I hope y'all not out here putting a man before your goals. I see how some of y'all move, from the way y'all were judging Soleil—and yea, I'm taking this shit very personal. Y'all were acting very close minded, and when you're read MY STORIES, y'all can't be that. Simple.

enjoy the damn chapter.

Soleil tucked her feet under her, wrapping her blanket around her as Ximena sat across from her on the other couch. She gazed at Ximena with a blank expression, waiting for her to speak. She hoped that when she arrived to pick up Semaj, she would do just that and leave.

Unfortunately, Siraj was asleep and since they were alone, Ximena decided that it was finally time to speak to Soleil without anyone else around.

"So, um, I just want to apologize for what happened between us," Ximena finally broke the silence between them. Soleil slightly nodded her head, waiting for her to go on. "I, um, the way I handled the situation with Semaj was out of line. I had a right to be upset with you, especially because you've watched my son on multiple occasions and it caught me off guard that you would do that," Ximena continued on.

"But, I realize now that my behavior has been very childish. My son loves you, and to be quite honest with you, I trust you with him more than my own family. I also think I realized the severity of the situation when Siraj served me with papers to ensure joint custody of Semaj. I never thought it would ever reach this point because we've co-parented with no issues since our breakup,"

"That was until I came into the picture," Soleil interjected, staring at her with a hardened expression. "I don't understand what your issue is with me–actually, let me not say that because I do. It was never about Semaj, Ximena–so please save that bullshit for someone else, I'm not stupid. This was about Siraj, it has always been about him."

"Listen, Soleil–"

"No," Soleil shook her head, waving her off. "You listen to me, I've been listening and keeping my mouth shut this whole time. I've let you disrespect me, call me out my name, tear down my character–and not once, that whole time, have I ever stepped out of line with you–even though you very much deserved it. I don't see how we went from being cool to you making an enemy out of me–all over a nigga?" she scoffed a laugh, pointing towards Siraj's bedroom.

Ximena scooted closer to the edge of the couch, holding her hands out. "We were friends, Soleil. I have confided in you about my problems with Siraj, we've hung out–I was angry because I thought we were friends." she defended herself.

"Girl–when have we ever been friends?" Soleil looked at her as if she had grown another head. "I never considered you a friend, the only time we ever hang out is when you tagged along with Siraj to come to my house. Other than that, we never talked or hung out, outside of Siraj and Xahir. You confided in me–I never told you anything about my life, never shared a secret with you, never cried to you about anything, never came to you for advice–nothing. Associates? Yeah, we were that–but friends? Nah, especially when I have witnessed you talk bad about the friends you do have." Soleil counted off on her fingers, each word she spoke rolling off her tongue in a harsh manner.

"But you mean to tell me, that's been your beef with me this whole time? You've been upset because you felt like I snaked you? Let me make myself clear, Ximena." Soleil pushed the blanket off of her, also scooting closer to the edge of the couch. "The friends that I do have, they have my loyalty until they do something to wrong me–meaning, I would never date any of my friend's exes because one, that's nasty and two, I wouldn't want that shit to be done to me—which it has,"

"You and Siraj can say what you want, but I consider us to be friends, Soleil—whether you agree or not," Ximena argued as she frowned a little.

"No, we have never been friends. Never will be friends–if anything, it was a one-sided friendship, sweetheart. If you were my friend, Ximena, why didn't you check on me? Hm? The friends that I do have, have all checked on me–so why haven't you done it? If we're so-called friends?" Soleil clasped her hands together, perching her lips, growing irritated that Ximena wasn't understanding where she was coming from.

"Instead of you being bout' yo' grown woman shit, and coming to me to tell me how you felt from the get-go, you went and created a one-sided beef, all over a nigga–friends don't do that, Ximena!" Soleil raised her voice, pointing her finger at her. "I let you slide multiple times, from when you pulled that shit at the beginning trying to walk into the bathroom after I told you he was in the shower,"

"When you came out of his bathroom with nothing but a towel on to make it seem like y'all had done something–up until you tried to make Siraj choose between me and his son. The only thing that has been saving you from me putting my hands on you or cussing you out is that I love your son and don't want you to keep him away from me–the only reason!"

The room fell silent as the two girls held intense eye contact. Ximena swallowed hard, licking over her lips. "I-I'm sorry, Soleil. I never meant for any of this to go as far as it did, I promise, nothing like this will ever happen again," she grabbed her purse and got up from the couch.

"Are you even over him?" Soleil asked her as she started to walk out of the living room. Ximena paused, standing there for a brief second with her back still facing Soleil.

She turned around and nodded, "Yeah, I am..." she told her, walking out of the living room. "Semaj! Come here, baby," Ximena called out.

Soleil got up to follow behind her, and Semaj came out of the room with his tablet in hand. He ran to Ximena, as she knelt down and gave him a hug as well as a kiss on the cheek. "Be good for Soleil and daddy, okay?" she smiled.

Semaj nodded as Ximena walked out of the house. Soleil locked the door behind her and walked over to Semaj. "Ready to make these cupcakes?" Soleil smiled, holding her hand out for Semaj to grab.

"Can I lick the spoon?" Semaj jumped up and down, grabbing her hand as the other continued to hold on to the tablet. Soleil giggled as she picked him up and placed him on the counter.

"Of course, baby,"

For the past week, Soleil and Siraj had been getting back into the motion of their schedules.

A couple of hours later, Soleil walked into the bedroom holding the plate of cupcakes. She quietly sat it down on the nightstand. She picked up Semaj and stood him on the bed before she gently got onto it as well, looking at the time on her Apple Watch.

She blew into the horn, beginning to jump on the bed. "Happy Birthday!" she shouted, Semaj jumping onto Siraj. "Wake up, birthday boy! It's time to celebrate!"

Siraj groggily glanced around the room, seeing the birthday balloons. A small smirk slowly grew onto his face as he looked up at Soleil and Semaj who were still jumping on the bed. "Happy Birthday daddy!" Semaj exclaimed.

"Aww, y'all too sweet," he sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Soleil grabbed the plate of cupcakes and sat down on the bed, Indian style. "You made those for me?"

"Yes, darling!" Soleil grinned. The number 24 lit up in candles, on one of the cupcakes. She held the plate close to him so that he was able to blow it out. "Gon on, make a wish,"

Siraj closed his eyes, silently wishing to himself before he opened his eyes and blew out the candle. He sat up and grabbed a cupcake from the plate, as Soleil got off of the bed. "Okay, let's go Semaj. It's time for bed," Soleil beckoned him with one hand.

Semaj pouted, as he stood up on the bed. Siraj watched him closely, raising an eyebrow. "But I want a cupcake," Semaj whined, pointing at the plate in Soleil's hand. Siraj started to say something until Soleil spoke.

"No, Semaj. I let you have the leftover frosting, plus you had some fruit snacks while we waited. No more sugar, you may have one tomorrow but it's time for bed now. I let you stay up way past your bedtime, so you can tell your dad happy birthday–now let's go," Soleil firmly told him, Semaj obliged and grabbed Soleil's hand as he got down from the bed.

Siraj grinned in amusement, watching them walk out of the bedroom.

Once Soleil was done tucking Semaj into bed, along with putting away the rest of the cupcakes, she returned to the bedroom where Siraj was finishing the rest of the cupcake.

"Thank you," Siraj thanked her as she climbed into bed, she snuggled closer to him, looking up at him.

"How are you feeling?" Soleil asked him, as he reached over and placed the cupcake wrapper on the nightstand–feeling quite too lazy to get up and throw it away.

"My throat still hurt, my nose stuffed too–I took breathing for granted," he groaned, as Soleil started snickering.

"I'll get you some Vicks in the morning. That's crazy, out of all days, you get sick on your birthday. If you didn't want to celebrate, you should've just said that my boy," she teased him, pinching his cheek.

He sucked his teeth as he tried holding back a smile, swatting her hand away. "I ain't tripping, I didn't have any plans anyway. I'm just gone work and come back home," he shrugged, sinking down in the bed to lay down.

"Are you ready for your gift?" Soleil smirked, unable to contain her excitement about what she got him. Siraj nodded as he held a sly grin on his face. Soleil got up and walked towards his closet, she flicked the light on and started to rummage through the closet.

"You mean to tell me that my gift been in there the whole time? Maybe I need some new contacts," he joked, he heard Soleil let out a loud laugh from the closet. Another minute later she emerged from the closet, flicking the light off.

She walked back to the bed with a big gift bag in her hand. Siraj sat up again, as she passed it over to him. She'd been waiting all week to give him the gift, there were even a few times that she wanted to tell him what she bought because she was eager for him to see it.

"Read the card first," she said, pointing to the envelope on top of the gift. Siraj dug through the gift wrapping paper and picked up the card. He opened the envelope and started to read the message inside. "Don't read the printed words, that's not important,"

Siraj chuckled, shaking his head. "To my Raji, I'm grateful to have been blessed with getting to know the endearing soul that you are. Every day you set the bar higher as to how a man is supposed to treat his woman. You're a great father, a friend, a companion, and I don't think I would or could ask for anyone else to be in love with. I could write a ten thousand-word letter to tell you how much I love you, and words still wouldn't be enough to describe how you make me feel,"

"To think that you have been in my life for almost seven years, solely known to me as my brother's best friend and nothing more. Now, I couldn't imagine life without you. Even though we have a long journey ahead of us in our relationship, I wouldn't want to be on the ride with anyone else. Thank you for all that you do, continue to be the warmhearted, spirited person that you are. I hope that you're blessed to see many more birthdays. Enjoy your day, my love. Love, Soleil," Siraj read out loud.

"Wow," he said, unable to hold back the giddy smile. "Thank you, baby, that's real sweet of you," he beckoned her closer, she crawled the short distance to him as he gently grabbed her face and kissed her.

He slipped the card back into the envelope and set it aside, before finally reaching into the gift bag again and pulling out the wrapped present. He ripped it open, a shocked expression plastering his face as he saw what the gift was.

"Nah, ain't no way, Soleil," he pulled out the box that carried the camera he had been searching for. "I've been looking everywhere for this, how did you find it?" he looked over at her with slightly wide eyes.

"I have my ways," Soleil smirked, pretending to dust off her shoulders. "And let me just say, as much money I have spent, whatever pictures that camera and the lens capture, better be as clear as my vision," she rolled her neck, holding her index finger up.

Siraj snickered as he pulled her into a hug, planting multiple kisses on her face. Siraj paused as he pulled away, giving her a weird look. "Wait, did you say lens?" he tilted his head.

She hummed, pointing to the gift bag. "As I was snooping on your laptop, I saw that you were also looking for a specific type of lens, so I bought that as well–but that's not all! You have another gift in there!" she beamed, clapping her hands.

Siraj placed the camera aside and reached inside the gift bag again, feeling around. He pulled out another gift but much smaller. He unwrapped the gift, revealing a hand-sized velvet box.

As he opened it, he set the gift down in his lap, running his hands up and down his face a few times, trying to contain his emotions.

"I figured since you gave me one, you deserve one as well. I don't know what it's like to lose a father and I won't pretend that I do, but I notice you don't talk about it much, so it's probably something that you're still internally dealing with–especially after that night you called me on the anniversary," Soleil said, wrapping her arms around him to console him. "I didn't know if you had anything to remember him by, so the night of New Years' Eve at my parent's celebration, I pulled your mom aside and talked to her about it,"

"She told me that the watch your dad always wore, had gotten lost with the rest of your luggage when you were traveling. I know it'll never replace it because it was something that your dad physically wore, but you know..." Soleil trailed off, pulling away from their hug. Siraj nodded in understanding, taking the gold pendant necklace out of the case.

"Thank you, Soleil, like, no one has ever thought about replacing it–and I don't mean it in a bitter way or anything. But, they all knew how much it fucked wit' me to lose my dad's watch, cause it's like, it was the last thing I had of his and now it's gone forever. Whether I wore the watch or not, I always took it with me." Siraj said, eyeing the details of the pendant. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, clearing his throat. "You don't even know how much this means to me,"

"I think I do," Soleil weakly smiled, fiddling with her necklace. "You're welcome though,"

Siraj closed the case and placed it on the nightstand before returning his attention to the camera. He opened the box and took the camera out, staring at it in awe. "I don't know bae, I think your gift topping everyone else's already," he peeked up at her, as she grinned cockily.

"I know–but speaking of gifts, Ximena left hers," Soleil quickly got up and walked out of the room to retrieve the gift on the counter. As she did, Siraj messed around with the camera, powering it on. He grabbed the second box and opened it, taking out the lens.

"Should marry her now while I got the chance," he muttered to himself, shaking his head. Soleil walked back into the room, with Ximena's gift in hand. "Thank you. Did she say anything to you when she came?" he asked her.

Soleil inhaled deeply, climbing back onto the bed. Siraj raised his eyebrows, eyeing her suspiciously. "We finally talked," she profoundly sighed, tucking her legs under her. "She apologized, but then she finally told me her reasoning for being bitter,"

"She felt betrayed because she thought that y'all were friends?" Siraj scoffed, Soleil jerking her head back in surprise.

"Ye-yeah, how'd you know?" Soleil tipped her head to the side, watching him mess around with the camera.

"The night that she freaked out about you being here, we got into an argument. She finally told me that she felt betrayed by us because you were her friend. I called her out on her bullshit, cause outside of Xahir and I, y'all have never hung out." Siraj explained, grabbing the wrapping paper and crumbling it up.

"That's exactly what I told her, we have never been friends. I'm pretty sure she has talked shit behind my back before, she's fake and I had already seen through that the first time we met. I never confided in her about anything, she has never been a shoulder I could cry on–shit, I never even bought her a gift before, and I'm known for buying my friends gifts all the time," Soleil spat, rolling her eyes.

"I basically told her that Semaj is the only reason I haven't gotten disrespectful towards her," Soleil told him, getting under the blankets. "She apologized again, and we left it at that. I don't want a friendship with her now, I forgive her for what she did, but I'll never forget,"

"At least y'all were finally able to sit down and hash it out. I'm surprised she even wanted to still talk after Selah checked her ass," Siraj said, putting the camera back into the box, then back into the gift bag. "I'll mess with this in the morning,"

"Are you sure you want to go to work tomorrow?" Soleil watched him place the card back into the gift bag as well before he got up and set the bag next to the nightstand.

"Yes ma'am, I won't be there long, I promise. I have something important to work on, it has to be done before next month. What days are you off again?" He grabbed his phone to check it, as Soleil got more comfortable under the blankets.

"Sweetheart, I've been here the whole weekend—what do you think?" she giggled, closing her eyes. "I don't work Fridays either,"

"Okay," Siraj replied, making a mental note. He placed his phone down on the nightstand and grabbed the cupcake wrapper to go toss it in the bathroom. "They close on Fridays?" he asked from the bathroom.

"No, I have a class on Fridays, so I asked my mom if I can have that day off as well. I'm fine with just working four days, I'm able to catch up on any of my work before the deadlines on Sundays," Soleil explained, beginning to yawn.

"Make sense," Siraj said walking back into the room, he walked over to the light switch to turn it off and shut the door. "You going to sleep?"

"Nah nigga, I'm resting my eyes—yes, I'm going to sleep, but you keep talking to me," Soleil snapped, Siraj laughed as he pulled his shirt from over his head and tossed it onto the floor.

"Stop being mean, I just want some love,"

"That's not gonna happen, big pa'," Soleil told him, turning over to see him looking at her with a funny expression. "I'm on my period,"

Siraj sucked his teeth, as he started to groan, tossing his head back. "Bruh, that quick? We just had sex last night," he complained.

"Yeah, well blame yourself because it wasn't supposed to come for another few days. You started my shit early,"

"Some bullshit," he grumbled, getting back into bed. "How you feelin' though? You need something?"

"No, surprisingly I'm not cramping too bad, but I know it'll probably be hell tomorrow. The second days are always the worst,"

Siraj snuggled under Soleil, entangling their legs. "Well, let me know if you need me for anything, okay?" he told her, planting a kiss on her chest. Soleil simply hummed, rubbing her hand against the velvet fabric of his durag.