The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,88

as she looked up at him. She knew God was pleased with Donovan. He loved his mother, went to church every Sunday, and Donovan couldn’t walk by anyone in need without offering to help.

“I decided that I do want to live with you,” Kyra said.

Donovan’s smile was big and bright. “That’s great, Kyra. When?”

“I want to wait until I get my next check,” she said. “So I can buy more furniture for the kids’ rooms. And I want to be able to pay some of the bills, too.”

“Kyra, you don’t–”

She put two fingers over his lips, silencing him. “Donovan, I’m not a deadbeat anymore. If we’re going to be together, then we’re going to do it together. You don’t have to support me. I want to take care of you sometimes.”

“Alright,” Donovan said. “That’s fine.”

Kyra wouldn’t get paid for another 30 days, but at least Donovan knew the exact date she would move in with him. He hugged her tightly.

They were distracted by movement in the doorway. It was Kat. She walked into the kitchen groggily and headed for her mother. She said, “Up,” reaching with both hands. To their surprise, she was talking to Donovan rather than her mom.

“Oh no she didn’t,” Kyra said, but she was tickled pink.

“I’m just as shocked as you,” Donovan replied. He bent to pick up the pint-sized princess. “Oof. You’re getting heavy,” he teased. “Are you hungry?”

Kat nodded. She held onto Donovan with one arm and pointed at the stove with her free hand. “I like eggs.”

“Oh, well you’re in for a treat,” Donovan said. “Eggs are my specialty.”

“Where are your shoes?” Kyra asked her daughter.

Kat shrugged.

“Girl.” Kyra shook her head. “Let me go find–”

“Wait.” Donovan reached to stop her. “Why don’t you finish up with breakfast, and let me help find her shoes?” He handed her the spatula.

Kyra laughed. “Alright daddy day care. You have fun with that. And make sure Q’s out of bed. I woke him up twenty minutes ago, but I haven’t seen him since then.”

Kat was already quite the snitch. “Q playing games. He in there.” She pointed towards the den.

“What?” Kyra was not amused. “That boy knows not to wake up and go straight to no games. He didn’t even ask.”

She started to head that way, but Donovan said, “I’ll take care of that, too. You need to hurry up with breakfast. We’re hungry.”

“We hungry,” Kat agreed.

“And don’t forget the bacon,” Donovan said as he exited the kitchen.

“Bacon!” Kat tacked on.

“I don’t even know where anything is!” Kyra called after him.

“Everything’s in there somewhere,” Donovan yelled down the hallway. “What kind of woman doesn’t know her way around a kitchen?”

Kyra grinned as she pulled the refrigerator open. Donovan was doing everything he could to get her used to the idea of living with him. Kyra wanted to stick to the time frame she gave him, but it was hard to deny herself of something that felt so right.

She found the bacon in the fridge, and she found seasonings for the eggs in the first place she looked. “Talking about I don’t know my way around a kitchen… I know my way around a kitchen,” she muttered as she prepared the meal. She decided to make the best bacon and eggs Donovan had ever seen, to show him she was no lightweight.

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Kyra was still in a good mood when Donovan dropped her and the kids off an hour later, but it was short lived. Aunt Ruth emerged from her bedroom when she heard them enter the house. She pulled a robe over her slip and met them in the living room. Aunt Ruth looked tired and frustrated. But she looked like that all of the time, so Kyra didn’t pay her any mind.

“Sorry we woke you.” She ushered the kids to the bedroom, hoping to make it past their mean landlord without any trouble.

“We need to talk,” Aunt Ruth said.

“Oh, okay,” Kyra said. “Y’all go ahead,” she told Kat and Quinell.

Kyra went and stood in front of her aunt, but Ruth walked by her and took a seat on the couch, indicating this would be one of those dreaded sit down kinda talks.

Dammit. Kyra hated coming home sometimes. She thought about Donovan’s offer as she followed her aunt and sat on the loveseat across from her. Donovan said Kyra could move in with him whenever she was ready. She kept his offer tucked away, like it was a get out of jail free card, which made it easier