Cali sat next to Taylor and looked at him. "Daddy." She said.
"Yes, princess?" Taylor asked.
"So, Jonah invited me over to his family's house for New Year's." She told him. "And Asia and Kyran will be there too."
"You're thinking about going?" Cali nodded. "Well, if you're comfortable with that then you should go."
"But I don't want Zuri to be upset with me." Cali pouted.
"She won't be upset, tink. You can always talk to her to make sure though." Taylor assured her.
Cali sighed and nodded. "Is she still not talking to yall?"
"She texted us this morning and said that she's gonna take us out to dinner to talk." Taylor said.
"That's good, right?" Cali asked.
"Yeah, I'm just glad she's talking to us."
Cali giggled. "Me too." She hugged Taylor before standing up. "I'm gonna call Jonah to let him know that I'm gonna spend New Year's with them."
"And in the meantime, I'm gonna figure out what Tristan did with my damn phone charger. I can't let him borrow shit." Taylor said, making Cali laugh as she left the living room.
Cali called Jonah on FaceTime and frowned when her call was ignored. However, she brightened up when Jonah and Asia's name came across the screen for a FaceTime call.
"Hey yall." Cali said in her heavy Memphis accent. "How far yall got?"
"About two and a half hours." Asia replied. "I swear imma pass out when I get to nana's house."
"So you're gonna ignore me like you didn't just try to call me, Cali?" Jonah teased.
Cali smiled. "Oh sorry. I was calling to let you know that I made my decision about New Year's."
"You joining me?" Jonah asked, showing off his pearly whites.
"Yes, I'll be there." Cali said as she blushed.
"Aww, this is exciting! You hear this, Ky?" Asia chimed in.
"How can I hear when you have your AirPod in?" Kyran asked in the background.
"Oh! I'm sorry." Asia laughed as she took her AirPod out. "Cali is going to the New Year's party."
"Ahh, shit!" Kyran hyped.
"I'll pick you up around eight, aight?" Jonah told Cali.
"Umm, actually—I'm just gonna drive there in case I get uncomfortable." Cali said.
Jonah's eyebrows furrowed. "Asia, can you leave the call real quick?" Asia hesitantly nodded and hung up her phone. "I don't understand, Cali. I do, but I don't. If we're gonna be together and if we're gonna make it far, then you're gonna have to meet my family and be around them eventually."
"They did my family wrong though." Cali defended.
"I feel you; however, that was years ago. Whatever issues they have, they're gonna have to settle that themselves." Jonah explained. "I enjoy hanging around your family, but I want to be able to have you and my family under the same roof too. It's gonna be uncomfortable no matter what the circumstances are—you're just gonna have to work through it."
"Well, I just won't go then." Cali said.
Jonah sucked his teeth. "Cali, for real? You're really doing this?"
"You're making it seem like I'm the bad person for not wanting to be somewhere that I'm not comfortable at." Cali replied.
"I'm not though. I'm just letting you know how I feel." Jonah retorted. "I've been validating you and your feelings when it comes to the situation, but you're not returning the deed for me."
