Chapter 4: Tennessee

~FOUR YEARS LATER~

Tennessee

KENYA POV

The disturbing rattle of the plane touching the ground pierced through the dense haze of sleep. A tiny, small, and smooth hand grazed the side of my face, pulling me further into the land of the living.

"Mommy? Wake up, Mommy." my eyes snapped wide open, then came into contact with a little darling. A small smile touched his face as I stared into those storm-grey eyes that were glaring at me patiently. My eyes ghosted around his face, taking in the curly razor cut that made him even more cute. I couldn't help but smile.

"Come here, sweetie." the little goofball jumped into my waiting arms, then rested his head on my chest, nuzzling further for cuddles. The scent of his shampoo and his existence wafted into my nostrils like a breeze of fresh air, and I found myself thanking God for gifting me such a perfect thing.

"I am sorry I fell asleep baby." I kissed the top of his head, grim satisfaction spreading through me as the smooth inside of his hand massaged my nape. He may not know it, but the little act was more than therapy to me.

"It's okay, Mommy." He began bumping his leg, a habit that he may have inherited from none but his father.

My throat tightened with a hard swallow, and I stared outside at the ground where the plane was soaring towards the boarding bridge.

Tenessee. 

The place where everything burned down to ashes, leaving me with my heart bleeding and suicide reining over my being. The thought of being back to this place had my thoughts scattered around.

Four years. That's how long it took for me to finally get over the heartbreak and decide to come 'home'. Four years of licking my wounds closed and sewing my heart up; four years of building my walls so high no one could ever reach me. 

But now that I was here, I couldn't help but go over the whole thing again. 

Was I really ready for this chapter of my life? 

Was it worth it? 

Or I should have stayed in Paris and lived without any worry that one day… he might find me. Especially now that I had a carbon copy of him. But still, I couldn't be selfish enough to rob my little Luc the chance of growing up with a father. 

That was one thing I couldn't take from him. But still... the thought of meeting him made me want to run for the hills and hide. Again!

“Mommy, are we going to meet Aunt Anna?” Storm-grey eyes looked up at me, and I smiled down at him. I loved my son to the moon and back, but heck, did he really have to look like the younger version of Royal?

“We are going to live with Aunt Anna at a very beautiful house,” I responded, adding a series of tickles on his delicate sides. He burst out in full-blown belly laughter and attempted to fight me off by thrashing and kicking. 

I stopped my harmless assault and pulled his little self again for a small cuddle before we hopped off the plane. 

A few minutes later. Lucious was straddled in his stroller. I hated how fast he was growing. Just a few months back, he used to fit like a glove in his double canopy little car, and now he had outgrown it. I didn't use it much, since the little man was as fast as a race car on his feet, but in times like this, I preferred him straddled and secured in one place. All moms can agree, that toddlers are a nightmare!

We arrived at the passport control, checked out, and made our way out of the airport. 

As soon as we arrived by the gate, little Luc started screaming his lungs out and clapping his hands. I glanced to his line of sight to find Anna grinning her ass off. Literally, her face was about to split into two. 

I walked to where she was, and she started cooing as soon as I was in earshot. 

“Look at my favorite young man.” She ran towards us, then knelt in front of the stroller and picked Lucious up. The little man laughed his heart out as Anna showered his neck with kisses and unending hugs. I didn't need to be told, but Anna loved Lucious like her own. And it was such a heart melt to watch the two of them together.

“Aren’t I getting one?” I asked, staring down at the one woman who has, and will always be on my back.

“Oh please. What could you possibly have that I get from my little man? Nothing.” She scoffed my way, then stared at Luc. “But you…” She tickled his sides, causing Luc to fall down into a fit of guffaw. 

“You are the best thing in this whole world, isn’t that right?” She goofed about before staring at me,

"And here I thought I was your favorite cup of tea," I whined with a fake pout. She rolled her eyes heavenward and kissed Lucious's cheek.

"You were until they invented coffee." she fired back, and I couldn't help but flip him a number. She let out a small giggle then walked towards me and threw herself towards me. 

“Fucking finally!” We both burst out laughing and hugged so tight I was certain we were going to crush little Luc. 

After an emotional moment of being reunited with my best friend, we hopped into her Evoque and drove to our house. The entire drive, my eyes were glued out the window at the passing scenery, and I couldn’t help but realize how 4 years changed… everything. 

There was such a huge change that I found myself wondering whether I was in the same Nashville I left four years ago. Everything just felt… so strange.

We arrived at the house after an hour, and being within the same walls where everything started hit me straight in my chest with a sledgehammer.

“Welcome home,” Anna called out in the gentlest tone. I spun around and found her rocking a sleeping Luc who was draped across her chest, his head cradled on the crook of her neck.

“It feels weird,” I confessed, spinning around and taking in everything. “Being back here, with a child no less. It feels so weird.” I continued and faced her again. Her face was covered with a pleasant smile, and then she beckoned for me. 

“Come, let me show you a little something to get you settled.” My brows furrowed at the invitation, but I followed her without a question. We climbed the stairs with her humming a lullaby, and memories poured as we walked down the hallway. I remembered our drunken nights, those reckless nights we arrived home and couldn’t make it to our bedrooms and just slept in the corridors 

The times we would cry our eyes out while cuddling in the same carpeted hallways.

And the time she held me close after my world came apart. 

“Kenya?” Her smooth voice called out, and my eyes snapped towards her. She was standing in front of one of the guest bedrooms. 

“Come.” She waved me in, then stepped aside and created room. 

“Open the door.” She nodded to the door handle, and confusion flared in me. 

“What’s in here, An?” I asked with a hint of a smile, and she beamed. 

“It took everything inside of me to not spill the beans about this. You know me, I can’t keep a secret, at least not for long. Now please don’t kill me with anticipation and just open the door?” She was practically jumping up and down, yet careful enough not to wake Luc. 

“Okay…” My curiosity spiked, and with a puff of a relaxing breath, I clutched the door handle and pushed it open. 

Tears clogged my throat when my eyes took in blue and white walls, a small bed on the side of the room, and loads of boys' toys placed neatly on the small shelf. 

“You didn't…” I afforded to say, then the tears I had been holding came spilling down my cheeks. 

Anna stepped further in and placed Luc on his small bed, then walked back to me and pulled me in a bear hug.

“I didn't know what to gift you for this big decision, but then I remembered we had an addition to our small family.” She pulled back from me and held my cheeks, her thumbs massaging the wet skin.

“This is your home, Kenya. This is where we have had our highs and lows, and this is where you're going to raise our little man. I know it does not feel the same anymore. And I tell you, it doesn’t have to feel the same. Because we are going to create new memories. So please, put your heart at ease. You are home now.” She drawled, and more tears skated down my cheeks. 

She pulled me by my hand and the two of us fell onto the carpet in front of Luc’s bed.

“You sure worked your ass off,” I remarked with a small laugh while wiping my eyes. 

“Duuuuuuuude… You should have seen me trying to put up that toy rack. It was… a hassle. I had to call Old Mike to come help me assemble it.” 

“Old Mike?” I shot up from her lap and glared at her. “Is he still alive?” My voice held a pitch at the edge of it, and she shushed me with her hand before pulling me back down on her lap.

“Old Mike is as hot as he can get. I am talking, Legolas of The Lord of The Rings, hot.” The two of us burst out laughing, and at that moment, I realized one thing.

Time may have changed everything, but not all was lost. 

And as Anna claimed, I was home!