Daka had a plan.
His mom made plans for him to meet her new boyfriend, Namor, this weekend. He knew she was hopeful about it all because she thought the dude made her happy, but she thought she was happy with Jamal too and look how that turned out. Nah, he’d protect his mom from that kind of hurt this time around.
Because again, Daka had a plan.
He’d play nice enough, make the guy think everything was cool before letting him know there was no way this was happening. Hopefully the guy would be a chump and bow out respectfully, not wanting to (and knowing he couldn’t) compete with her kid, but even if he turned out to be persistent, Daka was prepared. He’d make him look like an ass in front of his mom so much she’ll break up with him on her own.
Cause if there was one thing he knew, it was that his mom would choose him every single time.
And he’d choose her over the world too. She was his rock, it was them against the world. Don’t misunderstand him, he loved his Umalume T’Challa, Umakaze Nakia and his Umakhulu, but if it came down to it his moms was everything. She didn’t know he knew, but he knew she gave up everything for him. He knew his dad (whoever that was) was a punk that left her on her own. He knew his Utatomkhulu was a chump who made her leave her home cause he couldn’t stand the idea that she wasn’t married before she had him. So yeah, he’d do anything for her.
“We’ll be there in a few minutes. You got any questions before we get there?”
“Nah,I’m good.”
“Okay, well I have one request.”
“Shoot.”
“Be nice.” This was the only drawback to it being them against the world, they knew each other like nobody else did. She figured out he was up to something and wanted to put an end to it before it began. It was cool, he’d just work around her. Make it seem like he was playing nice while she was around and then find a way to get him alone to let him know what was up.
But first, he had to calm her down. “Ma-” he started.
“No, I’m serious Daka. Just give him a chance, for me? If you give him a real chance and still don’t like him, we’ll reassess.” She asserted.
There she went, ruining his plans. Now that she was asking him flat out, he couldn’t refuse her. It was another drawback to their closeness, he often couldn’t refuse her requests because she made so few and he knew when she did make one, it would help her out.
So, Daka had a new plan: observe.
He’d watch how this guy treated his mom. He would watch his every move like a hawk and decide if he was okay with his mom taking this further. Chances were Namor won’t be able to live up to his standards for somebody dating his mom, but nobody but Daka needed to know that.
Daka had a new plan.
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Namora loved going to the beach. She knew most people thought the ocean was scary but she thought it was fun. The waves crashing and knocking you down before they pulled you back out from shore. Maybe it was just her because she was obsessed with swimming, but being in the water was relaxing. She absolutely loved the beach.
She was not happy about going to the beach today though.
No, today she would rather be at home. Not because she didn’t want to swim, but because she would rather not meet her daddy’s new girlfriend. He had told her about his girlfriend ages ago but at the time she was sure it wouldn’t mean anything, she would be gone soon enough. Daddy only loved her and her mommy. Even if they’re meeting her and her son at the beach.
Namora wasn’t worried.
This lady might have made it to the meet your kid stage, but when Namora decided she’d had enough time with her daddy, this lady would be gone. She was just mad she hadn’t realized it was still going on with the same woman. She’d have made sure the lady was gone way before she was forced to meet her.
But it was too late for those thoughts.
“Okay, I think we have everything.” Her daddy was finally done setting up their beach chairs and umbrella. She had been playing in the sand, trying to figure out how she was gonna play it with the lady today. She figured she’d play sweet, then when she didn’t expect it, she’d get her to leave.
“Except ice cream!” For this to work, she had to play nice with her daddy too. Ice cream was a tradition they had at the beach, one that was important to him (and her). If she asked about it, he’d get all sappy with her.
“It’s too early for ice cream, Chan Maak.” She knew that would be his answer, but she also saw his small smile at her. Usually he’d ask if she wanted to head into the water so they could get to the ice cream faster. Instead, he crouched in front of her before saying, “I was hoping we could include Shuri and her son N’Jadaka in our little tradition today. I figured it’d be a nice way for us to all get to know each other. We’ll be busy playing in the water and won’t have a lot of time to talk so I figured we could do all that when we’re eating and getting ice cream.”
“Okay Daddy!” She smiled big at him, but inside she was angry. Ice cream at the beach was their thing. But she supposed one shared ice cream wouldn’t matter in the long run.
Shuri would be gone soon anyway.
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The day at the beach had been a fun one, even Daka could admit that. Even though he was there to meet Namor, it hadn’t been shoved in his face. He had spent a lot of time with his mom and Namor had been focused on Namora while they were in the water. It felt more like they were enjoying the day adjacent to each other rather than with each other.
When they came out to eat, Daka spent most of his time watching. He’d been preoccupied while he was in the water, but now there were no distractions. He watched as Namor tried to engage him in conversation, watched as he interacted with Namora, watched as his mom joined him in flirting-gross.
“So Daka,” Namor began.
“N’Jadaka,” N’Jadaka firmly interjected.
Namor slightly bowed his head in acknowledgement. “My apologies, N’Jadaka. Have you been enjoying yourself today?”
The boy in question took a deep breath as if preparing himself for what was to come. “It’s been cool. But I guess this is the part where you say you love my mom and you hope we can grow to have a super tight bond?” He swung his eyes in Namor’s direction, looking at the man for the first time since they split from the girls.
Namor huffed out a laugh. “Got the day figured out, have you?”
“Something like that.” There was a confident quality to his voice, he was proud he was one step ahead of the man. He was easy to figure out like that.
“How about we skip the cliche conversations and just put it all out there, hmm?”
“You sure you wanna skip the pleasantries?”
“I can appreciate getting to the point of things, I’m sure you can as well.”
“Aight man, I’ll start with the good.” Even though Daka knew he wouldn’t be approving of the man, he had to give credit where it was due. “I been watching you all day. You listened whenever she talked, and asked questions like you were really interested. You stared a bit too much at her bathing suit for my taste, but you weren’t inappropriate. Her boundaries were respected. Overall, not a bad guy. You seem cool.”
Daka allowed the man time to smile a bit before he went in for the kill. “But so did the last guy. And he hurt her bad. I ain’t never letting nobody do that to her again. Because of that, nobody is ever gonna be good enough for my moms. Not even you man, sorry.”
“Observant. It’s a good quality to have, but were you just observing me?”
“Whatchu mean?”
“You were so busy watching me you didn’t pay too much attention to her did you?”
Daka stayed quiet, knowing he hadn’t paid close attention to his mom cause why would he? He was there to scrutinize Namor. The silence left Namor room to keep talking.
“You probably didn’t notice the hopeful look she threw your way every time I attempted conversation with you. You probably didn't notice the way she slightly deflated when you brushed me off. Did you see her admiration when I was explaining the way tides work to Namora? Did you see the grins she threw my way when Namora reciprocated her curiosity about each other?”
Daka looked ahead to the ice cream stand. He had already known what he was gonna order but being confronted with the truth about the day had him studying the menu all over again. Had he really missed that much?
“I understand you’re a man of actions not words. So I won’t make promises I intend to keep but may not be able to. What I will do is ask that you give me the time to show you with my actions how much I love your mother and don’t ever intend to hurt her. You were so focused on trying to find my flaws you missed the whole point of today.”
“Which was?”
“To show you two how happy we make each other. And to have you guys join in on that love.”
So for the second time that day, Daka amended his plan.
“Fine, but you should know I still don’t think you’ll ever be good enough for her.”
“I hope to change your mind.”
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“So how have you been enjoying your day?”
Namora had been enjoying herself but faking interest in Shuri was tiring. Still, she’d tell the truth. “I always love the beach with Daddy. You being here wasn’t great but didn’t ruin the day completely.”
“Ah I see we’ve come to the point where the polite princess act ends. I was wondering how long after they left it would disappear.”
“I didn’t want to hurt Daddy’s feelings. He wanted today to go well.”
“And you pretending to like me won’t hurt his feelings? What happens when he finds out the truth?”
“If I told him I didn’t like you when you first came to the beach, he wouldn’t believe me. I had to make him think I tried first. Now when I tell him he’ll think I tried to get to know you and just really don’t like you. He’ll be a bit sad at first but he’ll have me.”
“Smart thinking. Except what happens when I tell him about this conversation?”
Namora hadn’t figured that into her plans. That would not be very good for her.
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell. It can be our little secret,” Shuri whispered.
“And in return you want me to tell Daddy I like you?” Namora grumbled. She should’ve seen this coming.
“Nope. You should be honest with him.”
Namora frowned in confusion. “I don’t get it.”
Shuri leaned closer to her. “I won’t be telling him, not to save your image or get a false endorsement from you, but because it would crush him to know you didn’t even give the person he loves a real chance. I’d love for you to sing my praises to him, but it would be false and only hurt when the truth came out. I’m thinking of him, not what I want.”
“He’ll never choose you over me.”
“As it should be. But I think there's enough room in his heart for him to love me too.”
“What are we talking about?” Namor asked upon his return. He and Daka had their hands full of the promised ice cream. Shuri didn’t answer, but instead raised a brow to Namora.
Namora smiled sweetly at him, replying, “Girl things Daddy.”
She’d reassess her opinion of Shuri at a later date.
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One Week Ago
“Daka is gonna be watching you like a fish eagle. He’s really protective of me.”
“And Namora will fake sweetness before attacking like a rattlesnake. She doesn’t like to share.”
“He won’t be swayed with words, you’ll have to show him you really care for me. That’s the only chance we have of getting your foot in the door so to speak.”
“You can show her no fear. Make sure she knows you’re sure of your place in my life, without her thinking you’re trying to edge her out. If she thinks she can edge you out first without getting caught she will attempt it.”
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Present Day
“She hurts him and I’ll ruin her.”
“He hurts her and I’ll kill him.”
The two children nodded in understanding before going with their respective parent.