I was so nervous that I could barely think let alone function. And Royce just kept going on and on about who knows what, and I wasn't listening at all. I was literally about to meet my used-to-be deadbeat father but still kinda deadbeat, but at least he was trying to get to know me now. It was all confusing.

"Mommy...mommy," she tapped me on the leg. She pointed to our luggage on the conveyer belt. I rushed to grab the suitcase before it got too far away and I had to wait until it came back around again. Royce and I were sharing a suitcase since we were only staying the weekend. It would have been unnecessary for both of us to carry around a duffle bag when we could just combine all of our stuff into one big suitcase. And, it would've been too much to expect Royce to keep track of her own bag, so I would've been carrying everything anyway.

"Come on, we need to find the pick-up area," I grabbed both the suitcase and Royce's hand. It took ten minutes to find the exact spot where we were supposed to be picked up. I called my dad and told him that we were waiting outside. He told me that he was already here, but he had to circle around the airport since our flight got delayed. My heart rate sped up once I spotted his white truck a few lanes over. Royce and I crossed the street right as he was getting out of the car. I immediately recognized him from the photos, and it felt weird to see him in person. I've sent this man enough pictures of me that he could probably recognize me even in a crowd of people.

A huge smile lit his face as he eyed the both of us. He pulled me into a quick hug. It was as if he just couldn't help himself. Meanwhile, Royce was smushed in between us. When we pulled a part, she had a frown on her face.

"I got it," he said taking the suitcase.

"You both get in the car." I helped Royce into the back seat of his big ass truck. It was stupid big. I had a hard time climbing in myself. My dad got in soon after and quickly drove off before the guy directing the traffic decided that we were taking too long.

"How was the flight?" He broke the ice first.

"It was good. It wasn't too long," I said.

"Have you eaten anything?"

"No, we were running late so we didn't have enough time to eat before we got on the plane."

"My wife cooked up a bunch of food that I think you both would like." I nodded as he looked at me through the rearview mirror, still sporting the biggest smile.

The rest of the ride was quiet except for the radio and Royce asking me tons of questions. For some reason, she still had a lot of energy even though she was awake the whole flight. Not to mention, she had school today. Luckily, the car ride was short and we soon pulled into the driveway of this nice house. Royce and I got out while my dad got our luggage.

"Nice house," I said.

"Thank you. We can go around the back." I followed after him until we got to the backyard and then to the back door, which led right into the kitchen. I got a whiff of whatever was being cooked and my stomach instantly started growling.

"Go ahead," he said. I walked further into the kitchen.

"You want us to take our shoes off?" I asked.

"No, it's fine."

My eyes scanned around the room until they fell on a woman. She looked just like the pictures I saw when Meech did that background check for me.

"This is my wife, Trina. Trina this is Asha and her daughter Imani." I moved to greet Trina. She wiped her hands on her apron, in which I thought she would have shook my hand, but she pulled me into a hug instead.

"It's nice to meet you, Asha. You look just like Raymond."

"Nice to meet you too," I smiled.

"Hello Imani, it's nice to meet you as well." Imani only whispered a hi in response.

"Oh, she's shy?"

"A little bit," I said. And I don't blame her. She don't know these people. Shit, I don't even know these people yet.

"Where is Remi?" My dad asked.

"She went out, but she didn't tell me where she was going."

"Did she at least say when she'll be back?"

"Of course not. You know how she is," Trina said.

"I'll call her, but you all eat. I'll be back." He said before walking off with my suitcase.

Trina let Royce and I wash our hands in the kitchen sink. When I was done helping Royce, we sat down where Trina was setting the table. She refused my help, so I just sat in the chair while she brought all the food over. Everything smelled so good, and my stomach would not stop making noises. My dad came back after awhile. He told me that my suitcase was in the spare room down the hall, and he would show us to our room once we were done eating.

We were well into the meal when Royce started asking for more bread. "Mommy, can I get some more bread?"

"You haven't touched anything else. No more bread until you eat what's already on your plate," I said and she started pouting. Then she decided to stop eating altogether. Hmmm, she must be ready for a nap.

"That's fine. You must not be hungry anymore," I shrugged. I went to take her plate away when she stopped me.

"Then eat. I'm not playing Imani." She continued eating, but she only picked at her food. I rolled my eyes and focused my attention back on my own plate. This shit was good, and I was not about to let my food get cold because Imani wanted to mess around with hers.

"She can have another roll. I don't mind. This food is for the both of you anyway," Trina spoke up.

"Thank you, but she does this all the time. She's not a picky eater, but she loves bread and if she could only eat bread, she would. She still has a whole plate of food. She needs to eat that first," I stated.

"Of course." Trina nodded. It went back to being relatively silent until a door opened and then closed loudly.

"Remi?"

"Yes, mom."

"Can you come to the kitchen?" Remi soon appeared in the door frame. I eyed her from head to toe. Now that I knew who she was, she definitely looked less threatening. The first thing I did notice was that her hair was a lot shorter than it was the last time I saw her. It was styled in some kind of curly pixie cut. Remi had a light complexion, full lips, round doe eyes like mine, and freckles. Her hair style made her look older, but it was cute and fit her face. As far as clothes went, Remi had on a stained hoodie and ripped jeans.

"Hey," she waved. I waved back.

"We got food. Asha and her daughter flew all the way down here. Why don't you sit down and eat with us," Trina tried to persuade Remi to stay, but anyone could tell that Remi was not feeling it.

"I'm not hungry," she said.

"You've been gone all day. Where have you been?"

"Dad, I've been out."

"Doing what?" He asked and she shrugged.

"Can I go?"

"No you—"

"Yes Remi. You can leave," Trina said.

Remi didn't say anything. She only gave me one last long look before leaving out of the kitchen. Trina and my dad then started quietly arguing back and forth as if I wasn't sitting right in front of them. I didn't really care though. I only continued eating my food. When they got tired of arguing, we sat in more silence until I got tired of all the awkwardness.

"I'm tired myself," I fake yawned.

"I'll show you to your room." My dad was quick to jump up from the table.

I asked if they needed help cleaning up, but he waved me off. I dumped Royce's leftover food in the trash and placed our plates in the sink. I also pushed our chairs back under the table before following my dad out of the kitchen.

"I'm happy that you're here," he said.

"It's a bit awkward, don't you think?"

"It won't be for long. Don't pay Remi any mind, she's always like that. Her and I are still trying to patch things up so there's some tension there."

"How old is she?" I asked. I couldn't remember.

"She's nineteen."

"And you went to prison when she was around the age of one?"

"She was barely one," he said. "But, Trina brought both her and Uriah to see me often."

"How often?"

"Almost three times a month. So, it's not like I wasn't in their life at all, but I did miss a lot. But, with you Asha, I missed everything."

"That's because you left me. You forgot about me."

"That's not true. I—"

"You sent letters, I know."

"That's not what I was going to—"

"I'm going to take a nap. Can we talk when I get up, maybe in an hour?" I asked changing the subject.

"Yes, of course."

"Okay. Thank you," I said opening the door. I pulled Royce in the room behind me. She was so sleepy that she was damn near about to pass out. I quickly opened the suitcase and got out some pajamas for her and something for me.

"Here, let me help you," I said to her. I sat her on the bed and took off every piece of clothing except for her undies. I put her pajamas on and basically dragged her up the bed and under the sheets. I should've checked to see if she had to pee first, but it was too late and I didn't feel like hearing her whine. After I took off my clothes and exchanged them for a long white t-shirt and black leggings, I was out.

That hour ended up turning into multiple.

.....