Chapter Twenty-one
Super Bowl weekend came quickly for the Stones. They were packed and ready to go, except for Target, who was spending the weekend with Camille and her husband. Target was not only a protector of his family, but he was also protective of Camille. She was, after all, part of their extended family, and they loved her very much.
“Ready to go, babe?” Ramsey asked as he sat his sleeping daughter's car seat on one of the seats in their private jet.
Keilah sat down next to her daughter and buckled her car seat and said, “I can't wait. I don't want to get snowed in.”
Ramsey snapped his belt in place and said, “We're good. Elliott will be taking off in a second. We'll be in Los Angeles in no time. Who's picking us up?”
“I don't know, but it'll probably be Luke or Roman,” she revealed.
He put his arm around her shoulders and said, “I think it'd be a good idea to tell them about the baby while we're there. You're going to start showing soon. What do you think?”
“What about your parents and Xenia and Keith? I don't want them left out.”
He put his hand over her stomach and caressed it. “Maybe we can call them and put them on speaker when we have everyone together in one room.”
“Whatever you think is best,” she answered as she laid her head on his shoulder. “I'm sleepy.”
“Well, you have a couple of hours to sleep. I have some work to do, so I'll be awake in case Neariah wakes up.”
The voice of Elliott, their pilot, came over the speaker, alerting the couple to prepare for takeoff. Within minutes they were taxiing down the runway and on their way to California.
Keilah yawned and said, “I can barely hold my eyes open.”
He kissed her forehead and said, “Go to sleep, babe. Sweet dreams.”
A few hours later, their jet landed just as Neariah and Keilah were waking up from their long nap. Neariah woke up crying. Ramsey gave her a cup of milk and patted her leg to calm her down, while Keilah yawned.
“Did you have a good nap?”
“I did, but I'm still sleepy,” she replied as she ran her fingers through her hair and stuck a breath mint into her mouth. “Did I snore?”
He laughed and said, “No comment.”
“Did I?” she asked again with a smile on her face.
“Just a little, but it was a sexy snore,” he answered.
“I see you have jokes, Stone.”
He tickled Neariah's feet, causing her to giggle.
The pilot pulled the jet into the area where small planes and jets boarded passengers.
He announced to the couple that they were free to exit the plane, so Ramsey unbuckled Neariah's car seat and took her out so she could stretch her legs.
Before they could gather their belongings, Luke stepped onto the plane and said, “Welcome to L.A.”
Surprised, the couple turned and found Luke standing in the doorway. Keilah hugged her brother's neck in silence. He knew she was crying, because she always did when they had been apart for an extended period of time.
He hugged her tightly, kissed her on the cheek, and whispered, “I missed you too.”
Ramsey gave Luke a brotherly hug and said, “Great to see you, Luke.”
“Right back at you, bro,” he replied.
Keilah picked up her purse and said, “I'm starving. Is Sabrinia home?”
“No, she's catering a big fund-raiser at Cedars-Sinai Hospital. She knew you guys would arrive hungry, so she made sure she had lunch waiting on you,” Luke replied as he picked up his niece and gave her a kiss. “Neariah has grown since Thanksgiving.”
Ramsey gathered the rest of their belongings and jokingly said, “You should see her eat.”
“I bet. You guys ready to go?” Luke asked.
Ramsey nodded. “Yeah, I need to talk to Elliott first. I'll meet you at the car.”
Ramsey walked over to Elliott and shook his hand. He thanked him for their safe arrival and briefly discussed their itinerary for the weekend. It wasn't uncommon for their pilot to reap the benefits of the Stones' vacations when they traveled. Elliott would be spending Super Bowl weekend with friends in the Long Beach area. The Stones provided him with an expense account, and he was paid very well for his services. After Ramsey had a brief conversation with Elliott, and once their luggage was securely loaded into Luke's car, they headed out of the terminal.
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The weekend seemed to go by a lot faster than the Stones wanted it to, and before they knew it, Super Bowl Sunday was upon them and the entire family was gathered at Roman's house to partake in all the festivities. The family seemed to be split between the two football teams, and everyone wore a jersey, a hat, or some other accessory to support their team. Sabrinia had gone all out with the menu. She took the traditional tailgate favorites and made some of them gourmet style, while preparing a lot of healthy alternatives. It was, after all, what she did best, and her family loved her cooking. Sabrinia had brought Roman's wife, Milan, into her business. She had been an executive in a downtown marketing firm but had decided to take a break to spend more time with her family doing something she enjoyed.
In the kitchen Keilah helped her sisters-in-law with the food. Sabrinia watched Keilah as she sampled several items.
As she spooned mixed fruit into a bowl, Sabrinia said, “Luke told me he had a talk with you about quitting work. Have you given it much thought?”
Keilah nodded. “I have. I hate when Luke does that to me. It's like he's in my head.”
Sabrinia laughed and said, “He worries about you. We all do.”
Milan agreed and then said, “It's past time for you and Ramsey to retire. Neariah needs both her parents, and neither one of you should do anything to jeopardize that.”
Keilah picked up a piece of cheese and popped it in her mouth. “I know. I kind of freaked out on Ramsey about it.”
“What do you mean, freaked out?” Milan asked.
“You know, I was venting to him about it, and it came out like I was angry at him,” she admitted. “I felt bad that I jumped on him like that.”
“You should've,” Sabrinia pointed out as she spooned some hot spinach dip into a bowl. “I hope you apologized to him.”
“I did. I made up with him right away.”
“Good,” Milan replied. “I say we get this food out there to the guys so they can get their grub on.”
The three ladies carried the food out to the large table that had been set up in the family room. Everyone was mingling in the room, and the children were running through the house, laughing and playing. Keilah and Ramsey wanted to make their announcement before the kickoff, so when Luke called the family together to bless the food, it was the perfect time for them to share their wonderful news. As Roman blessed the food, he choked up as he gave thanks for having such a large and loving family. Once he finished the prayer, Ramsey made a three-way call to his parents and his sister, Xenia, and her husband. Once everyone was on the phone, he told them to put it on speaker so everyone could hear him. Then he got everyone's attention in the family room before they started digging into the delicious food.
He stood next to his wife and made their announcement. “Hey, guys, I want to talk to you for a second. I have my parents, my sister, and my brother-in-law on speaker so they can hear this as well,” he said as he held his cell phone up in the air. “I just want to say how happy we are that we were able to get away from D.C. to come out here to spend time with family. In the future it's our plan to do it more often, because Keilah and I are seriously going to reduce our responsibilities at the office and possibly retire soon, especially since we're expecting another baby, who should be due sometime in late summer or early fall.”
There were gasps and screams of joy. Upon hearing the news, several people starting clapping, and the couple was immediately showered with hugs and kisses of congratulations. Ramsey put the phone up to his ear and heard his mother crying. His father, his sister, and his brother-in-law congratulated them and thanked them for allowing them to be a part of the announcement.
Luke hugged his sister and said, “You're really going to have to retire now, sis.”
“I know. We're working on it,” Keilah admitted.
Once the excitement from the announcement subsided a bit, the family filled their plates with delicious food, poured drinks, and settled into their seats as the kickoff was made.
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Later that night, as Keilah got Neariah ready or bed, she got a call on her cell. She immediately recognized the number as Michael's.
“Hello?”
“Keilah, I'm sorry to call you so late. I just wanted to let you know that I was able to settle everything with that lieutenant colonel at my academy. He won't be hurting any more boys there, and there won't be any investigators coming around to harass you. I'm so sorry about all this, and I apologize for everything I did or said to hurt you.”
“I appreciate that, Michael and I hope you're able to get rid of all the things that have been troubling you.”
Michael looked over to Madeline, who had dozed off on the sofa, and said, “I am. I'm off to a great start.”
Keilah picked Neariah up in her arms and said, “That's wonderful, Michael.”
“Thank you,” he answered. “Well, I'll let you go, and I'm sorry I disturbed your evening.”
“Don't worry. I wasn't in bed yet. Have a good evening.”
“You too,” he replied before hanging up.
Ramsey walked into the bedroom with a cup of milk for his daughter. “Who was that?”
“Michael. He was calling to let me know that everything was taken care of, and we shouldn't have any more issues.”
He picked up Neariah's towel and dirty clothes and tossed them in a hamper. As he removed the lotion and powder from the bed, he said, “I hope he's telling the truth.”
“I believe him,” Keilah replied as she handed Neariah to her father. “Is the game over?”
“Almost,” he answered as he cuddled his daughter. “Do you want me to take her back downstairs with me so you can get ready for bed?”
“No, she's almost asleep. I'm just waiting on Lucas to bring up the crib.”
He passed Neariah back over to her mother and said, “I'll get it. You know he probably got distracted. After all, his girlfriend is down there.”
“Ramsey, wait!” she called as she laid Neariah on the bed. “Are you serious about retiring?”
He walked over to her and said, “When I look at you and Neariah, it's not a hard decision to make, especially with the new baby coming. You're going to have to be patient with me, though, because it's not something I can do overnight.”
“I know, babe. Thank you.”
He patted her on the backside and said, “Thank me later. I want you in bed buck naked when I come back.”
She giggled and said, “Don't take too long, because I'm a little sleepy.”
He turned back to her and, with a mischievous look on his face, said, “You can go to sleep if you want to. I know how to wake you up. I'll be back in a second.”
Keilah turned back to Neariah, who was staring directly at her with a smile on her face, as if she knew exactly what her parents were talking about.
“I thought you were almost asleep, young lady.”
“Momma,” she replied in a whisper.
“Yes, I'm Momma,” Keilah answered as she crawled up on the bed next to her daughter and lay down. Minutes later Ramsey reentered with the crib, which he set up and got ready for Neariah, who was slowly drifting off to sleep.
“Thanks, babe,” Keilah whispered.
He winked at his wife before scooping Neariah up into his arms and gently placing her in the crib. After covering her with a blanket, he turned his attention back to Keilah, who was yawning.
“Tired, huh?”
“Yeah, I guess I have a little jet lag, but it was worth it,” she whispered. “I had a great time. I'm glad we came.”
“Me too. I see how much you light up when you're around your brothers, and you should. It's all about love.”
Keilah kissed him tenderly on the lips and said, “I'm so happy right now, Ramsey.”
“And I plan to keep you that way,” he responded before sitting down on the side of the bed. “I'm going back down to hang out a little bit. I think they're getting ready to get a poker game going. Do you want to come?”
She sat up next to him and said, “Maybe, but I want to shower first.”
“You need me to hang around so I can wash your back?” he asked as he stood.