The moving truck looks enormous sitting in front of your parents’ house.

Late afternoon Georgia sunlight pours down on the street, warm and golden, cicadas buzzing lazily in the trees. The neighborhood feels alive in that easy Southern way—screen doors slapping, someone mowing a lawn down the block, gospel music drifting faintly from a nearby house.

You step out of the car first, Stella asleep against your shoulder, Levi hopping down beside you with the endless energy of a three-year-old.

Behind you, Eddie climbs out of the truck cab looking slightly stunned.

He stares at the house.

Then at the street.

Then back at the truck.

“…that’s a lot of stuff.”

Your father, Thaddeus, steps off the porch like a man preparing for official business. Even in the heat he looks sharp—pressed slacks, tucked shirt, the quiet authority of someone who has spent years behind a judge’s bench.

He glances at the moving truck.

“You hire these men?”

Eddie straightens immediately.

“Yes sir.”

Thaddeus nods slowly.

“We’ll see about that.”

Before Eddie can even process what that means, your mother bursts through the front door like a hurricane of excitement.

Coretta claps her hands.

“Oh Lord they’re finally here!”

Levi lights up.

“Grandma!”

He sprints across the yard, beads in his braids clicking with every step.

Coretta scoops him up immediately.

“There’s my baby!”

Stella stirs sleepily as Coretta kisses Levi’s cheek over and over again.

Then she notices the truck.

Her eyes narrow.

“Oh no.”

You know that tone.

“That truck ain’t unloading without supervision.”

Before the movers can even lower the ramp, half the neighborhood begins appearing like they’ve been summoned by magic.

Miss Loretta from two houses down.

Deacon Harris from the church.

Three aunties who may or may not actually be related to anyone but have declared themselves family anyway.

Someone carries folding chairs.

Someone else brings a cooler of sweet tea.

Within ten minutes the quiet street has turned into a full operation.

Wayne steps out of the passenger side of the truck, looking bewildered as a group of older men immediately approach.

“You Wayne?” one asks.

“Yes sir.”

“Alright then. Let’s get your things unloaded proper.”

The movers start lowering boxes.

And immediately—

“Hold on!” Coretta calls.

Everyone freezes.

She marches up the ramp like a general inspecting cargo.

“You set that box down gentle.”

The mover blinks.

“Yes ma’am.”

“That one got baby things in it.”

Eddie whispers to you.

“How does she know that?”

You grin.

“She packed half of them.”

The community works like a well-oiled machine.

Boxes pass from hands to hands.

Furniture moves carefully through the doorway.

Someone wraps a lamp in an extra blanket.

Someone else checks every dish before it goes inside.

One of the aunties waves a finger at a mover.

“You scratch that table and I promise you this whole block will remember your name.”

The mover nods nervously.

“Yes ma’am.”

Meanwhile Levi runs excited circles around the yard while Wayne supervises the heavier furniture.

Eddie carries a box toward the porch only to have it taken from him by a woman he’s never met.

“Baby you go sit down,” she tells him.

“You drove all that way.”

“I’m fine—”

She points firmly toward the porch.

“Sit.”

Eddie looks at you helplessly.

You shrug.

“Welcome to Georgia.”

On the porch table a full spread has appeared.

Aluminum trays.

Casseroles.

Bowls of greens.

Cornbread wrapped in towels.

And right in the center—

A deep dish of homemade peach cobbler, still warm.

Coretta ushers you toward the chair.

“You sit too. You got a newborn.”

You settle carefully with Stella while Eddie sits beside you, stunned by the controlled chaos unfolding across the yard.

“Is this normal?” he whispers.

You nod.

“Completely.”

Down below, one of the aunties approaches carrying a small wrapped box.

She smiles warmly.

“This for the baby.”

You blink.

“Oh—you didn’t have to—”

“Of course we did.”

She opens the lid to show a tiny white baptism gown.

Hand stitched with soft lace.