Not able to resist, I put the knife I was holding down on the cutting board. I leaned up, wrapped my arms around him, and pulled his face down to kiss the side of his cheek. Turning to fully face me, he pressed his forehead against mine with his eyes closed, and kissed the tip of my nose. I giggled and he smiled. We were okay for now. But I couldn’t let him go the entire night thinking we weren’t. It wasn’t fair to him. When we turned back to our chopping, I looked up; his mom was staring at us the entire time with a huge smile. Smirking at her, we continued to go down the list of the family.
After cooking all day, the table was set, and the food and dessert were done. Thank God I didn’t decide to choose cooking as a profession because it was too exhausting. We had enough food to feed fifteen households and then some. With an hour to spare, I decided to shower and get dressed for the dinner. Marcus was occupying his mother and niece in the kitchen, so I knew I could have some time to myself.
Managing to quickly shower and dress, I took my time on my hair and makeup: nothing extravagant, just a simple blush, mascara and lip gloss. I wore dark blue skinny jeans, white flats, and a fitted white t-shirt. Once I was finished, I made my way back down the stairs. The moment I entered the living room, I noticed the entire house was full. Looking around nervously for Marcus, I slowly passed an overweight man. He jumped as I brushed past him.
“Whoa! If you wanna’ feel me up just say so, cupcakes” the short fat man said while smiling.
“Oh, um, I’m sorry; I wasn’t trying to feel you up. I was just, uh.” Nervously I chuckled. After a second glance, I was able to place a name with a face. “You’re Marty?” I asked.
His smile grew wider. “The one and only sweetie, and you are the new love of my life?”
“No, she’s the one and only love of my life.” Marcus cut in, wrapping his arm around my shoulder.
“Huh, would you look at this guy!” Marty yelled over his shoulder while pointing at Marcus then placed his hand against Marcus’ shoulder. With his free one, he shook hands with Marcus. “You’re a lucky man here, Marky!” Then Marty’s expression grew serious, and he leaned into Marcus’ ear. “Hey, have you heard about the rats Louie has? There are rumors that FBI agents have been snooping all around the warehouses,” he whispered.
Marcus shook his head. “No, Uncle Marty, we’ll talk more later in private.”
Marty nodded his head, and Marcus led me to other family members, leaving me with more questions to ask later. After being introduced four times, I began to ease a little. His entire family has the same sense of humor and animated characteristics as his mother. They made me laugh with all the jokes they had and stories they told of Marcus’ childhood.
Marcus joined in with the teasing of others. He was so loose and himself around his family. I’d love seeing him like this: around them he was worry and stress free. He was like this with me until he’d get a phone call from “him” for another job. Then his entire demeanor changed.
After dinner, everyone talked and joked over dessert and wine. The kids played in the backyard, chasing each other around. I sat back and watched all of them. I never had a big family, not even on Thanksgiving. It was no particular holiday, and yet this family was together just because. I couldn’t be more in love with them. They were all about spending quality time together, and that’s what they cherished the most.
Marcus threw his arm around his oldest cousin, Romeo. “So Rome, you ready for school in the fall?” he asked him with a huge smile on his face.
“I’m freaking out, man.” Romeo laughed.
“Hey, you’ll do fine. Mia’s starting her second year.” Romeo looked at me and smiled. He was starting law school, and I might see him around campus.
“Yeah, the first year was hard: a lot of studying and less partying. Well at least for me, but if you focus, you’ll do fine. If you need any help at all, I have no problem helping you study.”
“Really? That’s awesome, thanks, Mia.” Marcus patted Romeo’s shoulder before he walked away.
“Thanks for that.” He said sitting beside me. “So, what do you think of my crazy family?” he whispered, leaning in so no one could hear him.
Turning, I brought my lips to his ear and whispered back, “They are the best family I have ever met. You’re very lucky to have them.” The side of his eyes wrinkled when he smiled. I kissed his cheek, and we continued talking to his family.
****
“Mia, don’t forget me on Wednesday!” Theresa yelled from the front porch. A few minutes earlier she’d plugged her number into my phone and mine into hers. She insisted that we have lunch downtown, just the two of us. If it were any other person, I would’ve been nervous, but she was so sweet it was hard to resist.
“I won’t, Theresa, see you then!” I yelled, waving my hand. She was the last to leave. Marcus closed the door after he said his goodbyes.
The entire day was draining. After cleaning the kitchen with his mother’s help, I felt beat. Elle fell asleep under the dining room table. She was playing hide and seek with her other little cousins. They never found her. Jimmie crawled underneath the table, lightly picked her up, and carried her to her room. Marcus and I stood alone by the foyer. He looked down at me. My serious expression let him know that I didn’t forget about our talk. Pressing his lips together, he closed his eyes, and then let out a heavy sigh. “You ready to go to bed?” I nodded in response.
We made our way up the stairs, not saying a word. When we reached the room, I heard a loud beeping sound from my phone: the same tone it makes when warning the battery is too low. Walking over to the nightstand, I unplugged Marcus’ phone and plugged mine in. When I unhooked his phone from the charger, it lit up, showing he had a message from Stephanie. Looking over my shoulder, I noticed he was by the dresser taking off his clothes. I’m not sure why it came over me, why within those few seconds I thought of it, but without second guessing, I quickly swiped the screen and opened the message.
I felt a punch to my chest and lost my breath. Heat boiled up in my veins and radiated all over my body till flames reached my face. This bitch sent him a picture of herself in nothing but a bright pink lace bra and a matching thong. It was a side profile of her entire body, posing with one hand on her hip with the other hand holding the phone toward a mirror, clearly taking the picture herself. Lifting the phone in disbelief, I turned around to face him. He was pulling down his jeans. Finally turning in my direction in nothing but his boxers, his eyes met my evil glare.