Opening Video - 'Soul Of A Woman' by Johnny Gill

Saturday, March 18th, 2018

Tatianna's POV

"Niko, baby, calm down. I got this one. Let me handle these two. Cass, Lukas, Matti, and Niko I apologize in advance for the way I am going to talk to Evangeline. No one will be disrespecting me in my house. And, may I suggest the kids be taken out of the room."

Nana Dory came to stand by my side.

"You know Evangeline, I have tried over and over to be respectful to you. And, I mean over and over. All you have done is talk nasty about me and my sister. And, the thing is you have never given a valid reason why. Regardless of your reasoning, I don't give a _____. But you have no problem wanting your firstborn son to date a thieving, cheating piece of trash named Ana. You don't care about Niko. You only care about yourself!"

"Who are you...." I walked right over to Ana and punched her in the freaking mouth!!

"SHUT THE HECK UP!! I call it like I see it! This is my freaking house and I am about to take out the trash!!!"

"Guess what, Evangeline? Tatianna is done respecting you because you don't deserve it. And, you want to know what Tatianna does to people that don't deserve respect?"

I sure did smack her face so hard she had a red cheek.

"Matti Kostopoulos belongs to Aiesha. Niko Kostopoulos belongs to me. I'm not finished with you yet either."

Ana tried to sneak away, but Aiesha blocked her. "Where is your cheating behind going?!"

I walked back over to Ana and pushed her against the wall. She is going to understand that Niko Kostopoulos belongs to me. "I told you back in January that Niko is mine. But you continue to ignore it." I grabbed her dress and got right in her face. She started whimpering.

"Stop that crap! Today is your last warning. Niko Kostopoulos is M-I-N-E. What part do you not understand, Ana?!!!! If you come near him again, I won't be so nice." I smacked her again.

I heard Tanya say, "If this is Tati nice, boy I don't want to say Tati bad."

"Niko, get over here now!" He did, and very quickly might I add. "This house and this body standing next to me is mine. Any children he has will come from me. Repeat after me, Ana, word for word, 'Niko Kostopoulos belongs to Tatianna, and is off-limits." Ana thinks I'm playing.

"Repeat it!!!"

"N-Niko Kostopoulos b-belongs to Tatianna and is off-limits."

"I'm not playing with you, Ana. Stay away from my man." I smacked her for emphasis. "So, does Tatianna make herself clear?!"

"Y-yes."

"Get the heck out of my house!!" She ran out of the house faster than a cheetah.

"It safe to say Ana will never mess with Tatianna and Niko again," Nana Dory says.

"Now, it's your turn, Evangeline. Why are you so darn obsessed with Ana being with Niko?! And, don't tell me it has nothing to do with race!! She stole money and cheated on him, for goodness sake!! You ought to be glad my Nana from Jamaica isn't here because she would rip you to shreds. You are the only one out of the family that doesn't care for me or Aiesha. Your own mother, whom I met in Greece, cares about us. Answer the dang question in front of everyone here as to why Aiesha and I are not good enough for your sons!!"

"I'm anxious to hear the answer too. Why, Evangeline?" Niko asked with a glare.

"It has nothing to do with race. My mother raised us to never regard a person's race. I just don't think neither of you is good enough. I don't appreciate you smacking me either."

"And, I don't appreciate you treating my daughters like they are second-class citizens. You better be glad it was Tatianna and not me because you would be knocked out on the floor," my mother chimed in to say. "Leave Niko and Tatianna alone."

"Wrong answer, Evangeline!! Sounds like the answer is race. And, I don't appreciate you barging into my engagement party with a tramp! I am the one who told Niko not to invite you because of this exact reason. Your days of humiliating me are done!! Get the _____ out of my house!!!"

"I ought to sue you."

"I wish you would try. You would lose, Evangeline. You don't deserve the mother title until you show Tatianna and Aiesha some respect," Niko hisses at his mother. "Tatianna IS going to be my wife. And, Aiesha IS going to marry Matti."

"She sure is, whether you like it or not! Now, like I said, Get the _____ out of my house!!!!"

"Wait! Let me get the door." Nana Dory jogged quickly to the door. Once Evangeline was out the door, Nana slammed it.

"Woo, I need something to drink after that."

Niko went to grab me a glass of wine, and I drank it in one shot.

"I sincerely apologize to everyone for my behavior. She had it coming. Now, who is hungry?" I sure am, so we all walked to the dining room.

***************************************

"Again, I'm sorry about my display. This is a new and improved Tatianna."

"I hope I never cross the new and improved Tatianna," both Matti and Niko say at the same time.

"Tatianna, don't be ashamed for standing up for yourself and your relationship with Niko. You did what you felt was necessary. I don't understand why parents do that to their kids anyway - picking who their child should date or marry."

"I absolutely agree, Janiyah. You all, meaning Janiyah, Shane, Griffin, and Cris, may not know but I used to be very self-conscious about my skin. And, I mean very self-conscious. I'm over that. I finally have what I wanted, and I am not about to give it up because of a nosy mother. Sorry, Niko, Matti, Cass, and Lukas."

"Tati, in the sense of relationships, my mother is nosy. She tries to tell me who to date and who not to date. But, it's more like who is best for her. Hopefully, after this, she will stop it," Cass mentions.

"I agree with Cass. Listening to her is why I even dated Ana. I never cared for her before that. She always told me to give her a chance. I did and look what it got me - $2 million dollars stolen and cheated on." Niko is still irritated.

"If my mum listened to her parents, she never would have married my father. Her parents did not like the fact that my father was British. They wanted her to marry an American fella. And, even picked him out. To this day, I have never seen my grandparents from her side. It's their loss."

"I'm sorry, Shane."

"It's okay. It bothered me a little at first, but not anymore. And, Niko has a very, beautiful bride to be. Don't ever be afraid to stand up for yourself, Tatianna. Sometimes people's aim in life is to tear others down. I think that Ana chick got the point. Welcome to our little group."

Cris - "I agree with Shane and Janiyah. Welcome to our group."

Griffin - "As the others mentioned, welcome to the group. Oh, and if anyone has anything to say to you, let any of us know. We have to look out for each other."

I went to give each of them a big hug. "Thank you so much for your support and welcome. Niko is very proud of his friends, and I see why. You're a tight-knit group. I'm glad to be a part of it."

"Time to dance, baby." Niko grabbed my hand and led me to the center of the foyer. Out of nowhere, Johnny Gill appeared. My mouth dropped.

"T-t-that's Johnny Gill!!" Then, he started singing, 'Soul Of A Woman.' I love that song!

Niko's POV

"Oh my gosh! I hope he didn't hear me yelling at your mother and Ana."

"Um, love, I think everyone in the neighboring states heard you yelling. I explained why. He understood. You even scared me a little."

"I'm sorry, Niko. But your mother pushed some hidden buttons I thought I never had. You, Nikolaos Romanos Kostopoulos, are mine. Got it?"

"And, Tatianna Kiyana Reid, you are mine. And, no need to apologize for what you did."

"Yeah, well I hope I finally got the point across."

"Uh, I definitely say you did, especially with Ana. Thank goodness. I didn't want to have to send her to the island of no return."

"About that island, Niko please don't feel as though you have to send everyone there. I love how protective you are of me. I really do. But, I'm a big girl. I know how to handle my battles more now than before. I am a confident person but wasn't in regard to my self-conscious phase. I can't believe you were scared. I'm feeling adventurous. How about we get a tattoo?"

"I promise not to send everyone to the island. I also saw demanding and serious, especially when you demanded me to come to stand by you. And, uh, how about no for the tattoo? I don't do needles."

"Ha! No, you are not afraid of needles. Boy, what if I have to give you a shot while at work? I am your doctor, you know."

"Woman, that's different. That may hurt, but it will help me get better from being sick."

Tatianna says in a sultry tone, "Not even for me?" Tatianna started caressing my arm, up and down, slowly. Plus, it was driving me insane. "Just a small one, right here on your bicep."

"Woman, keep it PG. There are kids here."

"How about a repeat of what I did at work? You know you want me to."

Tatianna discreetly slid her right hand down below while we were dancing.

"Okay, okay, I'll get the tattoo. And, it better be a small one."

"I promise. How about just Tati? And, I'll just get Niko, surrounded by a heart. I always wanted one but didn't know what to get. Now, I know what I want. Aiesha has one of Matti. Matti was too chicken too."

The song finished and everyone applauded. "Hey, I am not chicken!"

"Ladies and gentlemen, let's all grab a glass of wine for a toast," my father mentions to everyone. Matti, Jarvis, and Pandora came from the kitchen, carrying a tray of wine.

"Tatianna, I want to apologize for my wife's behavior. I will get to the bottom of it. The rest of the family loves both you and Aiesha. From day one when Niko told me about you, all he did was gush and blush. This is the happiest I have seen him in regards to a relationship. This is an official welcome to the Kostopoulos Family."

"Seriously, dad?"

"Niko, stop playing. You know you did it because I saw it too. Now, Nana can plan for great-grandchildren from you and Matti. Tatianna and Aiesha, I love and adore both of you. My grandsons are two, lucky fellas to have such beautiful women to become their wives. Welcome to the family. And, let me know if Evangeline ever bothers you again."

All I did was sigh. I know I did that, but they weren't supposed to tell everyone. Look at Shane, Janiyah, Cris and Griffin laughing.

"Thank you, Lukas and Nana Dory. I love you both too."

We all clinked glasses and took a sip of our wine.

Jarvis went next. "Niko, you are exactly the kind of guy we hoped Tati would find - a protector, fighter, and someone who would love her to the moon and back. Matti is the same way with Aiesha. We always want the best for our girls, and they found it. The Kostopoulos Brothers are two, amazing men. Welcome to The Reid Family."

"Thank you, Jarvis and Pandora."

Cass took a turn too. "I love you too, Tati and Aiesha. I have never seen Niko or Matti so happy. You are the sunshine's in their lives. Welcome to the family. And, I now have two additional sisters to help me battle against those two brothers of mine when they pick on me." That caused everyone to chuckle.

"Thank you, Cass. I love you too. And, Aiesha and I will help you with Niko and Matti," Tatianna replied.

"Um, hello. Niko and Matti are standing right here."

Cass, Tatianna, and Aiesha looked at me and said simultaneously, "And, your point is?"

"Speaking for the group, Niko and Tatianna, congratulations on your engagement and coming wedding. And, I am no longer alone. Tatianna and I will handle all four of you. How about we add Matti too? Then, I will have Tatianna and Aiesha. Cass, you're welcome to come too. The more women, the merrier. Cris, Shane, and Griffin come on and start dating so we can add more women to the group."

"That may be a possibility for me. Still working on it," Cris says.

Janiyah, Aiesha, and Tatianna traded high fives. "Thank you, Janiyah."

"Oh, listen it sounds like dance music." Thank goodness it came on. We all started dancing and enjoyed the rest of the evening.

***********************************

"Minus your mom and Ana, the engagement party turned out great. I had a great time."

"I did as well. Now we have to think about a date."

"Definitely sometime after Matti and Aiesha get married."

"And, you know what I am about to say right?" I had my eyebrows arched.

"I sure do, Cubby. You want me to get what I want. I want us to get married in Greece when it is warm. I loved our time there. I want both of our cultures represented. And, I love the views from your house in Mykonos. The yard is amazing and big enough for however many guests we invite."

"Mykonos it is. The warmer months are between May and early October."

"Okay. For now, let's focus on Matti and Aiesha. It's not too far away now. August will be here sooner than you know."

"It sure will be. I never did get to tell you about that extremely, sexy dress your wearing. Need help getting it off?"

"After everyone leaves, it's all yours." Tatianna got up from where we were sitting and sashayed upstairs.

"Okay, everyone glad you all could make it, but it's time to go. See you all when I see you. Janiyah, Cris, Shane, and Griffin here are my house keys and I'll  see you tomorrow."

I showed everyone to the door and then closed it. I have some undressing to do.

***********************************