~Theresa~
"I wonder what the boy's are up to..."
"Probably being a menace to the neighborhood, heh. " he scoffed.
I giggled.
He poured more wine into my glass after noticing it was getting empty. "Oh-thank you!"
He set the bottle back down on the counter, "My pleasure. You know after all these years I can't see how I do it."
"What do you mean?" I took a sip.
"Well, you know, the stigma behind the whole "deadbeat dad" and "papa was rolling stone", it's just that people are always surprised when they find out I'm by myself."
"In this society nowadays, it's not all the time you see a man loving and taking care of his kids by himself. It's just a stupid stereotype. I wouldn't read too much into it, if I were you."
"Well I think it's best if someone should. Break down the walls of these false accusations and build up some truth, you know what I'm sayin'? It's kinda like you, society loves women like you..."
I narrowed my eyes at him, not sure if I should be offended or not.
"What do you mean women like me? "
"Single moms. You guys always get so much praise and love and support. Not to say you don't deserve it, I'm not saying that at all. It'd just be nice for us single dads to get some support, you know?"
"Well I support you."
He glanced up from his glass, swallowed then waited for me to continue.
"I like how you got your own place; rent paid on time. I like how you got a well-paying job, keep yourself and your kids in good shape. Craig jr. doing good in school and Rayshaun going away to a big, special Art institute."
Craig sighed into a grin, resting his head on his palm. "I think you're doing a wonderful job. Wife or no wife."
"And I can proudly say that about you too..." he raised his glass and smirked. I raised mine to his and we clang ours together. We both took a sip of the acidic wine, letting comfortable silence engulf us. Nothing to worry about; just me and him.
I stared at his features and thought to myself, "I can see us like this for a long time..."
~Chresanto~
It's around 10:00 pm and the night is slowly starting to die down. Trust me, I wouldn't be the one to go to bed this early but honestly I'm getting a little drowsy.
All of us had stayed in the living room, watching movies and TV. The lights were off, except in the kitchen.
I looked around the room.
Prince was laid out on the couch, scrolling away on his phone. Ray was sitting in front of Jacob's legs; still watching whatever was on.
Craig was looking like me. Eyes droopy, looking as though he could pass out at any minute.
Obviously nothing was popping off at the moment so I laid back, took a deep breath and closed my eyes....
. . .Chresanto's Dream. . .
"I love you, Santo..."
I sighed, "Stop saying that. No you don't. "
"How you gone tell me how I feel? It's the truth."
