Chapter 51: Starting Over

Part 3: All of Me

6 Years Later

Nicki



I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. That is the most irritating sound in the world at this moment. Who’s calling me this early in the morning? “Babe, can you turn that off?” I grabbed it and looked at the screen.


            “I’ll be back,” I got out of bed and went in the hallway. When I saw who it was everything lined up. Couldn’t he take the time to look at the time difference to know when not to call? “Yeah?” I answered as I headed to My’s room.

“Hey Nic, I was just calling to check on My; since you took her phone away,” his voice came through the phone. I always have to take something away from My so she could learn a lesson. Most of the time she’s just bored out of her mind and she spends that time to bother me. She’s so overdramatic and a handful but I wouldn’t trade her for the world.

“Because she’s always doing some dumb shit,” I opened her door and found her staring at the ceiling in the dark. This is my point exactly; overdramatic. “What’s wrong with you?” I walked over to her and she put her hand dramatically over her head. Here she goes with her acting. I should have never let her take drama as an elective.

“Oh Mother, I have absolutely nothing to do since my electronics are gone,” I shook my head at her before handing her my phone. “Hi Daddy!” She perked up. After all of these years, she’s still a daddy’s girl. He’s someone who can automatically cheer her up. I walked back to my room and saw him waking up. I guess the phone woke us both up for the day. I hopped on the bed to straddle him and he gripped my hips.

“Good morning Channing,” I whispered before pecking his lips. He squinted his eyes to get used to the light and I thought that was absolutely adorable but he would kill me if I called him that.

“Morning baby,” he kissed me again. Channing and I have been dating for four years and he’s honestly amazing. He always treats me right and I’ve never been this happy in a long time. He grabbed my hand and kissed the ring on it. We got engaged six months ago and plan on having the wedding two months from now in August. I was in tears when he proposed to me. I always wondered if I would ever get married and settle down; now I have my answer.

              Daven and I decided to stay friends because when he wanted to date me, I wasn’t ready. Now he lives close by in Paris with his girlfriend, Gabriella. She’s nice and a little possessive but not to me anymore because I’m engaged. I met Channing in school and we’ve been together since then. He got up to do his morning routine and I followed to do the same.

“Mom, Dad said he wanted to talk to you,” My handed me the phone. When I took it she gave me a bored look. I just shook my head as she huffed and headed back to her room. Maybe she could babysit Alexis or something.

“Yes Aubrey?” I sat on the bed and waited for him to talk. I was still trying to wake up since I was rudely woken up by this stupid phone. I need to remember to put it on silent next time. I think he’ll get the hint by then.

“So since the reunion is two weeks from now, can My fly out this week?” He suggested and I thought about it for a second, making sure she had nothing planned. A week earlier wouldn’t do her any harm so I don’t see why not.

“Okay since school is out then that shouldn’t be that big of a deal,” I could use a break because that girl can be a piece of work. I’ll be happy to send her off to her Dad so she could bug him every second of the day.

“You are coming to the reunion right?” I knew that he wanted to see me because he hasn’t seen me in person since I left him. I just never felt like it was necessary. Why see your ex when you don’t have to? I’m not even mad at him anymore because I’ve put the past behind me for My’s sake.

“I wouldn’t miss reuniting with my team but seeing you is a downside,” I joked. We’ve became cool with each other since the break up but I had no feelings towards him anymore. I’m 100% devoted to Channing and I can’t wait until we get married.

“If you say so but you know that you’d love to see me,” he responded with his voice full of cockiness and arrogance. He still has a huge ego so I guess these past years didn’t help him much.

“Not even in your dreams Aubrey,” I playfully rolled my eyes. He can keep on dreaming but miss me with that one.

“Can you make sure Mylan takes my books with her? I should have never let her borrow it,” he sighed. My was known for keeping things for a long period of time because she never remembers that she actually has it.

“Alright, see you at the reunion,” I hung up and told Mylan what he said. The dance team in reuniting and it’s exciting. They are honoring Aubrey for taking the girl teams and winning Worlds for six years in a row. He’s also retiring as a coach so since my team was the first team to win, it was only right to invite us back. Shad will still coach the teams but Aubrey said he wanted to just focus on his company right now.

Blake

“So we fly in the week before the reunion and stay with your mom right?” Mere asked me to get everything straight. I ran that through my head to make sure that sounded right and it did.

“Yes and then we could stay the whole summer if you want; I know that you miss New York,” I looked at her. We haven’t been back since I graduated. We decided to move to Florida and I went to college and Mere decided to get her master’s degree. I just never wanted to return to New York; never saw the point.

“Are you even ready to go back there?” She took a sip of her water while looking at me. That was a complicated question that I didn’t even know how to answer. New York was just an emotional place from everything that went down especially with my family.

“I don’t even know but I’m willing to try,” I shrugged. I don’t want to force her to come back down here when I know that she would love to stay in New York a little bit longer.

“Well we can see how the first day there goes and then see if we’ll stay the whole summer. Also, don’t forget about our little understanding. I know you Blakelynn and we both agreed to this so don’t be scared and chicken out,” she reached across the table and grabbed my hand.

“Alright I promise that I won’t but in the meantime,” I bit my lip as I looked her up and down. She was looking good tonight and it’s been bothering me throughout dinner. She knew exactly what that outfit did to me.

“After dinner,” she winked before going back to eating.

Cassie

“Wake up,” I felt a little figure sitting on me while trying to open my eyes. I swear that I can never get a break with her. She’s like a ball of energy that doesn’t stop and I’ve told her a million times to stop waking me up like this. She never listens, she’s a badass kid. Then again, she got that from me. She’s just like I was when I was her age.

“Alexis if you don’t stop then you won’t have a cookie for a week,” I told her while keeping my eyes shut. She quickly stopped messing with my eyes and stayed silent. I knew that would stop her. She is way too obsessed with cookies to not have them for a whole week. I had to limit her to two cookies a day because of how much she would eat. If she could have cookies for the rest of her life, she would.

“You shouldn’t do baby girl like that,” Kyle laughed while lifting her off of me. Oh now he wants to wake up and act like this is funny. He stays babying Alexis and she uses it against me every chance she gets. She’s a daddy’s girl much like Mylan is.

“I’m cranky in the morning,” I finally opened my eyes and looked at them. They are literally my entire world. Without them, I have no idea where I would even be. I love those two so much.

“Daddy, can you cook me breakfast?” She asked Kyle. She stays hungry and I swear that she never gets full. Imma need to get that girl some help or something because she eats way too much for her age.

“Yeah sweetheart, go brush your teeth,” he put her on the ground and she ran to the bathroom. That little girl stays running in this house after I told her never to run in the house. Just like I said before, she doesn’t listen.

“No running!” I called out to her and she slowed down. I sighed and sat up to stretch. She always has to wake me up way past my limit. I used to get up no earlier than eleven but she comes in here at seven in the morning.

“So you’re coming with me to the reunion right?” I turned to look at Kyle. I did not wanna go there without him even though I’ll have my girls. It just wouldn’t feel right without him by my side.

“You know I will, what kind of husband would I be if I didn’t?” He smirked before getting up. I let a smile grace my face at that sentence. It never gets old hearing him say that he’s my husband.

“A pretty shitty one,” I joked before following him.

Drake

“You’re so boring,” Jaymie said while poking me with her foot. I’ll admit that I’ve gotten pretty boring over the years but I have so much I need to get done with my company. That’s exactly why I’m retiring from coaching the dance team. I have to put all of my energy into expanded it overseas.

“I have stuff to do and no one told you to come over,” I shook my head. She always invites herself over to my house. It doesn’t help that she has a key also so I can’t avoid her.

“You know you wanted me to,” she got up and sat beside me. She knew me too well because she was right. She’s always right these days and it’s annoying.

“You right, I could use the company,” I sighed. I get pretty lonely sometimes and Jaymie coming over here cheers me up. She knows exactly what to say to make me cheer up.

“You’re still thinking about her?” She grabbed the papers from my hands and put them down. I sighed and ran my hand down my face. That question is always hard to hear because my answer will never change.

“Yeah, I mean she’s engaged to be married. I always thought I would have a chance to win her back but I think I just lost it,” I couldn’t believe that she was actually engaged. My said that they were serious but I didn’t think it was that serious. I guess she got exactly what she wanted but I wish that I could’ve given it to her and not that guy. I didn’t even know the guy but I hated him simply because he was sleeping with the woman I love.

“I still think about Daven but it’s clear that he’s not thinking about me. The last words he said when he left for Paris were that you can’t turn a hoe into a housewife. He really thought I was a hoe just because I was a stripper. He never even listened to why I had to do what I did,” she let a few tears fall. Daven really put a hole in her heart with those words. She really did love him but he hurt her. She never even tried a serious relationship after that all went down. She just gets guys to release sexual frustration which is similar to what I do with women.

“Come here,” I pulled her into a hug and let her cry. Over the years, Jaymie and I became close again but as friends. We see each other in a whole different way now; it’s almost like a sister and brother way if you exclude the fact that we had sex when we were together years ago.  It’s weird but not to us because we just slipped into that pattern.

“I just miss him sometimes but I’ll be fine,” she shrugged it off. I miss Onika too but we both know that she isn’t thinking about me.

“Hold on,” I opened my Skype call and My appeared on the screen. I adjusted my laptop as I saw her smile grace my computer. I swear that she just makes my day better. That’s the one thing I got right in life; raising my daughter. I see her every chance that I can get and I talk to her every day.

“Daddy!” Her face brightened. It warms my heart when I hear her call me Daddy because it just brings me back in time when she asked me to be her dad. That was the best day of my life.

“Hey baby girl,” I miss seeing her in person every day. That’s the one thing that I had to get used to when Nicki moved to Paris. It was hard but we adjusted to a schedule that worked for both of us. Jaymie got up and pointed to the bathroom. I nodded before focusing my attention on Mylan. “So how are you doing?” I feel like I don’t talk to her enough even though we talk every day.

“I’m doing good, Mom was talking about moving back to New York. I really want to move back there so I can be close by you and my old friends,” my heart sped up a bit. If Nicki lived in New York then there’s no way she could avoid me. I mean I haven’t seen her in person in years. She would be in the background of the Skype calls but not often.

“Mom, I’m talking to Dad,” I heard My said as she turned her head. “You could come say hi; it’s rude to act like he’s not here,” My smirked. Mylan always wanted us to get back together and wouldn’t miss any opportunity to make us talk. She thinks that I don’t notice but I do and I’m not gonna stop her because I like it.

“Stay out of grown folks business,” I heard Nicki said. I let out a chuckle and that made My turn to me. That sounds like the same old Nicki that I remembered. It’s nice to know that she’s still the same after all these years.

“Don’t laugh while she’s being mean to me,” she pouted. Nicki stays checking My and it’s very entertaining because sometimes Mylan deserves it. I’m never gonna do that to my baby girl but Nicki isn’t afraid to.

“You had it coming baby girl,” I shot her a smile. She always says something smart and then get mad when I laugh. A few seconds later Nicki stood behind Mylan and I tried to not let my eyes roam her body. I glanced and she looked damn good. I can only imagine what she looks like in person.

“Hi Aubrey,” she smiled small. Her smile is still so beautiful and she’s still beautiful. Age has done her well because her body has grown into a woman’s body and it’s the sexiest shit I’ve seen.

“Hi Onika,” I smiled back. She turned to leave and I gave up and stared at her backside. Her ass has gotten larger and I just wish I could squeeze it one last time.

“I saw that,” I heard My say once Nicki left. I shook my head out of my daze at Nicki. Sometimes I forget that My’s right there when Nicki’s in the background.

“Saw what?” I snapped my head towards her. I didn’t think I stared that hard at her but then again it is Nicki.

 “Never mind, I gotta stay out of grown folks business,” she mocked Nicki. I laughed at her because she loves to mock her Mom. She’s looking more like Nicki each day and it makes me wonder how much she look would like Nicki if she was actually her blood daughter.

“So you’ll be here on Friday and we can do anything you want,” I saw her face beamed at the mention of that. She loves spending alone time with me and I love it too. Mylan can talk your head off but I’m always interested into what she has to say.

“I’ll hold you to that,” we talked for a few more minutes before hanging up.                        

“You know from the look on Nicki’s face, I would say that she misses you too,” I heard Jaymie say from behind me; I could only hope that she’s right.