“Honey whether you and Justin are together or not you’re a part of this family now.”
That heart felt remark from Lynn was why Kiki was packing her own bags along with Cheyenne’s for their trip to Tennessee. Now that Cheyenne’s identity was revealed it was time for her extended family to meet her and vice versa. So Lynn suggested a mini family reunion during her monthly visit home to check on the family and hers and Justin’s property. Justin was all for the idea, he couldn’t wait to introduce Cheyenne and Kiki to his whole family. At first Kiki was reluctant to go, but everyone insisted - Justin, Lynn and even Sadie, who called her up and told her she better have her butt in Tennessee when the time came. Humbled by their demands to have her present, Kiki couldn’t say no in the end. Plus the trip could serve as a much needed vacation for the three of them now that the dust from the media storm had settled.
Kiki was doing a final check of their luggage in her living room when the doorbell rang.
From her spot on the floor where she was playing with her wooden blocks, Cheyenne eagerly asked. “Mommy I get it?”
“Sure sweetie.” Kiki zipped up her toiletry bag and followed Cheyenne as she ran to the door.
“Who is it?!” She yelled louder than necessary.
“It’s Daddy.” Justin answered with an assumed lithe in his voice.
A big bright smile sprouted on Cheyenne’s face and she whirled around to face Kiki. “It’s Daddy, Mommy. I can open?”
“We have to look through the peephole first remember?” She scooped her up and brought her to the door. “Ok now look through the hole. Is that Daddy out there?”
Squinting, she saw Justin and Lonnie standing in the hallway and she nodded anxiously. “Yup.”
“Ok then we can open the door now.” Kiki let her unlatch the chain and then the deadbolt before she placed her back on the floor and left the rest to her.
On her tip toes and with both hands wrapped around the knob, she turned until the door gave. Her little fingers wedged through the crack she made and opened the door wide. “Hi Daddy.” She beamed up at him.
“Hey baby.” He scooped her up off the floor and peppered her face with silly kisses as he walked into the living room behind her mother. “Hey Kik.”
“Justin.” She responded, already headed back to her luggage. “Hey Lonnie.”
“Hey.” He greeted her as he brought up the rear in their travels into the main room.
“You’re not done packing yet?” Justin asked, seeing all the bags laid out open on her couches and coffee table.
“Of course I am. I’m just double checking.” Finishing off one bag, she closed it up and sat it on the floor. “Now why are you two here? Our flight isn’t for another like...almost 4 hours.”
“We were bored, figured as your guests you’d entertain us.” Justin smiled charmingly.
“Uh, no. You’re not a guest by choice so I’m not obligated, you’ve been here enough times to not even qualify as a guest anymore, and I’m busy. Go entertain yourselves.” She responded, barely paying them any mind as she continued to go through the five days worth of hers and Cheyenne’s clothing and accessories.
“Yo Lon, she’s got Madden in the den. Rematch.”
Lonnie scoffed and finished the text he was sending. “You mean your shut down part two. Maybe after this you’ll get tired of losing your money.”
“That was a one time deal. This time I got baby girl and she’s gonna help me win aren’t you?” She agreed with a vigorous nod. “Alright let’s go.”
Before they got too far Kiki stopped them to remind Cheyenne that she had to pick up her toys first. She complied and then led the way into the den where the game was on. Kiki pressed on with her work and soon she could hear Justin and Lonnie, mostly loud Justin, trash talking. She shook her head thinking, couldn’t they have stayed at his house and played with his freakin’ Playstation instead of making a bunch of racket in my house. She shrugged the complaint off, there was no point arguing with their logic aloud let alone in her head and she put her concentration back on the task at hand.
When all the bags were checked, Kiki set them by the door and joined the others in the den. She sat on the floor with Cheyenne, helping her build a bunch of random structures with her blocks all the while being utterly entertained by the two men bickering and getting way too into the video game. Eventually they all grew hungry and they still didn’t have to be at the airport for a couple more hours, so Kiki ordered some take out. By the time they were contently full off of pizza and wings it was time for them to head out. After a quick security check, they left the apartment, piling the luggage and themselves into the back off the SUV, and they were off.
With the paparazzi, that practically had an office at LAX, on top of the frustrating and tedious security checks, Kiki expected to have a massive headache by the time they got to their gate. Thankfully it was an evening flight they were taking, so not too many people were around the airport and most of the paparazzi were already off stalking other celebrities out hitting up the clubs in Hollywood. Those that were still milling around, quickly located them not long after they settled into a couple of seats waiting for boarding. With Lonnie and Eric, who had met them at the sidewalk drop off, standing guard and Kiki shooting them dirty, I-wish-you-might looks, they kept their distance. A few fans and parents of fans came by for autographs, but they weren’t being bothersome or overbearing. Usually, Justin never minded showing his appreciation for his fans, but he was in an especially good mood today. Besides Kiki was with him, she’d probably tell him off if he was rude to one of them. So far it was turning out to be, relatively, one of the easiest commercial flights he’d ever been on since before he was a teenager.
Finally first class boarding for flight 577 to Memphis, Tennessee was announced. Lonnie and Eric escort the trio as far as the ticket podium where their job essentially ended. They were on their own now.
“Don’t worry guys I’ll make sure they don’t rip him apart on the other side.” Kiki joked.
“Oh I don’t doubt that for a minute.” Lonnie volleyed back. He was well aware of the caution the paparazzi and overzealous fans took when she was around. She was half their size yet they were more afraid of her than him and Eric. “Ya’ll have a good time.”
“And bring back some food right?” Justin replied.
Big fans of his mother’s and grandmother’s cooking, both Lonnie and Eric grinned in affirmation. Justin chuckled as he approached the flight attendant and handed off his ticket.
“Have a nice flight Mr. Timberlake.” She replied in a flirtatious voice as she tore off the boarding pass and handed back the receipt.
Rolling her eyes at the woman, Kiki took her turn at checking in. She let Cheyenne hand the woman the ticket since she had appointed her ticket holder when they first got to the airport. It was one of the many things she and Justin had been doing to make her first flying experience enjoyable.
Cheyenne’s eyes had been bright and wide with excitement as her parents animatedly pointed out and explained all the working of the airport. When they sat in the lobby, they sat in front of a window so she could see all the planes taking off. As much fun as she was having she was also a little nervous now that they were boarding and snuggled deeper into Kiki’s arms where it was always safe.
Both Kiki and Justin said one last goodbye to Lonnie and Eric, Cheyenne waved at them over her mother’s shoulder, before they disappear down the boarding ramp.
On the plane, Kiki settled Cheyenne into her seat in between hers and Justin’s, putting Duke in her lap to help soothe her nerves. Justin was finishing putting their carry-ons away and sat down at the same time as she.
“So Pix, you ready to go see Nana, Pa, Nana T and Pa T?”
She nodded. “Grandma and Grandpa too.”
“Yeah and you get to meet some of your cousins and your Uncles. That’s exciting huh?”
“Uh huh.” She replied distracted by all the sights around the cabin. “What’s that?” She asked with her little finger pointed up at the overhead buttons.
Justin demonstrated the light buttons and explained the call button, but when it came to the fan, he turned it on and unbuckled her to lift her up. She squirmed and giggled as the air blew in her face until Justin put her back in her seat.
“That fun Daddy.” She grinned.
“Yeah it was huh?” He leaned over and pecked her cheek as he buckled her back up.
Boarding soon finished, the doors were closed and locked, and the fasten seat belts light started flashing and beeping. When the plane started pulling away, the flight attendants started their safety and in case of emergency instructions. Having heard this speech a million times, Kiki started her own preparations. She reached into the pocket of her hoodie and took out the gum she’d brought earlier. Passing out a half a stick to Cheyenne, she asked Justin if he wanted one too for when the plane took off. He accepted and Cheyenne gave him the same instruction that her mother gave her when given the treat.
“Don’t swallow it Daddy.” He laughed and she copied him - that was until the plane started taxing down the run way. She quickly turned into Kiki’s side and whimpered. “I scared.”
“It’s okay.” Kiki cooed and cuddle her close while Justin reached over to rub her back in comfort. They both understood her fear, but at the same time they didn’t want her to have a phobia about flying and set out to make it an adventurous experience like everything else so far.
Kiki un-tucked Cheyenne from her side until she could see her face. “You know what we can do? We can pretend that we’re like, like…” She was coming up blank on a flying cartoon characters and panic was setting in, but Justin picked up the slack.
“We can be like Dumbo Pix. How about it?” He coaxed her into looking at him and when she did, he took his hat off and wiggled his ears for her.
It did the trick and a big grin replaced her frown before giggles bubbled out of her. Even Kiki was laughing at the sight, she never knew he could do that. When Justin stopped Cheyenne reached up to touch them as if that were one of the World Wonders. As soon as her little hands grabbed his lobes, he started wiggling them again, sending another squeal of laughter out of her.
All the while the plane had gotten into position and started speeding down the runway. When it finally took off, for a second Cheyenne froze in fear, but then the exhilaration of the gravitational pull hit her and she was all smiles from that point on. The worse was over. It only got better for her especially when she got some pretzels and juice from the snack cart mid flight. After that, most likely from all the excitement, she was sound asleep through the rest of the flight.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
It was almost 2 AM when a tired Justin and Kiki, with a nodding Cheyenne in her arms, walked out of their flight’s gate at Memphis IA. The airport was fairly quiet, not many people were around so there wasn’t a hold up with anyone looking to bombard the local superstar.
Justin sighed as he felt all the LA stress drain from his body. “Home, sweet home.”
“Yeah.” Kiki replied with a devious smirk on her face. “You…”
Touched down in the land of the delta blues
In the middle of the pouring rain
He stopped walking and glared at her as she laughed hysterically. “Ha! I finally got to finish it.”
***************************************************************************************************************
Looking out the window as it continued to rain, Justin read aloud the vinyl record shaped sign as they crossed the city line. “Welcome to Memphis”. He was so happy to be back home again.
“What?” Kiki called from the rear of the bus.
“We are officially in Memphis, T-N.”
He turned around to see her standing at the end of the hallway from his bedroom, smiling. She took a big breath and started singing loudly.
Put on my blue suede shoes
And I boarded the bus
Touched-
Before she could complete the last verse, Justin sprung off the couch and rushed her. She squealed, ready to turn and run, but he caught her and tossed her onto the couch.
Righting herself on the cushions, Kiki raked her hair out of her face and trying not to laugh, cried in mocking indignation. “Hey! I was trying to sing a song that I happen to really like.”
Falling down on top of her, he caged her head in between his forearms and she wrapped her arms around his back. “You were trying to be cute. You’re not, so shut up.” He muttered and leaned in to hungrily kiss her.
***************************************************************************************************************
“Still corny, just like you.” Justin said and slinging his arm over her shoulder, he pulled her and Cheyenne into his side and started their trek again.
It was a lengthy walk to the baggage claim, but standing there already waiting was Lynn and Paul. Happy, but tired greetings went all around, Justin and Paul picked up the luggage, and then they left the airport.
On the drive to Millington, it had grown increasingly quiet in the back of the car and when Lynn looked behind her, what she found made her smile. “Paul look at them.”
Eyes locked on the dark road, he replied. “What darlin’?”
“Look in the back honey.”
He glanced through the rear view mirror and chuckled. “Well would you look at that.”
“Indeed.”
On one end of the back seat was Cheyenne still asleep in her car seat and next to her were her equally asleep parents. They made a cute, yet intriguing picture with Justin’s arm hooked around Kiki’s body holding her close while her head was pillowed on his shoulder…..
As soon as the car parked in the driveway, Justin and Kiki were woken up and with Cheyenne draped over Justin’s shoulder, they dragged themselves into the house behind his parents. Kiki would have loved to take a good look at another one of Lynn’s interior design masterpieces, but she was too tired for a tour. What she did see of the big Tudor style home reminded her a lot of the house in LA, very cozy and swank. She was anxious to see more, but she could feel the jet lag setting in and she needed to put Cheyenne down for the night. Since they’d landed she had only woken up long enough to say “hi” to her grandparents and quickly faded back out. Lynn and Paul were just as exhausted so it had been decided to wait till the morning to chat and Lynn directed them to the rooms they would be staying in for their visit.
The luggage was dropped off and Justin took charge of settling in himself and the girls so his parents could go to bed. He followed Kiki into her room and they put Cheyenne to bed.
Even as Kiki undress and redressed her she was still barely awake, but when Justin went to kiss her goodnight, she woke up.
“Daddy where you go?” her eyes were half massed, but she wouldn’t let them close until she got an answer.
“I’m going to be right across the hall, but I’ll keep my door cracked for you okay?”
“Okay.” Satisfied with that, she closed her eyes and was out for the count.
Justin and Kiki said goodnight before parting way, each quickly falling asleep when their heads hit their pillow.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The following morning, of the three new arrivals, Cheyenne was the first to wake. Sitting up in bed, she took a good look around the strange room setting her eyes on her mother still sleeping beside her. When Kiki didn’t wake up, too tired from crossing 3 time zones, Cheyenne decided to go find her Daddy. Right across the hall just like he said was his cracked door and even though this was a strange house, she still treaded straight over, politely knocking.
“Daddy? Daddy I come in?” She got no response, so peeking in, she found him still sleeping too. She huffed in annoyance, it was probably Dora time, someone needed to get up so they could watch. She walked over to his bed and trying to shake him awake, she whined. “Daddy wake up.” The only response she got this time was him turning over.
Bummed and bored, yet too scared to go exploring any further than her parents’ rooms, her only option was to use what she had. Maybe there was something for her to play with somewhere in this room. She started at the closet and hit pay dirt.
While Cheyenne was finding some fun of her own, back across the hall, Kiki was waking to find her daughter missing. After searching the room and coming up empty, she went outside to look for her and saw Justin’s door open. Knowing she was in there, she cross over to see Justin asleep, but Cheyenne was wide awake playing in the middle of the floor. She had to stifle a laugh when she saw what had her daughter so captivated. Only Cheyenne would find some old toy of her father’s that had her name written all over it.
On the edge of consciousness and sensing someone else was in the room with him, Justin was startled awake. “What?”
Kiki winced as he gasped and shot up in bed. “Sorry. I was just coming to get Pixie.”
“Huh?” Last time he checked she slept with her, so why would she be in here? Kiki pointed to the floor and leaning over the side, he had to laugh at the sight.
The treasure Cheyenne found in the closet was a bucket of his old Lincoln Logs and she was well into the process of building a house around Duke.
Watching her contently play in her own little world, Justin and Kiki gave each other a knowing look, they were not leaving the state of Tennessee without those logs. With a promise to bring them downstairs so she could play again as soon as she finished breakfast, Kiki managed to pry Cheyenne away. They got themselves cleaned up and went towards the kitchen that was emanating mouth watering smells.
In the kitchen, Lynn and Paul had been up for awhile. Paul was cooking while Lynn was drinking her coffee and reading the paper. They had decided to let the kids sleep in until the food was ready, but said kids beat them to it.
Good morning.” Justin and Kiki said at the same time, coming down the back stairs. Justin slapped the top of the door frame like he had been doing since he was tall enough to reach it and Lynn smiled nostalgically at the move.
“Morning.” Paul called over his shoulder as he turned the bacon.
“Did you guys sleep well?” Lynn folded up the paper now that they were here. “Was the room comfortable?” She asked Kiki specifically.
“It was perfect. Thank you.” She answered following Justin to get a cup of coffee.
“Where’s Cheyenne?” Lynn frowned when she didn’t see her favorite girl.
“I here!” She called from the stairs.
Accepting nothing less or more like knowing her mother’s tricks, Cheyenne requested to take her new inheritance downstairs by herself. She put the bucket, with Duke inside, on her lap and scooted down the steps. When she reached the bottom she ran over to her grandmother.
“Nonnie look!”
Lynn read the faded label as the bucket was plunked into her arms. “Where’d you find these? These were your Daddy’s when he was little.”
“Mine now.” She almost gloated and using the rungs of the chair, climbed into Lynn’s lap once the bucket was placed on the table.
“Cheyenne.” Kiki only half admonished, trying not the snicker like the others. Cheyenne gave her one of her cheeky little grins and Kiki shook her head. If she didn’t know her child, she’d take that comment as a smart remake. Hell if she was older and hadn’t thanked her father earlier, it probably would have qualified. Boy was she not looking forward to those ungrateful, defiant teenage years “ actually Cheyenne wouldn’t like those years.
“Are you gonna play with them?” Lynn asked her granddaughter.
In a defeated tone, she replied. “Mommy say eat first.”
“Well in that case, let’s get you ready.”
Standing next to Justin at the breakfast bar, drinking her coffee, Kiki watched Lynn set Cheyenne up in a booster seat and place set specifically for her. “You went out and brought a second set of everything for her didn’t you?”
Guilty as charged, but unapologetic, Lynn stuck her tongue out at her and Kiki shook her head with a chuckle.
Finished cooking, Paul turned off the griddle and announced. “Alright folks, breakfast is served.” He and Justin carried the platters of scrambled eggs, French toast, bacon and hash browns to the table while Kiki and Lynn settled themselves in their seats. Once the men joined them, they said a prayer and dug in.
After breakfast, Justin and Lynn took Kiki and Cheyenne on a tour of the house while Paul cleaned up. Cheyenne actually agreed to join them as opposed to playing with her new toy. It was exploration time so it was worth it and maybe there were some more toys laying around waiting for her. Now that she was alert, Kiki was able to get a good look at the house which had Lynn’s signature style written all over it with a lot of family heirlooms and pictures around. Kiki awed at the sentimental notion behind the living room wall full of pictures of Justin at almost every age, but at the same time it didn’t stop her from laughing at how goofy he was as a kid. In the office, there was a curio cabinet with some of Justin’s awards in it, going as far back as grade school and including one of his Grammy’s. Kiki smirked thinking it was just like him to share his top accomplishment as an artist with his Mama.
After touring the whole house and hearing stories about the past whenever a room or picture sparked a memory, they returned to the kitchen. Paul was taking his turn reading the paper and upon their return, he reminded his wife that they had to get to the store soon to pick up a few extras for the barbeque. Justin offered to go and asked Kiki and Cheyenne to tag along so he could show them around the neighborhood. The girls agreed and after changing, with a list from Lynn, they headed into town.
Kiki assumed that a ride from the house to town center where all the stores and other public edifices were, was probably 10, 15 minutes long. Not with Justin driving. Starting at the end of the block, where Trace’s parents lived, he had to stop at every landmark of his childhood. Just around the corner was Sadie’s and Bill’s house, two blocks down were his father’s house and his paternal grandparents’ house. He even took her to the lake front where he went fishing with his grandfather. Kiki thought he was so cute, all excited about showing her ever part of his childhood, part of who he was. Justin was in fact too psyched to finally be able to show them, Kiki especially, his home town. It was a long time coming.
When they finally started moving out of the residential areas, Justin came to a crawl on the main street until he stopped in front of a church.
“This is the church I grew up in.”
Knowing the history behind this place, how a big part of his musical influence came from here, Kiki commented. “So this is where it proverbially all started.”
“Yup.”
“It’s a cute little church.”
“Yeah. I think Ma has plans for us to go to Sunday service.” Justin said and Kiki nodded, not surprised since Lynn was like the Baptist version of her mother. “Come on. Let’s hurry up and get this stuff.” He put the car back in drive, “I’m hungry.”
“You just ate.”
“So?”
Kiki’s eyes shifted heavenward, but she said nothing and just sat back to enjoy the rest of the ride.
Rolling into town, the center of Millington pretty much fit the bill for your typical small town. There were the usuals - a post office, bank, barber shop, a diner and a little country bar, but there was a splash of urban commercialism in the form of a franchised plaza a few miles away.
“Well if it isn’t Home Depot, Mickey D’s and Super Wal-Mart.” Kiki pointed out the most notable in the fairly large shopping center.
“That’s right little girl, this ain’t no Podunk town.” Justin said in an exaggeration of his southern drawl while circling the parking lot looking for a good spot.
Kiki snorted as he glided to a stop in the slot he found. “Oh please I saw a General Store on the way here.” Leaving him behind, she ignored his glare with a giggle and climbed out of the car.
Inside Wal-Mart, with Cheyenne happily riding in the cart, they started to tackle Lynn’s list. Not ever 10 minutes into their shopping, the first citizen of Millington spotted Justin and all hell broke loose after that.
“Oh my God. As I live and breathe its little Justin Timberlake.” A screeching twang came from behind them and Justin groaned.
“Oh shit.” Cheyenne gasped at his slip up and he winked his apology before turning to one of his fellow townsmen. On recognition he groaned again. “Mrs. Saunders.”
“You know I heard your Mama and Paul were back in town, but I didn’t know you were too. Come give me a hug.”
She enveloped him in a hearty embrace before pulling back to get a good look at him. “Oh you have grown into such a handsome young man. All you kids around here just grew up so fast. My Amber included, you remember Amber. She just moved to New York to pursue her modeling and acting career. I’ll tell you that girl is so talented. I know it’s just a matter of time before she hits it big. With that beautiful face and body, she’s bound to be the next Cindy Crawford.” She smiled proudly.
Annoyed by what was either a non stop bragging spiel or pimpage of her daughter, who he honestly did not remember, Justin changed the subject. “That’s great to hear. Mrs. Saunders, this is Kiki and my daughter.” Okay so he was using the girls as a shield, but he desperately needed help, he was being buried.
“Oh that’s right you made Lynn a grandmother.” She looked over at Cheyenne and bent down to her eye level. “Hi there sweetie how are you? You are so pretty. Yes you are, yes you are.”
At first Justin and Kiki incredulously watched this woman talk to their child like she was a dog, but when they saw the look on Cheyenne’s face, they had to stifle a laugh.
Cheyenne clearly thought this woman was nuts too as she leaned away from her with her eyebrows furrowed in a look that said: What the hell is wrong with you lady?
Thankfully Mrs. Saunders didn't take it a step farther and pinch her cheeks or something. Cheyenne probably would have told her flat out to stop and pushed her way. In case she did have plans to do just that or start up with her advertisement pitch about her daughter, Justin made their excuses and quickly got himself and the girls out of there.
Unfortunately Mrs. Saunders basically played store announcer and told everyone she ran into that Justin was there. They were only on the third item on the list and there was like a line of people, one after the other showing up to greet Justin. He didn’t mind those who just wanted to say “hi”, see how he was doing, tell him how proud they were of him or see “little Justin’s baby girl”. It was the mothers trying to pimp their daughters or worse the daughters trying to pimp themselves that aggravated him. Case in point:
“Justin. Timberlake. Long time no see,” came from ahead in an exaggerated sugar sweet voice.
Justin’s head lifted up and he saw the thin blonde that he grew up with ambling toward them. “Casey Gorden.”
In her mind he sounded happy to see her, but in actuality and as Kiki could tell, this encounter with Justin’s past was probably going to be the most painful out of all of them. With no shame, Kiki stood back to watch the show.
“You remember me. That’s so sweet.” She squealed and basically launched herself into his arms.
As not to fall, Justin caught her in his arms. “How could I forget?” You practically stalk me whenever I’m home. While she held on longer than necessary, Justin looked to Kiki for help, but she was too busy trying not to crack up laughing. He shot a sneer at her before gently pulling Casey off of him. “So how have you been?” He asked just to be nice and hoped she didn’t go into a long speech.
“I should be asking you that. I hear you’re a Daddy now.”
“Yeah. This is my daughter and her mother.”
Purposely ignoring Kiki and completely phony, she gushed. “Oh. My. Gawh. Look at you, you are such a cutie. You look just like your Daddy. Hi sweetheart.” She reached out to stroke Cheyenne’s head and Cheyenne scrunched away from her, turning to her mother for rescuing. Kiki didn’t hesitate to scoop her out of the cart.
“She’s shy.” She excused, only half lying. Cheyenne just didn’t like strangers touching her and she didn’t like strangers touching her child either.
“Oh I understand. Sorry honey.” She amended most likely for Justin’s benefit only. Turning her back on them to focus on her real target, she started “coyly” flirting, running her fingers up and down Justin’s forearm. “So how long are you in town?”
“A few days.” He answered vaguely and casually moved his arm to hang at his side.
“Well in that case you should come by Jimmy’s for a drink. You remember how we hang out there on Thursday nights.”
“Yeah, yeah. Ah maybe we’ll stop by.” He looked behind her to Kiki.
Casey turned around and for the first time acknowledged Kiki, but it was with a disdainful scan from head to toe. “Great.” She replied with barely disguised disgust.
Kiki quirked her eyebrows at her, amused rather than mad. Lord knows in the past month she’d gotten that look about a million times from females just passing her by on the street. It tickled her every time.
“Well I actually gotta get going, but hopefully I’ll see you there.” Justin agreed just to appease her and make her departure as quick as possible. “Alright then.” Grabbing his shoulders, she leaned up to place a lingering kiss on his cheek. “Bye Justin.” She said sensually before slinking away, a sway in her hips for emphasis.
The second she turned the corner, Kiki let her laughter out.
“It’s not funny. Don’t let her fool you. That chick is psycho.” He turned around to finally pick out the extra serving utensils his mother asked for and tossed them in the cart.
“Aww poor baby. Poor Daddy huh Cheyenne?”
“Yeah poor Daddy.” She mimicked with a giggle and was put back into the cart now that the weird lady was gone. There were a lot of weird people around this place.
“I thought I was going to have to run away from her too. We got off easy.”
“No you did. I could have walked away anytime.”
“Or you could have checked her cause gurrl…” With both hands on his hips, he smacked his lips and rolled his neck. “Did you see the way she was lookin’ at you?”
Kiki laughed. “Hey she can have you. I’m done.” Justin dropped the act and frowned dejectedly. “I got the only thing you had to offer. Didn’t I Pixie face?” She cracked up as the frown deepened to a pout and pushed the cart ahead. “Come on loverboy.”
After a few more run-ins with the locals, the trio finally got everything they came for and went back to the house.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
When they arrived, Lynn was finishing some of the cold side dishes while Paul was prepping the grill. Justin and Kiki were assigned to set up the backyard “ tables, chairs, lounges and the patio umbrellas. The only one exempted from working was sitting on a blanket Lynn had set out for her off to the side on the deck, elbows deep in her Lincoln Logs.
Her part of the backyard all set to go, Kiki left Justin to finish with his and went back to the house to see if Lynn needed any help. On the way she stopped to see how well Paul was fairing.
“Do you need anything from the house?”
“No I’m good. Thanks though darlin’.”
Looking at the grill, Kiki said. “You know we probably barbeque more than necessary.”
“Maybe, but we always have a good time right?”
“Of course.” She beamed proudly and bopped off into the kitchen.
Once everything that could be done until the family started arriving was done, Justin, Kiki, Lynn and Paul relaxed at one of the deck tables, chatting and watching Cheyenne playing in the yard. Her creation of a log box was finished and on display in the middle of the table, so she moved on to play among her little playground set and some other toys that Paul had brought out from the garage. After hearing about their adventures in Wal-Mart, Lynn was fill them in on some of the news she already gotten from Cathy, Trace’s mom, about some of the people they ran into, when they heard someone calling from inside.
“Hello? Where is everyone?”
“We’re out back Mama.” Lynn yelled and seconds later Sadie and Bill were walking out the sliding doors.
“Hey everybody!” Sadie greeted with a big smile on her face. Justin, the big baby that he was, was the first to get a welcoming hug from them before everyone else fell in line.
Always happy to see her, Sadie jovially embraced Kiki. “Hey sweetie.”
Kiki was just as happy to see Sadie, one of her favorite people. With her it was like she had a second grandmother again and ever since the day she and Bill visited after Cheyenne’s birth, they always stayed in contact.
Pulling back Sadie tsked. “I’ll tell ya honey you never have an ugly day do you? Just like me.” She kidded. “Now where’s your pretty little clone?”
“Right over there.” Kiki pointed her out and then moved to greet Bill.
When Sadie spotted Cheyenne, she started laughing. “Would you look at that?”
Everyone did so, turning their attention out towards the yard and either laughed or awed.
Earlier Justin had brought the SoundDock out and hooked his iPod up to play some music for the party. Apparently Cheyenne liked the song playing because she was bopping her little hips to the beat as she played with a streamer stick.
“As long as she’s got rhythm we can work with the rest later.” Kiki joked with Justin.
“Oh look at her go. She’s such a spunky little thang.” Sadie stated proudly as they continued to watch her in secret with her back to them. “How’s she been doing by the way?”
“She’s doing great. Her health is good and she’s already back to her bubbly self as you can see.” Kiki informed. “Driving me crazy again, but now I get to share the wealth. Don’t I Justin?”
He muttered thinking about all the “fun” he’d been having with his baby girl. He absolutely loved it, but it took a lot of energy running after a kid like her.
“Don’t tell us she’s run you ragged already son.” Bill teased.
“Laugh now, but I guarantee by the time we leave you’ll be glad to see little Ms. Crazy go home.”
“Never.” Sadie protested and called out to Cheyenne when the song changed and she stopped dancing. “Hey dumplin’. You gonna come and give us some sugar now?”
Cheyenne whipped around at the call and her face split into a big smile. She quickly dropped the stick and raced over. “Nana and Pa!”
When she got into reach, Bill scooped her up and got himself a big hug before giving his wife her turn.
“Ooh.” Sadie cooed when Cheyenne kissed her cheek, her heart melting right on the spot as it always did when it came to her little dumplin’. “I missed you. Have you been being a good girl?”
“Mmhmm.” She nodded eagerly.
“I bet you’re glad to be home, huh beautiful?....Uh oh would you look at that, you got something on your face.” Bill said, tipping her chin up.
“What?” Cheyenne asked as she palmed her cheeks.
“This,” and he quickly pinched her nose in between his fingers. “I got your nose.” He teased.
Cheyenne initially gasped in shocking horror and then her eyebrow scrunched up and her lips pursed angrily before she cried in outrage. “No Pa. You give back! Is mine!”
Everyone watching was snickering or out right laughing while Bill was trying to keep a straight face. “Oh alright, alright. Here’s your nose back.” And he “put” it back on her face.
“Tank you.”
He chuckled and went to take a seat as did everyone else. “So when does this soiree begin? You got a lot of people anxious to see ya.”
Knowing the statement was aimed at him for the most part, Justin corrected. “You mean there are a lot of people anxious to yell at me.”
“Yeah that too.” Paul taunted.
“I told everyone they could start coming by at 2.” Lynn answered.
“Oh perfect that gives me plenty of time to finish cooking.” Sadie saw Justin’s eyes glaze over and he started to get out of his chair. “Oh no you sit your butt back down.”
“What Granny? I was just coming to help you unload the car.”
“Well I don’t need your help. Your Pa got most of it for me and your Mama can help with the rest. You stay out here.” Gesturing for her daughter to get out of her seat, she stood up with Cheyenne in her arms. “You come too Kiki. I want to hear how everyone’s doing. Plus you need to learn how to cook.”
Following the two women into the house, Kiki frowned. “But I know how to cook Sadie.”
“Not like me. Now come on.”
They disappeared into the house, closing the sliding door behind them. Deserted by all the females, the men resorted to their own devices and did what they usually did “ talked about sports.
