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“Girl, no! Go sit down.” I laughed.

Q was standing outside holding a grocery bag. I immediately frowned.

“What did I tell you?” I said through gritted teeth.

“You said no gifts. You’re cooking dinner, and I brought dessert. It’s called me being raised right, woman.”

I stepped aside and let him in. He kissed my cheek, and that was the first thing Kaiden noticed. His eyes went from Q to me and then back to Q. He looked him from his feet to the top of his head and then back down. I couldn’t believe my twelve-year-old son was sizing up a grown man. He was Rahmelo’s son for sure. Q caught it too. He didn’t act weird about it.

“Aight, so which one of y’all is the boss here?” he asked.

“Me,” Khari said.

“No, she’s not,” Kaiden blurted out.

“I knew the boss would speak up.” Q laughed.

“Q, this is Kaiden. Kaiden, this is Quincey, but everybody calls him Q. And this bundle of energy is Khari.”

Kaiden stood up and shook his hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same to you,” Q said.

Kaiden was trying to feel him out. It was like Rah had walked in the room and was telling Kaiden what to do. Q didn’t force a conversation with him. I waved for him to come in the kitchen with me so we could talk while I continued dinner. Khari came in every few minutes asking a million damn questions. She wanted to know if he had kids, a dog, and if he knew how to braid hair. He answered all her questions without a lick of aggravation. He didn’t have kids, and I was afraid me having them would run him off. He was up for the challenge. So far, his ass was doing good. Kaiden stayed quiet longer than I expected. When we sat down to eat, he ate his food and just sat there and listened. I could see the questions burning to come out.

“Kaiden, do you have any questions for Q?” I asked.

He didn’t hesitate. “You like my mama?”

“What? You said ask.”

“Nah, he good,” Q said. “Yes, I like your mama.”

“How much?”

I covered my face, and Q laughed because I knew where his mind was.

“I like her enough to be sitting at her table answering interview questions with her son.”

I couldn’t believe Kaiden smiled.

“That’s really not a good answer though,” Kaiden said.

I was starting to regret this whole dinner idea.

“I like your mama enough to respect her life. That means I know she got two kids that came before me. I know she got a job she cares about, and I know she had a whole life before me. I’m not here trying to erase any of that.”

“You know who my dad is?”

“I knew him,” Q told him.

“You ever met him?”

“We talked a few times.”

“What did y’all talk about?” Kaiden kept spitting questions out.

“Business mostly.”