"So, tomorrow's bae's birthday, what you got planned for him?" Lola sat down at my workstation with a smirk on her face.

"Okay, first of all, he's not bae and second of all, it's none of your business what I have planned for him." I couldn't hold back the grin that was tugging at my lips. I continued to sanitize her nails while ignoring her pleas.

"It's fine, I'll find out," she said with much confidence.

"How you figure?" I looked at her with my mouth turned up.

"Eli and Sean are damn near besties now, he's going to tell Sean and Sean's going to tell me." She shrugged.

"Well, do whatever you gotta do. I'm still not telling you."

"Oh my gosh, you suck."

Although Elijah and I weren't dating, we'd grown extremely close in the past two months that we'd known each other. I even went with him to court when he was fighting for Isabella; he was overjoyed when he won. Natalie was ordered by the judge to attend a month of parenting classes before she could see Bella again. Needless to say, she never started the classes and hadn't seen Isabella since she dropped her off with Ms. Carla; Elijah's mom. Miracle had become his official babysitter, giving his mom a little bit of a break. Especially with summer being in full effect now.

Elijah called me a blessing but I was literally lucky to have him as a friend. He helped me get over the breakup with Carter as he promised he would. He helped keep MJ out of trouble. He'd been a great friend to not only me but he'd somehow worked his way into a good place with both Moriah and Micah Sr. He'd even visited my brother without me at times. I was loving every bit of it to be honest. He didn't have much family down here besides his mother, Isabella and his cousin, Xavier. To my understanding, everyone else on his mother's side was further south in Georgia and Florida, whereas his father's side of the family lived mostly in New York and Chicago. So, with his family being scattered all over the place, it was nice to see him embraced by mine.

"Anyway, on a brighter note; Micah will be ready to come home next month," I beamed while filing her nails down.

"I know, Sean and me went to go see him the other day, he was definitely looking like the old Micah too. I'm just ready for him to come home," Lola admitted.

Lola and I had been joined at the hip since middle school and she was an only child, so my family was her family pretty much. Micah meant a lot to her and it showed.

"Yeah, me too but if it came time for him to come out and he told me he wasn't ready, I couldn't even be upset with him."

Micah had told me on a few occasions that he was nervous about coming home and being able to openly reach his dealer whenever he reached a low point. Ever since then, I'd been going up to the rehab center every Monday along with Moriah, Miracle and MJ to attend family counseling with him. I just wanted him to know that no matter what, we're here for him and the last thing we wanted to see him do is fail. His doctor felt like with all of us showing our support, he'd be less likely to fall off the wagon once he was released. We'd even been talking about a buddy system that the center has where Micah will be set up with a sponsor. It was explained to me that the sponsor would be a person who graduated from the program six months to a year prior to Micah. Someone who left and was able to stay clean, and in my opinion that would be perfect for him. I just had to get Micah to agree.

"Your boo just walked in," Lola teased, causing me to look up in the direction of the door.

Elijah's eyes were already fixed on me. It was strange how every woman in this shop could gawk at him yet his attention stayed right on me. I couldn't help but blush under his stare; it'd literally been two months and I still felt like a school girl in his presence.

"What up Lo?" he greeted Lola and bent down to give her a hug.

"Nothin much, don't come in here distracting her while she's working on my nails," she teased.

"I'm just here cause I was in the area." He smirked while looking down at me. "You good?"

"I'm straight." I smirked and shrugged my shoulders.

He bent down and kissed my cheek. Lola cleared her throat and eyed the two of us.

"I mean since I can't hug my friend and shit." Elijah looked over at a nodding Lola and chuckled. "Nah but I'm on my way down to the shop to get some birthday ink from your lil brother. I just wanted to come and see you since I was over here."

"Ooohhh, tomorrow is your birthday isn't it?" I acted as if I had forgotten his birthday.

"Cute Lee, real cute." Elijah laughed and shook his head at me. "You cold for that one. I'll see y'all pea head ass lil girls later...gon make me late for my appointment." He laughed while backing out of the shop.

"Y'all go together," Lola teased while shaking her head at me.

"We do not! Stop it Lo." I laughed while motioning for her to go wash her hands. "And hurry up so I can get out of here," I called after her.

While I was cleaning my workspace off, I grabbed the polish Lola picked out along with the brushes I'd need for the designs she wanted and set them up on the table.

"No but for real Marley, what's going on with you and that fine ass man?" Georgia asked while Lola got comfortable in her seat.

Georgia's loud ass had everyone in the shop looking at me, waiting for my response.

"He's my friend, that's it," I replied simply before starting on Lola's nails.

"Mmhm, you good girl because I couldn't have a friend that fine, walking around looking like that, kissing me on my cheek and shit like that without at least trying to impregnate his ass once," an older lady seated in the waiting area mentioned, causing everyone to laugh including myself.

"I swear, y'all are the worst. I'm enjoying being single right now and I'm not trying to complicate things with Elijah." I smirked.

"But you gotta admit, the man is fine," one of my nail techs, Nicole, mentioned.

"Oh, he's beautiful." I sighed, falling into their trap.

"Mhmm bitch, I knew it," Lola mumbled and shook her head.

"Whatever y'all, leave me alone." I laughed and ignored the rest of the comments that came from the women in the shop.

I mean, if Elijah and I had met on different terms we'd probably be together by now. It was obvious, we were attracted to each other. We just never spoke on it. We had several awkward ass moments that I personally was trying to forget, but other than the two or three incidents, we were fine around each other.

After finishing Lola's nails, it was almost 5 pm. Georgia was closing up tonight and since I didn't have any more appointments, I decided to head home and get started on dinner for Miracle and Micah, who would be home soon if they weren't already there.

"Alright boo, call me tomorrow before your date with the Mr.," Lola sang before hopping in her car.

"You're annoying, I'll see you later," I told her as I made my way to my car.

The entire ride home, I thought about what I would make for Miracle and MJ tonight. Hopefully, they weren't expecting anything too extreme because I knew for a fact that I still had leftover rice and beans and some baked mac since my niece and nephew felt like they couldn't eat leftovers because I didn't have a microwave. I'd figure out the rest once I got home. I sighed out loud when I noticed Moriah's truck parked behind Elijah's in my driveway. I mean, thankfully, there was space behind MJ's car for me to park because if not, we'd have a problem. What were they doing at my house, anyway?

"What up Lee?" Elijah was the first to greet me as I entered the house.

"Hey everybody, what are y'all doing here?" my tone was dry. I was tired and I honestly didn't understand why they were in my spot.

"Well damn, nice to see you too sis," Moriah scoffed before stuffing his face with some potato chips. "Ya man wanted to come see you before we went out tonight. Since you get him on his birthday; me, X and Sean taking him to the booty club tonight," Moriah replied obnoxiously, causing Elijah to laugh and me to shake my head.

"You annoy my soul bro; where is Miracle while you're in here yelling about going to the damn booty club?" I whisper-yelled at Moriah.

"Chill." Elijah laughed. "She's at my mom's house with Isabella."

I just nodded and sat down on the couch that Elijah occupied, tossing my feet into his lap while laying back on the arm of the couch. As if this was routine; he removed the wedges from my feet and sat them off to the side before mindlessly rubbing my feet.

"See what I'm saying; you niggas are in a whole ass relationship and you're still out here in these streets denying it." Moriah laughed loudly and shook his head at us, causing us to look at what we were doing.

I smiled over at Elijah and removed my feet from his lap; he sat up straight and smoothed his jeans out while I pulled my legs closer to me.

"Aight well, we're about to go get ready and pregame before we head out. See you later sis." Moriah stood up from his seat, causing me and Eli to do the same. I followed them to the door waiting for them to leave, so I could close it behind them. Moriah was damn near at his car and Eli still stood in front of me with his arms crossed.

"What?" I asked trying not to blush or make it obvious that the look he was giving me had me feeling some kind of way.

"Just wanted you to know, I'm going to behave myself tonight. I don't want to disappoint my friend." He smirked down at me.

"I trust you." I nodded my head and laughed a little.

"I'm going to leave my ride here. We're getting an Uber to the club and I was just going to Uber it back here, if you don't mind?" he asked with hopeful eyes.

"No, I don't mind. I'll text your mom and see if she wants me to pick the girls up or not. I guess I'll see you tonight."

"You sure will and have that hangover water ready for me because I'm going to be done."

"Don't drink too much," I laughed as he made his way over to Moriah's truck.

"Don't be crazy!" he yelled back while hopping inside the truck.

I shook my head, laughing at him and closed the door. After locking it, I knocked softly on Micah's door not wanting to wake him in case he came home from work and went to sleep like he often did after long days at the shop.

"Hey Aunt." He opened the door, still dressed in his navy-blue once piece work uniform, causing me to smile and fan my eyes. "Aww here you go." He chuckled before taking a seat at the foot of his bed.

I entered the room laughing at my dramatic reaction. I took a seat at his computer desk and faced him.

"So, it's Friday night summertime. Any plans?"

"Nah, I mean nothing crazy. I'm meeting up with Monti and Des later on to play ball; we might crash at Des' spot since Eli hooked him up with a job and I'm his ride to work," he explained while lying back on the bed.

"Alright well, I like Lamont and Desmond, so if that's the move for tonight I'm cool with it," I said with a shrug, causing him to laugh loudly at me.

"Get out aunt, I'm not messing with you tonight." He laughed and shook his head.

"What I do?" I laughed. "You and Miracle act like I'm an old lady or something," I scoffed.

"Nah, you just don't normally talk like that. Elijah got you using all kind of slang now." He laughed louder.

"I'm leaving. Have fun tonight fucker." I laughed on my way out of his room.

I went to grab my phone off of the coffee table and called Miracle to see if she was coming home tonight.

"Hey aunti," she sang.

"Hey baby girl, I was just calling to see if you needed me to pick you up tonight."

"No, we're good plus, Miss Carla is taking us out to some cookout her church is throwing tomorrow. Mimi is even here with me," she said, referring to her best friend.

"Oh, shoot okay, well excuse me." I laughed.

Miracle loved Miss Carla and I knew it was because of the love Carla showed her. Her grandmother on her mother's side had passed away before she got a chance to meet her grandchildren and as for my mother; well I couldn't blame anyone for not wanting to be around that woman, honestly. Miss Carla was a blessing for sure.

"Well, can I talk to Carla before we hang up so I can see if she needs anything from me."

"Yeah, hold on."

After a short pause, Carla came on the line.

"Hey Marley, how you doing baby?"

"I'm fine Miss Carla, how are you feeling? Got yourself a full house over there tonight, don't you?" I giggled.

"Girl, all this youth in this house, I'm just fine. Miracle even invited her friend Camille over it's a girl's weekend for sure," she beamed.

"I know you tell me not to thank you but I'm thanking you anyway. You know how Miracle's relationship is with my mother, so you're definitely receiving the grandmother of the year award if I have anything to do with it."

"Oh stop, for one Isabella wasn't going to let 'her Miri' out of her sight tonight. She wasn't having it. Plus, I told you already, y'all are family now. MJ even carried his big head behind over here earlier on his lunch break. Talking about he needed to be fed and you were at work." We shared a healthy laugh.

Almost as if he knew we were talking about him, MJ came out of his room and went to the bathroom.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with him." I shook my head. "Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Y'all have fun," I sang.

"You too. I know you and Elijah are going to enjoy his birthday tomorrow, just be sure not to have too much fun," she warned playfully.

"Oh, don't worry, we will be on our best behavior."

"I didn't say all that now."

I couldn't help but laugh at Miss Carla, she did not try to hide the fact that she wanted Elijah and I together and she didn't care who knew. Every chance she got, she'd throw subtle little hints my way, so I knew she was getting on Elijah as well.

"We're going to behave though, I promise," I teased.

"Girl you better go ahead and snatch that man up. He likes you. Trust me I know my son; let's stop being friendly and tiptoeing around our real feelings and let him know how you feel, so he can finally tell you how he really feels and we can stop playing the waiting game."

"Miss Carla, I'm not messing with you tonight." I laughed a little harder than I should have.

"Whatever child. I'm not messing with you and my slow behind son tonight, how about that?" She chuckled. "Now, when he gets there tonight make sure to tell him I love him. I'll see you two tomorrow night. I love you Marley," she sang before hanging up.

"Did she really just bang it on me?" I laughed while looking down at my phone.

While I was in the kitchen cutting the ginger for Elijah's "hangover water" as he liked to call it MJ came out of the bathroom dressed and ready to go.

"Look at you in here prepping for your man and what not," he teased while taking a seat at the island.

"You know what, I'm in here trying to be a good friend and you just gotta be an asshole about it." I squinted my eyes at MJ and pointed the knife at him.

"I'm just playing Aunt, dang." He chuckled and grabbed his car keys off of the key dish in the middle of the island. "I'm about to head out though so gimmie some sugga." He made his way over to me with his arms wide open and his lips puckered.

"You annoy me Micah." I laughed while pulling him into a hug and kissing his cheek. He kissed my forehead and made his way to the front door. "Don't forget!"

"I know, I know. Text you when I get there and one more time before I knock out! I got you Aunt. I love you!"

"I love you too! And lock the door!" I yelled after him.

The door closed behind him and I waited to hear it lock before I finished cutting the ginger for Eli's water. I added the pieces of ginger to two water bottles and went on to add some fresh lime juice and mint leaves to the water before sitting it back in the refrigerator. I'd drain it before he drank it but I wanted to get in the bed and rest before he got here because I knew he'd be drunk and I'd spend the night caring for him. I was going to enjoy this alone time while I had some. After slipping into a pair of sweatpants and throwing on a Rugrats t-shirt, I laid back in bed and turned the TV on.

Unfortunately, my alone time turned into me wracking my brain. Not being with Carter reminded me how much I enjoyed being single but then it made me think. Did I enjoy being single or did I enjoy not being with Carter? Couldn't I just enjoy being single and enjoy not being with Carter? I don't know but thanks to my brothers, my nephew, Lola and Miss Carla, I couldn't stop thinking about Elijah in a way I didn't want to think about my friend.

There was no denying the attraction between the two of us but at the same time, attraction wasn't enough to start a relationship with someone. The next relationship I got into was going to be my last. I was almost 27; I wanted kids, lots of them. I wanted to get married to the love of my life and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with the love of my life. I just wasn't sure if that person was Elijah and honestly that would be the only way I'd actually pursue anything with him, if I knew for a fact that this was a forever love. We certainly had a forever friendship but I wasn't sure about the whole love thing. I guess only time would tell.

After an hour of thinking, I started getting a little hungry, so I headed to the kitchen for a snack. The clock on the oven read 9:14 so I knew I had at least 3 or 4 hours before Elijah got here. I decided to make the both of us something to eat because I knew for a fact, he'd need something to eat once he got here. After making myself a quick fruit salad and putting Elijah's hot wings in the oven, I went back to my room to eat and watch some TV. While I was eating, I started thinking about how things were before Carter. Things I had to stop enjoying because he didn't approve. I sat up straight in my bed and popped a strawberry in my mouth before grabbing my phone to call Lola.

"What you want heffa? I'm in my house bored because your man got my man out at the booty club."

I laughed at Lola's fake attitude and brushed her off.

"Oh, girl please. I remember you saying something about how Sean would come back from the strip club and devour you. Hell, I remember when you took him your damn self just to get it poppin, so don't try and act all cute now."

"Anyway, what you on my line for?"

"Can you call your tree man for me, pick up some vegan wraps from the smoke shop and be at my house in 30 minutes?" I asked on my way into the kitchen to check on Elijah's food.

"Bitch don't play with me. I'm not about to waste good weed on your ass." Lola smacked her lips.

"C'mon Lo, I'm serious. I can't leave the house; I don't want to burn this food I'm making," I whined.

"Aight chick, whatever, I'll see you in a few."

"Love you! Mean it!" I beamed while pulling the leftover baked mac out of the fridge and putting it into the oven.