downplay- to make something seem less important than it is
It's a mechanism really, a defense , no one ever really bares their soul or heart, I know I've never.
Jahi grinned as he glanced up at the smiling face of his uncle, Amari Underwood. Taking the baby into his arms, Amari held him close as he watched his sister, Yara unpack the cutlery and kitchen ware he'd neglected to for the past weeks. Amari had only just settled into his own home with the help of his current friend with benefits, Payton Hinton. The four-bedroom space was way too big for him but Payton had managed a deal he couldn't refuse. He figured if he started a family, it would be their place and luckily enough they'd closed on it in time for him to accommodate his sister and her baby who'd shown up on his doorstep last week.
Of course, he'd taken them in, but he hadn't asked Yara much about it. He could see from her calculated movements and the way that she threw herself between motherhood and working that she was doing everything in her power to not stop and think or talk about it. However, she'd seemed to be calming down. This morning, she'd woken him up and declared that on her day off she would help him whip this place into shape and she had been a force. The kitchen was the last space, and she was quickly getting that together. Yara loved his home but even greater, she loved Nevada, so much so that she'd commissioned Payton to find her a home here.
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Amari decided to take a seat with his nephew lying comfortably against his chest while he watched her. Shaking his head, he realized just how much of Aunt Denise's traits Yara had taken on, Denise would have never let him hear the end of it if she'd seen how he was living out of boxes.
"You know, you don't have to do this Ya?"
"Please" Yara waved her brother off "Amari, there's a baby in this house. He picks up everything and puts it in his mouth, it's better those things be put away."
"That's true but we both know that's not the only reason you're doing it. Ya, you're a workaholic and you throw yourself deep into work whenever you're avoiding your emotions."
Her shoulders slouched; she didn't want to talk about Jordan because there was nothing to talk about. He'd done what he always did, cheated, and lied.
"Amari there's no emotions to avoid. Jordan cheated on me and he's having a baby with someone else. That's two children he conceived while we were together outside of our son. To make matters worse, he wasn't going to tell me any of that and he was going to let me walk into a marriage that was never right from the start, even before his mistakes were exposed. Look, a part of this is my fault because I loved Jordan, but I wasn't in love with him and he obviously wasn't in love with me. What kept us together was Jahi but in the end, if we'd stayed together everyone would've been miserable."
Yara shut the cabinet and moved the last remaining box of their grandmother's special china to the side, Amari could put that away himself.
Opening her arms, she took her son into them and kissed his forehead while Amari took in everything she'd just said. He knew it was bad, it had to be if Yara had just upped and moved. However, this was bad enough to make him want to fly out to Utah. His sisters were precious to him, and he'd never admit it, but Yara was even more so especially after how she'd been there for him. Aya was his twin, his love for her was immeasurable but from the first day Yara walked into their home, Amari had a certain protectiveness toward her. She looked so fragile, and he'd vowed to never let anything break her. As they got older, she got tougher and would often ignore or resent his protective nature. Yara could handle anything that came her way, but Amari reminded her that she didn't and shouldn't have had to do it alone.
