WIFEABLE :: ORIGINAL

neicey & richard

Joseph's face when he opened his door to the face of his gorgeous and most favorite offspring was indescribable.

He was confused for a split second, but it quickly turned to shock and pure, utter excitement and happiness that she could only grin at because she was pretty sure her face matched his.

"Lisa!" Joseph stepped forward and hugged her tightly, his arms squeezing the life out her. She didn't mind, because she was so happy to see him...even though it had only been a few weeks since they had seen each other in person.

"Hello, father," she kissed his cheek and slipped inside the house.

"What are you doing here?" he closed the door and put his hands in his pockets, "surprise visit?"

"Well, Theresa got into a car accident. I've been here since yesterday."

"Oh no," he frowned, "is she okay?"

"She just broke her wrist, is all," Jelisa shrugged, "I would have came by sooner but I was tired, man."

"I'm glad you're here now," he smiled warmly. Jelisa was truly a daddy's girl, so any chance she got just to see her dad was an opportunity she took regardless of any obstacle. She'd drop anything just to see him, and although she was more rational than William in emergencies, she related so well to everything that happened the other day.

"Me too. How are you? I heard you got a lady," she raised her brows, moving to sit on the couch next to Dudley, Joseph's sixteen year old Black Labrador. Jelisa practically grew up with this dog.

"An ol' lady," he chuckled, sitting down also, "yeah. And where'd you hear that?"

"You know Cody can't keep her mouth shut," Lisa rolled her eyes, "she moved back up here with her boyfriend, so now I know what goes on at all times. She saw you at Safeway with your woman."

Joseph rolled his eyes also, leaning back in the seat. "She's upstairs."

"What—"

"She's sleeping," he shushed, "damn, can you shut up?"

"Ew, dad," Jelisa scrunched her nose up.

"Grow up, stupid," he laughed, "you want a beer?"

"Please," she let Dudley lie his head in her lap and pet his fur coat. Joseph went into the kitchen, grabbing two bottles and coming back, handing one to her.

"Heineken?" she spotted the green bottle and looked at her father pointedly.

"I knew you were gonna say something—"

"What happened to Bud Light?" She smacked her lips. "Oh, see, that woman got you actin' bouj' bouj'," she popped open the bottle with her teeth.

"Shut up," he squinted his eyes at her.

"Don't forget where come came from, kid."

"Shut the hell up," he repeated once again and laughed loudly, taking a swig of his already open bottle, "I can't stand you."

Jelisa giggled, watching her dad in complete admiration and cherishing their small bonding moments. She loved him so much.

Later that evening, Jelisa was still seated on her father's couch, enjoying his presence as always and just having a good time. She remembered William was coming back to pick her up around eight to rest at his mom's, but right now she was happy.

Especially now since Joseph's girlfriend was awake and they'd gotten to know each other well. The woman looked a little younger than her fifty five year old father. Her golden brown skin was smooth and almost wrinkle-free, while her black and grey blended curls were sitting on her shoulders. Red lipstick adorned her lips along with short red acrylics on the tips of her fingers. She was kinda thick—Lawd Hammercy—and gorgeous, and she was so nice.

She also had those elbows that meant she could cook. Jelisa kept that little factoid in mind.

It was crazy because, Jelisa didn't know how to react to this woman. She popped up out of the blue and apparently she had been courting Joseph long enough to talk about living together. Well, they were also grown ass adults, but, still.

Jelisa wondered if her mother knew about this.

"What brand of lipstick is that, Ms—"

"What I tell you about that?" Neicey—her name— replied, "just call me what I told you."

"Sorry," Jelisa loved this woman already for some reason, maybe because her dad was getting the love he deserved, "What brand is it?"

"Um," she leaned back in the couch, conscious of Joseph's arm around the back of it, "I believe it's Revlon."

"It's gorgeous."

"Thank you, honey," she smiled widely.

"It's my favorite color on you," Joseph stared at her lovingly, a soft smile on his lips.

"Oh, be quiet," she lightly slapped his leg and did the most auntiest giggle Jelisa had ever heard. It was delightful.

"Do you have children?" Jelisa asked her.

"Mhm. I have four, my oldest is thirty and my youngest is twenty four."

"They live here?"

"Two of them—Janice and Amelia—are twins, and live in DC. The eldest is in Hawaii and the youngest is overseas in Spain for a project."

"Ooh, that's nice," she commended, "William wants to go to Madrid for our honeymoon but I wanna go to Morocco."

"Morocco is nice," she told her, "I stayed in Casablanca for two weeks."

Jelisa was so fascinated with Neicey. She was such a warm person and she was oh so very cute. Her dad looked amazed every time she talked and it was honestly so great that he found someone else in his life. She did worry about him being alone since separating from a dead relationship years ago. She was happy for him.

"Is that your phone or mine?" Joseph asked, patting his pockets for his own.

"That's mine," Jelisa grabbed hers and answered, "hello?"

"Hey, are you busy?" William asked.

"Not really, no. I was about to text you," she replied, excusing herself and going into the kitchen, "wassup?"

"Um...I'm kind of in shambles, Lisa, like I'm just really angry right now."

"Well, what happened?"

"I just..." he took a deep breath before speaking again, "my mom's about to remarry my dad."

"Excuse me?"

"Can I come get you?"

"Uh, yeah. Okay," Jelisa was confused because, for one, William's dad was so garbage and his mom knew that, so why would she even bother?"

"Can you give me ten minutes?" William continued.

"Yeah, that's fine. Calm down, I know your road rage is wild right now."

"I'll see you in a minute," he hung up and Jelisa sighed, staring at her phone questioningly.

"Are you okay, Jeli?" Joseph asked, standing at the door.

"I'm okay," she replied, "William's not."

"What happened?"

"Theresa's remarrying Richard."

Joseph frowned. "Did the accident make her go dumb—"

"Stop it!" Jelisa plucked his arm, "William just needs to cool down so he's coming over here."

"That's fine with me."

"Okay, cool," she put a hand to her forehead, "is this what marriage is gonna be?"

"Is it?" he snorted, "it's life, baby girl."

Damn.

Hey honies I'm updating cus uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh a nigga goin on a 7day cruise so she's not going to have internet fr