"All I Want For Christmas"

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

"All I Want For Christmas"
by TLC

VERSE 1:
Tis the season to be givin'
And I've got somethin' just for you
Let's take a trip to my cabin
We can celebrate
A funky Christmas made for 2 (oh)
That's all I want

CHORUS:
All I want for Christmas
Is to be loved by someone like you
Outside the snow is falling
My heart is calling
To spend my Christmas time alone with you

VERSE 2:
Now throw a log on the fire
Then we could trim the tree
How much fun it would be
To take a walk in the snow
As you're holdin' me close
That would be your Christmas gift to me

[CHORUS]

RAP:
Maybe it ain't got nuttin' to do
With my 2 front teeth
Not unless of course you're lookin'
For some chewed up beef
See I love ya cuz I'm in love
And in love cuz I love ya
These words and sentences is for the heads
Between and 'bove ya
Can you imagine me alone
A dial tone
A two flips cone
The echo of a moan
A single bow
A measley duckett
A pea in the bucket
Flat out for Christmas all I wanna do is (yow)
Maybe if my baby didn't treat me like a lady
Diss the hoes for my toes
Kiss the spot that's mostly shady
Twist the Left all around
Flips these lips upside down
Then you'll never have to ask me why I'm crazy
So hear me in or hear me out
Give me deaf or give me doubt
Or tell me what it's all about
And if you figure out my flow
Be it fast or be it slow
Me and my baby will be chillin' with the mistletoe

[CHORUS]

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

"Baby, don't you think you have enough stuff packed already?", Marlon huffed while watching his wife of one year named Kshwanna packing up the last of their things for the week's vacation that they would be spending in New York with his family for the Christmas holiday.

"Look, you can never have enough stuff; okay?", she replied with a suck of her teeth as she continued to walk back and forth between their bed and closet to continue with what she was doing.

"Damn. We're only gonna be gone for a week...not a month!"

"Anyway. If you're not gonna help, then go downstairs somewhere. I can do this by myself", she sighed as she loaded up their luggage with some more things.

A sly smirk came across his lips as he stood up from the bed and slowly wrapped his arms around her from behind. "You can't do EVERYTHING by yourself though.", he chuckled before pulling her extra close to him.

"Go on somewhere like I told you. Besides, we don't have the...", she started before she quickly shoved his arms away from her while scrambling out of his embrace. She then proceeded to take off across the floor for the bathroom.

"Baby, you aight?", he anxiously asked after taking off behind her. When he reached their bathroom, he got a not-so-good-view of her kneeling in front of the toilet while her breakfast came back up.

After she was done she answered him and said that she would be okay as she slowly began to stand up while hitting the handle.

"I'ono...that shit looked like somethin' out of 'Alien'!", he replied with a disgusted look on his face while she stood at the sink.

"Shut up and leave me alone. I'll...I'll be out in a minute.", she quietly sighed while waving him off with one of her hands before rinsing her face.

"Aight, but I'm juss sayin'...if you gonna be doin' that shit on the plane, then maybe we need to put off goin' home for a day or two.", he mumbled under his breath as he walked back into the bedroom.

"Ol' crazy ass.", she smirked to herself as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror. She hadn't told him that she had been feeling sick to her stomach almost every day for the past two weeks since he was out most of the time working. But she did have quite a Christmas gift for him that she was sure he was gonna love since it had been something he had been talking about with her for the past year.

After freshening up, she went back into the bedroom to help Marlon finish up packing so they could make their flight on time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I began to excitedly pace back and forth across the floor inside of the airport where I would be picking up Kshwanna and Marlon. It had been nearly two years since I had seen my childhood best friend because I was living in London at the time where I was employed as a fashion magazine photographer. But after things didn't work out between me and my ex-husband that I had recently divorced, that's when I decided to move back home and take a year off from working in order to get myself together. Plus I had been thinking about changing careers and becoming a writer since my minor in college was journalism.

"Flight 281 has landed! Flight 281 has landed!", the male voice announced over the intercom.

I became even more excited as I made my way over to the entrance of the gate so I would be sure not to miss Kshwanna and Marlon. About a minute or two later, I saw the them walking hand-in-hand inside the area even though it appeared that they were in the middle of a heated discussion.

"I was not lookin' at that flight attendant's ass!", Marlon snapped.

"Then how come you kept stretchin' your neck everytime she walked up the aisle?!"

"Kay-Kay...believe me when I say she didn't have an ass! Plus, it could never be like yours...because well…it's soooo...well it's all out in the open and everything!", he nonchalantly replied as he leaned his head back to take a look at it.

"Shut up and c'mon! We'll talk about this some more lata!", she stated with a suck of her teeth before they began to laugh. However, as soon as she looked out in front of her, she and I both began to squeal with delight. She quickly let go of Marlon's hand as she and I ran towards each other.
"Kay-Kay!!!!!", I exclaimed.

"Gigi!!!!!", she giggled.

Once we reached each other, we began to jump up and down while holding hands before hugging each other. It was like we were kids all over again.

"Oh my God! You look great!", Kshwanna smiled while looking at me.

"Girl, stop!", I blushed with a shake of my head.

"No, you do! Maybe I need to move to London for a while! That place treated you good...not that you needed that much work anyway! Oh, I can't believe that it's really youuuuuu!", she happily stated as we hugged each other again.

"And I see that married life has been treatin' you great! I'm sorry again that I couldn't make the wedding. I would have loved to have been there.", I smiled.

"I told you it was okay. Oh yeah...speakin' of my hubby...Marlon?", Kshwanna smiled as she continued to hold one of my hands while waving him over to us with her free one.

"Soooooo...this is your husband? It's nice to finally meet you, Marlon. As you know I'm Egypt.", I smiled as I reached out to shake his hand. "I've been hearing how Kay-Kay is quite lucky to have hooked you.", I joked.

"Nah, actually...I'm the lucky one.", he smiled while wrapping his arm around Kshwanna's waist. He proceeded to pull her to him to place a peck on her cheek.

"Babyyyyy.", she blushed while giggling like a girl in love for the first time.

"Awwwwwww, you two are so cute.", I giggled back while watching them. "So, let's go get your luggage and head out."

"Okay.", they both agreed. As soon as I began to walk a few steps ahead of them so I could lead them over to the baggage claim check area, Kshwanna was about to walk up next to me when she saw Marlon checking me out with a small smile and a raised eyebrow. She let loose with a hard slap on his shoulder.

"What?!", he whispered while quickly looking over at her.

"Is everything okay?", I asked when I heard the lil' commotion behind me.

"Oh, girl, yeah. Everything's fine...juss fine.", Kshwanna quickly grinned before cutting her eyes at him.

"Oh, okay.", I chuckled. As soon as she was walking next to me, we began to catch each other up on things while Marlon continued to follow behind us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

"Okay, baby, we'll be back in a lil' while.", Kshwanna smiled before she and Marlon shared a quick kiss goodbye at his parents' front door.

"Aight, but don't make me have to come out lookin' for you.", he joked while giving her a stern look with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah, okay. Bye, boo.", she smirked with a roll of her eyes as she and I made our way back over to my car to leave so we could go meet up with some old friends and hang out at the mall like we used to do in the old days.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm home!", Shawn grinned when his mother answered the door later on that evening.

"My baby!", she exclaimed as she grabbed him up in a big hug. Shawn couldn't help from laughing as he hugged her back.

"Awwww, look at you. Still as handsome as ever.", she smiled after stepping back from him while placing her hand up on the side of his face.

"C'mon, ma.", he chuckled out of embarrassment as he held his head down.

"Well don't juss stand there, bring yourself on in here.", she grinned.

"Hey, everybody!", Shawn happily grinned as he entered the den where all of the family was gathered together. All of his younger nieces and nephews began to crowd around him because they always knew that he would pass out a few dollars to each of them.

"W'sup, man!", Marlon grinned as he quickly approached him for a playful headlock since they were the closest out of all of the siblings.

"W'sup, knucklehead!", Shawn laughed as the two of them began to slap-box.

"Hey, hey! Yall betta not break my good stuff in here!", their mother laughed while watching them. The rest of the family began to laugh as well.

"Yes, ma'am.", they both replied while glancing over at her although they passed a few more playful punches between each other.

"Okay; dinner will be ready in just a few more minutes. So why don't we all go into the dining room?", she stated while looking around the den at everybody. In no time at all, nothing could be heard but the sound of cheers and feet stampeding throughout the house as everyone headed for the dining room table. However, Marlon and Shawn were the last in line as always.

"Damn, we some greedy asses, huh?", Marlon smirked as they walked alongside of each other.

"Ya know it. So where's Kay-Kay? I knew I was missin' somebody. Or did she get tired of your ass already?", Shawn joked.

"Man, shut your ass up. She's out with an ol' girlfriend, but she should be back any minute since Ma told her what time dinner would be ready."

"Oh that's coo'.", Shawn faintly smiled while giving Marlon a sideways glance. In the back of his mind, he began to dwell on his ex-girlfriend that he had broken up with almost a year ago. Because it was a messy breakup, he had pretty much given up on opening his heart to anyone else.

"Yeah, man. And Shawn...talk about her friend bein’ fine as hell! I mean don't get me wrong because I love my baby and all, but DAMN...the pictures I‘ve seen of her ain’t sayin’ shit until you see her in person! Oh Shawn...you know what? You...", Marlon grinned before Shawn interrupted his statement.

"Nah, man. I know what you're thinkin', but no thanks. No matchmakin' for the kid.", Shawn sighed with a shake of his head.

"C'mon, man...she would be per...", Marlon tried to explain as they stopped and stood in the hallway.

"Listen, baby bro, I appreciate the thought, but I'm coo' with the way things are now. Aight? Now c'mon and let's eat.", Shawn smiled after turning to face him. He then proceeded to walk ahead of Marlon into the dining room.

"Damn, I gotta think of somethin'.", Marlon thought to himself with a shake of his head before following Shawn.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Thanks for everything today. Tomorrow we can have lunch MY treat if you're able to make it.", Kshwanna smiled when I pulled up into the driveway.

"Yeah, I'm up for it. Today was soooo fun!", I happily sighed.

"I know right! Say listen, now that all of the family is here, come on inside to meet them!"

"Maybe another day would be better for me; I'm looking kind of worn out at the moment.", I chuckled while glancing over at her.

"Girl, hush up and c'mon! You look juss fine! And I'm not takin' 'no' for an answer! Now let's get to gettin'!", she laughed as she opened her door and climbed out.

I took a deep sigh and reluctantly climbed out and followed her up the steps to the front door.

"Hey! Where you been woman?! You're three minutes late!", Marlon huffed while glancing down at his watch after opening the door for us.

"Foo', hush up and get out of our way!", Kshwanna giggled while grabbing up to my hand to lead me into the dining room where everyone was gathered.

A sly grin spread across Marlon's face as he quickly followed behind us. He figured since Shawn wouldn't listen to him earlier, maybe after he saw what he was talking about, he'd have a change of mind.

"Hi, everybody! I have a special friend I'd like you all to meet. This is Egypt Alexander. Egypt, this is...", Kshwanna went on as she began to point everyone out, including the kids who were sitting at a separate table. However, after she introduced Shawn who was the fourth person, I pretty much didn't hear anything else that was said although I tried my hardest not to keep looking in his direction.

"Man, what I tell you?", Marlon whispered after placing his elbows on the table and hiding his mouth with his hands while speaking to Shawn.

Shawn pretended to cough while saying "damn" under his breath. Marlon began to lightly chuckle, but when he saw Kshwanna cut her eyes over at them, he quickly grabbed his glass of tea and began to take a sip from it while throwing his puppy dogs eyes on her.

"Why don't you join us? We have more than enough to eat.", Mrs. Wayans smiled while looking at me after all of the introductions were over with.

"No thank you. This is your family's time together. I...", I tried to protest before Marlon quickly interjected.

"C'mon and stay. You're more than welcome.", he smiled.

"Yeah, he's right.", Kshwanna agreed before throwing a sly look his way. After being married to each other for a year, they basically knew each other's thoughts.

"Okay. But only if I can help clean up afterwards.", I smiled while looking over at Mrs. Wayans.

"Ooh, I like you. Maybe I'll be lucky enough to have you as a future daughter-in-law.", she smiled before quickly glancing over at Shawn who was in the middle of taking a sip of his tea. However, he became choked and began to loudly cough while hurriedly placing his glass back down on the table.

"You aight, man?", Marlon laughed while hitting him a lil' too hard in the back. Shawn shook his head yes as he stood up.

"I'm gonna go get somethin' else to drink. I'll be back in a minute.", he stated in between more coughs.

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

In the meantime, I felt my cheeks turning three shades of red as everyone around us lightly chuckled.

"I'll go get an extra chair from the kitchen.", Marlon slyly grinned as he quickly stood up and headed for the kitchen.

"Thanks, sweetie.", Kshwanna smiled as she and I headed down to the end of the table where he had been sitting next to Shawn.

Marlon had just stepped into the kitchen where he saw Shawn leaning up against the counter taking large gulps from his new glass of tea.

"Damn, man! Moms put you on the spot!", Marlon quietly laughed as he grabbed a chair from the table.

"I know right! Damn!", Shawn laughed back with a shake of his head. "But...THAT girl! Shit! You didn't tell me that she came with that sexy-ass accent!"

"Oh yeah! I forgot to say that she spent a few years over in London. She's fly as hell, right?!"

"Hell yeah! But I still don't need any matchmakin' goin' on.", Shawn faintly grinned before taking another gulp of his tea.

"Aight, aight. If you say so.", Marlon slyly grinned before picking the chair up to bring back into the dining room. However, he couldn't help from glancing over his shoulder to look at Shawn once more with a big grin on his face.

"I'm warnin' you, man!", Shawn laughed with a roll of his eyes.

"Here you goooo, Egypt.", Marlon smiled when he returned with my chair. I noticed how he placed it in between him and Shawn's chair.

"Thank you.", I faintly smiled before glancing over at Kshwanna who smiled back at me before continuing to make herself a plate.

As soon as I was seated after Marlon held the chair out for me, I glanced up and saw Shawn strolling back over to his chair. Before sitting down, he threw a nasty glare across the top of my head at Marlon.

Marlon quickly turned away from him while trying not to laugh. "Baby, could you pass me the peas, please?", he grinned while looking at Kshwanna who was also trying not to laugh.

"Everything looks and smells so good.", I smiled as Kshwanna and I passed dishes of food between each other.

"Thank you. I hope it tastes good.", Mrs. Wayans smiled as she went back to eating.

"Momma, anything you make tastes...", Kshwanna smiled until she placed a forkful of mashed potatoes with gravy into her mouth. The consistency from it made it feel like she had a mouthful of cotton. She dropped her fork and quickly jumped up and ran from the table.

"Damn, Kay-Kay...if you can't say somethin' nice...!", Marlon huffed as he jumped up and ran out behind her.

Everyone began to laugh even though Mrs. Wayans had a confused, but hurt look on her face. "She usually LOVES my mashed potatoes."

I immediately spoke up. "Well, she said she hasn't been feeling well lately." I made sure not to tell the secret that she had found out on last week for the sake of ruining the surprise.

"Really? She looked fine up until now.", Shawn replied while glancing over at me.

"Yes, but it could be the weather. You know how flu season can be.", I faintly smiled while glancing back at him.

"Yeah.", he slowly grinned as we unknowingly gazed at each other; that is until his brother, Damon, loudly cleared his throat which made everyone lightly chuckle. We immediately looked back down at our plates as everyone began to talk amongst each other again.

"I'm so embarrassed.", Kshwanna sighed while kneeling down in front of the toilet once again.

"It's okay. I'm sure Ma will undastand...even though you WERE a rude ass about it.", Marlon mumbled under his breath.

"I heard that. Anyway, maybe I should skip dinner. I wasn't that hungry anyway."

"Are you sure you aren't comin' down with somethin'? We don't need your nasty ass germs around us." Marlon proceeded to help her stand up and walk over to the sink.

"Okay, don't make me disrespect your momma's house by kickin' your ass.", she replied with a suck of her teeth.

"Well, I'm juss bein' real.", he replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yeah, real damn dumb!", she chuckled as she splashed some cool water onto her face.

"Awww...c'mere, you know I love my baby. Nasty germs and all.", Marlon smiled as he wrapped his arms around her and placed his cheek up against hers as they looked at their reflection in the mirror.

"Awww...I love you too, boo-boo.", she giggled as she turned her head to face him.

"Ummmm...baby, you might not wanna do that until we get to our place so you can hit them bad boys up with some Crest.", Marlon replied while tightly shutting his eyes and looking away with an ugly look on his face.

"Move! I'll be back out in a minute.", she huffed while nudging him away with her elbow.

"Okay. But juss promise that you won't go gettin' sick again. A nigga still hasn't finished gettin' his grub on yet."

"Out!!!"

Meanwhile, back at the table, Shawn and I were eating in silence as one of his other brothers named Keenan told some funny stories about how they used to spend their Christmases growing up.

"You have any brothers or sisters?", Shawn finally asked while giving me a sideways glance.

"No. I'm an only child. But it's times like these when I wish I would have come from a large family.", I faintly smiled as I glanced back at him.

"Yeah, it's coo'...sometimes.", he chuckled. "Marlon and I were the youngest, so we were always gettin' punked the most as kids."

"Awwww.", I chuckled. "But I bet you look back on those times and become glad that you had those experiences."

"Yeah, but only when I'm in a good mood.", he smiled. "You know, I really like your accent."

"Thank you.", I smiled before looking away and returning my eyes to my plate.

"You're welcome." He was about to speak again until Marlon returned.

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

"Is Kay-Kay alright?", Mrs. Wayans asked.

"Yeah. I think she's comin' down with somethin' even though she keeps denyin' it like she did this mornin' before we left.", Marlon replied with a shake of his head while sitting back down in his chair.

"Did she feel warm?", Mrs. Wayans asked while looking at him.

"Nah, actually, her face felt kinda clammy and cold.", he replied with a disgusted look before placing some food in his mouth.

"And you say that she was the same way this mornin'?", she asked.

"Mmmm hmmm.", Marlon stated with a nod of his head while placing yet some more food in his mouth.

I could hear some quiet "oohs" and "aahs" from his sisters as I watched his mother stand up.

"I think I'll go check on her juss to make sure she's okay.", Mrs. Wayans grinned as she stood up from the table.

"Okay.", Marlon replied with a mouthful of food.

"Hey, stupid! Show some manners!", Shawn laughed while looking across me at him.

"Man, you stupid!", Marlon huffed as he rolled his biscuit around on his plate in the gravy where his potatoes had been.

"Hey, hey, hey! Aight now!", Mr. Wayans warned while watching his sons.

"Sorry, Pop.", Shawn chuckled as he went back to eating.

"Ooh, Momma! You scared me!", Kshwanna nervously chuckled when she nearly bumped into Mrs. Wayans who was about to knock on the bathroom door as it was being opened.

"I'm sorry. I hear you haven't been feelin' well.", she grinned.

"No ma'am. But it's probably nothin'.", she replied with a shrug of her shoulders while trying to end the on-coming conversation.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I think I'll start tidyin' up the kitchen a lil' bit since I'm not that hungry. You go on back in with everybody else and finish your meal." Kshwanna was trying to quickly walk down the hall towards the kitchen, but Mrs. Wayans was down in behind her.

"Kay-Kay? Turn around and look at me."

"C'mon, Momma. Be a nice lil' lady and go on back in with the family and finish your meal before it gets cold.", Kshwanna bashfully smiled while giving her a quick sideways glance.

"Not until you turn around and look at me like I told you to.", Mrs. Wayans chuckled while grabbing Kshwanna's hand to stop her from clearing off the kitchen counter.

As soon as she turned around, a huge grin broke out on Mrs. Wayans face before she quickly grabbed Kshwanna up in a big hug.

"What was that for?", she smiled with a puzzled look on her face.

"For blessin' me to be a grandma AGAIN!", she joked.

"How do you even know that's what's wrong with me?"

"Kshwanna De'Jour Lincoln Wayans...after birthing 10 children myself, I would think that I know these things.", Mrs. Wayans replied while folding her arms and shaking her head at Kshwanna.

"Okay, okay. But please don't say anything to anyone. I wanna wait until Christmas to tell Marlon since we've been tryin' for a long, LONG time."

"Awwwww. Okay, I won't say a word. So how long have you known?"

"Since last week."

Suddenly, Marlon appeared in the kitchen toting a glass.

"May we help you?", Mrs. Wayans asked.

"Nah, it's juss that it’s MY turn to get Pop somethin' else to drink.", he replied with a slow shake of his head as he made his way over to the refrigerator.

"Oh, okay. Well we'll talk some more later.", Mrs. Wayans stated as she returned her attention to Kshwanna.

"Okay."

"What'chall gonna talk about lata?", Marlon asked as soon as his mother had left him and Kshwanna alone.

"Nosey!"

"Don't tell then. I'on care!", he pretended to pout as he was making his way back over to the door.

"I still love you though.", she laughed.

"I know...I still love you too.", he smirked while throwing her a wink.

"Well, I guess I'll go and help Kay-Kay out with the kitchen.", I faintly smiled a few minutes later as I began to stand up while reaching out for my plate.

"Let me get that for you.", Shawn grinned as he stood up alongside of me while holding his plate.

"Oh...thank you.", I replied as he took my plate away from me along with my glass.

"Pimp-playaaa.", Marlon chuckled under his breath while he glanced across the table at Damon and Keenan.

As Shawn began to follow me into the kitchen, he stopped for a brief moment to elbow Marlon in the back of the head.

"Ouch! Ma did you see what he did?!", Marlon yelped while vigorously rubbing the back and top of his head.

I stopped and turned back around to see what was going on. However, the only thing within my view was Shawn's face as a slow smile spread across his lips.

"Don't pay him any mind; he juss loves gettin' attention.", he chuckled.

"Don't put Momma into nothin'. You and Shawn are grown men now. Work out that mess on your own.", Mrs. Wayans sighed out of frustration with a shake of her head.

In the meantime, after quickly turning back around so Shawn wouldn't notice how hard I was blushing, I quickly marched into the kitchen.

"Hi, are we feeling better?", I chuckled while approaching Kshwanna as she covered up the leftovers with aluminum foil.

When Kshwanna glanced up to look at me, I noticed the big silly grin that came across her lips when she saw that Shawn was walking alongside of me. "Yeah, ummmm...I feel a lil' betta."

"That's good.", I smirked while giving her a "don't-go-there" look.

"Here, sis. Make yourself useful.", Shawn joked as he placed our used dishes on the table for Kshwanna to load into the dishwasher.

"Shut up and get out! You get on my damn nerves.", she huffed with a shake of her head as she glared at him.

"Tell me somethin', Egypt.", he stated with a puzzled look as he turned around to face me.

"Yes?"

"How could someone as classy as you be friends with a ghetto hoodrat like Kay-Kay?"

"See, I'm finna kick your ass ghetto-hoodrat style! Keep right on playin'!!!", she warned him after snatching a large serving fork from the dirty pots and pans piled in the sink.

I couldn't help from laughing at them.

"Marlon!!! Kay-Kay actin' up again!!!!", Shawn jokingly shouted as he quickly went back into the dining room.

"Ol' foo'.", Kshwanna grinned as we watched him disappear. "But anyway...what do you think of him?"

"Who?", I asked while giving her a blank look knowing full well that she was talking about Shawn.

"Don't even try it. You know who I'm talkin' about.", she smirked as she and I began to straighten things up.

"He's okay.", I blushed while trying not to smile.

"Look at you. You know that deep down inside you're possibly feelin' him."

"Kay-Kay...", I sighed before stopping when the female family members began to pour into the kitchen to help us out.

"...Ummm, you and I are gonna do some talkin' tomorrow.", I quietly giggled while talking out of the side of my mouth to her.

"Whateva.", she mumbled back with a smirk.

Over the next half-hour, we all went to work cleaning the kitchen until it was spotless. Once we were done, Kay-Kay and I were the first two to walk into the den so I could say goodnight to the male family members.

"You leavin' so soon?", Marlon grinned while glancing up at us from the floor where he was stretched out with some of his nephews watching a college basketball game.

"Yes. I have to get an early start in the morning."

"Awww, too bad.", Keenan smiled while looking at me.

"Well, it was really nice to meet all of you and I really enjoyed dinner. If you'll excuse me, I'll be leaving. Good night."

As soon as Kshwanna and I disappeared into the hall so she could lead me to the front door, Damon, Jr. began to speak.

"I ain't neva been into older women, but I might have to reconsider my options.", he slyly grinned with a nod of his head.

"That's my boy!", Damon proudly grinned as the rest of the men began to laugh.

"Nah, but fo' real...you can't be stealin' women from your Uncle Shawn.", Marlon smirked while glancing across the room at Shawn who was sitting on the sectional sofa.

"Man, I thought I told you to shut up?", he chuckled with a shake of his head.

"C'mon, Shawn! You know you wanna tap that!", Marlon winked.

"How would you like me to tap you?!", Mrs. Wayans warned him as she came strolling into the den. "You know that I taught you not to disrespect women."

"Sorry, Ma.", Marlon replied with a sheepish look on his face. However, as soon as he glanced over at Shawn the two of them began to laugh along with their father who also began to laugh. Pretty soon, the entire den was filled with laughter although the females were wearing serious looks on their faces.

"What's so funny?", Kshwanna asked as she came walking back into the den.

"Nothin'.", Shawn grinned with a shake of his head as he returned his attention to the game.

"Ohhhhhhhhh...kay. Anyway, Momma, I hate to run, but Marlon and I need to head to our hotel so I can get a lil' rest. You ready to be out, boo?", she asked after glancing from Mrs. Wayans to Marlon.

"Yeah, I guess so.", he yawned as he began to sit up from the floor.

"We'll be back tomorrow.", Kshwanna smiled as she kissed Mrs. Wayans on the cheek followed by kissing Mr. Wayans' as well before she started waving goodbye to everyone.

"Yall have a safe drive over there.", Mrs. Wayans smiled.

"Thanks!", Marlon replied while kissing his mother goodbye before grabbing his keys from the key rack so he could get his car from the garage that he kept at his parents' house for his trips home to visit them.

[glow=yellow,1,200]*Part 2 Comin' Up*[/glow]

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

I know I'm allll late on this, but I wasn't home on Christmas in order to post the rest of this in time...anyhoo, here's the rest:

"Mmmm mmmmph. I'm sure glad that Kay-Kay's not around.", Marlon slyly grinned while checking out a pair of females walking past him and Shawn in the mall a few days later.

"You need some help.", Shawn smirked with a roll of his eyes.

"Don't try to act like you ain't lookin'.", Marlon huffed.

"But at least I'm not committed to a WIFE."

"Hey, hey, hey...juss because I'm on a diet doesn't mean I can't look at the menu!"

"Nigga, please..like you need to be on a diet! That's like a crackhead goin' on Slim-fast!"

"Anyway...juss bring your ass on so I can find my baby somethin'."

"We've already been in 10 stores; damn! She shouldn't be that hard to buy somethin' for!"

"Shut up!"

Meanwhile, Kshwanna and I were in The Baby Gap since she had an urge to look at some baby stuff and to possibly find a gift for Marlon for Christmas as her way of letting him know that she was gonna be his baby's momma in a few months.

"This is sooo cute!", she giggled while holding up a yellow snowsuit.

"Yeah.", I giggled back until I noticed the anxious look that took away her amused one. "What's wrong?"

"Even though I've known for a week now, it's finally hit me that I'm gonna be raisin' a child. Gigi, I'm sorta scared."

"Of what?"

"Well, what if I don't do it right? I mean, I know that I have Marlon to help me, but I'ono. I wish Ma and Daddy hadn't gone out of town because I feel like I'm by myself."

"What the hell do I look like?! One of those mannequins in the window?!", I huffed.

Kshwanna began to laugh. "Girl, you know what I mean!"

"Look, you're gonna be just fine. Okay?", I grinned.

"Okay. Well, I guess we'd betta get back to lookin' for some more gifts for our families.", she chuckled.

We had barely stepped out of the store when we ran into Marlon and Shawn.

"Hey, what'chall up to?", Marlon smiled.

"Nothin' much. What about yall?", Kshwanna smiled back.

"We're basically doin' the same thing.", Shawn replied even though when I glanced at him, he was looking at me. We couldn't help from smiling at each other.

"Oh, boo! I juss remembered...while you're here, let's go down to the jewelry store to see if they still have that pendant that we were thinkin' of buyin' for my momma.", Kashawnna slyly grinned while looking at Marlon.

"Pendant? Oh...oh yeah...you mean the thing to go on her necklace.", he quickly replied. "We'll be back in a minute. Yall mingle and shop or do somethin'.", he mumbled as he walked over to Kashawnna and took her hand.

"See ya in a lil' bit. Bye!"

I was so shocked by what those two had just pulled that the only thing I could do was glare at their backs as they walked away from us.

I don't know how long I had been standing in silence with Shawn, but he must've noticed how quiet I was.

"So I guess Kay-Kay ran her mouth so much since yall been shoppin' that she took all of your words too, huh?", he smiled.

"Oh, I'm sorry.", I nervously smiled. "It's just that I guess those two crazy relatives of yours somehow pulled one over on us."

"Yeah, you're right; but I can't say that I don't mind.", he grinned.

I quickly cleared my throat. "My throat is a lil' dry. I...", I started before he interrupted.

"I'll get you somethin'. Have you been down to the food court yet?"

"No."

"Okay, well we can go down there to Starbucks to get somethin' if ya want."

"Fine with me.", I stated with a nod of my head. The two of us then headed down to the food court.

"I cannot BELIEVE that I'm actually doing this!", I thought to myself.

"Damn, I can't believe I'm doin' this!", Shawn also thought to himself.

"Aw shit, our plan worked, babe.", Marlon proudly grinned when he noticed me and Shawn walking past the jewelry store that he and Kshwanna were standing in.

"Really?", she whispered with a look of hope on her face.

"Yup...!", Marlon started before he started laughing.

When Kshwanna looked out at what Marlon was looking at, she saw Shawn throwing him a slow head nod as a warning signal that he was gonna get him later. However, Marlon laughed it off and placed one of his hands under his chin while waving his fingers at him in a taunting manner.

"You need to stop!", Kshwanna giggled while discreetly hitting him on the behind.

"Damn, girl. That reminds me, you haven't said or did that to me in the last couple of days.", he slyly grinned after turning to face her.

"Well, if you behave for the rest of the day, maybe Mrs. Claus will bring ya a lil' somethin' somethin' lata on tonight.", she winked as she walked out of the store ahead of him.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!", he smirked as he quickly walked up beside her and placed his arm around her waist while pulling her close to him.

In the meantime, I was sitting at a table while Shawn ordered two lattes for us. As I waited on him, I kept noticing how a few females both young and old would sneak-a-peek at him in passing. Not that I could blame them though because he is very easy on the eyes; so much so, that I found myself beginning to gaze at him as my pinky finger from the hand that I was resting my chin on slowly made its way up to my mouth and slipped inside while I crossed my legs. Forget about being easy on the eyes...this man is sexy beyond belief!

"There you are!", Kshwanna bellowed as she and Marlon flopped down at a table next to where I was seated.

I quickly took my hand away from my face and placed my leg back on the floor while turning my head to look at them.

"Oh, it's you.", I smirked while looking at her.

"Ugh...I know you ain't gettin' all smart!", she smirked back.

"Anyway. Did you find what you were looking for?"

"Huh?"

"Ummmm...she's talkin' about the thing.", Marlon stated while placing his hands up to his neck to talk about the necklace.

"Ohhhh...oh nah, girl...do you know that somebody bought it already?!"

"Is that so?", I chuckled.

"Mmmm hmmmm...I was so mad when that ol' man told us while ago. Man!", she pouted.

"Don't quit your day job to become an actress.", I sighed with a shake of my head. Just then I noticed Shawn making his way over to our table.

"Yall find everything okay?", he smirked while looking at Kshwanna.

"Huh?"

"Babe! The thing!", Marlon stated once again while placing his hands on his neck. He followed up by shaking his head and laughing at her.

"Oh, nah. I was juss tellin' Egypt about that.", she giggled while kicking Marlon's foot underneath the table.

"Ouch! You betta chill with those cockroach killers!", he grumbled while speaking in reference to her pointy-toed boots. She kicked him once again on the other foot.

"Ouch!"

"Awww, my baby's not feelin' well. Ummm...Egypt, I think I'ma have to take a raincheck on our dinner tonight. If it's all the same to you, I think I need to take the big baby home to take care of him.", she stated as she stood up while pulling on Marlon's arm to stand him up.

"So how am I supposed to get home?", Shawn asked with a shrug of his shoulders since Marlon had brought them to the mall.

"Here. Take my keys, I'll ride home in Kay-Kay's car.", Marlon replied as he reached into the pocket of his jeans to pull his keys out. He tossed them over to Shawn.

"Thanks."

"And Egypt, I'm sure Shawn won't mind droppin' you off at your place. I'll call you lata after I get Marlon situated. Bye."

Again, I watched in silence as she and Marlon, who was hobbling from one foot to the other, walked away from us. But deep down inside, I was actually somewhat pleased that I was left alone with Shawn once more.

“Well I guess we'd betta drink up before this gets cold.", Shawn smiled as he placed his styrofoam cup up to those full, succulent...to his lips! Damn! I think I'm getting caught up too quick! Anyway...

"Yeah, you're right.", I smiled.

"So, do you have any big plans for the holidays?"

"No, not really. I was going down to Georgia to spend it with my family, but at the last minute, my parents decided to go with Kshwanna's parents to the mountains.", I sighed with a shrug of my shoulders.

"Oh. So that means that you'll be spending it alone?"

"Pretty much.", I replied with a slow nod of my head.

"Why don't you spend it with me and my family?"

Needless to say, I was caught off guard by his invitation. "What?"

"Spend Christmas with me and my family. I would hate to think that someone like you would be spending the holidays all by herself."

I couldn't help from smiling. "Well, if it's okay with your family, I will."

"Girl, they'll be okay with it. Trust me, there's damn near 30 of us now so one more person won't hurt. Besides, the more the merrier.", he chuckled.

"So what should I bring?"

"You will be more than enough.", he winked.

"Are you flirting with me?", I giggled.

"Let's just say that I can't help myself.", he smiled before taking another sip of his drink while looking at me.

"O-Kay!", I chuckled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

"Damn, girl. Bring that ova here!", Marlon anxiously replied with a big grin as he watched Kshwanna walking into their bedroom a few hours later. She was dressed in his favorite red silk chemise that he had bought for her back on Valentine's Day.

"You know you could ask in a more romantic tone.", she smirked as she made her way over to their bed.

"Not when I'm gettin' ready to get a piece of ass!"

"You betta be glad I love you enough to let you get away with sayin' that nasty-ass shit to me.", she huffed as she climbed on top of him. He immediately sat up while wrapping his arms around her. No sooner than their lips met in a series of passionate kisses, the phone began to ring. However, they decided that they would let the machine pick it up as they carried on with what they were doing.

"Hey, Marlon, it's Shawn. I was just calling to let you know about your car. I'm gonna...", he started before Marlon quickly scrambled from underneath Kshwanna.

"Baby, this won't take but a minute.", he stated as he reached for the phone on the nightstand. When it came to Marlon's ride, he was somewhat overprotective of it since he had everything in it custom-made to fit his needs.

In the meantime, Kshwanna angrily huffed and threw herself onto her back next to him while he began to talk with Shawn.

"Oh, I thought you weren't home.", Shawn stated after he heard Marlon saying hello.

"Nah, I was juss a lil' busy when I heard your message playing.", Marlon replied.

"Man, ewwww...I ain't wanna hear all of that!"

"Nah, nigga! Not THAT!", Marlon lied. He couldn't let his brother know that at the moment, his car was more important than handling some business with his wife. "Anyway, what's goin' on?"

"Oh, I was juss callin' to let'chu know that I'll bring your car home in a few hours. I'm over at Egypt's place right now. We decided to order some pizza for dinner since your wifey cancelled on her.", he smirked.

"Oh word? So you tryna get in there huh?", Marlon whispered with a huge grin.

"Anyway!", Shawn chuckled while glancing over in my direction since I was sitting next to him on the sofa. "I'll see ya sometime tonight. Bye." He followed up by quickly hanging up the phone.

When Marlon rolled over after hanging up, he found Kshwanna sound asleep next to him.

"Kay-Kay? Kay-Kay!", he huffed while gently shaking her shoulder. That's when she began to lightly snore while burying her head deeper into her pillow. It seemed as though she was sleeping more than usual lately which I guess stems from her current condition.

"Damn.", he pouted while placing his hands behind his back and looking up at the ceiling. Kshwanna took it upon herself to snuggle up next to him while throwing one of her arms across his chest.

A small smile spread across Marlon's lips as he gently pulled her into his arms. "I love you too, boo.", he whispered. He soon fell asleep along with her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Shawn and I ate our pizza while watching tv, I noticed how he began to lightly chuckle.

"What's so funny?", I smiled as I turned to look at him since there wasn't anything funny happening on tv at the moment.

"It's juss that earlier today, I was kinda pissed at my lil' brotha for the lil' stunt he and Kay-Kay pulled, but now if I could see them, I'd give them BOTH a big hug and kiss."

"Oh my!", I laughed with a shake of my head.

"I'm for real though. If they hadn't done what they did, I wouldn't be sitting here having a nice time with you.", he smiled while giving me a sideways glance.

"Oh.", I blushed. "But I feel the same way about what they did too."

This time when Shawn and I looked at each other, we both began to laugh.

"Ya know I was thinkin' that this holiday was gonna be kinda hard for me since it was gonna be the first one that I wouldnt' be sharin' with...damn, I forgot her name.", Shawn joked.

"You are so silly.", I giggled. "But up until now I thought it was gonna be kinda rough for me too since my divorce."

"Yeah, I know what you mean."

"But with my book that I'm gonna start soon and with a new friend in tow, maybe things will finally become easier for me."

"Me too. So what is your book gonna be about?"

"I like mystery novels, so that's what I'm gonna write about...even though we all have our own stories to tell.", I sighed as I looked out ahead at nothing. I couldn't help from thinking about how I just knew I was going to have the perfect marriage after having a fairytale wedding. However, in only days of being married, the honeymoon was beyond being over.

"Yeah, you right about that.", Shawn sighed back.

"Yup, but then, like with every book, once you come to the end of a chapter...you begin a new one.", I smiled as I glanced over at him. I happened to look down at his glass he was holding and noticed that it was empty. "Could I get you anything else to drink?"

"I can get it; I don't want to put you through any trouble."

"No, it's no trouble. My glass is almost empty so I can get us both somethin' else." I proceeded to stand up from the sofa while taking his glass from him.

"Why don't I just come along with you?", he smiled as he also stood up.

"Okay, that's fine with me.", I replied with a nod of my head before walking ahead of him in the kitchen. As soon as I walked inside, I could see from my window that it was snowing. "Oooh! Maybe we're gonna have a white Christmas. I LOVE snow!"

"You do?", he smirked as he began to pour some more tea into our glasses.

"Yes, don't you?", I chuckled.

"Now it's coo', but back when I was growin' up, I couldn't stand how Pops would make us shovel the walkway even though we lived in the damned projects. It wasn't like we owned the walkway or anything.", he smirked with a shake of his head.

I couldn't help from laughing before I began to speak. "I've loved snow from the time I was a little girl. I remember how my parents and I would make snow angels, have snowball fights, and make snowmen. And one other thing I used to love to do was take walks in it."

"You feel like doin' that now?"

"Pardon?"

"You feel like takin' a walk in it now?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Okay, I'll go get our coats.", he grinned.

For several seconds, I stood watching him as he left out of the kitchen. I began to smile as I thought about how this may be one of the best Christmases I've had in a long time. After quickly gathering myself together, I went back into the den where Shawn was zipping up his leather coat.

"You ready?", he smiled when he saw me. He immediately held my coat open for me to step into.

"Yes.", I smiled back as I turned my back to him while he helped me out with my coat. After grabbing my keys from my purse hanging on the coat rack near the door, we made our way outside and down the steps.

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

"Wow, it's really comin' down now.", he stated as he nonchalantly grabbed a hold of my hand.

"Yeah, it sure is. It looks so pretty."

Over the next few minutes, we continued to walk hand-in-hand in silence while looking at the decorated houses along each side of the street. However, without saying anything, Shawn let go of my hand and began to walk ahead of me.

"What are you doing?"

"Nothin'.", he replied without glancing back at me. That's when I saw him bending over to pick up some snow. I readily prepared myself for what was about to go down. But after picking up the snow, I noticed that for about another minute or two, he still hadn't turned around but he quickened his pace.

"Shawn? What are you up to?"

"I said nothin'. I'm juss makin' a lil' surprise for ya.", he slyly grinned while looking over his shoulder at me. That's when I quickly hid my snowball behind my back so he wouldn't see it.

"What are you doin'?", he asked after stopping in his tracks to turn around and look at me through the sheets of snow that was coming down.

"I'm not doing anything.", I chuckled with a shake of my head.

"Then what are you hidin' behind your back?", he asked as he slowly began to walk in my direction while molding the snow into something in his hands. Maybe he wasn't doing what I thought he was gonna do after all.

"Nothing. See?", I innocently smiled as I held my free hand up to show him.

"What's in the other hand?"

I quickly put my free hand behind my back to hold the snowball while I held my other empty hand up.

"Show both of 'em." By this time, he was standing directly in front of me.

"Don't you trust me?", I asked.

"I'ono.", he smirked.

"Okay, okay.", I sighed while dropping my snowball to the rest of the snow accumulating behind me. I proceeded to hold up both hands.

"I'm sorry I didn't trust you...but you still GON' DIE!", Shawn laughed while taking the snow he had been holding in his hands to pile on top of my scarf that I had wrapped around my head. He took off running down the block.

"Oooh, you're gonna get it!", I screamed as I bent down to make me a few snowballs.

"Yeah, right!", he shouted as he began to make some of his own. Within seconds, we were tossing snowballs in each other's directions.

When Shawn realized that I was getting the best of him since I had been the reigning champ of snowball fights growing up, he took off running in my direction. I began to scream and laugh as I ran away from him. I almost got away too until I slipped and fell along with him after he caught up to me. We couldn't help from laughing even harder while rolling around in the snow in someone's yard like two big kids. When we were through having our fun, we both stood up and headed back to my place now that we were both drenched.

"That was too fun.", I smiled as we made our way back inside. "I have some clothes that my ex left that should fit you so your clothes can dry in the dryer. I'll be right back with some things so you can go into the bathroom to change into them."

"Okay, thanks."

Several minutes later, I returned with a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt. "Here you go. You can leave your wet clothes right outside the bathroom door and I'll put 'em in the dryer for you."

"I can do that. You've done enough already. Juss show me where your dryer is.", he smiled back. I proceeded to walk him over to the laundry room off of the kitchen and went back into my bedroom to change out of my clothes. I changed into an old pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt along with my fuzzy pink slippers. Afterwards, I made my way back into the den to watch some more tv.

When Shawn joined me a few minutes later, I had to do a double take when I noticed the way he was filling out the shirt I had gave him with his broad chest.

"Does everything fit okay?", I asked.

"Yup. It feels good to be dry.", he replied with a head nod as he sat back down next to me.

“I agree.”, I chuckled as I grabbed the remote to change the channel since one of my ex’s favorite movies, “Tomb Raider”, was coming on.

“You don’t like that movie?”, Shawn asked.

“No, not really. I mean I guess I would if well…let’s just say that it brings back some memories.”, I faintly smiled as I gave him a quick sideways glance.

“Oh, my bad.”<br>
“It’s okay.”<br>
“Ummm…if you don’t mind my askin’, how is it that you ended up becomin‘ a divorcee?”<br>
“I don’t mind talkin’ about it.”, I replied with a shrug of my shoulders. “The fact of the matter is that my ex-husband couldn’t handle that I was my own person and that I couldn’t give him attention 24 hours a day; especially when I didn’t receive any attention in return anyway.”<br>
“Damn, I’m sorry to hear that.”<br>
“Thanks, but it’s okay. What about you?”<br>
“Well, my story is similar to yours. She said I didn’t give her enough attention even though she knew that was hard for me to do with my line of work and all; but it wasn’t like I tried. Sometimes when you’re tryin’ to make someone else happy, you make your own self miserable as hell in the process. So since she didn’t think I loved her enough, I decided to end things.”<br>
I found myself placing my hand on top of his hand that was resting on his knee closest to me. I proceeded to give a gentle squeeze.

For several seconds, we sat in silence as we looked at each other; then it happened, we both slowly began to lean our heads towards each other and shared a brief kiss…<br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[KitaWita73 aka CC]

Christmas 2004
"Hey, Ma, I'm goin' to check on my Lil' Man real quick", Kshwanna stated when she came into the kitchen from the dining room where she had been setting the table for everyone to have Christmas dinner at her parents’ house along with my parents and all of Shawn and Marlon's family.

"Okay. I can take it from here anyway. Tell your Daddy to come help me bring the bird into the dining room."

"Okey doke."

When Kshwanna went into the living room, everyone began to applaud and sigh with relief.

"Here, take this damn kid! He won't shut up juss like his Daddy!", Shawn sighed after he had been the next one in line to try to calm the baby down.

"Marlon! You're supposed to be keepin' an eye on our baby and here you are playin' with those crazy video games as usual!", she angrily huffed as she quickly took the baby right after hitting Shawn on the shoulder.

"He wouldn't be quiet with me either! Shoot!", he huffed back.

"Well, Daddy, what about you?", she asked after turning to her father even though everyone noticed how quiet the baby became.

"My grandson may be six months old, but he screams like a damned six-year-old and my nerves ain't what they used to be.", he sighed with a shake of his head.

"Yeah, well anyway, Ma said to come help her out in the kitchen. I can't believe a room full of negroes couldn't stop one baby from cryin'.", she mumbled under her breath as she carried the baby with her into the guestroom down the hall to see if he needed changing.

"We heard that!", Damon yelled from the sofa.

"Good, I meant for yall too!", she joked.

"I'ma tell Ma you bein' mean to us when she gets here!", Marlon yelled next as he stood up to come see if she needed any help.

"Now why you gotta bring Momma Wayans into this?", she sighed as they walked down the hall together.

"Those two were DEFINITELY meant for each otha!", Shawn replied with a shake of his head after looking over at me.

"Like us, maybe?", I smiled.

"Yeah, but only we're not a lil' off in the head like them.", he joked.

"You are so right about that.", I giggled.

Several minutes later, after Mr. and Mrs. Wayans arrived, everyone began to pour into the dining room to began feasting on all of the food that Kshwanna, her mother, my mother, and I had been preparing for the past two days.

"Did you finally get the baby to sleep?", I smiled when Kshwanna finally joined us a lil' later after we were all seated.

"Yes!", she dramatically sighed as she pretended to collapse into her chair next to Marlon.

"Awww, my poor bookie-wookie-shmookie.", he cooed as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"Hey, c'mon, man! We haven't ate yet!", Shawn replied with a disgusted look on his face. Everyone began to laugh even though I playfully nudged him with my elbow.

"Shawn, stop.", I giggled.

"Well we haven't ate yet, and I, myself, don't want a spoiled appetite after waiting around this long to eat."

"Oh, shut up.", Kshwanna smirked.

"You shut up.", Shawn grinned.

"No, you shut up.", Marlon snapped.

"You shut up too.", Shawn replied.

"Hey, hey, hey! We're not gonna have that at this table!", my mother replied while loudly clapping her hands.

"Sorry.", the three of them sheepishly replied.

"I swear, sometimes yall are worse than the kids.", Kshwanna's father chuckled.

"But not me, Poppa Lincoln.", I innocently smiled as I glanced across the table at him.

"Oh, shut up!", Kshwanna huffed while throwing a glare my way.

"Kay-Kay! What were you juss told?!", her mother warned.

"My bad, Ma."

"And now...LET'S EAT!!!", her father joked as he held his knife and fork above his head while hitting them together.

Over the next hour, we had a fun time talking and telling funny stories. However, when we were about to clear the table and go into the den to talk some more, Shawn asked for everyone's attention.

"Hoody Hooooo!!! Can yall quiet down for a minute please?", he yelled above all the noise.

"What is it?!", Mrs. Wayans asked while covering her ears.

"I have somethin' important that I need to do and I need for you all to listen.", he replied before turning in his chair to look at me while taking both of my hands into his.

I could feel my heart literally beating through my chest as he cleared his throat and looked deep into my eyes after the room fell silent.

"Egypt, last year during this time, I never thought I would have the ability to fall in love with someone else until I met you."

All I could do was blush at his statement while giving Kshwanna a sideways glance across the table. I noticed how she was grinning from ear-to-ear.

"Thank you.", I replied after returning my eyes to Shawn.

"No, I want to be the one to say thank you if you say yes to what I'm about to ask.", he smiled as he slowly knelt down on one knee in front of me.

"Oh my God!", Kshwanna happily squealed as she jumped up from her seat. However, Marlon quickly pulled her down onto his lap and playfully covered her mouth with his hand while kissing her on the cheek.

"Be quiet, girl!", he whispered before tightly wrapping his arms around her and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"Anyway, Martin and Gina...!", Shawn smirked after giving them a blank stare although he and Marlon winked at each other before he turned back around to look at me once again. "Would you do me the honor of sayin' that you'll marry me?"

"Yeh...yes, yes; I'll marry you!", I happily sighed as my eyes began to water up.

Shawn proceeded to take my left hand that was trembling and slowly placed a beautiful ring on my finger. He followed up by sharing a brief kiss with me as everyone around us began to clap and cheer.

"Now I have the best gift for this year's Christmas.", he winked after our kiss was over.

"So do I.", I smiled as we shared a tight hug after the two of us stood up.

"And I got my Christmas wish this year too because I have the new daughter-in-law that I've been wanting.", Mrs. Wayans grinned as she and Mr. Wayans came over to us along with my parents to give us warm hugs followed by everyone else. By the time Damon approached us, he was looking over at Damon, Jr. with a sly grin.

"Hey, son...see what happens when you sleep? Your ugly Uncle Shawn ends up with all the good women!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...whateva!", Damon, Jr. huffed with a roll of his eyes.

"That's only because the women have always felt sorry for him. He's not as HANDSOME as I am! Yall know I've always been the CUTEST one!", Marlon joked as he shared a hug and pound with Shawn.

"Now I know what to get you for Christmas this year...a pair of bi-focals!", Shawn joked.

"Leave my boo alone and gimme a hug!", Kshwanna laughed as she hugged Shawn followed by hugging me. However, just as he was about to reach out for my hand, she took my hand and snatched me away while talking a mile a minute about my wedding plans.

"Could I have my fiancé back, please?!", Shawn yelled after us as we headed out of the dining room.

"When we're done! Can't you see we're talkin'?! Ugggh!", Kshwanna huffed with a shake of her head.

"Great, just great! Now that Egypt's gonna be a part of the family, I don't think I'll get to see her as MUCH anymore.", Shawn pouted which made everyone laugh.

"Awwwwwww, well you still have me.", Marlon joked as he wrapped his arms around Shawn and gave him a slow, playful kiss on the cheek. More laughter filled the room.

"Get off me, man!", Shawn laughed while pushing him away.

"Anyway, I told you that Egypt was gonna be the right one for you.", Marlon laughed.

"Yeah, I owe you one for what you and Kay-Kay did for me on last year. Thanks, Kid."

"No, prob."

"Well, let's go see what ideas Kay-Kay is fillin' my future wife's head with."

"You know she's gonna talk Egypt into tossin' her bouquet to her not-too-cute cousin, LiLi right?"

"Damn! You don't think Kay-Kay would stoop that low do you?!"

"She's my wife and I love her, but...", Marlon started before he and Shawn looked at each other. In no time flat, they were both running into the den.
--The End