"I will never find another lover sweeter than you, sweeter than you. And I will never find another lover more precious than you, more precious than you," All My Life, K-Ci & JoJo

"So, you're the man that has caught my dear son's heart." 

Celina mused as she took Nishan's awaiting hand, garnering a kiss on the hand from the latter. Ass-kisser. "Yes, though I reckon he caught mine first."

 Celina giggled in glee as I rolled my eyes, ignoring the blush of my cheeks. This cheeky bastard really did have a way with words. "My name is Celina Trapp, the mentor to this young one here," She pointed to me and I frowned. "You're also my momma too, don't you forget," I added and she grinned, pinching my cheek. "Indeed, I've heard lots about you," Nishan stood out of the way to let us in further to the living room. I had called him a few days ago while Celina was getting acclimated to San Antonio to tell him that she was here if he still wanted to meet her.

Guess what? The asshole told me to bring her on over anytime. 

"Oh? Good things, I hope," Nishan nodded as he gestured for her to take a seat, picking up Noelani from her crib. "Oh? Who is this lovely little baby?" Celina raised a brow at me, questioning just how far in life I got. I had so much to tell her, we had to sit down over tea. "This is Noelani," Nishan said as he placed the baby in Celina's lap. "She is Ezra and I's daughter," He replied as simply as he could and my mentor's eyes went wide as my ass.

"You've got a lot to catch me up on, boy," She shook her head. "I don't talk to you for four years and you done changed your whole entire life around. You snagged you a Chief of Police and you get a child? Can't say that I'm shocked because I knew you had it in you," She chewed on her gum, rubbing the pretty baby's back. Nishan sat across from us on his favorite couch in his living room. I had been in his estate a couple of times to clean because even though I was living that CEO life from 9-5, I still worked some days cleaning his house.

I think it was an excuse just for him to put me in an actual maid costume and watch me parade around in front of him, the pervert.

"How are you liking AGM so far?" Celina asked as Nishan chewed on some scooby snacks. "I love it. I love it so much and I'm really happy to have gotten this job," I stated, thinking about what I have endured and how long it took me. If my best friend was here (he was out on a date with Jude), he would tell you about all of the nights I spent panicking because I was unsure of where my life was gonna go.

But here I am.

"Well, that was a given. Someone was bound to see all the greatness you had to offer," I had her to thank for all of the encouragement she had given me. She had given me that reason to keep breathing even when all hope was lost. She had given me that reason to keep walking even after my ankles gave out under me. She had given me what Emmanuel and Joella Moore didn't: unconditional love. And she was here, meeting the one person I wanted to spend my life with and meeting an adorable baby that was unplanned but not uncalled for. This was everything that I needed.

"So where is your room, Ezra?" Celina turned to me with a grin. "I need to see that your interior design skills aren't all that lost," She teased and I tilted my head. "I..don't..have one?" I said and she looked at me as if I told her that I started smoking crack. "Excuse me? I need for you to repeat what you just said to me," She blinked as if I had said something so preposterous.

"I still live in my apartment, the one that I moved into when I first came here," I explained, watching her look between me and Nishan as if we had done something wrong. She shook her head, running her hand through Noelani's hair. "Ezra Kendrick Moore, I've taught you better than this," I stared wide-eyed, the sound of my government name washing over me like a sin. "And you, mister," She turned her angry gaze over to Nishan, who looked as stupid as ever trying to understand what was happening.

"What's wrong?" He sputtered, giving me a look that wanted answers but we didn't even have the proper questions to ask. Celina sighed, rolling her amber eyes. "It's not just you that you have to look out for," She pointed a finger to me. "Because you entered a relationship with this man, you have to look out for him too," I nodded, trying to understand her point. "And because you called yourself trying to make a family, you both have to look out for this dear child too," She pointed to Noelani in her lap and suddenly, it clicked.

"If you guys have a child to care for, doesn't it make sense for you to both live together instead of having others care for your child all the time? Not only that, but she will both grow up from this point seeing you both in the household," Celina explained and I sighed. "Though she is only a baby, you don't want to start off wrong or the foundation of parenthood will not be stable for you both."

I nodded, sighing once again and she noticed, fixing me with a concerned look. "Talk to me, son. How are you feeling?" I didn't want to confess my feelings in front of Nishan like this, but I kind of had to because we couldn't make this work without communication. "The only reason that I didn't bring it up was that I was unsure if we were moving way too fast. I didn't want things to be ruined if we took it a step even further," I mumbled and Celina chuckled, Nishan nodding in agreement with me. See, it wasn't just me that felt the same way. "I mean, you are moving too far," She stated casually and we both sputtered on the spot.

"You've known each other for all of four to five months and within those months, you've managed to acquire a child. You've both managed to get so deeply ingrained into each other's personal lives, so deep that there's no way out for either of you," She made it so sound wrong and so problematic as she shrugged. "But that's love, isn't it? You do what makes you happy and you do it when and how you do it. I'd say your love's unconventional, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yeah," Nishan nodded as his gaze caught onto mine, the pupils in those green and brown eyes dilated as all get-out. "There's no point in dwelling on the unknown," Celina offered. "If you love each other the way that you say, this next step will only further and deepen your relationship. If you ask me as I sit here and watch you both," She winked playfully, covering her mouth as if she was holding in a secret. "I'd say you'd have nothing to worry about. I mean, other than Ezra's need for attention," She casually threw me under the bus and I scowled in disbelief.

"Oh yeah, that is true," Nishan added with an exaggerated sigh and my face reddened in embarrassment. "Fuck you too," I flipped him off, forgetting that Celina was there for a hot minute. "Don't cry. I'll make sure to hold you extra tight later," The bane of my existence reached other and threw a pencil at me, the object landing a few feet away from me. "What a wack throw. What are you, five?" I protested and he mocked me in an imitating manner. 

Then we heard a laugh as we turned to Celina, seeing her clapping her hands, holding onto Noelani. "You two were just made for each other," She wiped a stray tear from her eye and I relented. "Can't deny that," I quipped, knowing that the beating of my heart would never stray. "Seems to be the truth," Nishan deadpanned, staring a whole ass hole through my face. I bucked at him, wondering if he wanted to fight.

"You know, I had a whole rant to give you on how to treat my Ezra because despite how strong he looks, my boy has been through some things," Celina reached over to me, her lips set in a grim line as she grabbed my hand. "I was gonna jam-pack it into your mind so that you knew not to ever hurt my boy," She smiled. "But you've got it covered, I see." 

Nishan nodded as if he was offended that she would think otherwise. "Despite how annoying he is, that idiot's my one and only." He said it as if he was frustrated with himself and I would've called him out on his bullshit, had I not have seen the dopey smile on his lips. "I'm sure of it. I'm 27, and he's 20. Fifteen years later, I'll still feel the same way as I do now so rest assured, Celina," Nishan cheesed as if he was proud of himself.

God, it was something about that smile that I couldn't even think straight. 

"Good," Celina seemed pleased with that answer as well as I. People always commented on how aloof and mysterious Nishan was, unwilling to voice his feelings whenever someone asked him to, but I found that it was so contradictory. He always told me that he loved me whenever he had the chance to. He was so affectionate in public, it was unreal but I didn't care nonetheless. 

"So, you're going to make the arrangments for him to live here," Celina said and Nishan nodded, holding up his phone. "I've already asked my men to make the arrangements and bring all of his stuff over from his apartment," My eyes widened at the sound of a bell came through, my tabby cat running through and jumping on Nishan's lap as if she belonged there. She meowed at me and I stared at the traitor, knowing she found her home in him too.

Oh yeah, totally forgot that I brought her to stay over. Now that she was here, she could make this her forever home too.

God, I was fucking happy.

"Ah, I see you still have Jigglypuff," Celina reminisced, remembering that she was the one to give me my cat as a present for my acceptance to UTSA. "Yeah, of course," I looked at my cat, who was relishing in the touch of Nishan's hand as he rubbed her fur. "Well, now that I've come to make sure that you are taken care of," She fixed me with a small smile. "I can rest knowing that you have done it, Ezra Moore. You have done everything that I said you would do and look at you," She pointed at me, so much pride and happiness written all over her face.

"Watch out, San Antonio! Here comes a badass and he goes by the name of Ezra Moore." 

We all chuckled as she stood up, giving Noelani a forehead kiss before placing the sleepy baby into her crib. She reached over to pull me into her arms, hugging me tightly. I got the same feeling that I did when I was standing in her doorway, on my way to leave Houston. I didn't want her to leave, that much was true. It was so hard to leave four years ago, but this time, she would be doing the leaving. "Don't leave Celina," I mumbled, pulling away with a pout as she chuckled. "Not to worry, son," She gave Nishan a hug, patting his back like a mother would a child.

"I've decided to move to San Antonio," The glee that I had could not be contained as I started dancing like an idiot. "Four years was too long, so I decided to stay here permanently. Looks like you won't be getting me out of your hair for a long time," She chuckled heartily and I shook my head, knowing that this was possibly the best gift anyone could've ever given me. 

"Really!?" She nodded with a big smile, walking towards the door. "Yea, so need to fret. Mama has a date tonight, so she needs to go," I grimaced at the thought, knowing that Celina was in her early forties and she was probably referencing her boyfriend that she had been dating all this time. "Okay. Just text me whenever you want to meet," She saluted me before opening the door, blowing us a kiss as she stepped out. 

"Keep on making me proud son," She waved goodbye as she headed to her pickup truck, leaving a small pang of pain in my heart. It was okay because this time, she was here to stay. "She's interesting, I'll give you that," Nishan ruffled my hair as he closed the door. "Right?" I mused as he leaned down to place a kiss on my lips, his hands gripping my waist. I could get used to this every single day. 

That was when I knew. I looked down at my hand and pulled off the silver ring with the blue diamond line around it. "Here," He stared at me confusedly as I slid the ring onto his left hand. "This ring is very important to me, so that's why I'm givin' it to you as a symbol of my love," I said, seeing him blush uncharacteristically. "Ezra, you..." Nishan shook his head, clutching the ring. "In that case," He reached up to take off the gold chain that had his first initial on it with a diamond in the middle. "I've been wanting to give this to you," He motioned for me to turn around so that he could put it on for me. "Naomi gave this to me as a birthday present when I was 12, and now I'm giving it to you because I wouldn't have made it without you."

Two different objects but they share similar meanings. 

"You just keep on surprising me every damn day," I chuckled breathlessly as I turned around to face him. "And you just don't realize how much I fucking love you," He swooped in for the kill, claiming my lips as his as he slammed me into the wall behind us. It was a mash of tongue and lips, his hands clinging to my body as he sought to coat this into his memory. "So please stay with me," He sounded so vulnerable and so scared and I sighed, wrapping my arms around him. 

"If I didn't plan to stay, do you think that I would've been planning surrogate pregnancies with you? Or even planning our wedding?" I raised a brow, remembering how he wanted us to get married and have a child of our own afterward. "I know, but I just get so scared sometimes," He whispered as he leaned his forehead against mine. "No need," I comforted my big baby. "I'm too lost on you," I cupped his cheeks, kissing his nose.

"So fear not. I am here to stay." Forever. 

Nishan seemed completely satisfied with that answer as he picked me up bridal style with no preparation, eliciting a loud yelp and a wrap of my arms around his neck from me. "Are we gonna hyphenate our last names or are you gonna take mine or am I gonna take yours?" He questioned as he walked us over to the couch, plopping down with me in his lap. "I might hyphenate mine," I tilted my head. Ezra Moore-Lawrence had a nice ring to it. "Or I might take yours, I don't know," I shrugged, leaning forward to kiss his cheek.

"What time do you want to go see Naomi later?" I asked and my boo looked at his apple watch, clicking his tongue as he reached for my hand, stroking the back of it. "Hm, I'd say like 6:30," He shrugged and I nodded, settling further into his warmth as Jigglypuff cuddled underneath me. "I love you, Nishan," I said and his eyes widened as he looked away with a tint to his cheeks. "I love you too, and I'm proud of you," He said for the fiftieth time. I knew no bigger supporter than him. Maybe even Celina. Who knew? 

"Yo, it's really crazy how everything happened in such a short amount of time. I first came here and we hated each other. Somehow, I managed to find out lots of stuff about you and your family, even encountering scary-ass Easton, having you guys find out things about me, and it only took that long," I hummed, oddly pleased with myself. The Scorpio to my Cancer somehow fought it out and somewhere down the line, they fell for each other.

"You were fuckin' nosy, that's why," I stuck my tongue out at him as he snorted. "Eat my ass, Ni," I retorted with a pout and he raised a brow. "When and where?" He replied, not skipping a beat and I blushed, turning my gaze away from him. I could never win against him. "Will you attend my LGBTQ parade with me?" He questioned and I nodded. "Thought you'd never ask, lover boy," I ran a hand through his long hair, reminiscing on how we got here. All it took was him pulling me over that day for everything else to kick into motion. Because of those events, we grew and we grew together for the better.

"You know, you could say that I was maid for you," I giggled and Nishan rolled his eyes, reaching over to hit me in the back of my head. "Stop with the ridiculous puns," He snorted in amusement, fixing me with a fond stare and I grinned, looking at him with the look that would rival with his parents, taking a long-awaited deep breath of relief and happiness, knowing that I finally reached the end and we would enter the new year with a bang.

"But isn't it motherfucking true?"

-

And this, my friends, concludes Maid For His Love.