Page 4 of Nothing Like Your Ex

“What’s going on, sista girl?” Lauryn, her sister, grinned.

Kwinn smiled. “Not much. Hey, y’all.”

Everyone was sitting on the sectional while a baseball game played on the TV. She hugged Lauryn’s husband, Bishop, before showing her daddy some love. Vic hugged her a little tighter, not realizing that was exactly what his daughter needed.

“How you feeling, baby girl?” Vic questioned like he normally did.

Kwinn chuckled. “Like I need a nap.” Stepping her big sister’s way, she annoyingly kissed her forehead before looking down at her four-month-old nephew, BJ. “Look at my baby,” she cooed.

“He just ate not too long ago, so don’t get too excited,” Lauryn warned. “He’s probably going to wake up in five minutes.”

“I’ll take him anyway.”

“Of course you will.” Lauryn chuckled.

Kwinn went to wash her hands in the powder room, then sat beside her sister. Gently, she ran a finger over his tiny fist. His fingers curled around it almost immediately.

“Aww. I just love him,” Kwinn gushed, picking him up.

Naturally, she sniffed his neck and laid him across her shoulder, where a birthing cloth now rested. Finally feeling she could relax, she pressed a button, making her legs and feet rise.

“Where you coming from?” Vic asked.

“The bank and Old Navy. Had to make a deposit and get Lil’ Reggie some clothes for his gift bag,” Kwinn explained.

“That’s right. His party is tomorrow. Nesha sent me the invite, but what can BJ do at a waterpark?” Lauryn questioned.

Nesha, Kwinn and Lauryn’s house cleaner, was considered family, and so was her son. She’d been cleaning their homes for the past three years and always invited them to functions she or her family hosted.

“I’m sure they have a place for babies, love,” Bishop said, unintentionally making her smile without much effort. “Let me look online and see. If not, shit, we got a pool at the crib.”

Vic and Kwinn looked at each other and smirked. They shared the look of a parent and a sibling who absolutely loved and appreciated the man Bishop was for Lauryn and to her.

“Thank you, baby,” Lauryn said.

“Thank you, baby,” Kwinn mocked before chuckling. “Y’all are so cute. Where my mama at?”

Though they shared the same mother and father, both sisters deemed their parents as belonging only to them when inquiring about them. It was comical to hear, but understandable if you could understand it. On cue, Toya rounded the corner, greeting them with her presence. Kwinn couldn’t help but smile as she took in her mama’s appearance. Looking as if she were still in her thirties or forties, Toya was still as effortlessly fine as she’d been in her prime.

The black two-piece workout set showed off her sculpted shoulders, defined abs, and toned legs. Toya was still giving every bit of the 90s and 2000s video vixen she used to be, with her glowing golden-caramel skin, natural hair, sickening curves, and infectious aura. Her beauty—inside and out, was the kind you couldn’t purchase. She’d undoubtedly blessed her daughters with the same features, except they inherited their father’s warm sienna complexion, a shade or two darker than hers.

Toya had spent part of her youth appearing in music videos back when the world of entertainment looked very different from how it does now. Instead of letting that be the end of her story, she’d gone back to school and eventually built a successful career as a lawyer.

Vic had taken a different route; the street route, with dirty money and drugs that could’ve kept him from seeing the light of day, but he still came out successful. After stamping their names in the streets and now considered OGs, Vic and his best friend, Rocco, co-founded one of the largest software platforms. They turned their illegal money into millions and haven’t looked back since.

“Damn, baby,” Vic commented, sitting up on the couch.

Everyone chuckled as Toya walked right over to him, knowing exactly what he wanted without having to be told.

“You so thirsty, Daddy,” Kwinn jested.

“Pick your mouth up,” Lauryn added, teasingly.

Smitten just as he had been when he met her at twenty-six, Vic’s eyes held nothing but love inside them. Ignoring his daughters, he wrapped his tattooed arms around his wife’s slim waist as she planted herself right in his lap. Sweetly, Toya kissed his lips.

“You hear your hating-ass kids,” Toya joked as he subconsciously rubbed on her booty.

This was nothing new to see. In fact, it was quite normal for Kwinn and Lauryn to see their parents’ love on one another. They’d grown up witnessing it, and even after thirty-plus years of marriage, they still acted like they were newlyweds.