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the neighborhood uncle (2)

summary: following an eventful day being the willing ring leader to the circus of neighborhood children. terry finds himself coaxing dallas into coming over for an even more eventful evening. however, when she does it is quickly revealed that the night had more in store for the two than either of them could have imagined.

pairing: terry richmond x dallas dubois (oc!)

content: ANGST!!!! crying, children crying, allusions to death, mentions of drug related death, fluff, crude language. remember you are in charge of your reading experience.

note: this takes place in the 4evermore universe after the end of origins and the pair have been together officially almost two years during the events of this imagine.

a/n: evening! I hope everyone is fairing well during this holiday times. i present to you the second part of the neighborhood! i hope everyone enjoys it. and if you did please feel free to let me know what you thought.

p.s: please feel free to comment, like, reblog, or send a letter with any rambles, questions, and more.

p.p.s: there is no taglist for this, because after the literal dissolvement of this fandom i can't keep up with whose still interested and whose not, so yeah. :) enjoy!

To say Terry Richmond was tired as he stood in the kitchen preparing dinner, would be the understatement of the century.

He actually didn’t quite know if they was a word in the English language to describe the way he felt after a day of fulfilling his neighborhood uncle duties. But what he did know was that the remedy to his condition was currently calling him.

So quickly with an unoccupied finger, he hit the little green button then speaker, until her voice greeted him throughout the kitchen.

“ Hey I was about to call you and ask you what kind of rice you want with your salmon. Brown or white?” Terry inquired, hand still stirring at the simmering marry me sauce in the pan on the stove. “ You packed?”

When the line went quiet Terry brows touched in frustration as he prepared to hear a routine he was all too accustomed to, “ Dallas…”

“ Terry…I’ll still stop by and have dinner with you…but I’m not staying.” Dallas sighed, “ But I think brown rice would be best because–”

“ Dallas–”

“ No. No. No.” Her voice held firm, “ Listen to me, baby. While I have enjoyed the last couple nights of sharing a bed with you. I need to stay home. And not just because of what we talked about earlier, but because there are things I need to tend to here that I haven’t been able to, since I’ve been letting you hold me captive with good sex and different variations of cooked chicken in your little love den!” Her fingertips grazed against the top of her bedside table that had the thinnest layer of dust to it.

But to Dallas any dust anywhere in her home was a problem.

“ Like what, Dallas? What’s so pressing at the house that you can’t spend another night with me. Your boo. Your Bubs.” Dallas could practically hear his faked pout through the soundwaves that the cellular device on the counter transmitted, “ And don’t try to bs me either, Precious. Like you always tell me ‘ answer quickly” He mimicked her, adding her signature snap of the fingers into the receiver, which she found irksome.

“ Like..uhhhh….mmm...Like…” She raked her brain for a quick spun answer as she lightly paced the walkway of her closet until she suddenly felt a feathery object come in contact between her perfectly painted toes followed by a familiar squeaking as she stepped back to examine the toy bird that instantly inspired her answer.

“ Like Grim, Terry! I’ve been neglecting our son” She chirped.

“ I’ve been neglecting Grim. And he needs at least one parent to be present in his life since you refuse!” Dallas finally answered, coming out of the closet with a smile as she located her only child participating in his favorite pastime of lounging, only now it was around the confines of her bed which he generally didn’t do as he’d always had a good habit of walking to the drum of his own beat during the day. And making it obvious that he enjoyed his owner’s company in the darkness of night at his discretion.

“ Besides he’s being weirdly clingy about me leaving anyway. I think he’s finally sick of me not being home after three days. And I just don’t wanna leave him, baby. He needs me.” Dallas sighed, staring down at the long black unit of maine coon cat that sat contently on her ‘ spend the night bag’.

Terry rolled his eyes at the sounds of Dallas beginning to coo and praise the feline that he’d come to despise everyday since he’d gone with Dallas to retrieve him from his previous home, “ Well that makes both of us, apparently. So to meet both of our burning desires for you, “ Terry dramatized, “ Just finish packing and then bring him with you if you absolutely must.”

“ Excuse me?!” Dallas eyes bucked at her phone, unsure if she’d heard her boyfriend correctly, “ Come again.”

It was no secret that Terry wasn’t a fan of Dallas’s beloved pet, with Grim returning the same feelings toward Terry. So much so to the point where the two now had to be separated away from each other with Grim usually being confined to the space of Dallas’s upstairs guestroom whenever Terry came for a visit. Otherwise Dallas could expect an all out duel between the two stubborn creatures that almost always was a result of battles for Dallas’s attention.

So the fact that Terry was willing to tolerate Grim in his own home made Dallas’s head spin at how much she’d underestimated how badly Terry really wanted her to stay over another night.

“ You heard me, Dallas. Go head’ and bring his little fat freeloadin’ ass over here if you have to.”

“ Terrance, if I bring my baby over there. You gon’ be nice to him?” Dallas interrogated, “ Cause if not, my sweet boy and I will be picking up the leftovers from you tomorrow after church instead. And I’m not playing either! He’s your son and you need to start acting like it!”

“ Look, as long as he don’t start no shit, “ Terry gently sucked a droplet of tangy sauce from his finger before moving to the kitchen sink to wash his hands, “ Won’t be no shit. And that’s all I’mma say.”

“ And stop calling him that, Dallas. He’s not any kin to me! From my loins he did not come into this world.” Terry mouthed off, moving about the halls to his bedroom.

“Hence, I don’t know that man and if you ask me, you seriously need to return his evil ass back to his home in the ‘hoods’ of Buckhead immediately!” Terry fussed, thinking back to when Dallas had tricked him into driving all the way to Atlanta under the guise of having dinner with her brother and his husband. But what was supposed to be a nice evening of catfish and conversation, had been revealed as him being catfished into covertly helping Dallas adopt and transport a maine coon kitten back to Savannah as her newly minted son. With the feline being from a litter of one of the cats around Ramsey and Edward’s neighborhood.

Yet all his commentary of paternity questioning had done was aggravate an already skeptical Dallas,

“ Terrance! Knock it off, HE IS YOUR SON ! You literally picked his name out and everything on the drive back. And I can prove it too!”

“ And besides his disdain and melancholy for the human race that he inherited from you, he also got those same green Michael Ealy ass eyes you have. So please, you better quit while you’re ahead before I drag your ass down to the county court to collect child support for your uninvolvement thus far, nigga.” Dallas fussed, grabbing a new set of pajamas from the drawers of her closet.

A pair that screamed ‘ please don’t fuck me’ the most as she found herself 1) too tired for the horizontal mambo tonight and 2) lacking the willpower to resist him spreading her legs apart, regardless.

“ Baby. I promise the Panthers will fuck around and win a fucking Superbowl before you see a red-cent outta me’ to support that demon you house and feed.” Terry quipped back, going to the laundry room at the ding of the dryer to retrieve the freshly washed bed garments in preparation for her arrival. “ And stop comparing me to Michael Ealy just because we have the same eye color! I don’t look anything like that man. The fact that you keep comparing us just based on that alone is in some way racist! I just can’t prove it, right now.”

“ Terrance.” Dallas took a beat, “ I’m about to hang up this phone.”

“ Fine. The faster you’ll be here then.” He shrugged, placing his phone on the nightstand of his bedroom as he began arranging the bedding to her specific liking.

“ I’m serious! ” She shrieked, “ Why y’all have this imaginary beef I just don’t understand. I mean he literally loves you.” The lie slipped past her mouth so easily.

“ Ask him, I’m not the one going around shittin’ in people's house shoes and chewing on my late aunt’s handmade quilt.” Terry bitterly pointed out, “ Plus, his so-called love, feels pretty damn abusive to me since I still have the scar from when his deranged ass bit me that night on the patio.”

“ Terry, he was a kitten then, he didn’t know any better. Isn’t that right, pooh?” Dallas cooed down at the feline who purred at his mother’s affection,” And the only reason he bit you that time is because you had rib juice on your hands from the grill and he was curious, baby. That’s all! Right Grimmy?! That’s all, huh. Mama’s good boy. Who's a pretty boy?!”

Terry rolled his eyes at the way she babied the gremlin she housed before speaking, “ Yeah whatever. I’m almost done with this so I expect to see both of y’all little fluffy behinds within the next thirty minutes.”

“ And make sure you bring his bed, cause his big ass is not sleeping in mine.” Back in the kitchen, Terry’s hand went to pull at the oven door slightly to check on the baking italian loaf, “ Matter of fact, he’s not sleeping in the bedroom at all. He’ll be fine in the hall.”

“ Terry…” Dallas whined, already knowing how her beloved pet would feel about being ostracized from sleeping in the same space as his mother.

“ I love you too, baby.” A grin graced his face, “ See you in a minute. Don’t forget to re-arm the alarm when you leave out of your garage door.”

“ Mmmhmm. Love you. Bye.” She pouted, quickly hanging up the phone. An action she knew would get her fussed at later. But she couldn’t help it. She was pissy.

Pissy at the fact that her boyfriend was such a fucking brat. And worse, she was even more pissy at herself for making him that way.

“ Okay, Grimmy.” Dallas clapped, “ Let’s go get in the carrier so we can spend the night at Daddy’s house I guess.”

From there it wasn’t long before Dallas found herself back within the walls of Terry’s home. And after a short lecture about her getting off the phone with him grumpy, a minor makeout session at the door, and a diffusal of a pissing match between a grown ass man and a literal cat, the two found themselves now seated at the famed round oak dining table. And instead of them sitting across from each other per usual, tonight Terry had so sheepishly requested that she sit directly next to him as they ate and chronicled their respective days to each other.

“ So, how was your day with the kids? They run you raggedy the way you thought they would.” She questioned, scooping another mouthful of the rich melting chicken into her mouth.

With a sigh, Terry shot her a look that conjured a snort and smile from her, “ Raggedy ain’t the fucking word. These kids might just be the death of me soon come…”

“ They couldn’t have been that bad…”

“ Dallas.” Terry took a pause, “ Baby. Today alone I’ve been a referee, a nurse, a chauffeur, a ball caddy, a snack man, a legal counselor, a makeup—

“ A legal counselor???” Dallas’s voice rose in confusion, “ Terry what in the hell are you of all people giving out legal advice for?”

“ You know Janice Avery’s middle son, Avery?” He questioned.

“ Mmmm. The tall ginger boy that wears glasses and plays on the basketball team at the high school. Ain’t he the one she had on the outside of her marriage to George?” Dallas questioned, making Terry roll his eyes at the way his girlfriend never ceased to find a way to include tidbits of small town drama into their conversations.

“ Yes, Dallas. That’s him. But anyway. When I got to the court with the kids he was there with some other boys. And while I was watching the kids play, he came up to me and started asking me some questions revolving the legality of him enlisting in the Corp.”

“ Oh? And what did you tell him, baby.”

“ The Truth.” Terry simply stated.

“ Which is.” Dallas pressed forward, taking in the way that Terry had suddenly grown quiet.

“ Which is that–”

RINGGGGG

The melodic chime of the door bell played against the sound of the low r n b music Terry had put on for the meal. Getting up with a grunt and a sigh, Terry made his way to the front door as Dallas watched while continuing to enjoy her meal. “ Save by the bell. Literally.” She snorted, knowing that whatever conversation Terry had had with the young man, it couldn’t have been one encouraging him to join the USA’s corp.

When Terry appears at the door, he cautiously looked through the peep hole before hurriedly and gently swinging the door open to reveal the tiny unexpected visitor.

Because standing before him with the setting sun behind her, on his porch beaming brighter than the lighting bugs that gathered around the top of the stairs stood Laila Adams all dressed in her perfect purple monochromatic outfit, holding her trusted bear in one hand, and the handle to a suitcase in the other as she smiled up at the ex-marine.

“ Uncle Terry, you're home!!” She softly cheered, launching her tiny body into his as her little arms latched around his legs, “ Missed you’ so much.”

“ Hey, Peachy.” Terry instantly leaned down to reciprocate her affection before standing back upright, “ What’re you doing here this late?” He questioned, noticing the glow of the street lamp on the corner against the dimming sky, “ And by yourself at that?” His eyes shifted to the little blue and pink heart spotted suitcase that sat beside her“And what’s this?”

“ Oh!” The little girl gasped in excitement, “ It’s my spendanight case’, cause we’re having a surprise sleepover. Wif’ you and—

Terry had somewhat noticed Dallas slowly sneak up behind him to get a peek at who had saved her from an hours long dead horse beating, but when her eyes registered the identity of the little dinner crasher her smile grew a mile wide as she outstretched her arms beckoning her forward.

“ Miss Dallas!” She yelled, pushing past a bewildered Terry with the force of a small grown man, who instead grabbed the suitcase and gently closed the door behind all of them before disappearing in the other room.

“ Peachy Peach.” Dallas laughed, softly squeezing the giggling young girl in her arms, “ What’re you doing here, pretty girl? Miss Dallas missed her favorite princess.”

“ Miss you too. I’m here for a surprise sleepover .” Lalia excitedly wiggled, “ Wif’ you and Uncle Terry! SO SURPRISE.” She yelled, excitedly jumping up and down in enthusiasm that Dallas couldn’t help but share.

“ Oh my goodness!” Dallas exaggerated a breath, “ Really?! How fun, peachy. My goodness had I known I would’ve made some cookies for us to eat and bought some games over for us to play. Know what maybe we can see if Uncle Terry has some popcorn so that we can finish watching our barbie movie from last week when you came over after school last Friday night. How does that sound?!” Dallas raved, unable to contain her glee at the smiling little girl.

“ GOOD.” Laila cheered, before the pair began to descend into a period of planning the rest of the right until they heard the heavy footsteps of Terry re-enter the room with a somewhat bothered look on his face.

“ Uncle Terry I didn’t know we were another sleepover buddy.” Dallas laughed, lightly tickling Laila who sat happily in her lap.

“ Neither did I.” Terry crossed his arms over his chest, “ And I’m not sure your mama knows either. Huh, Laila?”

Immediately Dallas felt the air shift in the room as the seven year old’s once big and cheerful resolve quietly melted into one of a more small and somewhat guilty display.

“ Mmm.” She hummed, opting to not look at Terry but instead divert her attention to the shining gold necklace on Dallas's neck, more specifically the tiny gold ‘R’ that stood against her mocha skin.

“ Laila…” His voice was soft yet stern as he somewhat moved forward. “ Does your Mama know you’re here?”

This time with a little help from Dallas who repeated the question, they received a small head shake in return, paired with a seemingly trembling bottom lip.

“ Right.” He nodded, “ I know she doesn’t. Because while you were in here talking to Miss Dallas I gave her a call, and she’s pretty upset that you left the house not only without an adult, but by yourself. And without saying anything, Peachy.”

“ Oh!” At the reveal of this, Dallas's eyes grew a tad bit wide as she looked down at Laila who looked to be on the verge of tears, “ Peachy. Sweetheart that’s not good. You know we can’t do things like that, right. Because not only is it dangerous, but I’m also sure your mommy was worried sick about you.”

“ She is—was rather.” Terry input.

“ But it’s okay. Everything’ll be alright Because she knows where you are now and she’s on her way over here so–”

“ UNCLE TERRY, NO!” The shriek that left the tiniest body in the room startled both Terry and Dallas especially, who slightly jumped at the now display of somewhat hysterics that she’d never seen come from the seven year old. “ I-I DON’T WANNA GO BACK.” She wailed.

Not even wasting a millisecond, Dallas barely had time to register Lalia leaving her arms and joining Terry’s who clicked into a mode of care she’d never seen before from him, “ Hey. Shhh…okay. It’s alright. Everything’s fine, peachy. You’re not going anywhere right now, okay? Uncle Terry’s got you.” He whispered, slowly pacing the room.

At this an arm wrapped tighter around his neck, as he kept cooing statements of soothing to her until her sobs morphed into small hiccups.

Dallas continued to watch this scene unfold for minutes gone by until the door chimed for a second time that night.

When Dallas opened the door this time she took in the appearance of her former classmate who almost standing under the glow of the porch light looked like an older and slightly more chocolate version of Laila with an all too similar expression of distress that her daughter had inherited from her.

“ Hey girl! Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry for all this y’all! Where is she?” Deja’s eyes frantically searched until she made her way into the living room and found Terry holding the now quiet child.

Dallas quickly followed behind her, “ Laila Norene Adams. Have you lost your mind?! You know better than to leave the house without an adult. I can’t believe you.”

Dallas watched as Terry slightly turned, shielding Laila somewhat from her mother’s scolding, who continued to speak in her frazzled state, “ Know what. It doesn’t matter, we’ll talk about it when we go back home. Now, get down and please tell Uncle Terry and Miss Dallas sorry for disturbing them and that you’ll see them later.”

But the reaction to her mother’s words wasn’t the desired result as Laila lifted her head to look at her mother with her words being spoken clearly, “I’m not going.” Dallas watched the seven year old nuzzle deeper into Terry’s side, “ I’m staying here. Wif’ Uncle Terry and Ms. Dallas.”

“ Laila Norene.” Deja didn’t back down, “I know you’re upset, my love. And I understand that. But this isn’t the way we do things, alright. Now I’m not going to say it again that you need to–”

“ I said, NO! I don’t wanna go with you!” The first grader hissed this time, a fresh set of tears threatening to spill onto her face as she turned herself into Terry’s body. Who only tightened his grip on her, shooting Deja a somber look.

With unease Dallas watched a familiar quiver of a lip appear on Deja ‘s face as she took in the never before seen behavior her daughter exhibited.

“ Deja, she can stay here for the night. It’s not a problem.” Terry spoke, hand gently rubbing the first graders back.

Knowing she smelled the aroma of the house when she entered and the lounge attire that both adults wore, Deja could concur the two had been in the middle of unwinding for the day and she couldn’t bear to have that interrupted due to her self perceived piss poor parenting at the moment, “ No, Terry. I can’t let you do that. Not only would it be unfair to you guys, but it sets the example that behavior like this should be rewarded and it most certainly should not. So I’ll wait until she calms down and t-then.” Dallas watched tears brim in the mother’s frustrated eyes which prompted her to step in.

“ Baby.” Dallas turned to Terry, “ Why don’t you take Laila to get a glass of water while Deja and I step on the porch for some air, yeah. It’s a little stuffy in here, right Dej.”

Looking over at the woman who offered her a small sympathetic smile, Deja wiped at her eyes with a nod before walking past Dallas swiftly toward the door. Dallas looked back at Terry who shot her a thumbs up before disappearing toward the kitchen with a softly whining Laila.

Once on the porch, Dallas watched as the mother of three burst into hot tears, pushing Dallas to produce the small packet of travel size tissue from her hoodie pocket and extend it with a gentle hand.

A habit picked up from her trade as a working mortician.

Somebody always needed tissue.

From there she waited for a moment before guiding Deja to the familiar wooden porch with small questions in tow.“ What’s going on, Dej. Is everything alright?”

It took a moment but through small sniffles Deja began to explain, “ Do you remember Jordan Cardwell?”

“ Jordan Cardwell….Jordan Cardwell…Jordan Cardwell.” Dallas quietly repeated the name over outloud, hoping it would jump start a brain cell of remembrance somewhere.

“ Used to play on the softball team? Daddy was Deacon Morris.” Dallas guessed.

Deja nodded, “ Mhmm. But now instead of playing, he’s the assistant head coach of the men’s baseball team at Clark.”

“ Oh wow. Good for him. What about him?”

“ Um…well. We’ve kinda been…seeing each other.” Dallas watched as a sheepish smile reminiscent of a school girl that had finally obtained her crush, “ For a couple months now.”

“ Oh wow. Really? That’s new.” Dallas commented, when really in the back of her mind she was shocked. Because after the unfortunate death of her high school sweetheart and Dallas’s former classmate Raheem, she wasn’t sure if Deja would ever return to the dating pool.

“ Somewhat. But he's been coming to spend time with me and now the kids by commuting back and forth between here and Atlanta on the weekends. But out of respect for the children he’s always stayed in a hotel during his visits.”

“ Right. Right.” Dallas sounded.

“ But after discussions with the kids, tonight is the first night he’s going to stay at the house. Which you gotta know’ I wouldn’t be letting this happen if everyone hadn’t seemed on board with it and I didn’t believe my children are safe around him.”

“ Of course.” Dallas backed.

“ So this afternoon he and I were in my bedroom unpacking his things on the bed when Laila walked in and saw him standing there. Unpacking on…on Raheem’s old side of the room, and then without a word she stormed off.”

“I followed after her and so did Jordan, but I think him trying to comfort her just agitated her even more. So we ultimately just left her to cool off.”

“ But then she wouldn't really talk at all for the rest of the day. Stayed to herself when we went to the park, didn’t want ice cream when we went, and even declined the opportunity for pizza from Capone’s for dinner.”

“ After we all ate dinner, James and the boys went downstairs to play video games, and I was finishing up some last minute programming guides for work while Laila was supposed to be in her room playing.”

“ But I couldn’t focus. I just kept thinking about the look she had on her face, looking at him, then me with same one she had in there just now.”

“ This look in her eye….like…like.”

“ Like you betrayed her?” Dallas offered, and Deja nodded.

“ And Jordan is great. I really like him, the boys adore him, but the only person who isn’t connecting with him is…”

“ Lalia.” Dallas concluded, seeing the puzzle begin to fully piece together.

“ Which was a shock to me. Because out of all of the kids, I would’ve expected this from RJ or Kamden. But not Laila. I mean she likes everyone.”

And it was true, Laila, who was known as the neighborhood princess, and to everyone’s understanding could find a way to befriend the tiniest of creatures let alone people. So it wasn’t Laila's character to not be cheerful and friendly.

Yet, Dallas given the situation could also understand where the young girl was coming from.

“ She’s too little to understand it fully.” Dallas said, “ She’s not necessarily anger with you or Jordan, Dej. If anything she’s more upset that her Daddy just isn’t here anymore, most of all. And I honestly get that.”

“ I know. It’s like she knows he’s not coming back, but the why aspect isn’t sticking for her I think.”

Dallas nodded, “ I could see that. I mean to some degree it’s to be expected. It was so sudden. No one had time to prepare for a loss like that, especially her.”

Dallas’s thoughts wandered off a bit to a year and a half ago when she’d been informed that the home would be receiving Raheem’s body after a fatal heart attack had occurred while he’d been lifting weights in their home garage gym.

Dallas had especially felt awful knowing that it’d been Deja who had found Raheem on the matted floor when she came home from work while their children were at their after school activities.

Abuse of steroids Raheem had obtained from God knows where in preparation for one of the body building competitions he’d like to participate in was named as the cause for triggering the arrhythmias that led to his demise.

Dallas could still remember how heartbroken and devastated Deja had been. And now that an opportunity had come along for another chance at happiness for her friend, she found her heart aching for the fact that it wasn’t going the way she’d hoped.

“ Maybe*sniffle*maybe you could talk to her, Dallas.” Deja turned to her.

“ Me?” Dallas’s stomach dropped a tad at this idea.

“ Yeah. I mean, you have experience in this department, right? Ya’ know given everything you’ve been through and become.”

“ Maybe you or even Terry could talk to her, relate to her, maybe help her understand things that I can’t help with.”

“ Dallas they say it takes a village, and Lord knows I have a strong one including you and Terry. So right now I’m calling on you two. Please, help me. Help me and my baby.”

“ I’m not sure what to do. But whatever you may be able to help her with. I-I’d.” When the words failed between them, Dallas with tears in her didn’t speak, but rather embraced Deja tight. And used the moment to comfort both herself and her friend until both of them found their composure there on the porch swing.

Soon after, Dallas got Deja to agree to allow Laila to spend the night under strict rules. That while Laila was to stay with Dallas and Terry, under no circumstances were there to be things like candy and cookies or any sweet treats as some kind of trade off for Laila’s behavior of leaving the house unattended. Which both adults concluded was more than fair.

And with a quick trip back to Deja’s for a proper bag of essentials for the little girl’s stay and a small and somber goodbye from Deja to Laila on Dallas’s phone.

When Dallas returned back with the treasured spendanight’ bag, she entered the house to find both Terry and a now calm Laila seated at the dining room table with a new placemat sat before the coveted guest along with a half cleared plate of chicken and rice.

Dallas took in how Terry watched and catered to her every move until she accidentally made herself known in the archway with the creak of an old floor board.

“ Everything good?” She questioned coming to take a seat with the munching pair.

“Yeah. Everything’s just peachy.” He paused, “ Isn’t that right, peachy.”

“ rIGht!” The first grader roared, with a mouth full of food, sending the trio into quaint laughter.

They then finished up their meals before it was decided to set up Laila at the same dining table with a box of crayons and some coloring sheets Terry had stashed from previous visits.

While Terry and Dallas took up shop in the kitchen washing the dishes together as they debriefed each other and compared notes from the night’s events so far. Which matched up quite well.

“ I don’t know about this, babe. I mean I’m out of my depth here…kinda. I mean, true, I deal in explanations of death to people everyday. It’s my job. But this isn’t work. It’s personal…” she paused.

“ It’s Laila.” Dallas blew a breath, accepting a plate to be dried from Terry before setting it delicately on the rack, “ And I don’t wanna mess that up.”

“ And how on earth do you reckon you could do that, Precious?” Terry sounded beside, puzzled by his girlfriend’s lack of belief in herself.

“ I dunno.” She shrugged, “ I mean I could say the wrong thing. Or what if she wouldn’t even feel comfortable enough to discuss something like that with me .”

“ I am only Miss Dallas after all. And your THEE Uncle Terry. So maybe you should actually be the one to talk to her. You could do it, especially because you know better than me what a loss like that is like.”

And it was true, Terry did know what the loss of a parent was like, and in a way he knew the feeling almost four times over.

He knew it by way of..

His mother.

His father.

His aunt.

And finally his Uncle who’d passed in recent years.

And even though Terry had grappled and been fairly acquainted with the same kind of aching grief he knew Laila felt but couldn’t explain. He was still able to acknowledge that there was part of this grief process that even he hadn’t ever met.

But Dallas had.

Which is why he knew this was a realm he couldn’t step into. Instead he needed to convince the woman before him that this was her mission to spearhead. Not his.

Rinsing off his hands before trying them on the towel, Terry silently reached out an arm to wrap around her waist, gently pulling her into his side until the bottom of his chin found the top of head.

Moving in closer and enjoying the natural scent of the man she’d come to love, Dallas let out a frustrated sigh.

It was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke first, “ Look. I know everything that happened tonight was completely unexpected.”

“ But, baby. I think you’re the perfect person to talk to her about this, because you’ve been through that. I haven’t. Not with my parents and not really with Unc either because truth be told when he started to ‘ date’ it didn’t bother me. I was actually just glad he wasn’t by himself after I left.”

“ But you know what that feeling is like seeing that happen with a parent, and you also know what’s on the other side of it.”

“ So I think that makes you the perfect person for the job.”

“ And even though you don’t see it, and Laila might not realize it right now. There isn’t an Uncle Terry without an Aunt Dallas.”

At this Terry looked up at him with teary eyes, “ I wouldn’t be able to do the things I do with these kids day in and day out if I didn’t have you right here next to me, baby.”

Which was truly how Terry felt. Because even though people always told him how natural he looked in this role and how effortless he was with all of them. What people didn’t get to see was the countless phone calls Dallas received from a puzzled Terry when had a group of kids and a half baked scenario that couldn’t be remedied with an applied acronym from his mental artillery. Or the late night conversations hushed to one another where she comforted him on the days he questioned his purpose in the kids’ lives and doubted how much of an impact was he truly making when all sometimes he could think about was what if he was instead doing harm.

It was vital to Terry and his whole being that since they’d found their way back to each other, Dallas had become the silent force behind his newfound strength in gentleness.

And now he was ready to return the favor back to her tonight.

“ Look if you really don’t feel comfortable with it, I’ll try my best to talk to her myself. But I truly do believe that you’re the best person for this particular conversation. And I’m sure Deja feels the same way, otherwise she wouldn’t have asked you, Precious.”

“ So tell you what. Why don’t you just sleep on it, yeah?” Terry suggested, rubbing her side, “ See how you feel in the morning after everybody has had some time to reset and readjust. Sounds good?”

Dallas nodded, “ Sounds great. Thank you.” She moved around to fully face in, taking a moment to soak in and peek at the many features of his face that she’d once adored when they were boyish, but now adored in their maturity.

Without hesitation Terry leaned his head down for his lips to connect with hers in gentle pecks, before they finished up the dishes and returned to the dining room table to find Laila and an array of new art that Dallas could be sure would find homes on either Terry’s already somewhat full refrigerator surface or the dedicated wall in his office at the construction company headquarters.

Time moved by slowly then with the three of them at the table chattering away as various crayons made contact with paper to draw stories that the seven year old verbalized by mouth. It wasn’t until Laila had to use the bathroom that a new character entered the night.

Forgetting that at Terry’s request she’d placed an agitated Grim in the hallway bathroom, she watched as the feline shot out past her little purple crocs, excited to be free from his confines, with Lalia hot on his tail in pursuit of her soon to be new friend (whether Grim knew that or not).

A small chase that led everyone to the living room where Terry and Dallas found Laila sitting on the floor, kriss crossed applesauce with her hands in her lap, as she tried to coax the feline from his spot deep under Terry’s huge wooden media center.

“ Be careful, Lai.” Terry cautioned, before looking to Dallas, “ Dallas go get that damn cat. Because if he comes out and so much as swats at her. He’ll be a new bathroom rug. Tonight. And I’m playing neither.”

Playfully Dallas popped her boyfriend in the chest in offense, “ Oh quit it. He won’t do that, Terry.”

“ Matter of fact, Grim actually happens to be quite fond of children, all you have know. His best friend is Raemiah. And whenever she comes to town they have a hoot and a half. And he even plays fetch with Carter in the back yard sometimes.”

“ And while I don’t doubt that. That’s at your house. Not here. And he’s made it clear time and time again that he doesn’t like being over here. And I don’t like his fat Garfield free loading ass here either. So I’d say from his previous behavior when he be over here, that he’s been known to be out of character.”

“ Well that doesn’t matter because—LOOK!” Dallas pointed, turning her fussing boyfriend’s attention to the scene unfolding before them as she watched as the daunting feline had emerged from his hole to now sit in the lap of the young girl.

“ Well I’ll be damned.” Terry muttered, unsure of whether to feel relief or jealousy at the way the feline took the young girl he’d known all of fifteen minutes, that he’d been trying to find common gound with for the better part of year, “ Little shit.” He mumbled under his breath, careful not to let his girlfriend hear who instead was absolutely mesmerized by the display in front of her.

“ He’s so soft and pretty.” Laila smiled, continuing to run her small hand down the purring creature’s back, who gave his gesture of approval by snuggling deeper into the crook of her arm, “ What’s his name?”

“ Grim. Named after Uncle Terry’s favorite character from a show a long time ago called The Adventures of Billy and Mandy.”

“ That’s so cool. Hi, Grim. Hi Boy.” Laila cooed, while Grim happily soaked up all the attention she offered.

This continued on for a while until Terry took note of the time and gently began to usher both of his girls and one sorry cat toward the back of the house to begin night routines for bed. Which meant it wasn’t long before Dallas and Laila found themselves snuggled in Terry's big King Size bed while he looked on from the doorway. “ Y’all two comfortable?”

“ Mhmm.” Laila hummed, while Dallas shook her head in approval.

“Good. Well we’ve brushed our teeth. Y’all have said your prayers. We’ve heard a story from Miss Dallas which oddly sounded like the plot to Billy and Mandy.” He chuckled, “ And now we’ve even plugged in Poppy over there who's going to keep the room lit tonight and the monsters away.” He pointed to the trolls themed night light in the corner.

“ Now before I say goodnight, is there anything else you two need.”

“ No.” Laila started, “ But I’d wished you’d stay. There’s room for you. Promise.”

At the urging of the child, Terry felt a part of his chest grow warm. Because while they were brushing teeth and getting ready for bed, Terry was intentional in explaining that while she and Dallas would be sharing his ‘ big boy bed’ Terry would be instead staying the night in the guest room down the hall.

And though his actions were met with both objection and pouts from both girls in the room, he’d gently explained to Laila that Uncle Terry needed to sleep in the other room because there just wasn’t enough space for everyone…including Grim who sat smugly at the foot of the bed, purring about and rubbing his torso on the freshly washed quilt.

“ I know peachy. And I appreciate that. But maybe next time okay.” Terry walked in the room shooting Dallas a knowing look. Who already knew the real reason behind Terry sleeping in the other room was his fear of having a night terror with Laila present in the bed with him. And even though Dallas had quietly reminded him that he hadn’t had one in years, he still didn’t want to risk it. So Dallas took his reasoning and didn’t push back.

“ So I’ll see you in the morning okay.” Terry leaned down, feeling a pair of tiny arms wrap around his neck. “ Night Night, Peachy Peach, sleep good okay.”

“ Night Night Uncle Terry. I love you.” At the ladder three words spoken, Terry felt his breath hitch and body tense a bit. A feeling stronger than his usual care beginning to invade his body.

An all too familiar feeling he’d once fought, but now welcomed as he responded, “ I love you too, Laila.” He whispered.

When the young girl let go, Terry turned his attention to Dallas, who obviously was staving off tears the best she could before being scooped up into an embrace of her own, “ Good Night, Precious. Don’t cry. You know I can’t take it when tears roll down that pretty face, girl.”

“ Can’t help, babe.” She muttered into him, “ I just love you. And I’m so proud of you.”

She could feel him smile against her cheek then, “ Thank you, Precious. But I love you most. And nobody could be more proud than me of you. And don’t you forget it.” He laughed, his voice fighting to cover up emotions of his own.

When he stood fully up he flashed a small smile again at the pair, while an image of a future Dallas and more kids that this time around shared equal parts of their features flashed across his brain.

I have got to get this girl to move in with me. I have got to get her to stay forever. He thought, as he made his way to the door.

“ Alright. Night. Sleep tight and see you in the morning.” He waved, flicking off the light and reaching for the doorknob before a voice stopped him.

“ Wait, Uncle Terry. Aren’t you gonna give a good night hug to Grim.”

The snort that left Dallas couldn’t be contained as she could only imagine the face the ex-marine was making in the doorway, “ Yeah Uncle Terry. What about Grimmy?” She instigated leaving her to watch the hilarious scene of Terry trying to talk his way out of a goodnight hug from his arch nemesis.

Who instead offered Terry a good night swat that sent him down the hall in muffled profanities while the occupants of his bed laughed at his silliness until they grew sleepy.

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