Love Knows No Color Pt. 19

I told Shavonda I had to get something, and drove the Jeep home to get the playpen. Arriving back at the picnic, we set it up in the yard, and let Miracle play with her toys while the older ladies fawned over her. We knew she was in good hands, and we enjoyed dancing on the patio.

Soon, James grabbed the mike from the DJ, and informed the crowd that we were going to play a few songs for them. We warmed up with a couple Bob Marley tunes, then Shavonda did Rihanna's Umbrella, and Macy Gray's Sweet Baby. We saved the best for last, and I gave the introduction, "When I first heard this song, I could have sworn it was Shavonda singing it. We've never played it for an audience before, but we've been working out the arrangements on it for the past week. As you've noticed, we don't have a drummer, so our version is going to sound different than what you're used to if you've heard the original. I try to play both the bass and drum parts on bass guitar, so our version is a little funkier. With all respect due to Nikki Minaj, here's our version of Save Me."

We started into the song. It was hard to concentrate on playing when I heard Shavonda's voice loud and clear, sounding every bit as good as the original recording.

I drove for miles just to find you and find myself Only screams all these voices in my head You gave me strength gave me hope for a lifetime I never was satisfied This time won't you save me, this time won't you save me Baby I can feel myself giving up, giving up This time won't you save me, this time won't you save me Baby I can feel myself giving up, giving up Shavonda had never sang better, and when we were done and we stepped away from the patio most of the younger family members gathered around us to tell her how good she was, how she'd nailed it. Tamika came up to us, asking if she could sing with us next time. Having been to karaoke with her many times, we told her yes, and invited her to practice with us some time. Having Tamika meant we'd have three female vocalists, and one could sing lead while the other two handled the backing vocals.

After our set, the DJ went back to playing his music, and I found a quiet place to make a phone call. "Mom!" I said excitedly, "Miracle's crawling!"

There was silence on the other end for a minute. "She's only 6 months. She's not supposed to be doing that yet. They don't crawl for another month of two."

"Be that as it may, she crawled away from me just a little bit ago. Everybody at the picnic saw her. We have video. I'll show it to you next time we come down."

After hanging up. I returned to the party, joining Shavonda on the patio. We danced close, holding each other tight. "Our daughter crawling," she said with a tear in her eye. I wiped away the tear with my thumb, and stared mesmerized into her eyes. They were filled with love and joy.

Later, after we'd gotten home and the kids were in bed, I held my lovely wife until we fell asleep. It had been a long but beautiful day. The Jeep would have to wait until tomorrow to be unpacked.

All that week passed uneventfully. Friday evening, we decorated the house for Brittany's birthday party. She was turning seven, and we'd invited a lot of her school friends as well as Patty's and Ziggy's kids. It was nice to be able to throw her a party like that, but we were in a good place financially and could afford it.

The stores were doing well, and we were able to bank most of my paycheck, living off what Shavonda paid herself from the stores. In addition to saving my pay, we'd also banked most of the court settlement from the city giving us a nice nest egg in the bank. Times were good. Shavonda had even suggested I come off the road and help her full time with the store but I refused. My working at the store wouldn't generate any more income for us, and if I kept driving truck we could continue to build our nest egg.

One thing that helped immensely was our modest lifestyle. Neither of us really cared about brand names or "upscale" items. We both had simple taste. My main indulgence was my model trains, and Shavonda's was her shoes.

The birthday party was chaotic, with about a dozen kids all running around the backyard. But Brittany was happy. And that's all that mattered. But it being a kid's party, it was over early so we had time to clean up before we went to bed.

The next morning, after church, Shavonda was approached by the Reverend Frazier about being in the choir. "We'd love to have you," he said, "And you have the voice of an angel."

"Sorry, but I can't," Shavonda replied. "Our schedule this summer is pretty full, and I couldn't make the commitment to be there for the practices and every Sunday as well. But if you'd like, Jason and I could play some music for the congregation some Sunday. As a matter of fact, when we do that, I'd like it if the choir could sing backup. We could get together some evening at my house and you could listen to us play and see what you think. When you hear what we can play you might have some suggestions about which hymns we could do well." The reverend was agreeable, and next time he made his rounds we'd play for him. Shavonda was excited by this, and when we got home she looked through our music collection for whatever gospel we had. There wasn't much. Obviously, a trip to a record store was in order. Yet another thing to add to the ever-growing list of things to do.

That afternoon we went to Target to do some shopping. Kenny and Edie volunteered to sit with the kids while we shopped, so it was just me, Shavonda and the baby. Shavonda was still a little leery of letting others take care of the baby. Althea was the only one other than me that she trusted to take care of Miracle.

I followed Shavonda around the store with Miracle in the shopping cart with the baby seat, playing peekaboo and otherwise keeping the baby entertained while my wife took her time shopping. We were in the shoe department and Shavonda was busy trying on whatever caught her eye when an elderly black lady walked up to me.

"OH, isn't she precious?" the lady cooed at Miracle. "Is she yours?"

"Yes, she is," I beamed proudly. Shavonda had stopped what she was doing and stood a couple yards away, watching us with a smile on her face.

"She's just the most beautiful baby," the elderly lady gushed. "You must be so proud."

"She gets her beauty from her mother," I said. Shavonda's smile had grown into a wide grin. I smiled back, enjoying her beauty.

"I wish I could meet the mother and see for myself," the lady said. I motioned with my hand toward Shavonda and the lady caught my hint. She turned and looked where I motioned. "Shavonda Jenkins! Is that you?"

"Why yes, ma'am it is." Shavonda said. "Do I know you?"

"I used to babysit you when you were a little bit. You and Shaunice and Marcus."

A look of recognition spread over Shavonda's face. "Miss Rita? I haven't seen you in maybe 20 years."

"And you're still as cute as you were back then. Is this beautiful baby yours?"

"Yes, her name is Miracle, and that's my husband Jason with her."

They talked for a while, reminiscing about Shavonda's childhood. I kept forgetting that Shavonda had lived here her whole life, and every so often we'd run into somebody from her past. In every one, she proudly showed me off, and our baby as well. And if Ethan and Brittany were with us, she claimed them as her children as well. I loved that my queen had accepted my children as her own, given the tragic circumstances surrounding their birth mother. And we both knew that, had Shavonda carried her first child to term I would have accepted him or her as my own as well.

To be continued...