Lazarus ━━ Sense8 [Discontinued]

| 04: SHE WEARS RED FEATHERS

     Malia's dark brown eyes widened exceptionally, her admiration clearly evident on her face, "Hubba, hubba, mom! You look great!"

     "Thank you, my darling!" She responded exaggeratedly, before dropping a loud and wet kiss on the seven year old's forehead. She pulled back to look at the loose braid that Donna had managed to pull off. Her index finger and thumb reached up to affectionately tug on the end of the braid. "You're looking beyond beautiful."

     A blush rose on her plushy cheeks, "Hush, mom."

     Donna began to pet the back of Malia's hair, running her fingernails soothingly across the child's scalp, "While you were getting dressed, Malia and I had a very firm conversation about the incident at school, right?"

     The child sighed and nodded her low-hanging head, "Yeah, auntie Dee says it's not nice to hit people even if they're a bunch of smart-asses. " A quick glance up at her mother's face was all it took for Malia to quickly back-track, "Dee was the one who told me they were smart-asses, not me! I don't even know what a smart-ass is!"

     "Please don't teach my daughter new swear words."

     Shamelessly, Donna shrugged and continued to absent-mindlessly play with her surrogate niece's hair. "If anything, I'm just extending her already limited vocabulary." 

     "Despite your auntie's inappropriate way of putting it, she is right. Only fight back when they hit you first. You're a little lady, Malia. Ladies don't start fights, but they can finish them." Alana's hands stretched out like a monstrous octopus and began merciless tickling her daughter's stomach. Yelps and girlish squeals cackled out of the girl's squeamish body until eventually, her mother halted her movements. Instead of continuing her assault, the woman wrapped her arms around Malia and hugged her from behind, resting her chin on top of her head. "What time is the babysitter coming?"

     Donna glanced at her watch, "Should be here in five, maybe ten minutes?"

     Malia twisted her head around her mother's grasp, "Can't I come with you?"

     "Sorry, no can do. It's an adult party with adult drinks and adult conversations. It would completely bore you, like to death!" She moved around the island and into the kitchen, pulling open multiple draws in search for something. "Even some adults don't like adult parties or being an adult in general."

     "Sounds depressing."

     "Oh, it really is." 

     Alana let out a small gasp of happiness once she finally found what she was looking for. In one of the cupboards above the kitchen counter, there was a concave bowl filled with begonia flowers. Most of the time, there would be a vase somewhere in the house that held fresh begonias, but Alana rarely had time to go the market to purchase them. All of the cut flowers were painted a garnet red with ruffled petals that spread widely out. Gently, she picked up one of them and carefully slipped it behind her right ear. She grasped a few strands of her un-pinned hair to cover the short stem and to secure the flower from falling. 

     Malia stared at her mother curiously, "Mom, why do you always wear flowers in your hair?"

     "Because in Hawaii, when you wear a flower, it signifies your relationship status. If you wear a flower behind your left ear, you're married or dating someone. If you wear it behind your left ear, you're not with anybody at the moment." After placing the bowl back into the cupboard, the woman grabbed her purse and slipped her arm under the strap. "That and it looks pretty."