Serene Royalty

Chapter 5

”I am believed in
I am held on to
Don't have to wonder
Who I belong to
I'm always wanted
Always known
And always treasured
It's trueeee
I am loved by you"

I sing and drive to Riley Clemmons' 'Loved By You'.
I'm definitely a Riley Clemmons fan. Love love love her music.

The song gets cut off by an incoming call. I check my dashboard and answer it.

"Hey mom"

"Girl, where are you?"

"I'm on my way. I'm just running late because of a little accident at Walmart."

"Accident? What happened? Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" She asks, worried.

"Mom, calm down. I'm alright. I'm not hurt or anything. I'll give you the details when I get there, okay?"

"Okay sweetie. You better hurry up though. Your nieces are waiting for you. Drive safely."

"Wait. Is everyone there?"

"We're all here. You're the last missing puzzle piece."

"Oh my word. This is amazing. I'll be there in like 30 minutes."

"Don't be too excited. Remember you're driving," I can hear the smile in her voice. "Love you, baby."

"I love you, too, Mom."

The call cuts and I play my Sam Rivera playlist.

***
Thirty minutes later, I pull in to my parents' driveway. I park in front of one of the many garages my parents have.

My Dad has a small vintage car collection. He uses it as an excuse to have many garages but there are more garages than cars.

Grabbing my purse and my travel bag, I make sure my car is locked and walk up to my parents' modern house.

As I approach the door, I hear my nieces and nephews running around and shouting.

I ring the doorbell and someone rushes to the door.

"Thalie!"

"Aaliyah!" I embrace my big sister in a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you. Look at you. You're glowing," she exclaims.

"Girl, thank you. Same," I grin at her.

"No I'm not. This human is making me look uglier each day," she says, rubbing her belly.

"Who lied to you? You're the hottest mom I know," I say to her.

I'm not trying to make her feel better or anything. She really is. Growing up, people people always said she was the prettiest sister. Looks and all. In high school, she was on the cheer squad and was crowned prom queen. I lost count of the beauty pageants she won.  Even though she has already had 3 kids, she still looks gorgeous. You wouldn't even tell she's six months pregnant without looking at her baby bump.

"Girl, c'mon, you are."

"But I think you're prettier," she says with a smile and  wink.

Before I get to answer, a tiny body runs into me.

"Auntie Fawia!" Kamaliyah wraps her tiny arms around my neck. She's followed by the rest of the kids, excluding Kaden and Kenan. I crouch down as they all come around me and give them all a huge hug.

Kamaliyah, Kaden and Kenan are Aaliyah's kids. Kenan's the oldest. Kamaliyah and Kaden are twins.

The rest are Gracie, Nevaeh, Gianna and Noah, in order from oldest to youngest. One of my twin brothers, Levi, is a girl dad. He says he really loves it but I know that deep down, he wants a son.