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Maliah looked at her.

“Girl, what?” she asked.

“I’m just saying,” Maylee said with a shrug.

“You got some competition now,” MJ told Maliah.

“Please. That baby knows who his real favorite is.”

“He doesn’t even know his own name yet,” MJ said.

Eternity laughed before immediately placing a hand over her stomach.

“Ow. MJ, stop making me laugh.”

“My bad, Ma.”

I leaned back in my wheelchair, enjoying the sound of everybody laughing together. For the next couple of hours, we settled into being home. Sha was at home with the kids while Tori made sure Eternity ate something, Maliah helped organize the baby’s things, and Maylee followed whoever was holding him around the house like she was his personal bodyguard.

Eventually, Eternity started getting tired. I could see it in her face before she admitted it.

“Come on, baby,” I told her. “Let’s get you upstairs.”

“I’m fine,” she said before yawning.

“I know you are. You can be fine in the bed.”

Maliah helped her mother upstairs while MJ brought the baby. I was the last to come up since I had to use the lift to get there. We had a bassinet set up right beside our bed that I knew Tori must have put there.

“You need anything else?” I asked.

She shook her head.

“Just some rest.”

“You gonna come lay down?” she asked.

“In a little while. I got something I need to take care of first.”

“What’s that?”

“Nothing for you to worry about.”

She narrowed her eyes.

“Malik...”

I leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“I’m not going nowhere, baby. Just got something I need to handle downstairs.”

She studied me for a moment before nodding. I waited until she was comfortable before heading back downstairs. I hated the damn noise this shit made whenever I was on it. It was like an announcement of when I was coming. MJ was in the kitchen when I found him, standing near the refrigerator with a bottle of water in his hand. Tahari had gone home with Maliah after she helped Eternity into the bedroom, and Maylee was upstairs watching television in her room.

“MJ.”

He turned around.

“What’s up, Pops?”