[ Part 2 of this story will be on that account ]

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𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚃𝚇.

"Look at mommy's baby!" Mari cooed as she tickled Kasani's stomach while he laid on his parent's bed wearing just a onesie. He flashed his mom a cheeky smile and kicked his legs.

"Bae..." Samiron walked into their bedroom with a straight face and Mari instantly knew she did something.

"Yess..?"

"I bought a new pack of boxers the other day? Where you put 'em at?" He scolded her from the door.

She abruptly turned around and continued playing with Kasani, "I didn't do shit to yo boxers."

"You really 'boutta teach our son how to lie and he's only 3 months old?"

She sucked her teeth, "Boy, I'm not lieing! I might've borrowed one or two— or three or four- but still, I didn't take the whole damn pack."

Samiron shook his head and laid down on his stomach next to Sani, "Yo momma a whole liar out here, son." He rubbed Sani's stomach.

"Stoppp!" Mari pushed his hand away and rolled her eyes, "Leave us alone, Samiron. We were bonding."

"Bonding? Shorty look at his face. Nigga looks like he doesn't even wanna be here." He pointed at Sani who was staring at the ceiling with his fingers in his mouth.

Mari swatted Samiron's hand away again, "Leave my baby alone!"

"Oh he's yo baby right now huh? But when he's crying in the middle of the night and you'on feel like getting up all of a sudden he's "your son." He shook his head, "Shit crazy, ain't it Sani?"

"Babugdts." Sani babbled, attempting to roll on top of Samiron.

"Not you agreeing with him Kasani. On who I won't pour yo bottle out right now?" Mari glared as she got up from the edge of the bed and walked into the bathroom.

"You threatening child neglect now..? You hear yo momma Sani? Crazy as hell." Samiron chuckled, rubbing his stomach again. Sani took a hold of Samiron's finger and wrapped his hand around it.

"Stop talking shit!" She yelled from the bathroom.

"You know what I noticed? You been real hostile towards me lately. Seems like you need to get dicked down."

"Even if I wanted to get dicked down I wouldn't be able to thanks to a tiny person who likes to wake up in the middle of the night and scream like he's getting chased by something."

"Shit, Ian lieing. Lil' boy be screaming his lungs out." He shook his head, looking at Sani who was trying to roll to the other side of the bed where Mari was sitting before she got up. Once he felt around and realized she was gone he started whining.

"Boy she comin' back, calm yo ass down." Samiron sat up and picked Sani up with him, letting him rest his head on his shoulder.

"Aw, my baby wants his mommy." Mari cooed, walking out of the bathroom. "Come here baby boy." She smiled and took Sani out of his dad's arms.

"He's such a momma's boy man." Samiron grumbled, "It's coo though, when I get my daughter from you she gon' be a daddy's girl."

Mari snapped her head up at Samiron, "Who's "you?" 'Cause it ain't me."

"Aight Mari. When I have you bent over the kitchen counter with one knee on the countertop and yo legs spread apart while i'm pulling yo hair, I don't wanna hear shit." He scoffed and got up to go downstairs with Mari following him as she held Sani on her hip.

"Daddy crazy, ain't he?" Mari asked Sani who perked his head up from her shoulder and smiled.

While Samiron went into the living room and turned on the t.v, Mari went into the kitchen to make Sani's bottle. After she was done, she went into the living room and set some pillows up on the couch before sitting Sani on them so he didn't fall. She threw his Winnie the Pooh blanket over him and took a seat next to Samiron, allowing him to throw his arm over her shoulder.

Since they had an Apple TV, she used the remote on her phone to change the t.v from the basketball highlights Samiron was watching to an episode of Criminal Minds.

"Shorty—" Samiron took a deep breath. "Why did you change it? And we watched this episode before bruh.."

"And?"

"Lord have mercy." He mumbled and leaned back on the couch.

"Aw bae look! Sani likes Criminal Minds too." She pointed at Sani who was making noises and kicking while he stared at the screen that looked like a bunch of jumbled up colors to him.

"Got my son sittin' there like a grown ass man." Samiron shook his head with a chuckle.

Mari took a video of Sani and sent it to the group chat with Samiron, his dad, and her parents while Samiron got up to get the door since he heard someone profusely banging.

"Damn, you deaf or something? Didn't hear us banging on the door for the past two minutes.." Zion scolded his brother as he walked into the foyer with Mayah, who was holding Cee, behind him.

"Don't be rude, Zy!" Mayah slapped his arm and he turned around and straight faced her.

"No I didn't hear yo stupid ass. Mari got the volume on the t.v all the way up, as usual." Samiron rolled his eyes as he followed his brother into the living room.

"Hi Unc!" Cee waved and smiled at Samiron.

"Wassup, lil' mama." He playfully tugged on her ponytails.

"Of course you in here watchin' Criminal Minds. Why am I even surprised?" Zion shook his head at Mari.

"Not too much on me Zion! I don't know what crawled up your ass this morning but don't bring that negative ass energy in here." She raised her eyebrows, making Mayah laugh.

Cee wiggled out of her mom's hold after spotting Sani on the couch. She stood in front of him and waved as if he could say something back.

"Mmcht, I didn't even come here for y'all grown asses. I came here for my nephew."

"Mama, da, look! Issa wittle bebe." Cee pointed at Sani who was still kicking his legs under the blanket.

"My dawg Sani!" Zion leaned over the back of the couch and tickled Sani's stomach.

"He's so cute!" Mayah picked Sani up and bounced him, watching as he giggled.

"I hold, I hold!" Cee reached her arms up at her mom.

"Hell no."

"Fuck ass no."

—Samiron, Zion, and Mayah all said at the same time.

Mari laughed, "Y'all! Just let her sit down and put Sani in her lap."

"If she drops my nephew.. don't say I didnt warn y'all." Zion shook his head, knowing Cee was mischievous as hell and would do shit just because you told her not to.

Mayah told Cee to sit on the couch so she did. Mayah hesitantly, but carefully, placed Sani on her. She kept her hand under his head for support.

"Ooo so cute!" Cee smiled down at Sani who was staring at her confusedly with a mug on his face. "He mean." She told her mom who bussed out laughing.

"He ain't mean he just got a natural mug on his face like his ugly ass daddy." Zion told Cee. Samiron rolled his eyes and flipped him off.

"When he not bebe anymore, we play?" Cee asked while still looking down at Sani. The only person she had her age was Jeulz and he lived a good hour away. The rest of her cousins were older than her by a few years which is why she always asked her parents for a sibling.

"Yes, y'all can play." Mari chuckled, helping her hold Sani's head up while Mayah took a picture. Samiron and Zion took the opportunity to step outside and get a quick smoke session in but when they did they saw Duck, Eli, and Rell climbing out of Duck's Mustang.

"Just when we said we didn't wanna share the blunt." Zion threw his hands up dramatically.

"Nigga fuck you! I need about five blunts right now thanks to Tasia's ass." Duck grumbled, walking up the porch and taking a seat on one of the patio chairs while Eli and Rell dapped the brothers up.

"What she do?"

"So look, I had just put Zari down for a nap. So I tell Tasia we finally got time to ourselves, let's fuck. She gon' tell me no 'cause she feels like i'ma trap her with

a baby since I been talking 'bout having another one. Now she's saying she's gonna become celibate for at least a year." Duck explained irritably causing both Zion and Samiron to laugh.

"She probably knows you really were gonna trap her ass." Zion chuckled as he rolled a second blunt.

"Mmcht, no I wasn't."

"Yea aight. You got Zari now you wanna build a football team. Poor Tasia don't know what she's getting herself into." Rell shook his head, passing the blunt to Samiron who put it to his lips.

"This nigga said-" Before he could take a pull, Mari opened the front door and stepped onto the porch where all of the boys were seated. They watched in confusion as she plucked the blunt out of Samiron's mouth, threw it onto the front lawn, walked back into the house and came back out with Sani.

"I know she didn't just thro— lord what did I do to deserve this?" Duck ran a frustrated hand down his face while Eli hopped over the porch railing and surveyed the wet grass for the blunt.

"Why did you do that? You crazy? Mentally unstable or something?" Samiron glared at Mari who soundly placed Sani on his thigh.

"Sani wants to spend some time with his daddy and his uncles." Mari smiled and walked back into the house normally.

"Blunt probably all soggy and shit. Stop lookin' for it Eli."

"I can't find it." He frowned, walking up the porch.

"No shit.." Zion mumbled, still rolling the second blunt in secret. He didn't like sharing regardless and now he had a reason not to.

"I'm about to cuss her ass out yo." Rell blew out an irritated breath.

Duck scoffed, "Can't even cuss her out 'cause she gon get to cryin'."

"That's facts." Samiron nodded, adjusting Sani on his lap and making sure the small blanket covered his body.

"On who Mari be cryin' when y'all cuss her out?"

"I swear to god!" Eli nodded. "Her and Bri'on always used to get into it and she would end up cryin'. Then Bri would feel bad so he'd go back and apologize. Shorty knew what she was doing though, her manipulative ass." Eli explained.

Duck laughed, recalling all the times they'd sit in the living room and listen to Bri and Mari argue. Bri would come back into the living room mad and as soon as he saw Mari's tears he would get back up and go apologize. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that he had the biggest soft spot for both of his sisters.

"We know the waterworks be workin' on Samiron too. Ole soft ass." Rell laughed before glancing at Zion who had turned his head to the other side and started smoking discreetly. He really wasn't gonna share.

"Who soft?" He waved Rell off. "Y'all be thinkin' Mari run shit and she don't."

"Cap. You know she got you wrapped around her finger." Duck shook his head before wiggling Sani's hand, "Ain't that right nephew? Yo daddy a whole bitch for yo momma."

"Mum-mum." Sani mumbled. All four boys snap their heads towards him and Zion started choking on the smoke.

"Nigga! He just said 'mama'."

"On god he did."

"Oh hell, don't tell Mari." Samiron sighed and turned Sani on his lap to face him. "Say da-da."

"Du-mum-mum." He babbled with his finger in his mouth.

"Now you bullshitting."

"Be glad his first word was "mama." Cee's first word was "beetch." Zion told the boys who bussed out laughing. What's worse is that Cee had babbled her first "word" in front of Nasir, which made him question his son's parenting skills.

"She was obviously with Mayah too much."

"Not too much on my wife, Elijah." Zion warned, accidentally pointing the blunt at him.

Eli shot up from his patio chair, "You had me inspecting the grass like a idiot. Whole time you had another blunt. Give it nigga."

"Gon' Eli! This ain't yours." Zion warned, stepping off the porch with the blunt in his mouth. Eli hopped over the railing and off the porch, charging at Zion. Within a few seconds they were slap boxing and Eli was trying his hardest to snatch the blunt from Zy's lips.

"Fucking idiots." Rell shook his head and looked at Sani who was attentively watching his uncles brawl.

Duck looked up from the news article he was reading on his phone, "I guess they're opening up an investigation on Jonah's case." He pursed his lips to the side.

Rell stifled a laugh, "Investigation my ass. Ain't they "investigated" Malcolm and Jahiem? Cases went cold in like 3 months.."

"Muthafuckas ain' even try! They saw how big Jahiem was and decided his case didn't deserve investigating. They guessed a McDonald's employee did it." Samiron dropped his head back laughing.

"That's crazyyy." Rell dragged laughing, "Nah but they need to fire those investigators on some real shit. Whole department slow as fuck."

Duck shook his head, "Shit, me and Mari be watching Criminal Minds. We could probably do a better job."

"Muthafuckas watch Criminal Minds and think they're investigators all of a sudden." Eli said breathlessly as he and Zion panted up the porch stairs.

"Coming from the same nigga that watches Grey's Anatomy and thinks he's a surgeon." Zion scoffed, nudging him with his elbow.

"You remember that too Zy? Stupid ass almost killed me." Rell glared at Eli who waved him off dismissively.

A few months back, Eli's gun accidentally went off at Zion's house, causing Rell to get shot in the arm. Luckily no one else was home except for the three of them and the bullet wasn't that deep. But Zion had no idea how to get it out despite being in the streets all through high school, so he didn't know what to do.

Eli on the other hand had just finished watching a season of Grey's Anatomy the night before with Cami and was feeling extra confident. His "operation" ended with Rell spending a week in the ICU and Eli paying off the hospital bills.

"Stupid ass was sitting on that bathroom floor digging through Rell's arm like it was dirt. Slow ass." Zy shook his head.

"At least I tried."

"It would've ended better if you didn't. Niggas was tellin' you, "take him to the hospital!" But nah, you was sitting there talking 'bout, "I know how to do it! Don't call the ambulance, who gon pay that bill?"

And you ended up being the one to pay the bill." Rell mimicked Eli who flipped him off.

⇊

"You're gonna squish him shorty." Samiron said as he laid up against the headboard staring at Sani who was laying next to him, kicking his legs and babbling.

Everyone had left Mari and Samiron's house a few hours ago. After taking a shower, eating dinner, and getting Sani ready for bed, Mari was beyond tired. Samiron was full of energy though, he was used to being up at this hour. So he sat up against the headboard in the dark room watching Squid Games on the t.v while his girlfriend and son got ready to go to sleep.

Mari rolled her eyes and turned off the last light in the room, leaving it completely dark aside from the t.v. "I'm not gonna squish him you idiot."

Samiron watched as she laid down on the bed and tucked Sani under her arm. He instantly let go of Samiron's finger and snuggled into his mom's body. "He gon' start whining if I just put him in the crib so I'm gonna wait 'till he falls sleep then I'll put him in there."

"You got him so spoiled." He shook his head.

"Shut yo mad ass up." Mari glanced at the t.v, "And turn this dumb shit off. That weird ass doll. Get that ugly ass shit off the screen."

"Well damn. Fuck she do to you?"

Mari shook her head and looked down at Sani, "You hear yo daddy? So quick to defend other bitches."

Samiron bussed out laughing, "Shut up man."

Sani continued to babble before slowly falling asleep, tucked under his mom's arm. Mari scrolled through her photos trying to free up some storage when she came across a picture from her and Samiron's first real date.

"Samiron look! You remember this from our first date?" She smiled and turned the phone towards Samiron.

"Yea, I remember when I took that. Ghetto ass first date."

Mari slapped his arm and sucked her teeth, "How was it ghetto?"

"We got into our Uber soaked in water. I had to tip the nigga a extra $300 because we fucked up his seats."

She waved him off, "That was most definitely your fault."

"Whatchu wanna do now?" Mir looked up from the check he was signing and at Mari who had just finished eating her dessert at the steak restaurant Samiron had brought them to for their first official date. After their meal, he ended up requesting a slice of strawberry cake that read in chocolate syrup at the bottom, "You're already mine, I just wanna hear you say it."