Onyx's first step was introducing both his sons separately to something he called the man pact. He knew that his sons were used to leaving his house and telling their moms all about the time spent with daddy.
It was one of the reasons he unconsciously separated them because kids talk and there were some things his problematic baby mamas didn't need to know about each others kids.
He understood that sharing their days activities with their mothers was a form of bonding and intimacy and he couldn't take that from them.
That was why he made up the legend of the man pact. He explained to both boys that once something was discussed under the man pact it wasn't for women to hear.
Not mothers but women in general.
He had even enlisted Omari and Kairos help to establish the man pact with both boys at separate times.
Then he had tested it. For a while it fumbled, the boys had a bit of a hard time. Though none of them told the secret or mentioned the term 'man pact' particularly. They found it difficult containing the excitement of sharing a secret with their grown up dad.
So Anisha and Tiana knew there were secrets but didn't know what they were. Of course Onyx easily finessed his way through their questions.
He tested his boys several times and when he was satisfied with their loyalty to the man pact divulged to them that there was to be a new member which of course was their sibling.
After that Onyx had arranged several top secret playdates for his boys which had been successful.
Then he had taken the step to have custody of both of them in the same alternative weeks.
Another step to have them begin first grade in the same school and now he had bought a beautiful house with a large backyard where he could father both of them at the same time. Where they could build their sibling bond.
He had also had to fire his previous nanny. He had hired her through Anisha's contact and the lady clearly had her loyalties to Anisha.
He was hoping to complete another step today.
Hiring a suitable nanny loyal to only him.
This time he had gotten a recommendation from a woman who was his neighbour for a very brief moment.
Mrs Stevenson, her family had been moving out of the estate as he was moving in but they had run into each other when he was taking a morning jog to familiarize himself with the estate.
She had been on a morning jog too and she had been so shocked to see a 6'3 dark skinned tattoed male in her exclusive neighborhood that she had come up to him with questions.
Onyx had been irritated, he had purposely worn a t-shirt on his jog, which was unusual for him, so as not to shock the many white ladies in his new suburban neighborhood and still the first white lady encounter was bombarding him with questions that sounded borderline racist.
Mrs Stevenson had caused Onyx a bit of discomfort but he could tell that her flavour of racism was the inbred, ignorant kind. Apart from that she was a regular sweet lady.
On their second meeting, at the kids park in the estate, she had questioned his intrest in the kids section, with heavy curiosity rather than accusation.
He had been forced to share that he had two little boys of his own he would soon be bringing around.
He had interacted briefly with her two little girls who were with her. Mrs Stevenson had complimented him on handling children well and admitted that she was barely any good with children and owed her kids upbringing to her excellent nanny going further to say that she wished she found just as good a nanny in their new home.
Onyx had been planing an escape route in his head but when he heard her speak about her amazing nanny whom she had to let go he became present in the conversation.
Though Mrs Stevenson still rubbed him wrong a little, her children were obviously well taken care of and well mannered for a partially clueless mum like her.
So he had given her a business card which he always had on him and asked her to share it with her nanny.
Mrs Stevenson had been so glad to be useful to her neighbor.
A Miss Quinn had contacted his office line and he had asked his personal attendant to schedule an interview for the next morning which happened to be a few hours away.
Everything was falling into place.
Onyx made his way to his bathroom and brushed his teeth. He was the kind to brush before and after breakfast and also after dinner.
After brushing his teeth he washed his face and smiled at his reflection in the mirror.
Softly he sang, '...I was patient yhhh, I was patient..' Then raising his voice 'Now I can scream that we made it'.
Laughing slightly he continued to sing as he pulled on some gym shorts and then sauntered with an exagerated bounce out of his room.
However, as he turned the corner into his second floor living room he choked on his victory anthem.
Boxes upon boxes of unpacked stuff sat intimidatingly every where in the room.
Onyx blew out a breath and snapped the band on his shorts in frustration. What was he thinking trying to decorate a homey asthetic himself. He should just call an interior designer and a professional organiser and get this done with.
His mind danced back and forth between options but the only answer he came up with was that he needed his morning gym session to be in the right frame of mind for decision making.
So he descended the stairs to the ground floor, did his best not to make eye contact with the even bigger boxes scattered around his main living room and the little lobby at the door entrance. He made his way into his home gym that was fully equipped and one of the few rooms in his new home that was completely arranged and decorated.
He got on the treadmill as a stretch excersice and turned it on.
Feeling in a grand mood again, Onyx called
''Alexa play 'congratulations by migos'.
There he remained for the next two hours. Enduring excercise after excercise, listening to song after song so loudly that he forgot his plans and missed the many rings of his doorbell.