Forever

one.

Ximena had met her now fiancé in 2019 and gotten pregnant by him in the same year. Aurora couldn't believe how fast everything happened but she couldn't put into words how happy she was for her bestfriend. They had met through a training camp Aurora's old job had in San Francisco and they hit it off immediately. Aurora wouldn't take credit for pushing them together but secretly, they owed it to her. Once Ximena gave birth to Avery, Aurora underestimated how much being a parent changed your lifestyle. There were no more 2am smoke sessions, no more reckless spending, no more sleepovers but Aurora didn't hold a grudge for anything. She was over the moon ecstatic for her goddaughter and bestfriend.

"Tell her to stop ignoring us and bring that baby. You better come with them too." her mother said, pointing at her through the phone.

"I will, stop bullying me. I'm about to head outta here and get home for a shower. I love you guys and stop feeling on each other in front of me." she grimaced, watching her dad's hands roam over her mother.

The parents laughed before saying how much they loved her and hung up the phone. Aurora let out a soft sigh at the gym now being empty of sound again and walked to her Nike gym bag. She fished around for her keys before finding them and lifting her bag on her shoulder, walking to cut off the fan and lights. Once reaching the front door, she locked the door before walking out towards her BMW.

Aurora had been using this gym ever since Darius made her a key. Darius owned his own gym for the young men in the community which eventually expanded into young kids coming from other states to use his state of the art equipment. Aurora was beyond proud of what Darius was doing and she knew it was something he held close to his heart. Darius initially bought the warehouse to start up the clothing company Hakeem dreamed of but decided to do something for the community. He knew by doing this he could prevent what happened to his brother 4 years ago from happening to someone's son.

Once Aurora was sat inside her car, she pushed the button to start it before blasting her AC. Her eyes momentarily shut as she let the cool breeze wash over her, feeling her shoulders relax. Today had been rough on Aurora simply because she was missing her sibling. She woke up at 5am this morning from a dream she had about him that felt so real, she was sure he had been standing right in front of her. The feeling of being with her brother again had lingered around her all day as she ran her errands, unable to get him out of her head. It had bothered her that he visited her dreams after not doing so for months. She had began to grow frustrated with her brother for leaving her without guidance for so long and couldn't understand why he was showing up. Now that the day was coming to a close, she was almost dreading going back to sleep and seeing him again.

As Aurora drove home, the radio played lowly but it was white noise to her. She felt her thoughts scramble with everything that had happened in the last 4 years and being overcome with guilt about things she'd done. She had treated the people in her life so horribly after she lost her brother, she was so sure they'd all leave her one of these days. It hurt her as she pictured her parents begging for their son to come back at his funeral, seeing Darius look at her in disappointment after picking up her drunken body from the hospital, just everything. Aurora felt as if her life stopped that morning in October and she had been just existing ever since.

~~~~~~~~

The clock struck 9:15pm as Aurora opened the door to her bestfriend holding her goddaughter and her fiancé walking up the driveway. The small family looked straight out of a magazine with their looks. Ximena had stayed her same caramel complexion while her fiancé, Travis, was darkskin and their daughter now being a beautiful mix of both parents.