Redemption (Iris Series) (44 page)

“Were your parents like that?” she asked quietly.

Ayanna debated for a second how honest she should be.  Then she figured what the hell.

“Yeah.  Definitely more practical.  My mom’s a lawyer, dad’s a heart surgeon as I said earlier.  They had certain expectations about which career field I chose.  I didn’t really go in the direction they wanted me to.  We don’t always see eye to eye, but I’m hoping to find some common ground with them soon.”

“I imagine being so creative with parents in those professions wasn’t easy.”  She looked at Ayanna with a poignant smile.  “You know, the majority of parents just want what’s best for their kids.  And sometimes they go about it the wrong way.  Most of us don’t realize how much our parents loved us until we’re much older.  We’re just not able to understand them until we’ve lived a little more.  Once we understand them and where they were coming from for all those years, they finally cease to be our enemies.  Don’t get me wrong.  Parents make tons of mistakes, but it’s not like anyone sits you down to teach you about parenthood before you have kids.  It’s just a lot of trial and error. 

“I always tell the parents of my students when they’re struggling with their kids that they just won’t get
along
with them during those teenage years.  It’s like they’re aliens from another planet between the ages of 12 to 20, but when they reach their early 20s they miraculously become human again.  Just like
we
were when we were that age.”  She chuckled.  “And boy, there needs to be a lot of grace and forgiveness to make it through.  And ultimately, lots of love.”

“That is so true,” Ayanna murmured.  “I can’t imagine you making a lot of mistakes.”

“Ha!” She barked out a laugh.  “Oh, honey, let me tell ya.  The list is
very
long.  Jon and I used to have some doozies.  When he was fourteen?  Dear Lord.  I went to mass every day that year.”

“What did he do?” Ayanna was already starting to crack up.

“He would test the boundaries every chance he got.  I mean, I was a teacher.  I knew how kids’ minds worked.  But when your own kid pushes back?  Oy.”

“Was he that bad?”

“He was such a jokester in class.  And he went to a really strict school.  The teachers would call me and say they loved having him in class and that he was so smart, but that he didn’t know when to stop sometimes with the jokes.”

“Jon?!” 

“I know!  You’d never expect it, right?”

“I mean he’s got a great sense of humor, but I would never picture him like
that.
”

“Well, let me clarify.  He wasn’t like his brother, who is
always
over the top.  I can’t imagine where he gets it from,” she deadpanned.  “Jon was more subtle.  Quiet and sneaky.  He would do things like write a love note to a girl pretending to write it as another boy in the class.  Then when he’d get caught by a teacher passing it, he would just say he thought he was passing a homework assignment from a friend, or something.  The teacher would inevitably read the note and keep Jon after school because she’d recognize his handwriting.  He didn’t realize that
all
teachers know their students’ handwriting.  He wasn’t always the brightest bulb,” she finished dryly.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Ayanna began with a smile.

“It was only bad when he didn’t get caught by the teacher, and the note made it into the hands of the girl who thought the
other
boy wrote the note and had feelings for her.  Then when she wrote a note back to the unsuspecting boy, it would go on and on from there.  He could play it out for
days
.”

Ayanna laughed and shook her head.

“So, like I said, never bad stuff and nothing over the top.  Just a sneaky little bastard,” she smiled, then looked heavenward and crossed herself.

And just at that moment, the ‘sneaky little bastard’ got home.  He used the back kitchen entrance carrying in a few bags.

“That wasn’t long enough,” April complained.

“Well, it’s not like I had to go to Connecticut for the groceries, Ma.”  He looked at both of them.  “So, how did it go?”

“It was very enlightening,” Ayanna said with a twinkle in her eye.

Jon looked at Ayanna, then gave a look to his mom and began shaking his head.  “Let me guess.  She told you when I was fourteen she needed to attend mass all year to survive me.”

“Hey, I thought it was important she know that you can be a pain in the ass sometimes,” she stopped and crossed herself again, then continued.  “Although I think she may know that already.”

Ayanna was cracking up and then stood to help Jon unload the bags.  “I
love
your mom, JBG.”

“Why does that not surprise me?”

“What does JBG mean?” his mom asked.

“Great,” JBG muttered.

“Well, what it means doesn’t seem to apply to your son anymore.  You see, when I first met him...well, let’s just say I thought he was kind of a goody goody.  So my nickname for him was Johnny Be Good.”

“Love it.”  That came from his mom across the room.

“Lord, help me.”  Jonathan was muttering as he put away the food.

“I’m not so sure that nickname fits anymore given all the stories I’m hearing.”

“Hey, I told you that was
your
nickname for me, not mine,” Jon said, pinning Ayanna with a heated look.

“You never did tell me what your nickname would be, champ,” she said so only he could hear.  They stood at the counter organizing the food.

“Maybe I’ll tell you later,” he said with promise in his eyes.

Her own eyes widened.  “Not under your mother’s roof, you won’t,” she whispered.  “Plus, I have my period, remember?”

He cocked an eyebrow and licked his lips slowly.  “We’ll see, babe,” he said, then he continued putting away the food.

The gauntlet had been thrown, it seemed.  Ayanna looked back at his mom and called out, “April, what time would you like to have dinner tonight?”

“The judge should be home at five o’clock.  He wanted to get home early because he knew you guys would be here.  Why don’t we aim for six?”

“That’s great.  Do you always refer to your husband as ‘the judge’?”

“Yup.  It used to drive him nuts, but he’s used to it now.  It’s kind of my pet name for him.”

Ayanna smiled.

“How long will you need to make the dinner, baby?”  Jon was talking while raiding the tortilla chips on the counter.

“
About 45 minutes.  I’ll just plan on starting to prep at five.”

“Okay.  I’ll be your sous chef.” 

“Sounds good.  You can work the grill,” she said, sticking her hand in his bag of chips and grabbing one, then finally seeing the package of Oreos on the counter.  She chuckled and rolled her eyes.  “Do you want a snack or anything, April?” she called over.

“I would love a glass of water.”

“I’ll get you some,” Jon said.  He filled up a glass from the fridge’s water dispenser and brought over a glass.  After sitting next to her, his mom reached over and took his hand.

“I’m so glad you’re here, sweetie.”

“Me, too.  Did you and Ayanna have a good talk?”

“Yes.”

Ayanna walked over and joined them.  Before she could sit on another chair, Jon grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap.  She loved how affectionate he was in front of his mom, but she had to admit, she felt a little awkward.  He, however, wasn’t fazed a bit.

April beamed.

“Ayanna, have you met Emily yet?”

“Yes!  She’s great.”

“Isn’t she though?  I love that girl to bits and miss having her here.  She’s like a daughter to me.”  April sighed.  “Such a strong girl.  But a sweetie, too, you know?  I hope she’s able to find a guy down there who can see her softer side.  I wish she didn’t hide it so much,” she mumbled while shaking her head. 

Ayanna thought back to the night at the restaurant when Emily didn’t want to cry in front of anyone when she’d heard about April’s heart attack. 

“So,” April cleared her throat, “tell me how you two met.”  Her eyes were twinkling.

Ayanna groaned.

“Ayanna is best friends with a colleague of mine from school.  My friend was moving into my building, and when I went down to welcome her, Ayanna was there.”

“And how did that go?” his mom asked, already anticipating.

“Not the way I planned,” Ayanna grumbled.

“We both wanted different things at the time, which turned out to be best since we weren’t ready for each other yet.”  Jon stroked her hair.  “Then as we continued to bump into each other, I stopped being a jerk and she was on her own journey kind of discovering herself, and we started becoming friends.  One of the best days of my life.  The rest is history.”

“I’m glad you stopped being a jerk, Jonathan Adam White,” his mom said.  April turned to Ayanna.  “When I was unconscious, he told me about you.  About a beautiful woman who chose to love him.  And he was going to do everything in his power to always be worthy of that love.”

Ayanna swallowed down the lump in her throat and looked at Jon. 

“Nourish that love, you two.  Don’t ever take it for granted.  You need to wake up every morning and
choose
to love each other.  That’s how it works.”

Jon looked into Ayanna’s eyes and brushed the hair away from her face.  “Thanks, Ma.”  He squeezed his mom’s hand.  “That’s the plan.” 

……

A few hours later, Ayanna was in the kitchen, April was resting, and Jon was in the shower.  They had spent the afternoon talking to Jon’s mom, then unpacking...in separate rooms.  Ayanna insisted upon it even though Jon said his parents wouldn’t care at all, but she felt awkward and didn’t want to disrespect them.  He told her he was still going to sneak into her room later. 

Ayanna absolutely loved his mom.  She was so warm and easy to talk to.  And Ayanna was thrilled to cook for the family.  She had on April’s apron over her fitted sleeveless button down cotton blouse, coupled with her skinny jean capris.  She came down to the kitchen wanting to get a head start on the vegetables, so she was at the butcher block slicing and dicing when the kitchen door swung open.

There stood a younger version of Jon with slightly darker hair and no glasses, but the resemblance could only mean this was his younger brother, Mark.  He definitely had that twinkle in his eye and he gave her a very obvious appreciative once over.

“Well, hell-o.  Are you Cammy’s replacement?”  He walked over with a boyish grin.

Ayanna knew his type, so she handled him like she would any man who ogled her.

“You must be Mark,” she said with a smirk and wiped her hand on the apron to shake his.  “I’m your brother’s girlfriend, Ayanna.”  He took her hand, a little stunned.

His eyes had nearly popped out of his skull and he gave her another appreciative look.
“
You’re
Ayanna?!  Wow.  Big brother did well for himself.” 

“Yes, he did.  And so did I, by the way.  And if you want to eat dinner tonight, I’d suggest you keep your eyes up here,” she said redirecting his attention away from her breasts to above her neck.

His eyes twinkled.  “Sorry.  I’m just a man.  Shit, he said you were gorgeous, but I thought he was just being a lovesick fool.”

Ayanna gave him a look, just as big brother entered the kitchen.

“I
am
a lovesick fool.  And watch your fahckin’ language around my girlfriend,” he smiled, his Boston accent coming out now that he was back in his home environment.  He pushed his brother, giving him the typical not-really-a-hug-man-hug, then turned to Ayanna and dipped her, kissing her dramatically. “You handled him perfectly.  Put him in his place as often as you see fit.”  Then he turned back to his brother.  “If I catch you checking her out again, I’m gonna knock the teeth out of your head.” 

“Dude, how the hell did you even get her to agree to
date
you?  I don’t get it,” Mark shook his head.

Ayanna felt like putting little brother in his place again so she grabbed Jon, laid a huge kiss on him and wrapped her arm around his neck.  “Because he’s spec
tac
ular.”  She kissed him again then turned to Mark.  “And if I catch you checking me out again,
I’ll
knock the teeth out of your head.”

Both Mark and Jon barked out laughs and Ayanna got back to work.

“Ooh, I like you,” Mark said to Ayanna.  Then he turned to his brother.  “You are seriously gonna have your hands full with this one, bro,” Mark shook his head.  “And it’s going to be very enjoyable to watch.”

“Yup, and I couldn’t be happier.”

“Alright, boys.  Time to get out of the kitchen and let me work.”

“I thought I was going to be your sous chef.”

“Go entertain your brother instead.  I got this.  I’ll let you know when the chicken needs to go on the grill.”  She slapped him on the ass and he grabbed her to kiss her, just as the kitchen door opened again.