She handed the two packages out, seeing that the Archangel was surprised she’d brought him a present. Willow’s confidence grew. Memorizing who was married to whom made it easier to pass out the handmade goodies.
“Tameka, this is for you and Zeke this is for you.” When Zeke stepped forward, Willow eyed him closely. She offered a wide smile and a calm question, “Who is older, you or the Archangel?”
“I am,” Zeke said to a room, which grew quiet. Mann and Yield knew the two were brothers. Exit and Stop weren’t aware of that bit of information. Willow continued on doling out presents as if she hadn’t revealed a secret that very few people knew.
“Sharon, this is for you,” she said, and looking at Nathaniel, “This one is for The Mann. I will say that I had a bit of trouble with your gift, but I think I made it work.”
Mann said nothing, looking at the box and wondering what in the world Exit’s woman had created for each of them.
“Millicent, this is for you, and Mr. Yield, here is your box. Judy, this is for you, and Mr. Stop, this one is yours,” she said, picking up one last box in the container. “Mr. Exit, this is yours.”
Raphael couldn’t hide his shock. Willow was a thoughtful woman with a wonderful heart. She too, had wrapped him around her finger and he didn’t give a shit if a room full of assassins knew it. He smiled at her, accepting the present.
“You made something for me?” he asked, genuinely surprised. He opened the box to find inside a coffee mug with an exit sign on the side. Inside the mug he found a black necktie with a green exit sign stitched into the fabric. A white handkerchief was also in the cup. It also held an embroidered exit sign in the fabric. “This is very nice and thoughtful.”
Yield asked, “Did you make these neckties?”
“I did,” Willow replied, looking at the wives, who had removed the aprons she’d made from an old pattern left by Raphael’s mother. They were simple aprons made in colorful fabrics with a solid pocket that held the embroidered first initial of each lady. There was a matching mug and wine glass in each as well as jar of homemade jam.
“Wow, this is impressive. Thank you, Willow. If I may, I have a few items as well,” Cabrina said, pulling out her briefcase. “I hate to pass out itineraries, but there are issues we need to cover during the next couple of days. I have scheduled an afternoon tea for the ladies tomorrow which includes the girls. I won’t torture Rocky and Chad. Tonight, we will have the White Reception here in this room at 4:30 followed by a sit-down dinner. In the morning after breakfast, I have put together an insurance plan for each family. It is not mandatory, but since there are enough of you, I’m able to do a group plan to get you better health and life coverage if you’re interested.”
Sharon went next, “I have created a roster of our phone numbers, names and birthdays for the children. If you will be so kind, before the weekend is over, let’s take some photos, update our contacts in our phones, and make sure the list is filled in with the information. We recently purchased a small place in Florida that you’re free to use for getaways with the kids, but you will need to check the availability on the google calendar I’ll create once I get everyone’s emails.”
Judy didn’t plan to be left out. “I’ve created a Secret Santa Club and a recipe exchange for natural herbal teas and I brought you each a set of teas. I’m not sure about the rest of you, but I don’t have any family. Mr. Stop and Johnnie are all I have. It would be nice, if possible, if my Johnnie can expect a thought gift from her Aunties on Christmas,” she said and blushed as all the women collectively sighed and said awww. “Once I’ve gotten everyone’s email addresses, we can plan to get together again in a month or so, to make this collective more productive.”
“I made blueberry soap for everyone. I too have no family outside of the one I married into and Cabrina,” Tameka said. “Plus I have healing crystal necklaces for each wife. I will match the crystals with your auras. Willow, your blue aura is turning purple as I stand next to you. Intuitive. A visionary. Psychic. Dang, I’m feeling you, girl.”
Willow didn’t know how to react to the warmth an acceptance of the group. She sure as hell had never had her aura read, but evidently it was a good thing. A soft smile formed at the corner of her lips as she turned to Millicent, the wife of Mr. Yield.
All the women also looked at Millicent, who shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, I’m happy to be here and I brought two bottles of halfway decent wine. I didn’t make shit, bake shit, or rub my chakra over shit. He said the boys were getting together. Yield didn’t mention there would be a handcrafted recipe exchange and I had to bring a gift, so I tell you what, I will pour freely from the bottles into these fancy wine glasses Betty Crocker made.”
Willow blushed. “I’m sorry, but forgive my shock. I didn’t expect all of the wives to be Black women. I thought maybe I’d be the only one, and I simply wanted to be accepted.”
Cabrina smiled at her, “Honey, we are all we have in this world. I don’t have a large family either. I have Tameka, and like she said, the family we married into. Sharon has no other family. Millicent has no other family. I assume you don’t either. No one understands what it is our husbands do or who they do it for, so we keep silent, but we don’t have to be. We can speak with each other.”
“Thank you,” Willow said, looking at the men in the corner who all were wearing the neckties with pride. Gabriel Neary’s tie was embroidered with an angel holding a scroll. Zeke’s tie held a man with a book who resembled a nerd. He commented to the other men that it was neat although he had no idea what it meant.
The Archangel also had questions of Mr. Exit. “Willow, made all this stuff in a matter of days?”
“Yep, she’s pretty amazing,” Exit said with a wide smile, keeping his eye on the girls. Dusty was with the boys, carefully overseeing the play time with Pierce. “The girls are awesome as well. I will say gentlemen, I’m surprised at the wives...”
“Why?” Yield wanted to know.
“They are all women of color,” Exit said.
“My mother is Black and so was my Grandmother,” the Archangel stated.
Zeke spoke up as well, “We have the same Mom and Grandmother, so yeah, and your point?”
“No point, just noticing,” he said, looking at The Mann.
“My mother is also a Black woman. My biological must be Scandinavian or some shit,” he said, making the men all laugh at his fair complexion. His son, Nate Jr., was much darker. “Yeah, Nate Jr. is the same skin tone as my Mom, so he’s going to be darker.”
Exit’s eyes went to Mr. Yield, who shrugged. “My folks are Caucasian. Dad was a minister and Mom was a nurse.”
Stop, who had swallowed an entire can of beer in one gulp, had a handful of nuts and was throwing them into his mouth. “My folks were White too, working class. Dad was a truck driver, and my Mom was a waitress at a truck stop.”
The eyes were now on Mr. Exit, who felt put out, but he did in fact start the conversation. “My father was an orthopedic surgeon, my mother a Chilean national and homemaker.”
“No kidding! Are you bilingual?” Zeke asked.