Untameable (BWWM)

Chapter 26

I was still giddy from seeing our beautiful new home even long after we left the estate. My mind was racing with endless ideas as far as decor and furniture. So many rooms. So many possibilities. I was so excited to finally be making major headway towards our future. It almost seemed too good to be true.

Grant took me to pick up my car from the firm. We returned much later in the evening than we intended but I was in no hurry to get back to the store anyways.

From there, I high tailed it to my parent's house to share the good news. I wasn't sure who was home but this late in the day, I knew someone would be. I was glad to see Dad's truck parked under the carport and alongside it was Pearly Ann's pale yellow Beetle convertible.

I ran into my old childhood home and screamed at the top of my lungs. "Daddy!"

"Sweet Pea!" he called out from somewhere in the house.

"Daddy!"

"Sweet Pea!"

This was our old time version of Marco Polo. Calling each other's name back and forth until we pinpointed the location of the other's voice. It really wasn't necessary for a house as small as ours, but we enjoyed our game nonetheless.

I found him upstairs in Mom's and Pearly Ann's art room completed with a sewing machine and a multitude of crafts and soap making ingredients. The room was honestly quite funky.

"Hey, Dad! What are you doing?" I wondered looking at the full garbage can.

"Cleaning this room up some. They could have more space if they got rid of all these empty bottles and containers."

"Mom is gonna give you an earful. Need some help?"

Dad laughed and shook his head at me. "I think I got it, Sweet Pea. So what's the news?"

"How did you know there was news?" I questioned while sitting at the sewing table.

"I think I know my daughter well enough to know when she has something to tell me. So. What is it? Finally come to tell me you're married?"

My heart dropped in my chest.

Dad ceased his task to look at me with raised brows, expecting a response. "What a poker face," he chuckled.

"How did you know?"

"We all know. Me. Your Mom. Your in laws."

"But how?"

"I didn't inform the others about it. They found out some other way. But, you do know I have my eyes and ears on my daughters at all times."

"Well dang! Is nothing in my life private anymore? Oh my God! It's like I'm being handed off from one warden to the next."

Dad sighed. "Don't be a smart mouth. And don't be so quick to resent the fact you live in a city where people look out for you twenty-four/ seven. In a world where black women and girls go missing without even so much as an amber alert, please recognise your own privilege and be grateful."

I slumped in my chair and gave an irritably grumbled, "Yes sir. Still, I'm entitled to my privacy. I can't do a thing without someone else finding out about it and I'm over it. I'm a grown woman and I'm being watched like some rebellious horny teenager."