Page 32 of After Midnight
"I'm alright. Melo fell outside so mama's probably gonna be watching him like a hawk today."
Pops smirked. "When isn't she hovering? That’s where you get it from."
I waved him off, but he was right. I knew I was a helicopter parent.
Pops looked me up and down, curiously. "You're a bit underdressed for work, son."
I scratched the back of my neck. "Actually…I'm not going to work yet." I paused stuck between wanting to share with him and wanting to keep it to myself just in case things didn’t work out. Ultimately, I decided to share. "I'm meeting someone. A woman."
Pops thick, dark brows shot up. "You don’t say? A woman?" he let out a slow breath. "This is…something."
I nodded. "I know."
He gestured his head for us to sit down. We did. Me on the couch, him on his favorite armchair. "What's her name?"
"Gianna."
His brows rose again. "That's the woman you mentioned in the video, right?"
I nodded. "Yeah. She's…I don't know. Something about her sparked my interest."
Pops folded his leg across the other. "How are you feeling?"
I paused. "Nervous," I admitted. "Uncertain. But…I think it's time, Pops. Dri would want me to move on. She told me to before she died but I just—" I shook my head. "I wasn't sure if I would ever be ready."
"And now you are?" he asked quietly.
I looked into my father's eyes. "I am."
Pops studied me the way he always did when he was deciding how honest he was about to be. Finally, he nodded slowly. “Then I’m glad to hear that.”
I exhaled. “You sure?” I asked.
He leaned back in his chair, hands resting on the armrests. “Son… you’ve been carrying a lot for a long time.” His voice was calm but firm. “You loved your wife well. Nobody can ever question that.”
I nodded quietly.
“But loving someone who’s gone doesn't mean your life stops with them. Kendrix knew you probably better than anybody. And if she told you to move on… that was her trying to make sure you didn’t spend the rest of your life alone.”
I looked down at my hands. “I'm scared shitless to be honest, Pops,” I confessed.
“Of being alone?”
“No,” I said quietly. “Doing this wrong.”
His brow lifted. “Wrong how?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “Melo.”
Pops nodded slowly. “That's understandable.”
I continued, “You know he’s my priority. I can’t just bring anybody around him. Whoever I get serious with… she gotta love him.”
He sat back again. “Of course. That’s a fair expectation.”
“But I don’t want to put that pressure on somebody either,” I added. “It’s a lot.”
Pops chuckled softly. “Son… you're thinking about stepmother dynamics, and you haven't even been on the first date yet.”
