Lynnia (10 page)

Lynnia

Four hours later

Pulling a set of keys from her pocket, Lynnia unlocked the door to her mother’s house. Normally, she would knock or ring the doorbell, but she didn’t feel like waiting for someone to come to the door. Besides, she was the last one to arrive, judging by the various vehicles on the street and in the driveway. They would be expecting her and would possibly make her wait at the entrance just to be funny. She’d been known to do things like that on occasion. Plus, it was unseasonably chilly for a fall day in Florida. There was nothing that was going to keep her out in 50° degree weather.

Swinging the door open, she was hit with the wonderful smells of a home cooked meal. The voices of her family members could clearly be heard over the music that was playing in the background. She kicked the door closed behind her and made her way to the living room. As soon as she crossed the threshold of the room, silence came over the area. All talking ceased and every eye was on her.
What the hell?

Lynnia placed the dessert case on one of the tables on the left side of the entrance and slid her jacket off.

“Hey y’all. I brought pumpkin and lemon mini-tarts. I’m starving. Is dinner almost done?”

No one spoke. They just all looked at her like she had something growing out of her neck. The men took a look around then at one another. They silently came to a conclusion to not remain in the room for whatever was about to go down. Carrying sleeping babies or rambunctious little ones, they quickly excused themselves. She smiled as Zach whispered his apologies for the foreseeable showdown that was about to happen. Once the guys were gone, Rayna spoke.

“You were going to go out of town and not say a word to any of your sisters?”

Question one would lead to more. Figuring she would wait them out, Lynnia save her response. Zoie didn’t disappoint. She spoke next.

“We learned that you were going away for three weeks from one of your busy-body staff members. Do you know how much that hurt?”

Nyema nodded her head then sucked her teeth before throwing out her question.

“What if something were to have happened? We wouldn’t think to look for you elsewhere because we would have assumed you were here in the great state of Florida.”

“Why wouldn’t you tell us that you’re going out of town? Were we not supposed to notice that you missed three family meals and three sister lunches?”

Rayna shook her head while doing her best to remain seated.

Momma Norton didn’t say a word. She is just observing. The position she takes has Lynnia thrown off. In light of the fact that her sisters weren’t planning on letting up until an explanation was given, she moved to say her peace and be done with the subject. Lynnia wanted to wait until the last question or statement was spoken, but her mother’s quietness was upsetting and quite frankly, unsettling.

“Look. It wasn’t like I was trying to keep something from you. That wasn’t it at all. I just think it would be important until the day before. I figured all of you were going to give me grief about taking so much time off.”

“I just can’t believe that you wouldn’t bother to tell us beforehand. What did you think … I’m sorry. I can’t. I really can’t,” Wynter burst out laughing while a few of her sisters groaned or laughed with her.

“I told you. I knew Lexi would be the first to crack.”

Lynnia felt confused and unsure of what in the hell was going on. Nyema and Chyra held out their hands as Zoie and Rayna dug in their pockets. They each pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it over.

“I don’t know why we bet against Mrs. Kenyon, the walking crystal ball, anyway,” Rayna groused.

“Marcus, James and Vic, y’all owe Dawn and Quinnie twenty bucks. Lexi cracked.”

Momma Norton sat in the recliner with her crocheting needle and pink yarn just smiling away. She rocked as she shook her head.

“I think this is the first time I ever looked at momma and saw ‘grandmother’ written all of her very being. It’s a fantastic look on you.”

“Thank you, my Quinnie love. I’m looking forward to seeing this special baby swaddled in this blanket like I got see all of my other grandbabies wrapped up in their handmade blankets.”

Chyra’s eyes misted as she looked away from their mother. She still felt guilty about Zachariah missing out on certain traditions that happened when a new member of the family arrived.

“Quinnie, you’ve been forgiven and it’s in the past, honey. Don’t cry. Zachy has all of us now and the secrets are out. This little precious child will get the full Norton welcome.”

Lynnia’s statement was met with her sister bursting into tears. It wasn’t until she looked at Nyema’s pursed lips that she realized what she’d done. In trying to comfort her sister, she’d said the one thing that would make the situation worse. Considering how sensitive her hormonal sister was, Lynnia should’ve chosen her words better.

“I’m sorry. I just … I know what I deprived him of when I chose to keep him a secret from all of you. I watched the welcome of Chris Jr. and Jasmine MiKayla and nearly lost it. Seeing the way you guys surrounded first Rayna then Zoie when they welcomed their new babies with the love only a Norton crew can give made me realize my boy missed out on a great blessing because of my selfishness. He didn’t get to come home in a handmade blanket, booties and hat with his name on it. He didn’t get to hear his aunt’s sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to him that first time or receive the Norton prayer. I did that. I deprived him of that.”

Momma set her needle and yarn to the side. Sitting on the couch next to Chyra, she settled the youngest sister’s head against her chest.

“My Quinnie love, did you sing to that beautiful little boy when he was born?”

“Yes, but …”

Momma cut her off, “Did you pray over that little one when he was born, then give him the blessing we give all of the little Nortons?”

“Of course, Momma, but …”

Once again, she was cut off, “Did you gift that little boy with something that said that he was loved by his mother and represented all that she was?”

That time, Chyra only nodded as she leaned up and looked at their mother. Momma smiled at her then placed a kiss to Chyra’s forehead.

“I’m going to let you in on a little secret that only my grandson and I know about.”

Momma Norton stood up and went to a little Avengers backpack that was sitting in the corner with the shoes. Coming back to sit next to Chyra, whose face was filled with confusion, she lifted the bag and sat in on Chyra’s lap.

“Open the front flap of the backpack.”

It was the only instruction that was given. Chyra did as she was told and silent tears began to streak down her face as she pulled out the plastic pouch that held a blue handmade blanket with Zachy’s name in red letters on it. There were some extra sniffles that provided the sound to her continued falling tears.

“When … how did I not know?”

“I started on it the day we were told there was another Norton, Olsen by sir name, but Norton all the same to welcome. I finished it just before his birthday. He told me it was too … whoo … that little boy of yours is something amazing. He told me that … it was too special for him to use because he was such a busy boy. He didn’t want to get it dirty. ‘The plastic will protects it Grammy. I knows, I’ll keep it in the bag and carry it with me always.’ You know, I had to fight to not break down crying as he hugged me tighter than he’s ever hugged me in the short time I’ve known him. Anyway, I wanted to tell you, but that little old soul said it wasn’t time. He wanted me to wait. I could kiss that boy every time I see him.”

“I know. Oh my goodness. Believe me, I know. I have to. Thank you. Thank you all for accepting him and loving him in spite of what I did. You’ll never know just how much that meant to me.”

“L …” Wynter called her and snapped Lynnia out of the psychotic thoughts she was having. “Sorry for the little joke we played on you.”

All of the sisters and Momma nodded their heads as they wiped their faces. Leave it Wynter to provide them all with an excuse to have a moment to pull themselves together.

“I didn’t know what to expect when I came here. What I truly didn’t expect was for any, let alone all, of you to accept what I planned to do. I definitely didn’t expect for y’all to be happy about it. Would I be wrong to tell y’all how excited I am?”

“My question is, are you travelling alone or is there someone special going with you?”

Chyra’s question had Lynnia pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts. She could tell the truth and say that she was going to be with her friend or she could fudge a little.

“I’m going with Travis.”

“TRAVIS?” all of her sisters questioned at once.

Rayna’s husband, Chris, was returning from wherever he’d gone to hide with their son and asked the question she knew all of her sisters had.

“Who is Travis? Why are y’all yelling his name?”

“Whoa. We were hoping for a certain someone else to be going. All of us know how much you want to experience what just about all of us have. We know how much you wanted kids when you were younger. We were thinking …”

There it was; Nyema’s uncanny ability to speak the thoughts that Lynnia was having. She has always been able to accurately guess what a person was thinking. Lynnia just wished she was dead wrong on this issue. As it were, she hated herself for being remotely jealous of the outpouring of love that went to each of her sisters when they brought a new life into this world. She’d always dreamed that she and Dario would have one or two of their own by now. Never in her wildest dreams did she ever see their relationship being the non-existent one that it was now.