Blessed by Night

"I'm just saying, I think the boy making a mistake. You young, boy, what you wanna go an' get tied down for?! You a young bull, na, you gotta get out there and buck!"

"The boy got eight different women already, how many more you want him to have?"

"A player like me? I had about 98 back in '98. If I looked like him? Shiddd...I'd have your momma giving me your social security, boy."

"Shut your old ass up, Elroy!"

Malachi was absent-mindedly sticking his fork into a piece of red velvet cake that had been peddled to him as soon as he walked into the barbershop.

His face remained relatively neutral and unbothered.

When he entered into the shop today and word got around that he was getting married, he fully expected a conversation along the lines of this one to take place.

He wasn't really offended by it. In his eyes, everyone else were the ones missing out.

He was about to marry the most beautiful women in the world today. He didn't need anything else.

His uncle Trevor, on the other hand, did not look nearly so amused by the downplaying of his nephew's wedding.

He stood up while dusting off his shirt before putting his gold watch in his pocket. "Yo, my man, step outside with me, real quick-"

Ali and Morgan scrambled to restrain their hotheaded acquaintance before he turned the parking lot into the scene of a murder.

Malachi saw his father floating above him. Still in the form of a large, ghostly snake nearly too big to fit inside the shop.

His reptilian eyes looked down at his son with an immense amount of pride.

"Look at my boy. Getting married to not one but three different women on the same day... Are you ready for your grocery bill to look like it does now for the rest of your life?"

Malachi laughed at his father's innocent joke.

"It's a small price to pay to me. I went into all this fully aware of the level of responsibility the girls might need from me. I don't mind stepping up."

As a father, there was very little that Marcus could've wanted to hear more than that.

Knowing that Malachi hadn't let the luster of all the women around him go to his head was one of the most reassuring things he could have heard his son say

He was fully confident that Malachi would make a great husband.

Now, if only he could get the boy's mothers to realize that very same thing…

-

*Sniff, sniff* "I-I just… I didn't think it would be this hard, you know..? At one minute he's peeing in trashcans and now he's about to run off and get married to all these women, and like three of them are my ae, a-and, and..."

"And he has two babies! TWO!"

"Oh, my god, where did the time go!?!"

Nyx and Felicia clung to each other as they cried on the ground. In front of them was an open wooden box filled with mementos from Malachi's childhood. Some of which included finger paintings and even a pair of his baby booties.

Aubrey was getting flashbacks from her own wedding. The fact that she had turned her mothers into grandmothers recently made the memory of their tears all the more prevalent.

"Umm.. excuse me."

The mothers looked up to find Bianca and Nadine lingering in the doorway.

Their hair and bodies were wrapped in bath towels,

"We, umm..." Bianca fumbled around with her manicured nails as she looked for something to say.

Nadine placed her hands on Bianca's shoulders and smiled at the two women in the room.

"We're both having a bit of a hard time getting ready, it seems… do you think you could both give us a hand..?"

Nyx wiped her face as she stared at the pair knowingly.

A wedding is a day when you ideally want your parents by your side.

But Nadine was all alone on this planet, and Bianca had never even seen her mother before.

So maybe a mother-in-law would be just what they needed the most at this moment.

Nyx didn't wait for Bianca to say anything else.

Instead, she wiped her face and stood up. Walking towards the girls with her arms out, she embraced them both with a true, motherly smile on her face that soothed the girls' very souls.

"Don't either of you worry about a thing. We are going to make you two the most beautiful brides in the entire universe."

Felicia stood up while wiping her eyes and runny nose. T-That's right. Because the two of you are our very precious...*sniff* DAUGHTERS-IN-LAW!"

Nyx and Felicia burst into tears all over again. As a result, hair and makeup took a little bit more time than what the girls had originally planned...

-

"I... can't believe I'm actually having trouble getting this stupid thing on.."

Malachi fumbled with his tie upwards of five minutes before giving up in frustration and sitting down in a nearby chair.

He looked down at his own hands and seemed not to even realize that they were shaking as badly as they were. "Fuck... What am I doing..?"

Nearby, Aisha was leaning against the wall in a black suit with a uniquely feminine touch. Her hair had been cut a little shorter, with a sharper angle that framed her face in a dangerously alluring light. In addition, she had on a minor amount of makeup, that was still more than Malachi had ever seen her wear in his entire life.

"You know you can just use your powers to make a tie that's already tied, right?"

Malachi's face paled as he looked down. No, he didn't remember that. Not at all in fact.

"Fuck..." He placed his head in his hands. "I don't know what the hell is going on with me."

Aisha seemed amused as she sat beside him.

She placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it playfully with a massive grin on her face. "It's just cause it's all hitting you at once, my man. Those pre-wedding jitters, you know? It's normal."

Malachi stared at her through the gap in his hands. A slight smile on his lips. "I don't seem to recall you having any of these on your wedding day."

Aisha scoffed as she flipped her hair. "No shit, did you see the women I married? I couldn't get to that damn altar fast enough."

"DITTO!" Serana was on a couch on the other side of the room, texting the husband who was in the backyard with the rest of the guests.

For the first time all day, Malachi laughed until his sides hurt.

It was a good natured, honest laughter that he hadn't realized he was sorely in need of.

And just like that, all of his lingering nerves and anxiety seemed to fade away.

He leaned back in his seat after being completely exhausted from laughter. He stared up into the ceiling and smiled to himself.

"Well, when you put it like that... I guess I don''t have much to complain about then either, do I?"

"Sure don't." Serana chimed without looking up. "My mom's a real hot piece of ass if I do say so myself. Pretty sure it's hereditary."

Malachi wanted to say he was pretty sure Sei had kept all of her charm for herself. But he was extremely sure that saying something like that would just make her hurt him.

"So... You think you're ready to go now?" Aisha smiled reassuringly.

Malachi smiled right back at her. His tie already having miraculously fixed itself.

"Yea.. I'm read-"

*Alert! Alert! Alert!*

A holographic screen showed up in front of Malachi and began beeping rather obnoxiously.

"W-What the hell is that!?" Serana sat up in alarm. "How long could the house do that shit!?"

"Whole time." Mal responded as he swiped on the screen. "You know it's a space ship too?"

"It what!?"

*United States Black Hawk approaching residence. Permission to take defensive countermeasures?*

Malachi almost said 'Yes' without even thinking about it.