he’s round around the middle from lots of good meals, and he’s wearing worn jeans and a plaid shirt. He has a kind face, and I can tell just with the one look he gives Medley how much he loves his daughter.
“Well, lemme finally get a good look at ya!” Mrs. Bell says as she immediately rushes over to Delta and wraps her up in a hug, wings and all. “Good Lord, these purple wings! So beautiful! I want a pair of my own so I can match my girls, I must confess,” she gushes as she cradles Delta’s face and looks up at her with such pure joy pouring from her that it makes my own throat grow tight.
“Hello,” she tells Delta simply, but there’s so much love and happiness packed in that one simple word, and I can see that Delta and Medley feel it too as their eyes well up.
“Hi,” Delta answers, and then she’s being wrapped up in another hug so tight that I feel it from where I’m standing.
“I got you now, sweet girl…I got you now,” Mrs. Bell coos at Delta as she rocks her a little side to side, and it’s one of the most touching moments I’ve ever seen. Delta sniffles and wipes at her eyes as Mrs. Bell pulls back, wiping at her own cheeks before she turns to look at me.
“And there’s Sable,” she announces, and she says it with such relief and joy it’s like my soul just sighs at the feeling of family. She closes the distance, her arms open wide as she wraps me up in a strong hug. As I lean into her, I feel parts of me push back together that I didn’t even know were out of place until her loving arms came around me.
“Hi,” I say nervously, but she just keeps me crushed against her chest, knocking the air right out of me.
“None of that worry, baby girl. You’re ours now, and we’re gonna love you, and spoil you, and show you what it is to be a Bell,” she says in my ear as her hands pat my back in soothing strokes. “I’ve wished every day since I heard about you that I could’ve had you right there on my doorstep along with Medley. I wish I could’ve loved you like you should’ve been loved,” she goes on, and I’m shocked when I feel wetness from her cheek pressed against mine. “But you’re here now, all of you girls together, and you can bet a cloud on a rainy day that we’re gonna make it right.”
She pulls away, and I feel the sting of warmth prickling over my eyes. Mrs. Bell gives me a loving look and pats my face in that same motherly gesture that she did to Delta, and it guts me to feel it. There’s so much that gesture conveys, and I don’t have the words to express what it means to me to be so openly and freely brought into the fold.
She pinches my cheek and then boops my nose playfully, making me smile. “Honey girl, we have got to get some food in you!” she exclaims before looking over at my mates and eyeing Toreon. “You too, June Bug. Good thing I’ve been cookin’ and cleanin’ all night, gettin’ things ready for you. I have my work cut out for me. Better stay a whole week, I think,” she says with a decisive nod as my mates watch her in amusement.
Medley groans. “Mama, you can’t just invite yourself to stay here for a week. They’re just movin’ in!”
“Well, I know that,” Mrs. Bell admonishes. “Which is why they need their family to help them out.” She moves her assessing eyes over to Vudu, and a delighted smile spreads across her face. “You.” She points at him. “Oh, I’m gonna have a good time feedin’ you.”
Vudu blinks down at her as she admires his size. “Um. Thanks?” he grunts out.
“C’mere, honey girl,” I hear Mr. Bell say as Medley’s father hugs her. “Your mama and I missed you.”
“I missed you too, Daddy.”
“She’s been runnin’ the imps ragged,” he tells her in a mock-whisper.
Mrs. Bell whirls around. “’Scuse me, Teddy Bell, don’t be tellin’ untruths behind my back. Those imps are repentin’ souls aimin’ to do some good works to clear the sins from their spirits. If they’re up to scrubbin’ the floors clean, you just let them be.”
Mr. Bell gives her a sidelong grin. “Yes, ma’am.”
I chuckle, my