Everything I Expected

Chapter 22

Y/N POV

      "There's a cliff around here?" She asks as we walk away from the estate. I nod my head as I intertwine our fingers. "You didn't check out the house or around it when you came here?" "I checked the inside of it. Me and Né meditate in that space with the pond sometimes. I just never checked around the house." I nod my head. "There's a cliff that has a good view of LA. That's the reason I bought the land. I know you like to hike and your views so I thought why not. We're the only ones who have access to the hiking trail so we don't have to worry about anybody." I say as we walk towards the cliff. "You was thinking about me the whole time you was building this house, wasn't you?" She says and I look at her and see her already looking at me. "Yeah I was. I was thinking about us. The kids. Future kids. Depending on how many kids were having we might have to build this shit bigger." "Or WE build a new one. I want a say in this new one. We can give the house to Sammie or my parents." "A new one? You know how much this one cost? How long this one took to build? It was done by the time you started dating Beckham. I was hot as hell. I was hot when I lost you. I thought I lost everything. I just knew I had to do better. I knew I was going to get you back. You just wasn't looking for me when I was ready." I say. She stops walking and makes me look at her.
         "Because somebody else showed me what they wanted. I'm not saying you never did but it wasn't clear to me. I was going through postpartum depression. When you wasn't around it made me feel like you didn't want to be with me anymore. I loved you then and I love you now. We both needed some time. We had that. So let's forget about the past and worry about the present." She said and we start walking again. "Like how the twins are doing modeling. I think we should put Chey in vocal classes." She says. "I already talked to Melanie about it and she agrees." I nod my head. "We can look into everything when we come back. Ashley wants to do gymnastics.  Ana is doing cheerleading surprisingly." "So what I hear is we're going to be busy?" I nod my head as we reach the cliff. "This is beautiful." Dinah says as she looks at the view of Los Angeles. I stand behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. "Like you." I say. She puts the back of her head on my chest. "Cheesy ass." "For you. I'm going to make sure we spend time together. Me and you. Also, everyone as a family. We'll ask the kids, including Ayana and Ana, where they want to go and the I can set up everything for traveling. We'll make sure they get to go everywhere they wanted to go." I say. "That sounds like a plan because I can think of a couple of places I want to go. Just me and you." "Like where?" "Fiji, Italy, Greece, Bora Bora, Dubai, just some places to name." I put my chin on her shoulder.  "Mmm I'm liking some of those places. Just us, ocean, us, different food, us, new places, different experiences, us." I say and she giggles. "You said us like four times." "I know. I lowkey miss it just being us two. When's the last time we've just hung out just us? No kids, no dates, no family, and no friends." I say to her and she hums. "Right now?" She says. "Besides right now." "Not much really. Only when we go to bed, but one of the kids always comes in the room." She says.
       "Exactly. We don't spend no time together. We need us time. Jack and Yaya spend more time together and they just started going out." Dinah giggles. "Babe we have kids. We knew what we were signing up for, but that doesn't mean we don't have to spend time together. That's what Jamaica is for. I planned a lot of stuff for just us two. Like rafting and massages. I found this place that teaches you how to cut your own coconut." "I don't like coconut. You know this." "You don't like it because you never tried a fresh one. Plus you tried that processed stuff. This is fresh. Straight from the tree." She says. "Whatever you say D." I tell her. "You haven't called me that in a minute. That or DJ." "I rarely called you DJ. I left that to everyone else. I called you Di though. Chey used to call you that all the time." She giggles and nods her head. "Yeah, she got it from you. 'Di, Di, Di.' That's exactly what she would say all day." She says as she reminisces. "That's because she didn't know how to say your name." I defend my daughter.
       "I think she was just copying her mama. You know the twins call you daddy? Mainly Kalia. When you're not around she'll say daddy, but when you are, she'll say mama." Dinah says as she looks up at me and I lean down and peck her lips. "I believe it. She was calling me dada first. Then I started teaching her mama. I don't mind though. I'm technically their dad but you be calling me daddy and I don't want you and the kids calling me daddy." I say. She looks back at the view. "Do you ever think of moving out of Cali?" Dinah asks me. "Where is this coming from?" I ask her. She shrugs her shoulders. "Cali is all I know besides Utah. You spent years out here too. Do you ever think about moving out of state?" She asks. "Do you want to?" I ask her trying to see where she's getting at. "Kind of. We look at the same thing everyday. I know the majority of my family lives out here and I love them. It's just-" "with everything you've been through with them that it would feel good to get some space? I totally understand but I thought that you guys were past that?" I ask her. "I did too. They heard the song and everything and I told them about how I felt about treating my parents differently. Then with this Odell situation, they're blaming the both of us. Blaming me for dating him and you for him putting his hands on the twins. Saying you allowed him to put his hands on the twins because they're mine and Chey isn't. I tried to tell them that wasn't the case but they're so damn stubborn." Dinah says as she breaks down into sobs. I turn her around and pull her into my chest and wrap my arms around her to rub her back soothingly.
          Am I mad? Nah, I'm pissed. The fact that they would try to pin anything on either of us. Dinah didn't know that going into the relationship with Odell that he would be putting his hands on her or the twins. How could I have possibly known when their relationship looked fine when they were around me? Why would I allow a grown man to put his hands on my kids to harm them?
Those were just some of the thoughts that came to my head. The main thought in my head is how do you allow yourself to talk down on your own granddaughter, niece, or cousin like that when she's still traumatized and is trying to get through it? I know how much family means to Dinah. Her family is everything to her. So for them not to show her any type of compassion is killing her on the inside. It's the same exact reason why she's breaking down right now.
      "Hey, I got you. If they want to believe tabloids they can. We know what really went on. Yeah, I'm pissed that they want to believe that Chey didn't get hurt and I allowed him to put his hands on my kids is crazy. My kids are still my kids. I did what I had to do for the three of y'all. I know you don't want to say this about them but fuck them. Everyone that loves you is around you. You'll forever be good around here. I can promise you that." I tell her. She picks her head up from my chest and nods her head. I wipe her face from any tears. "I got you Dinah." I whisper. "I know. I love you." I kiss her forehead. "I love you too." "Can we go back to the house. I want to get drunk." She says and I chuckle. "We can get as drunk as we want. We're home. That's the best part." I say and she giggles. I grab her hand. "Can you carry me?" She asks and I smile. "On my back?" She nods her head. I squat down and she hops on my back and I stand back up. "Your butt covered?" "Yeah." "Good I don't need your shit all out." I say as I start to walk back. "What's this on the back of your neck?"