know your mother and I kept some major family secrets from you all and each other and it's caused us to suffer greatly. We've been separated for almost a year as a result of those secrets. However, as of last week our divorce has been finalized." None of us could hide the look of surprise on our faces. "In addition to the end of our marriage, I want you all to be the first to know that I will be retiring as A.A. Lafaye. An official announcement will be made in the coming weeks and I would like you all, including your mother, to be there. You were all a part of this journey, and both individually and collectively played a hand in my success as a contemporary artist. That means that Dominic Moreno, Alyssa's biological father, will be there as well. I would not be where I am without him and I owe him so much for that." The news of our father's retirement had more of an emotional impact on us than the news of his divorce. We could make sense of the divorce, but him relinquishing his art—we couldn't even began to fathom. "Okay," he sighed, "now for some even bigger news," he smiled. "As you all know I have property all over the states, as well as internationally in other countries. It has been my pleasure as your dad to be able to give you all what my parents could never give me. With that said, I have divided up my estate between the six of you." This news had us sitting wide-eye in shock. Oh my goodness. What is going on, I thought. "Every piece of land, every house, every piece of property, every piece of art that I give to you holds deep sentimental value to me. The inheritance that you will receive from me represents how I see each of you individually and will be a reflection of the depth of my love for each of you." Our dad wiped away a fallen tear. "My finances will also be divided between you all. Please use it wisely, as there is enough to last you a lifetime. I'm not kidding. It's a lot," he laughed. "I know that all of this comes as a bit of a surprise to you all, but it has always been my dream to give you guys the world and now I actually can."
   "Dad, I'm extremely grateful," Faye spoke up, "but why are you doing this now? Are you—." Dad cut him off.
   "No," he smiled. "I'm not dying and I'm not sick. I just wanted to see you all enjoy your inheritance while I'm here. You all shouldn't have to wait until I'm gone to be able to experience all that I have. All of your lives you guys had only a taste of what I had, only a small fraction of what my passion has afforded me, but it wasn't until the divorce that I realized I had been selfish with what I had and I don't want to hold on to any of it any more. Life is too short and when I do leave this earth none of my earthly possessions can come with me. I won't have any use for it then, so I figured why not share it with all of my children and grandchildren instead."
   "Aw daddy. Thank you. That is so sweet," Mya said getting up to hug him. "We love you."
   "Love you daddy," Keyona and I chimed in. We both got up to hug him next, followed by the boys.
   "I love y'all too," he smiled.
   Once we relinquished him from our embrace, our dad gave us each a letter containing the next steps to get access to our designated half of his estate. None of us could believe that this was actually happening. It felt like a dream. This turn of events means that my children will be well taken care of and I honestly couldn't have asked for anything more.
..
Later that day I gave Kevin the run down on what had transpired earlier. He was, of course, just as shocked as we were.
   "So, he didn't leave your mom anything?"
   "Nope," I said shaking my head. "We had a chance to talk before I left. He said that while they were married he gave her everything that she could have ever possibly wanted or needed, and that his last request to her was to not ask him for anything, so he could leave everything he had to us."
   "Wow. That's heavy."
    "Yeah. Tell me about it."
   "Do you," Kevin paused, "miss your mom?"
   "Yeah. All the time. I mostly miss how tight our bond used to be, but I can't change the past. My only hope for her now is that she does right by Ángel."
   "When have you last seen him?"
   "About two months ago. It was the day I went to hang out with Dominic and Dom."
"Really?" This was news to Kevin.
"Yeah. Dominic had Ángel for the weekend. He told me that he's taking my mom to court for full custody."
   "Wait. Why? Your mom still hasn't told him that Lee is Ángel's biological father?"
   "Well," I started, "you won't believe this, but there's been some recent developments in that story. According to Dominic, Lee confronted him about a paternity test after having suspicions that Ángel might not be his. Apparently, Lee was just mad that my mom cut ties with him after his father cut him off, due to his reckless behavior."
"Wait. Your mom was using Lee for his money too!"
"Yep. Once my parents became separated. And he gave it away freely for some pussy."
"Dang. That's crazy," Kevin said pondering that thought. "Okay, so what about the paternity test?"
"Well, Dominic quickly agreed to it, of course, and the test came back negative for Lee. He got off Scott free and was pissed about it. I tried to warn him about Carrie," I said shaking my head. "She used the baby to control him. Dominic's going to use all of that in his case against my mom. Hopefully she can let go of her pride long enough to sign away her rights."
   "Damn baby you been holding out on me," Kevin teased. I playfully nudged him.
   "I know. Sorry. I just wasn't ready to mention it yet, but given today's events this clearly was the perfect time to divulge."
   "You telling me!"
   "Man, I am so glad that we aren't going to be like that. I would hate to be in her shoes. Whew. I don't even wanna think about it."
   "So don't," Kevin said turning my face to his. He hooked his finger under my chin and kissed me softly. "I love you," he mumbled against my lips.
   "I love you more."
   "Not possible," he whispered back.