Page 53 of Platinum Pressure

He didn’t reply with words. Instead, he cupped my face in his hands and pulled me into a kiss that said more than words ever could. He took my breath away while my soul danced a dance made specifically for Porter.

I didn’t feel nervous. As soon as we stepped out of the car, the smell of Daddy’s barbecue infiltrated my sense of smell. It was a rite of passage in our family that all the males knew how to throw down on the pit—whether it be a propane, charcoal, or smoker grill. There was even a special family recipe passed down from my great, great grandpa. One day, Daddy would pass it down to my son—if I ever had one.

We walked in through the house, but all the buzz was outside on the backyard deck. As we made it through the foyer and living room, I showed Porter the walls of pictures my mother took great care of. It was a museum of the family from different decades.

“This you?” he asked as we passed a collage of school portraits.

There was a timeline of pigtails, braces, acne, and graduation gowns. I’d always had chubby cheeks and big doe-like eyes. I was the roundest of the Edwards daughters.

“It is.”

“I could find those eyes anywhere.” He smirked and kissed my lips.

“I know you can.” I locked our fingers and led him through the kitchen to the backyard. The smell of barbecue hugged me tightly as light music from the speaker entered my ears.

Everyone was here. Daddy was on the grill with a beer in his hand, Ye chopped it up beside him, and the kids played under the big tree with the tire swing attachment. Mama, Essence, and Evie all sat around the circular patio table with mixed drinks in their hands.

“Hey, family!” I called out.

Various responses followed. Everyone stood up, and we distributed hugs like it’d been years since they’d seen me.

“It’s nice to meet the man who has my sister missing in action,” Essence commented. She sipped her drink and let her eyes openly peruse Porter’s frame.

Porter offered her a dazzling smile as he replied, “She’s in good hands.”

“Okay, Allstate!” Evie giggled.

“Not too much on my man, sister.” I chimed in.

“Thank you for joining us tonight. Some of us are long-time Silverback fans, so it’s always a pleasure to have someone from the team around. I went to school with Coach Karim. We are fraternity brothers,” Daddy explained.

“Damn, I did not know. Coach always been uptight?”

“We used to get down back in the day. The uptightness came with aging.” Daddy joked with Porter. The sound of my father and future husband laughing together healed something in me. My parents were never strict or acted like dictators over my life, but I was always nervous that no one would ever be worthy enough to meet my father. Porter checked all the boxes.

“Platinum, have a seat. Grab a drink. Get comfortable because we want to get to know the man who had my baby sneaking off to another country,” Mama sang.

“Please, call me Porter. We’re family.”

“You plan to marry my daughter?” Daddy asked.

Porter nodded. “Definitely. I’ma spend this lifetime and every lifetime to follow with Meadow. She’s special.”

The twinkle in Porter’s eye made my cheeks burn with passion. That seemed to do the trick. All the tension in the air dissipated, and the laughs flew at rapid speed. We drank, joked, danced, and ate. Porter fit in perfectly with my tribe, which meant the world to me.

As the sun set, we moved the fun inside and spent a few more hours together. Evie left about an hour after the sun set. She said she had a date tonight, which I’d ask about later. When it was finally time to go, we all stood in the driveway, still talking.

“Y’all have said goodbye seven times,” Yasmine grumbled.

“My iPad is dead, and I want to go home,” Elijah whined.

It wasn’t until my niece and nephew grumbled that we realized we’d done what our granny used to do to us with the church ladies after service on Sundays—prolonged the goodbye with a bunch of chitchatting.

“Sorry, Tete’s babies. Get in the car. I promise your parents will take you home soon,” I commented. I gave them both kisses on their cheeks.

“See you soon, Auntie Dow.” Yasmine got in first.

Elijah looked at me, then Porter, then back at me. “Can I ask Mr. Porter a question?”