Season of Engagement

 MONDAY MORNING-

Another day of hard work...

"We are just about ready to go to court guys...I thought we'd never be ready..."said Attorney Jessica Sanchez-Burrows...

''We couldn't have done this without your help."said her husband Chip, who was getting an education in being a defense attorney he couldn't get from law school.

''Hey Sofia...Where is Kahlil?" asked Jessica.

"Uhhhh, he's running an errand...An errand for me.He'll be here!"said Chip..

"Yeah, he rushed out this morning...Kissed me and said he'd be in later...He was real excited about something..but he wouldn't say..."said Sofia...

Donnie Ray overheard the conversation...He smiled..because he knew..

Bee Bee and Sofia's lives were about to change dramatically real soon... He had kept it a secret, even from Olivia and Beverly that he had secured engagement rings for both Myself and Kahlil in the past month..

At Josie's Saturday Night..

Kahlil had made the final payment on the ring..

and Donnie Ray had passed it to him..

"You like it?" he had asked Kahlil..

"Oh I love it man." said Kahlil...

"I didn't tell Olivia, Beverly or Josie..so nobody knows except you and I."said Donnie Ray..

"Well Soon they'll all know."said Kahlil.

II-

At this moment...Kahlil was meeting with Sepia and Bonita...

"This house is perfect....I love it.. This house is perfect....A finished basement with a washer and dryer and two floors...wowww!"said Kahlil...

"Actually three floors...There is a third floor you can use as an attic or for entertaining.." said Bonita...

"You're going to be next door to your boy Keith and Bee Bee...I'm bettin you haven't proposed yet either have you?" laughed Sepia..

"No, but I have that all planned out..."said Kahlil..

"These two are something else...You're as bad as your boy Keith..."laughed Bonita..

"Well, I'll give em credit...They both have put down payments on a house..and uh you do have an engagement right for her don't you?" asked Sepia.

"YES, OF COURSE!!!" said Kahlil..

"Well Thank God for that!" laughed Bonita...

Just then, Ms. Yvette was coming out of her front door..

"Kahlil? what are you doing here?  Hi Sepia, Hi Bonita..."she said...Then she stopped...Her eyes got as wide as saucers.... "Wait....you're looking at a house!!!....This house!!!   Oh My God!!!!...Are you and Mamasita ?" she asked..

"I'm going to ask her in a few hours at lunch...I'd like you to be there...if you uh have time...Please don't tell her..."said Kahlil..

Ms. Yvette laughed and hugged Kahlil...

"Of course I'll have the time...I'd be honored to be there.... Awwwwwwwww my babies are getting married... You're breaking the band up huh? You four have lived together for so long."said Yvette.

"Well uh not exactly...Keith optioned the house next door to us...He's going to ask Bee Bee soon..He tried to get his nerve up last week ,but he chickened out...He said it would be better once he left a deposit on the house and got his engagement ring.."said Kahlil..

"What was he afraid of? Bee Bee is crazy about him and you know Mamasita already refers to you as her husband sometimes..Go propose to those girls before I kill you both."laughed Ms. Yvette..

"They do everything together.....If I could have rented them one house...I would have.."laughed Sepia.

"That's okay...They'll be close enough.."laughed Bonita.

III-

Lunchtime....

Sofia entered the Green Bistro...

"This place is nice...Kahlil asked me to meet him here.." she said.

"I haven't been here in three years...Nelson and I got engaged in this place.."said Beverly..

"Yup...It gives me goosebumps just thinking about that day."said Nelson..."I was so nervous.." he said.

"Really?"laughed Sofia..

"Yes...goofball here fainted...AFTER I SAID YES!  I don't know why he fainted or why he was so nervous...He was practically living with me the past four months before he proposed.. Auntay was wondering if we should charge him rent..He knew I loved him..and I knew he loved me.."said Beverly

Giving Nelson a sweet kiss...

"Awwww that was so sweet...." said Jessica, smiling..

"Well let's order our food.. Kahlil will be here shortly.." said Chip, who knew about Kahlil and I buying engagement rings and putting a down payment on the two vacant houses  

They ordered their food and wine for the table..

"This food is delish, just like when we were here before."said Beverly as they ate their meal..

''Yeah"said Nelson, who looked at his watch...Kahlil was supposed to be here by now.. Donnie Ray had told him the whole set up and sworn him to secrecy!

Chip, who also knew the whole set up looked at his watch...He too wondered what was keeping Kahlil.

Sofia and Jessica didn't have a clue...They ate their food....Suddenly Jessica looked up..She saw Kahlil coming through the door with Ms. Yvette..

"Hey everybody , sorry I'm late.."said Kahlil..

''Heyyy everybody...Hope you don't mind my joining you.."said Ms. Yvette, staring at Sofia and smiling..

''Hi Ms. Yvette !! Hey Boo..I saved you a seat next to me...I was wondering if you were coming or not."said Sofia.

who planted a sweet kiss on Kahlil's lips..

Kahlil got down on one knee..

"Sofia....I've been in love with you since Freshman year at Temple..I was just too shy to tell you and finally after three years of law school...I made my feelings known...I can't be with anybody else..but you.....Would you make me the happiest man in the universe and marry me?" he said and pulled out the ring!

The engagement ring...Sofia's eyes got as wide as saucers....Her mouth dropped...she realized what was happening.. Kahlil was proposing to her...

"WOWWWW PAPI!!...The Whole Universe??? YES....YES I'LL MARRY YOU!!!! YOU MAKE ME THE HAPPIEST GIRL IN THE UNIVERSE TOO! I'll be HAPPY TO BE YOUR WIFE!!!"said Sofia, who kissed him passionately..

Some of us were stunned...

"OH MY GOD!!!!!" screamed Beverly...tears streaming down her face..

Nelson put his arms around her and hugged her...

"Little Mamasita...I am soooo happy for you.." said Jessica, hugging them both, with tears streaming down her face..

Chip smiled broadly....

Ms. Yvette hugged Kahlil and Sofia both..

"My babies...My babies are getting married" she said.

 

 IV-

It was nearly midnight...

I stood alone on the rooftop of our apartment building..I was a little nervous!  I had called Bee Bee and told her to meet me on the rooftop...

"Hot Stuff, I'm not going to make love to you on the rooftop...It's cold.."said Bee Bee..

"It's not about that, just come up, I want to talk to you." I said.

''Can't we talk in your room???, it's cold."said Bee Bee.

''Will you just meet me on the rooftop?" I asked her.

"Ohhhh Alright...Let me finish folding these clothes...I'll be up.." said Bee Bee.

And sooooo, I patiently waited..

The door opened...I thought it was Bee Bee, but it wasn't... It was Jade, Ms. Yvette and Gary...

"She's going to be so excited..."said Jade...

"I know...What a day this has been...I'm so emotional.."said Ms. Yvette...

Gary hugged Yvette with one arm...He was holding a bottle of champaigne with the other hand.

It was the best I could get from Josie's..

Newly engaged couple, Kahlil and Sofia came up next...I could see the huge engagement ring on Sofia's finger..

"We didn't tell Bee yet..."said Kahlil

"We'll tell her after you tell her.."said Sofia..

"I can't believe this, you guys getting married...Oh My god..."said Olivia.

"And they're going to be our neighbors soon...Ouuuuuu I love it!"said Beverly..

''Where is Bee Bee?" I asked.

"Where is the cake?" asked Nelson...

"It's coming."said Josie..

"The cake is on it's way...I called the guy...I just hope they don't run into each other."said Paris.

"She's Coming...was saw her coming from across the street with her laundry.."said Kayla, who was just entering with her husband, Ray.

"Yeah Lucky, she didn't see us...Wait....I hear footsteps.."said Ray.

Bee Bee finally made it to the rooftop...

"I was folding clothes...It would have been nice if you guys were-" she stopped in mid sentence...She looked around..She saw all of us..

"What are all of you guys doing here?  Whose Birthday is it?" asked Bee Bee..  "It\s a Monday Night ,We have to go to work tomorrow.." she said.

I walked over to her and knelt down on one knee..

"Hot Stuff, what are you doing? Why is everybody here...Oh wait a minute!! Ohhhh Noooooo!" she said.. Her eyes grew as wide as saucers....her mouth sprung open..

I pulled out the ring...It was sparkling....

I pulled out an engagement ring and slipped it on her finger..

"I told you I was gonna marry you...I told you....Now I'm askin...Will you marry me?" I said.

"I've wanted you since the day I first laid eyes on you...Second day of Law school..I've always wanted you...Now I want you to be my wife."I said.

"YESSSSSSS! OH MY GOD!!! OH MY GOD, OH MY GOD!!!!!"YOU'RE PROPOSING!!!! "screamed Bee Bee.. "YESSSSSS,

OUUUUUUU YESSSSSSS, I'D BE HONORED TO BE YOUR WIFE!!!OUUUUUU YESSS!" she screamed and began to cry profusely...

She kissed me passionately....

Everybody clapped and cheered and whistled..

Gary popped the bottle and gave a glass to everybody..and he poured the champaigne...

Sofia grabbed her best friend and hugged her and kissed her on the cheek...

"I'm soooo happy for you girl." she said...

Bee Bee noticed the engagement ring on Sofia's finger..

"WHOAAAAA Girlfriend ,what's that on your finger?" asked Bee Bee.. "OH MY GOD!!! ARE YOU AND KAHLIL? ARE YOU AND KAHLIL ENGAGED TOO?" she asked..

"Yes we are!!!!...We're engaged!!!! He asked me at lunch today....We decided not to tell you until after Keith asked you.."said Sofia..

"Oh girl, I love you soo much...We been through soooo much together....Wowwwww....I'm gonna miss living in this apartment building with you..."said Bee Bee..

"These two knuckleheads already put a down payment on a house...Two houses....On Ms. Yvette's block..We'll be next door neighbors...Remember how we both said we liked those houses so much last year??  Well there were three or four vacant houses...They got two next door to each other..They're going to show us the houses tomorrow."said Sofia..Aren't they something?" said Sofia.

"Oh My god...Don't we have two special guys?  The band aint breaking up after all.."said Bee Bee, hugging Sofia..

"Come here Kahlil...Let me hug you too!"said Bee Bee.

Kahlil hugged her..

"Squad for life Bee." he said..

Ms. Yvette, who had stopped calling us her babies began to tear up...

"My babies are getting married.." she said again...looking at the four of us.

She remembered when she first met us...Four Green young graduates of law school , who had just passed the bar...She had nurtured us and taught us and now we were seasoned attorneys, good enough to work with other attorneys or alone...She was so proud of us...She looked on like a proud mother..And even though she was only 11 or 12 years older than us..She was in a way like a second mother to us..

The Cake finally arrived , it was a beautiful Red Velvet  Cake...

A Big Box of coffee also arrived from Dunkin Donuts...

''What A day....First you tell me Sofia and Kahlil got engaged at lunch and now Keith and Bee Bee get engaged on the roof under the full moon...Oh my god, how romantic." said Olivia..

"I can't stop crying....I'm so happy for all four of them.."said Beverly...

"So am I" said Kayla, tearing up.

''Me too" said Josie..

"Gentelmen, prepare to have the best sex of your lives tonight.."said Donnie Ray to Nelson and Paris.

who both smiled sheepishly...

'Donnie Ray, you aint never lied....The only ones who may have even better sex tonight are Keith and Kahlil.."laughed Gary....

"Yes Lord....."laughed Ray...

"I'm going to miss you guys living across the street from me...but I'm so happy for you ...All of you."said Jade..

"You'll see us at work and Jade you will always be welcome in our homes..."said Bee Bee,.

"We both will have a washer and dryers in our basements..You can come over and do your laundry in our basement..."said Sofia.

She had seen both of the houses...Bee Bee hadn't seen them yet...

The two of us surrounded 

Jade, Sofia and Bee Bee..

The five of us said in unison- "SQUAD FOREVER!!"

(TO BE CONTINUED)