A Chance For Growth III

Please

A Few Days Later

Taraji woke up to the sound of Lani running around screaming. She looked at the time, wondering why her child could have so much energy at 6 in the morning. "Lani...SHUT UP!!!" Hev screamed at the top of her lungs. "NO!! I'M 3! I'M 3 I'M 3 I'M 3 I'M 3 I'M 3!!" Lani shouted back. "Renae..." Raji groaned, not wanting the now 3 year old to come into her room being loud. The door burst open and Lani climbed into her bed. "Morning mommy," she said, placing a kiss on Taraji's face. "Good morning baby. Why are you tormenting your sister?" Raji questioned. "It's my birthday and and everybody sleep...is sleep," she pouted. "That's because you can't tell time. It's very early baby," Raji said with a yawn.

"Yeah but it's-" Taraji's phone ringing interrupted Lani from sounding like a broken record. Grabbing her phone, Raji groaned. Instead of answering it herself, she handed it to Lani. "Hello?" The little one said, not knowing who she was talking to. "Hello Princessa. Happy birthday," Terry said, putting a smile on Lani's face. "Thank you Terry! I'm 3 now!" She excitedly said. "I know. You're such a big girl. Have you gotten your presents yet?" He asked. "No not yet. Everybody is still sleeping," Lani whined a little, seeing Raji doze back off. "Well in 10 seconds, come to the door. I have a surprise for you," he told her. She gasped as she jumped off the bed, rushing to the door.

"...7..8...9...10!" She counted, opening the door wide. Much to her surprise, she didn't see Terry but a stack of gifts a mile long. Letting out the loudest scream, everyone in the house jumped up thinking something had happened. "What happened!?" Every asked in unison. She dropped the phone, looking through all the gifts that sat outside the door. Dolls, dresses, an abundance of nail polish, kid makeup sets, a new tricycle, battery operated car, everything that a 3 year old could possibly want, sat outside. "Who sent all of this?" Cyrus asked. "Terrence," Taraji growled as she looked at Hev. At this point, she figured that if he knew where she was, then Heaven was the one to tell him.

"Lani you can't play with this stuff outside the door. It's gotta get brought in. Help her Heavenly," Raji spat, walking to the kitchen to start cooking since everyone was awake. Hev groaned as she started pulling things into the house. "Lani where is my phone!?" Taraji yelled from the kitchen. The little one spun around, searching the floor for the phone she dropped. "I found it!" She yelled, running it to her mother. Taraji looked at it, seeing Terrence still on the line. She refused to talk to him so she simply hung up so she could call Michael. But much to her surprise, she didn't need to. Pulling up, he saw the mountain of gifts, wondering why Hev was the only one bringing them inside.

"Your mom really went all out didn't she?" He asked, lending her a helping hand. "Noooooppppppeeeeee. Dad did," she confessed. He paused for a second, trying to figure out how Terrence even knew where they were staying. "It's kind of excessive isn't it?" Michael asked, thinking he was doing this just to show out. "Not really. He always buys us a ton of gifts. Or he gives mom the money to buy them. You should've seen all the stuff he would buy for mom. It's what he does," she explained, knowing Michael was overthinking as usual. Once they got the last set of gifts inside, he went on a search for Taraji. "Hey babe," she said, fixing Lani's plate first.

"Hey. Looks like the gifts have arrived. How are you?" He asked, planting a kiss on her lips. "Tired as hell. I swear I can't stand Terrence. Why would he send all these gifts early in the damn morning? Lani is so wired it's ridiculous," she complained. "I guess he's trying to make up for the past 2 years he hasn't been around," Michael suggested. "Yeah right. Lani come eat!" She yelled. Little footsteps were heard rushing to the kitchen. "Hi Mickey! Is my birthday!" She said as she climbed up on the bar stool. "I know. Are you happy to be 3?" He engaged, giving Taraji time to finish up without having to solely focus on the birthday girl. "Uh huh. Look at the doll Terry got me!" She said with the biggest smile on her face.