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“Hey!” I answered and then put her on speaker. “Y’all leaving?”

“We just pulled off, baby.”

I looked at MJ as he came back into the living room.

“They’re on the way,” I told him.

Maylee dropped the pillow she’d been holding.

“How far?” she asked.

“Give us about twenty minutes,” Ma said. “And don’t have your father coming home to a bunch of foolishness.”

MJ laughed.

“Why are you saying that like we’re throwing a party or something?” he asked.

“Because I know my children,” she quickly responded.

Daddy said something in the background that I couldn’t make out before his voice came through a little clearer.

“Tell them I’m ready to see the people in my house.”

“We’re ready to see you too, Daddy,” I said with a smile.

Visiting Daddy in the center was cool, but seeing him in his comfort zone, in his home, I knew would hit different.

“I know, baby girl. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Love you,” I said eagerly.

“Love you too.”

“Love y’all,” Ma added before hanging up.

I stared at my phone for a second while still smiling. Twenty minutes wasn’t long, but I knew that it would drag because all of us standing in the living room were excitedly waiting.

“Okay,” I said while looking around. “Everybody, make sure your stuff is picked up.”

MJ glanced around the living room.

“What stuff? You’ve had us cleaning all morning.”

Maylee laughed while MJ shook his head and headed back toward the kitchen. I tried to find something else to do, but there wasn’t anything left. The decorations were finished, the food was ready, and the house looked good. I straightened a pillow anyway, then moved it right back where it had been. Maylee caught me doing it.

“You’re nervous,” she boldly stated.

She was at the age where her making astute observations and then speaking on them was the norm.

“No, I’m not.”

“You just fixed that pillow three times.”

“Because you keep messing it up.”

“I haven’t touched it!”

I laughed and sat beside her on the couch. She leaned against me, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders.