Page 27 of Furthest From Perfect

As if it were a cue, Skye ran forward to hug my legs. “Happy birthday, Daddy.” I smiled down at her before bending to pick her up. In her hand, she held a custom-made birthday card.

And that was what did it. That was what made me cry. I kissed my baby on the cheeks, feeling so much joy that I thought I was going to burst. Was this what it felt like to be God’s favorite? Was this the reward for being on His strongest warriors list for the first half of your life? I wasn’t sure why He chose to bestow these blessings on me, but I would always be grateful and take care of them.

As I bent over to blow out the candles on my cake, the only wish that came to mind was being able to spend the rest of my life with the people I loved. I never thought I would become a family man with a loving wife and children who could do no wrong in my eyes. I didn’t expect a career that would feed my family for generations to come, yet that was my portion. I remembered a few months ago, feeling at my lowest and thinking I wouldn’t last much longer with the way things were. Now, I was thankful for rock bottom, because the only direction left for me to go was up.

Fifteen years later . . .

“Starr, stop moving around,” I fussed at my five-year-old daughter, Naziya Starr, who refused to sit still so I could finish doing her hair. She was so tender headed; it was always a struggle trying to get her to wear anything other than puffs and ponytails. I thought as she got older, she would get used to getting her hair done, but she still acted a fool if she felt even the slightest bit of pressure or pain.

Hearing something crash behind me, I glanced over my shoulder to see my three-year-old son, Han’some Jr., had grabbed Starr’s bowl of cereal and spilled the milk all over himself. He began to cry, not because the bowl fell on his little foot, but because there was nothing left to eat with his greedy ass.

Before I could even move a muscle to go for him, Skye appeared in the doorway. She scooped him up and began consoling him. I smiled at my big girl being a loving sister. Ocean came waltzing into the kitchen behind her big sister. “I’ll clean it up, Mommy,” she told me.

I sighed in relief because I was still fighting with their sister. “Thank you, baby. Skye, can you get your dad to change his son’s clothes for me?”

“I don’t know where he went, but he left already.”

I frowned hearing that, because where could he have gone without us? But I also knew he was planning something special for Skye to celebrate her graduation, so I kept quiet and didn’t question it. “Hmm, okay. Could you do it then?”

“Yes, ma’am. Come on, Sun,” she said, pinching her brother’s cheeks. Even though our son was a junior, he got a planetary name too, so we all called him Sun.

While Ocean cleaned up the spilled milk, I finished styling Starr’s hair. It felt like a weight had been lifted, and my cramping hands could get a break. She cried so much that her face was red, and her eyes were swollen. I shook my head at her and left her right there to throw a tantrum. Her big sister walked over to calm her down, though, because all these children were deeply loved.

Rushing upstairs, I checked on Skye and Sun to see she was already finished dressing him. Rushing to my bedroom, I got myself ready so that we weren’t late to the township auditorium, and Skye wouldn’t miss walking across the stage on her big day.

They were all waiting for me downstairs when I got finished. My phone vibrated in my hand, and I saw it was a text from my husband.

Husband :

It’s here

We made it to the foyer as he opened the front door and tossed a pair of keys to Skye. She caught them, even though Sun was planted on her hip. Our girl had ditched ballet for basketball and would be attending USC on a full basketball scholarship, so catching the keys was no big deal for her. She had much better hand-eye coordination than her bonus mom.

“What’s this for?” she asked excitedly.

He took a step back to give her space to go outside and find out. She tossed Sun in his arms then shot out the door like a rocket. We chuckled before everyone followed her outside. Han’some stayed back to lock up the house, but he joined us seconds later. Skye was running circles around the black Model X Tesla we’d gifted her for graduating high school.

Over the years, she had never given us any issues, despite the first few years of her life being a little rocky. Her mother still didn’t care for me, but I was just glad that Skye never allowed anything she said to impact the way she looked at me. She loved me as badly as I loved her, so it brought tears to my eyes to see her grow into such a beautiful and talented young lady.

So far, we had two children who were really good at sports. Ocean was our track star and would be graduating in a few years too. She had the goal to go to the Olympics, and we supported it in every way we could. Han’some was holding out hope that one of our last two children would take after him and pursue music, while I was hoping for a fashion lover.

After she finished taking pictures, she raced toward us. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” She was a ball of excitement, and it was a great start to the day.

“Your mother and I are very proud of you. Your curfew is lifted, so go hang out with your friends tonight as long as you want,” Han’some told her after giving her a kiss on the forehead.

“Really?” she asked in shock, looking between the both of us.

I nodded. “Yes, really. You deserve it, so enjoy yourself.”

She wrapped an arm around both of us and gave us kisses on the cheek. “I really have the best parents ever.”

“All I know is I better get a car when I graduate too,” Ocean said with her arms folded over her chest and her hip popped to the side.

Han’some mushed her with a chuckle. “Wait your turn, lil mama.”

Later that night . . .

Arms wrapping around my waist and sweet kisses trailing from my cheek to my neck made my body quiver. “You look amazing in this dress,” Han’some complimented me.