The paramedics entered the room. Michael had to pull Alexis away from her mother so the paramedics could tell them what she already knew. Her mother was gone.

  Alexis fell to the floor. Then, as Michael picked her up, she yelled, “Noooo!” But all the nos in the world wouldn’t change the facts.

  She missed out on a normal life with Vivian, but she never missed out on love. Since she was a child, Alexis knew that her mother wasn’t normal, but she also knew her mother loved her. It would have to be enough. It was enough.

  Michael wiped the tears from her face and pulled her into his arms. She closed her eyes, shutting out the world and shutting out the sorrow.

  The paramedics contacted the coroner. Michael tried to coax her out of the room, but Alexis sat down in her mom’s chair and propped her feet on the ottoman she’d gotten used to seeing Vivian relax in. Alexis leaned her head against the chair and inhaled the scent of lavender and orange blossoms.

  Those scents came from her mother’s favorite perfume. Alexis purchased Libre for her mother each year on her birthday. She smiled now because the reason she thought the fragrance would be perfect for her mother was because the perfume’s ad campaign said it was for those “who live by their own rules.”

  Alexis didn’t know how long she had been resting in her mom’s chair, but when she opened her eyes, a blanket had been draped over her body and someone from the coroner’s office was putting her mother’s body on the stretcher and rolling her out of the room.

  Throwing the cover off, she jumped out of her seat. “Wait! Don’t take her yet.” Alexis put her hand on the stretcher, halting their motion as she looked down on the face that was an older version of her own. “I’ll miss you forever, Mom.” She bent down and kissed her mother’s wrinkly forehead.

  “I’ll never forget you, Mom, and I won’t forget what you taught me about what death means to you.” Through tears, she gave her mother permission to leave her. “Go ahead, Mom, fly away. Grandma Joyce is waiting for you.”

  As her mother’s body was taken out of the room, Alexis cried. Ethan cried and Ella cried. As Alexis watched the emotion displayed by her children, she realized how much of a gift she had given them by allowing them to get to know their grandmother for a few months before it was all over.

  Alexis prayed that Ella and Ethan would always remember the afternoons they spent with their grandmother, playing make-believe and listening to all the wild stories that Vivian concocted.

  It was strange, but the sight of her children crying over their grandmother helped Alexis to heal. The only thing that made her feel better about losing her mother was the thought that she had given her children their grandmother for a beautiful moment in time.

  Chapter 29

  “We got us a celebrity now,” Sister said as she stepped inside the house.

  Trish blushed at her mother’s comment about her being on the news. She then hugged her father as he entered. “It’s good to see you, Daddy.”

  “I had a day off, so I decided to visit with my new grandbaby.”

  Trish put hands on hips and tsk-tsked. “Now that we have this new baby in the house, y’all two aren’t thinking about the rest of us, huh?”

  “Well, as big a star as you are, we didn’t come to see you today. We want to hang out with the new kid on the block for a while. We even bought him a present.” Sister opened the bag she brought with her to reveal a light blue and brown baby blanket.

  “Mama, Daddy . . . It’s beautiful. Thank you.” Trish gave them both a hug, then hollered down the hall. “Jon-Jon, your grandparents are here.” They sat down in the family room.

  Jon-Jon came into the family room. He parked his wheelchair next to the sofa. “Here’s the other star of the family.” Sister’s eyes beamed as she looked at Jon-Jon. “I’m so proud of you.”

  Jon-Jon blushed. “Grandma Sister, it’s no big deal. It was just the local news.”

  “You think everybody on the local news is doing good for others?” Sister wagged a finger at her grandson. “Don’t despise small beginnings, young man. You were born for greatness, and I’m just going to sit back and watch the show from this point on.”

  “Let me go get Moochie.” Trish headed toward the back of the house.

  “Mom, he’s still asleep,” Jon-Jon cautioned.

  “Your grandparents came to see him, so I’m going to wake him up.” Trish went into Marquita’s room and lifted Moochie from the middle of the bed. She hugged him to her chest and loved how cuddly he felt. If anyone had told her how much she would love having a grandchild, she wouldn’t have believed it. She didn’t even want to leave him to do her job at night school. Unfortunately, she would have to leave in about two hours because her students needed her and she needed to help with the bills. “Here he is, Daddy.”

  Trish put the baby in her father’s arms and then sat back down.

  “Well, now, this is something.”

  “He really is, Daddy. I think I fell in love with him the first time I held him.”

  Sister reached out. “Hand me that baby, Albert.”

  He gave her the baby. Sister looked at Moochie as if he had hung the moon, the stars, and the sun.

  “Watch it, Granny. You’re not allowed to get another favorite grandson. I still hold that spot, and I’m not giving it up.”

  Sister leaned forward and put a hand on Jon-Jon’s cheeks and squeezed lovingly. “Of course you’re still my favorite grandson. Moochie here is now my favorite great-grandson.”

  “Oh, it’s like that, huh?” Jon-Jon playfully glared at his son. “See what you did, Moochie? You done came up in here and took my grandparents from me.”

  Albert laughed at that. “You had your chance. It’s all about the baby now. No more Christmas socks for you.”

  “Mama, you hear this?” Jon-Jon turned to Trish for help.

  “Don’t pay them no mind, Jon-Jon. I’ll get you some Christmas socks if Daddy won’t,” Trish told him.

  Her daddy objected. “No. You got to let him be a man. He’s got a child of his own now. It’s time for you to back up and let him handle his business.”

  Trish stared at her father. Had he used the same philosophy with her after she married Dwayne? He sure seemed to back away from her. They had once been so close, but her daddy didn’t have much time for her after she married Dwayne. She needed to know what happened to them and felt that now was as good a time as any to ask. “Is that how you felt about me when I married Dwayne, Daddy? Did you back away from me so I could handle my business?”

  “No, precious,” Albert said. “I backed away from you so I wouldn’t get in Dwayne’s way. Your grandfather”—he thumb-motioned in Sister’s direction—“your mama’s daddy, wouldn’t let up on me. That man never thought I was good enough for his daughter.”

  Trish turned toward her mother. “You never told me that Pop-Pop didn’t like Daddy.”

  “He did like him once he got used to him.” Sister giggled.

  Trish’s parents had no idea how this conversation had given her a whole new perspective. For years she had wondered what happened to her relationship with her dad. Now, she knew that her dad wasn’t trying to distance himself from her. He just didn’t want to step on Dwayne’s toes.

  “I am so enjoying my time with both of you.” Trish beamed at her parents. “But I have to get dressed for work.”

  “Chile, go on. We didn’t come to see you no way,” Sister said.

  Trish wondered how old she had to be before her mom stopped calling her “Chile.” In her mother’s eyes, she was still a little girl to be bossed around. Her father, on the other hand, now saw a grown woman with a husband and son. Trish didn’t know which she preferred at the moment.

  She went to her bedroom, took out a knee length dress, and then jumped in the shower. As she was putting on her clothes, there was a knock on her bedroom door. Trish pulled her dress over her head. “Come in.”

  Sister walked in, a mischievous grin on her face. “It’s good seeing you back in your bedroom. How are you and Dwayne doing?”

  Trish’s dad never would have come in here getting in her business, but Sister didn’t care. She got in other people’s business like she was Dear Abby or that TV gossip, Wendy Williams. Her mother was no gossip, so maybe she should stop thinking of her as a Wendy Williams type. “We’re not yelling at each other anymore.”

  “That doesn’t sound very encouraging. Should I call the divorce lawyer now, or should I get you two a marriage counseling appointment at the church?”

  “Dwayne and I don’t want a divorce. We’re just trying to get back in sync. That is, if we ever were in sync. Look, Mama, I don’t know. I just don’t know. One moment we’re good, and the next I’m mad about some silly thing. But we are doing so much better.”

  “Okay, well, I can tell by the look on your face that I’m getting on your nerves, but allow me to ask one more question.”

  Looking at her cell for the time, she said, “Make it quick, Mama. I have to get to work.”

  “All right. Are you and Dwayne out of sync or is it just you?”

  “Mama, why do you assume it’s me?”

  Sister took her daughter’s hand and sat down on the edge of the bed with her. “I know you, daughter. You have always been so quick to forgive and move on, but something has stolen that gift from you. Don’t let the Enemy win. You have to fight to get everything back that the devil took from you.”

  Her mother was indeed a busybody, but she would always be the voice in Trish’s head, reminding her where her help comes from. “I get it, Mama, and I’m going to keep fighting, I promise.”

  * * *

  At school, Trish tried to concentrate on her students, but it was so quiet in the room as they took their exam that her mind betrayed her. She kept hearing her mother talking about forgiveness. She couldn’t for the life of her figure out why this was so hard when it came to the man she planned to spend the rest of her life with. Dwayne had made some mistakes, but so had she. He’d tried to make things right, and had been very attentive to her needs of late. So, maybe it was she who wasn’t doing enough. They were in a good place, so why couldn’t she just roll with it?

  “Mrs. Robinson, do you have an extra pencil? I don’t have an eraser.”

  Trish handed him a pencil. She checked the time. “You all have fifteen more minutes. Do your best and try to answer every question.”

  A couple of students grumbled about needing more time.

  Everybody deserves a second chance. She really wanted her students to pass the class. This exam would give them an idea of what they would face while taking the GED test. “Tell you what. I’ll remain after class an extra ten minutes. Just keep working and try to finish as close to the time as possible.”

  She received a text from Dwayne asking her to call him as soon as she could. “Keep working. I’ll be right outside the door.”

  She stepped outside the classroom and called Dwayne. He normally didn’t call her while she was in class, so she hoped there wasn’t some problem at home. Fear clenched her heart when she saw the text, so there was no way she would be able to wait until class was over to call.

  “Hey, is everything okay?” she asked when he answered.

  “Everything is fine at the house. I was just looking at the obituaries.”

  “Why are you looking at the obits? We’re not old enough to do that kind of stuff.” Her grandparents were addicted to the obit pages in the newspaper. They scoured it to see if any of their friends had taken that long goodnight. If they had, then they made plans to attend the funeral with a peach cobbler or pound cake for the repast.

  “I look at the obits every now and then.”

  “Since when?” But even as she asked, she realized that Dwayne must have started his obit watching after Jon-Jon’s accident. The call they received about Jon-Jon had put fear in both their hearts. Neither of them escaped this experience unscathed. “Are you looking for friends like my grandparents used to do?”

  “You never know. Anything could happen,” he told her. Then he added, “Anyway, as I was looking through the obituary, I saw that Alexis Marshall’s mother passed away.”

  Trish’s hand went to her mouth. Intake of breath. “Are you sure?”

  “If her mother’s name is Vivian Cooper, then yes, I’m sure. It lists Alexis as her only child and Michael Marshall as her son-in-law.”

  “Thanks for telling me, Dwayne. I’ve got to get back in the classroom.” She hung up. As she walked back into the classroom, she was thinking about the type of floral arrangement she would send to the funeral home. If she had thought she would be welcomed, Trish would have attended the repast with her grandmother’s famous peach cobbler. She and Alexis didn’t have that kind of relationship, but she felt bad for the woman.

  * * *

  “How is work going?” Jon-Jon asked Marquita as they sat on the loveseat in the family room watching a movie. Moochie was in her arms as she fed him.

  “I made a friend. Her name is Eve. I didn’t like her at first, but she turned out to be cool people.”

  “That’s good, Marquita. I’m happy for you.” Jon-Jon picked up the remote and turned down the volume a bit.

  “Me too. I normally don’t make friends too easily, but she’s nice.” Marquita put the bottle down, put Moochie on her shoulder, and burped him. “How was your day?”

  “I signed up for fall semester at the community college.”

  Marquita’s eyes lit up. “But I thought you wanted to wait?”

  “I was just being prideful, not wanting people in town to see me in a wheelchair. I have to think about Moochie and building a future for him, so I’m going back to school.”

  “I’m proud of you, and I’m sure Moochie will be, too, when he’s old enough to know what his dad did for him.”

  “Yeah, I told my grandparents about it. They said they’re proud of me too. I thought they would get on me about having Moochie so young, but they didn’t. They came over today and hung out with Moochie.”

  “So your grandparents came to see Moochie today?” Marquita rocked the baby to sleep.

  “Yeah, and my granddad thinks Moochie looks just like me when I was a baby.”

  “Maybe you should have showed him a picture of me, then he would have seen who Moochie really looks like. All he has of yours is those deep, dark eyes and those dimples that cause women to hover around you.”

  “I don’t see any women hover around me now, do you?”

  Stop smiling at me, Marquita wanted to scream at him. Instead, she laid Moochie on the sofa. “You know what I mean. When you were out there being ‘the man’ on the football field, you had plenty of women running after you. I guess that’s why you forgot about me like I was nothing but a distant memory.”

  “I never forgot you, Marquita. Things were just more complicated back then.”

  “Don’t lie, Jon-Jon. You don’t have to do that. I know I’m not the kind of girl guys like you bring home to meet their mother.”

  “And yet, my mother gave you a bedroom in our house.”

  Marquita’s eyes clouded; she was feeling some type of way and needed Jon-Jon to know about it. “I’m grateful for what your parents have done for me. I just wish our summer together had meant as much to you as it meant to me.”

  “It did, Marquita. I promise you it did.”

  She shook her head and lifted Moochie from the sofa. “You’re just saying this because you’re in a wheelchair and I’m the only woman that hangs around now. But that’s not good enough for me.”

  Marquita went to her room and closed the door. She felt tears coming on and didn’t want to cry like a love-sick puppy in front of Jon-Jon. If she was being for real and true with herself, she had fallen more in love with Jon-Jon since moving in with the Robinsons than she was when they dated last summer. She changed into her night clothes and then she and Moochie climbed in bed.

  Being around him every day and seeing how much he loved and accepted Moochie had caused her to think that he had love for her, too, but that wasn’t reality. Reality was that she was a single mom who needed to earn enough money to get her own place and stop dreaming impossible dreams.

  Marquita grabbed her journal from the nightstand, opened it, and wrote furiously, trying to get this boy-meets-girl, boy-falls-in-love-with-girl-and-never-leaves-her story out of her head. She had no idea what she would do with it, but she had to get the words in her journal. Her arm got tired, so she put the journal back on the nightstand and laid her head on her pillow.

  But Marquita couldn’t get comfortable as she moved around on the bed. Her restlessness finally woke Moochie, but he didn’t cry. He was just looking up at her with those deep, dark eyes. Then he smiled at her. It was as if she was the only thing that mattered to him in this whole big world. She ran a finger down his cheek as her heart expanded with all the love she wanted to shower on him.

  “I’m worthy of your love, aren’t I, Moochie? You won’t regret loving your mama. I’m going to be good to you. I promise I’m not going to flake out on you like my mother did too many times for me to count. I’m going to figure things out so I can make you just as proud of me as I know you’re going to be of your daddy.”

  Moochie cooed and kicked his feet.

  “Even if no one else in this whole world wants me, I know you do. And that’s good enough for me.”

  Chapter 30

  Vivian hadn’t had many friends. She hadn’t allowed too many people to get close to her, so Alexis was pleasantly surprised to see how many of the people from her nursing home showed up for her mom’s funeral. There were even a few people from the social services facility where Alexis volunteered.

  Alexis wanted a celebration of the life Vivian Cooper had lived, as complicated as it had been. So no tears were allowed today, only joy and good vibes.

  A woman sang “I’ll Fly Away,” and Alexis did everything in her power to smile. She prayed that her mother was now with her grandmother. They could be together in heaven forever. At least, Alexis hoped it worked that way.