Forever

one.

"Roroooo!" the two year old shouted, reaching for her godmom. Aurora gladly took her in her arms before munching on her cheeks. Aurora felt her lips morph into a smile as she watched Avery's eyes twinkle.

"My chubby baby, I missed you! Mommy's been keeping you from me, huh?" she said, giving Ximena a playful glare. Ximena walked past her into the house and left the trio at the door. Rude much.

"Hey, Ro. It's good to see you." Travis spoke, giving her a side hug before walking into the spacious house. Aurora closed and locked the door behind them as she walked into the kitchen, seeing Ximena open the fridge.

"Avery, mommy is about to get put out." she spoke, laughing at Avery's chubby face scrunch up.

"Bestie, I'm so damn hungry. Travis been making me follow his trainer's meal plan like I'm not from the South. Fuck all that detox juice, I need this cornbread." Ximena huffed, taking out the containers of food Aurora made and fixing her plate.

"Ro, tell this girl I'm just tryna make her eat healthier. She was feeding my baby a fry from McDonalds. I made her throw all that shit out." Travis said, laughing at his woman.

"Why y'all doing all that cussin' in front of my baby? Mena, it won't hurt to eat a little more greens and less fried food. I've been trying to get you in the gym with me." Aurora said, sitting at her island with Avery in her lap. Avery toyed with the pendant on her necklace showing her brother's face.

One thing Aurora noticed about Avery early on was that she took a liking to Hakeem. She only ever saw pictures of him in her godmom's house or when visiting Deon and Angela but she would always point at the picture smiling or giggle happily. The only explanation anyone could come up with is that somehow, someway in this life or the previous, Avery and Hakeem were connected. It scared Aurora half to death anytime Avery would do it but it also would put a piece of her heart back together that her brother was always with her in some form.

"You know d-a-m-n well that I'm not sweating my hair out. Just because you're a TikTok gym freak doesn't mean I have to be one." Ximena said, rolling her eyes.

Aurora had garnered a huge following on Tiktok for posting her workouts and occasional trip out of the country. She'd never post anything intimate about her family or friends because she deemed them too sacred to be exposed to millions of people. Social media wasn't even her thing but it was an outlet for her in a way to post her releasing her anger and hurt in the workouts and helping other people achieve their own gym goals. The app was no match for her Instagram which was currently at 638,000 followers. From working with the 49ers to the Eagles, people loved seeing the behind the scenes of a PT in the league, especially a black woman. They loved her friendships with players, her work ethic, and overall attitude on her job. No one would even know she had lost her brother or had been a shell of a person the entire time.

"You know what, eat ya food and go. You not finna yell at me in my own house." Aurora joked, sticking her tongue out at her bestfriend. Travis watched the two with a light smile on his face, appreciating the fact that Aurora was in a good mood.

"Bestie, I missed you foreal. I miss living together. Travis only cuddles with me to have sex." Ximena pouted, bringing her warmed up food over to her fiancé and sitting on his lap.

"She's literally lying. Don't even believe this girl." Travis said, opening his mouth to be fed a piece of baked chicken from her. Aurora watched two with a goofy grin, loving that her bestfriend and a friend were in love.