"Thank you so much." Siraj took two sets of key fobs from a white man dressed nicely in a suit, and passed him a fifty dollar bill as a tip. She tipped any delivery driver that came to their house because it was truly a hassle maneuvering through their neighborhood, plus she was grateful that they completed tasks she didn't feel like doing herself.

After closing the door, she shifted the way Essence laid on her chest, being propped up and secured by a black satin wrap that was tied against Siraj's body. It was a fave for both Essence and Siraj. Easy naps for the baby, and mommy could still get stuff done without having to worry about any unnecessary crying.

She waited a few seconds longer, and when she heard the tow truck pull off, she opened the front door back up and went outside to go look at the newest addition to their driveway.

There was a limited edition 2023 all black Cadillac Escalade parked in front of the house, and just the shiny exterior made Siraj regret not ordering one for herself. Trucks this big weren't her thing though.

On the exterior body, the Escalade was wrapped in 5% tints; dark, just how Exodus preferred. Four 22-inch silver rims propped up the truck, customized with the letter E on the middle of each tire. She knew his favorite part of this gift would be all the customized details that were added-which is why she added them.

The interior consisted of a jet black color and had Exodus's initials embroidered on the headrests. Everything on the dash was digital, including the gear shift. Siraj read the speedometer, seeing the car only had two miles on it with a full tank of gas. That meant Exodus was the first ever owner of this truck, which also meant Siraj had to drop a big bag on it.

She paid for it on her credit card; but paid the entire balance off instead of monthly payments. It upped her credit score 27 points when she paid the credit balance off, too, and she was now at 782 points. This purchase benefited her just as much as it did Exodus.

It was a token of her appreciation for everything that he did for her and their family. She knew this was nothing compared to all that he'd gifted her with in the past, present, and what was to come in the future, but it was a start.

He had been wanting this truck for a while now, but couldn't get it because the Cadillac Motor Car Division checked credit scores in order to verify buyer eligibility. They didn't care about how much money you had, nor if you had the funds to buy it in all cash.

Unfortunately for Exodus, he didn't have anything on his credit history because of the way he paid for everything in cash-which in turn made him ineligible to buy his dream truck. That was a part of the reason that he was opening up the new business with Siraj, and completed the build of their house; both would be the official start to him building his credit.

Siraj, on the other hand, had been building her credit since she was seventeen under her parents bank accounts. She now had her own credit company, and made it a priority to get Exodus's credit where it needed to be. Until then, she would use hers for whatever he liked.

"Exodus you been on this game all day. Turn it off." She leaned against the doorway of his 'man-cave', definitely regretting buying him Madden NFL 23. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the TV.

"Hol' up. It's only a couple minutes left in the quarter mama." He didn't even turn his head to look at her, causing her eyebrows to furrow together.

She walked inside of the room, heading straight for the cords that were hidden behind the TV so that she could unplug the game.

"Chill! Chill, chill. I'm pausing it. You play too much." He chuckled, grabbing her hand just before she could pull the plugs out of the wall.

"Oh, I play too much? You ain't said a word to me since this morning." She frowned up at him, and he smiled, kissing her forehead.

"My bad shorty. I thought you went to yo' lil' boyfriend house already. I ain't even know you was still here." He childishly grinned, then laughed at the look she gave him as he referred to his younger brother.

"Shut up and come on before I change my mind." She turned to walk back out of the room, hearing him behind her.

"Feisty. I like it." He grabbed a handful of her ass, still smiling when she pushed his hand away.

"What you changing yo' mind about though? You made lunch or something?" He pulled his Nike sweats up, realizing he hadn't ate since breakfast.

"No. You don't deserve food. Tell the game to feed you." She led the way to the front door, and he amusingly rolled his eyes at her.

When Siraj opened the door, the Escalade truck was the first thing he seen. His eyes damn near popped out of his head in shock, meanwhile Siraj smiled like a proud mom because she knew she'd done a good job.

"Yooooo! Alise stop playing." He stopped himself mid-run, turning to look at her to make sure it wasn't a joke.

"What?" She held up one of the key fobs, and his jaw dropped when she crunk up the truck remotely. The truck he drove now didn't even have that, and was only equipped with push to start.

Her smile grew bigger as she watched him run in excited circles around the new vehicle like a kid in a candy store, commenting on every little detail just like she knew he would.

'Yo's' and 'Nah's' is all he kept repeating, obviously in disbelief of what was in their driveway. His hands were on the steering wheel but it still hadn't registered in his brain that he was actually sitting inside of his dream truck.

"I love you. I love you. I love you. I love you." He kissed all over her face once she was in reach of him, and she laughed as he followed up with a hug, as tightly as he could without hurting their daughter of course.

"Nahhhh yo, you shittin' me. Yo look at this shit, that's me right there?" He pointed to the headrest that had EJB sewn into the material, making her laugh again.

"That's all you baby. Here." She gave him both of his key fobs, even though she knew he would put the second one in her purse later.

"Yooo I love the shit out you girl. I swear I do." He kept his arms around her, and Siraj's smile never left her face; neither did his.

"I know it. C'mon. Take me for a drive shorty." She pulled back from him, and he gestured her to get in the truck in a rush, making her laugh yet again.

He took her for a spin around their neighborhood, and tested out the speed of his V8 engine, able to go from zero to sixty in just under 4.5 seconds. That wasn't faster than his Hellcat, of course, but was truly incredible for a truck this massive.

When they got back home, Exodus couldn't stop talking about how he couldn't wait to show Adonis, Emmanuel, and Semaj. They were all car freaks, and this truck was definitely about to put the rest of their vehicles to dirt.

Siraj had just convinced him to go ahead and go show off his new whip since she was about to leave and he didn't have any other plans for the rest of the day anyway.

"Aight. Call me okay? Don't do nothin' to piss me off." He gave her a goodbye kiss almost half an hour later, leaning through the window of her car.

"Boy shut yo' ass up. I'ma stick my tongue in his mouth and send you a p-"

"Lil girl I'll snatch yo' fucking tongue out right here, right now." He cut her off before she could finish her sentence, and she laughed at how serious he got in just a few milliseconds.

"See, you don't need to be talking shit 'cause you know I go too far. Now gimme' some." She stuck her hand out the window to grab his face, forcing him to give her a kiss despite his fake attitude.

"I love you." He chuckled, briefly taking her bottom lip in his mouth.

"I love you too baby daddy."

"Bye-bye fat ma." He kissed Essence's forehead over her tiny hat after opening the backdoor, letting her pull on his beard in return.

"Siraj take care of my baby." He stepped back from her car a few moments later, watching her roll her eyes.

"Boy bye. I'll be home before nightfall so you need to be too." She put the gear shift in reverse, looking down at the camera as the car started slowly back down the hill of their driveway. She heard Exodus tap the hood of her Benz in response, and she chuckled, waving goodbye to him.

Once she was on the main residential street, she put her car in drive after turning her wheel to the left, then started the drive out of their neighborhood. She prayed there wouldn't be much traffic today since it was only two in the afternoon.

Essence already hated car rides as it was, and Siraj didn't have time to nurse her in the middle of traffic and focus on driving at the same time. The last time she did that, she almost started crying with her daughter. She was still trying to adapt to how clingy Essence was. It didn't bother her much though.

In fact, being a mom was probably her favorite thing in life as of right now. She loved waking up to see her baby just laying quietly, waiting to be picked up and given breakfast straight from Siraj's body. She loved the way Essence's big brown eyes stared up at her every time she was in her wrap or being taken a bath.

And as much as she despised the occasional throw up after a feeding and the random times poop made it out of Essence's diaper, she would go through it a thousand times over for her baby. She was everything to Siraj.

Only an hour had passed when Siraj made it to Emari's house with a dozen warm donuts in tote, as well as a vanilla sweet cream cold foam for herself. Coffee has seemed to become her best friend these days.

"TT!" Eriah was the first to greet her, bursting out the front door of her dad's house as soon as the security system alerted them that someone was in the driveway.

"I missed you so much Riah. Girl you gon' make me cry." Siraj chuckled, holding her in her arms after swooping her small body up from the ground.

"I didn't seen you in this long!" She spread her arms wide to give a visual representation, "I tought' you forgot all about me. Daddy said the baby can't get sick tough'..."

Her new lisp was evident, and was the result of having a loose front tooth. It would be the very first to fall out, and she'd been doing everything possible to get it out of her mouth so that the tooth fairy could visit with money for her. Nothing had worked so far though.

"I'm so sorry baby. Saturdays are for me and you again, okay? I promise." Siraj had to mentally remind herself to start doing Girls Day with Eriah and Zara again.

Ever since she'd gotten with Exodus-not to blame him, of course-the regular routine of her previous single life had been lost. She barely even saw her niece anymore, and that really hurt her feelings because she knew how much she meant to Eriah. The fact that it took so long for her to realize made her emotional.

"Pinky swear?" Eriah held up her little hand in front of Siraj, who wasted no time to interlock their pinkies to secure the deal.

"Pinky swear. Do you wanna see my baby?" She carried her to the backseat door, visibly able to see the excitement radiating from Eriah at the mention of baby cousin.

"Ouuuu, yesss! And I made matching bracelets for her too. She's so pretty TT!" Eriah managed to get out of her grip, needing to get a better look at baby Essence.

Siraj smiled big at how Eriah was careful not to be too jumpy, and even quieted herself down as she guided Essence to grab onto her pinky finger through her mittens.

"Aw, she's so pretty. Is I'm her only cousin, right? TT, because daddy said so." Eriah turned her head to look at Siraj, who let out a laugh at the improper grammar.

"Yeah girl, you're her only cousin." She nodded in agreement, still smiling at how excited that made Eriah.

"Heyyy pumpkin." She turned her attention to Emari as he walked around her car, the two of them wrapping each other up in a hug as soon as they were close enough.

She held around his torso tightly, wanting to cry again as he just held her, not yet greeting her with words. She really needed to make it a priority to be around them more. It was unfair how she'd basically abandoned them, but she didn't want to feel guilty about focusing on her family either.

Before she got with Exodus, she was with Emari every single day; literally not a day passed where they didn't link. She was always there with him to pick up Eriah on the days that he could get her, and they went on trips together often, too. Just the three of them.

She felt so bad that it had been almost two months since she'd last seen them. They had never went that long without one another, especially since they barely even talked on the phone anymore. Her heart felt like it would soon shatter into a million pieces.

"I'm so sorry. Don't make me cry Emari." She mumbled, her face pressed up against his chest.

"Don't feel bad. We ain't mad at you shorty. I just missed you, that's all." He kissed the side of her face, chuckling when he realized that she was already crying.

"No, you need to be mad 'cause I know I'm wrong. It wasn't on purpose though. Shit. I just got these fucking lashes done." She sniffed, trying to air dry her face but it wasn't solving much.

"I know. I did the same shit when Riah was born. We ain't mad, I swear." He wiped underneath her eyes, and she nodded, giving him another hug.

After separating, he carried the car seat in his house while Siraj helped Eriah carry the donuts. When she made it in, Siraj couldn't believe his house felt so foreign to her when she literally used to spend every minute of every day in this same house. Crazy what time could change.

"TT, can she watch PJ Masks with me, or will it hurt her eyes?" Eriah had a mouthful of donuts as she tapped Siraj's leg, wanting to sit with Essence.

"No, it's fine. C'mon." Siraj carried the carseat in the living room, and sat it in Eriah's play area where she had her own personal TV. It was small and not too loud, so it wouldn't bother Essence.

"I'll be careful, I promise." Eriah assured, sitting right beside her baby cousin, who was sucking on a pacifier.

"I believe you. If she starts whining, just tell me, okay?" Siraj told her, even though she wouldn't be anywhere where the two wouldn't be in her direct line of sight. She also put one of her portable baby monitors on top of the TV so that she could still see them up close.

When she made sure both of them were okay, Siraj walked back towards the kitchen where Emari was currently stuffing his mouth with donuts. Like father, like daughter.

"Fat ass. You ain't ate breakfast?" She climbed in one of the bar stools, grabbing her cup of cold foam coffee.

"Hell nah. I ordered some iHop but we ain't eat it 'cause that shit was dead cold. We just had some noodles." He shrugged his shoulders while she shook her head at him.

"You gotta learn to cook or book a chef or something. She can't survive off of noodles Mari." She chuckled, knowing that it was all Eriah ever ate besides fast food because he didn't know how to cook-and she hadn't been over to cook for them.

"She too picky for a chef. I tried that a couple of weeks ago and she ain't like how everything tasted stale 'cause it had to be warmed up. It was meal prepped stuff." He told her, picking up another glazed donut.

"Would you feel comfortable coming over my house for dinner?" She asked, knowing that it was still a bit of friction between him and Exodus-even though they both denied it.

"Nah, but y'all stay kinda far out. I'll probably start going over ma' 'nem house so that she can eat some real food." He shrugged again, sitting beside her in one of the stools.

"You just making up excuses 'cause you know damn well you and Riah both hate soul food and that's all mama 'nem be cooking." She stale faced him, turning her head to the side.

"What is it? You don't wanna be around Exodus?" She followed up with a question, resting her face in her hands.

"It ain't that. I don't wanna sound like a hater or nothin' but I don't like seeing y'all together. Probably on some jealousy shit, I don't know. So yeah, I probably wouldn't feel comfortable." He admitted.

"What do you want me to do Emari? You can't feel like that forever." Her eyebrows slowly furrowed together in a frown, but she wasn't mad at him.

"Nothin'. I'll get over it eventually, I told you that. Just not right now." He chuckled, though he didn't really find anything funny.

"You mad at me?" She asked him, causing him to finally look over at her.

"No. I said that outside."

"Were you telling the truth though?" Her frown remained, watching him take his attention off of her and put it on the two kids in the living room.

Siraj had a way of pestering her way into the truth, regardless of if it would hurt her or someone else's feelings or not. Lying got people no where, so she felt as if you might as well tell the truth.

"I'm not mad at you. Just at the situation, I guess. And it ain't like I'm just sitting around hating you or hating him or something. It just be moments I be wishing I was in his place.." He trailed off, still not looking at her because he felt guilty for some reason.

"It just hurt a lil' bit, 'cause I was waiting for you to notice me for so long and it just seem like it took nothing for him to get you. Maybe I could've had you if I had spoken up, y'know, but I'll never know foreal." His tone changed, a mix of masking disappointment, it sounded like.

"Emari I didn't kno-,"

"I know. You said that already. And I believe you, but I was as obvious as I could be without directly saying it. Everybody knew except you, and I never had to confirm it. That's how I knew you ain't feel the same way 'cause you would've picked up on it-which I don't blame you for. Ion blame you for nothin'. It's on me." He told her, being interrupted before he could continue.

"Stop saying that-that you knew how I felt because you didn't and I barely did either. Your feelings probably weren't even set in stone until you found out I was with Exodus. And I know that because the last time we kissed, I wanted more, but you stopped me. You didn't know what you wan-,"

"Because you used to only be with niggas for sex Siraj, and I didn't just want you for your body man." He stopped her as well, and his sentence made her go silent.

"I'm not calling you a hoe or nothing, I ain't ever seen you as that but you know you used to get head from a few certain niggas and that's all it ever was with them. You didn't do relationships and I didn't want to ruin our friendship just to fuck you bra."

"I ain't ever looked at you as a piece of pussy because I fucking loved you G. I never wanted pussy from you Siraj. Before you got with Exodus, you used to only be around them niggas if they had some money or some tongue for you-and you treated every nigga like that besides me because you know that you always been worth more than that to me."

When he seemingly finished, Siraj didn't have anything to say in response to that. Her thoughts were now all over the place and her feelings were hurt. She didn't know what triggered the tears, but something did.

She knew that what he said was right. All Siraj deemed men worthy of were either sexual pleasure or money because love had never been something she was typically interested in. She was young and having fun-at least before she found herself entangled with Exodus.

Emari's claims were proven to be right when Siraj remembered that dick was all that she wanted from Exodus in the beginning. Being with him just seemed fun, so that's why she entertained him while he was in jail. She liked the rush. Now she was contemplating if that was all her relationship was built of off.....a sense of rush?

"I ain't mean to make you cry. I'm sorry." Emari apologized once he finally looked over at her, but didn't reach to hug her like he usually did. He didn't feel as if he'd said anything wrong.

That couldn't have been all it was. Siraj loved Exodus with everything piece of her being. But she couldn't deny the fact that the only reason the two had settled down out of their toxic ways and learned to love each other the correct way was because they'd found out she was pregnant.

Before then, it was just sex and arguments. Before taking those pregnancy tests, she didn't think her and Exodus would last long. She thought it was just casual fun, but it quickly became serious once she wound up pregnant with his child. That was what kind of forced her to mature and be with him for real.

She wondered if they would still be together today, had they have not had Essence. Was she only with him because of their baby? Everything suddenly became confusing and nothing felt real. Her relationship didn't feel real. The man she was supposed to be marrying next year didn't feel real.

"Stop. What you panicking for? What you thinking about Siraj?" Emari grabbed her hands that had began to unintentionally tremble, realizing that she was having a mild panic attack.

They didn't occur often, but there had been a few occasions where he'd witnessed her have one. She had bad anxiety, and sometimes would let her thoughts get the best of her which only made her anxiety worsen.

"I need to g-I have to leave. I'm sorry. Can you call Exodus please, to come and get my baby? I have to leave." She stood from her seat, not trusting herself to drive with her baby in the car. It felt like her insides were burning.

"Nah. Ain't nothin' wrong Raj. You okay, you hear me?" His arms wrapped around her in a hug, prompting her to break down.

Emari picked her up by her thighs, carrying her out of the kitchen with the portable baby monitor in his hand so that he could still keep an eye on the two kids while tending to the person who meant the most to him.

Exodus emerged from his truck, the door slamming harder than he intended it to when he closed it; most likely from the slight irritation obviously radiating from him. He walked up the steps to his younger brother's house, not bothering to knock as he granted himself permission inside.

It was now going on eleven at night, and no one thought to call him and tell him about what happened to Siraj earlier. He had to call Emari after more than ten calls to Siraj went straight to voicemail, and none of his messages were delivering.

Obviously he was concerned because she told him before she left that she would be home before nightfall, and it had been dark for a little over four hours now. When he called Emari, nothing had really been said except that she'd had a small meltdown and was now asleep.

That call was almost three hours ago. It had taken so long for him to get there because of the heavy traffic in the city this late, which had only aggravated him further. His daughter and Siraj being okay was his only concern as of now.

When he walked in his brother's house, it was relatively quiet besides the sound of cartoons playing from what he assumed was coming from Eriah's bedroom. Nobody was in the living room or kitchen, and he hoped like hell he wasn't about to walk in on anything that would upset him even more.

But low and behold, in Emari's bedroom was an asleep Siraj, Essence, and of course Emari. He held her from behind, and the sight made Exodus want to blow steam through his ears. The universe just wasn't on his side this evening, and that was as clear as day.

"Yo, get up. Wake up Siraj." The strength to pick her up by her waist out of the bed was powered by his anger, he assumed, as he forced her awake.

She was dressed in a loose shirt and a pair of boxer briefs; nothing like what she had left the house in. He was trying so hard not to immediately jump to conclusions because he knew good and damn well she wasn't stupid.

"Exodus I didn't do a-,"

"I don't give a fuck. Go get your shit so we can go." He picked his daughter up from the bed, causing her to begin quietly whining.

"Go get your shit Siraj!" He repeated, louder this time, and the tone of his voice kind of made her freeze in place at the same time that their daughter's whines turned into cries, and Emari woke up as well.

"Exodus you're scaring her. Give me my baby." She reached for Essence, frowning once he pushed her hand away.

"You wasn't worried 'bout her when you was laid up with this nigga. What the fuck is you doing? Playing house?" His mug was deeper than usual, an obvious sign of how upset he was.

"Nigga we was sleep. You act like you walked in on me fucking h-,"

"Stop. You stop too Emari." Siraj grabbed Exodus before he could get to Emari, who sucked his teeth in annoyance. Exodus's entire presence now annoyed him; call it jealousy, he didn't care.

"Exodus give me my baby please. She's crying." Siraj reached for her once more, as if her wails weren't loud enough for Exodus to hear. He pushed her out of his way, again, much harder than he intended to, and her back hit the wall before she even realized what he'd done.

"Mari," Siraj softly cried, stopping him in his tracks just as he was about to go after Exodus who had already walked out of the room, and he took a moment to think about where he would go. Instead of starting yet another fight with his brother, he went to help Siraj.

"Oh my god." She cried when his hand touched her back, feeling as if she had been hit by a car. She didn't even realize how hard he'd pushed her into the wall until now.

Both of them heard the front door slam along with Essence's loud cries, followed up moments later by the sounds of Exodus's truck revving out of the driveway.

Lol