When Elijah invited them to his family BBQ, Naomi was not expecting what she found the very day she was stood in his garden. Thinking it was going to be a small gathering, she didn't think twice about it over the past few weeks it had been since she spoke to Elijah's mum for the first time on the phone in the boy's kitchen. But now, now she was stood in a large garden, grass under her feet, children playing, adults talking and drinking, music playing and just good vibes.
There had to be at least fifty people there and as the day went by, more and more came along.
At first, when she walked into Elijah's garden at the back of his house in London and found it to be full of his family members and friends, she was nervous as hell, but when she felt the warmth of Theo's hand on the small of her back as he guided her to sit down at one of the tables, and encouraged her to engage in conversations when one of Elijah's family members came over and they greeted him like family, those nerves disappeared quickly.
Alongside Theo's reassurance, with the cup of double Wray and nephews and lemonade in her hand helped - a lot, as well as all of Elijah's family greeting her, making sure she was comfortable and happy - as well as Theo keeping her close - whether it was sitting next to her at the table or his arm on the small of her back when they'd be stood up talking to family members - who'd smile when they'd notice they were a couple.
"I thought you weren't a light weight baby, why you already swaying side to side?" Theo chuckled as he slowly slipped the red solo cup out of Naomi's grasp and placed it back down onto the table
"I'm not, but you try and hack Wray and nephews. Look at you sat back with your cans of red stripe, that ain't doing shit to you" Naomi rebutdtaled, unwrapping Theo's arms from around her waist as she turned to look up at him
"Oh trust me it is" he rasped, his eyes scanning over her figure as Naomi soon caught onto the fact that whenever Theo drank he got hornier than usual and the dark blue sundress she was wearing today only fuelled him more
"Fuck, I wanna put a baby in you" he whispered breathlessly, as he returned his arms around her waist, nuzzling his face into her neck as she playfully rolled her eyes at his drunk clinginess
Taking a second to really clock onto what he just said, Naomi's eyes went wide as she pressed the palm of her hand onto his forehead, pushing his head off of her as she scolded him, "Theo!" She raised her voice, staring at him
With a lazy smile on his face, Theo attempted to return his head back into the crook of her neck as he mumbled, "One day, baby, come on. You know I meant to say one day"
"Mhmm" Naomi hummed, knowing that Theo definitely wasn't getting any tonight
"Fuck" he groaned, "can we go to the bathroom, I need you" he whispered as he slid his hands up and down Naomi's curves
"No Theo, I'm not gonna sleep with you in someone else's house"
"What about the car?" He offered since he drove him and Naomi down to London, "We've done it once before" he teased, knowing that he could never get over the many places he'd fucked Naomi that weren't in the bedroom
"Not happening" she grinned at the groan which left Theo's mouth
In a low throaty voice, Theo mumbled, "You're going to be the death of me"
"Death through blue balls, imagine that" she giggled, remembering the same look on his face that she'd received earlier on when it was the two of them sat at the table, and Tiana came along with an icelolly for her and she proceeded to suck it infront of him.
At first she saw no problem with her eating infront of him, but the moment his eyes never left her lips and his voice went low as he said her name as a warning, whilst continually having to readjust himself in his seat as he spread his legs, and lifted his hips discreetly to readjust himself, Naomi knew she was affecting him.
Despite all of Naomi's temptations today, one thing that did really stick out to Theo was what Naomi was wearing today. Yes, it was a sundress, which did nothing to make him family friendly infront of the kids, but the colour of the dress was what got him. Yes, Naomi was allowed to wear blue, she could have every item in her wardrobe as blue for all he cared, but this very shade of blue was all too similar to what she described to him when she was telling him everything she knew about him. Now, Theo wasn't trying to overthink things, but the moment she got into his car today, she smoothed out her dress and looked over at him, almost waiting for him to say something about the colour. And that smile, oh that smile of hers that he enjoyed seeing adorn her lips came out when he stuttered on his words when he saw her earlier on today for the first time.
Bringing the two out of their moment of just staring into each other's eyes, they heard a squeal of pure delight, "Theo!"
And there at their feet was little Skai Parker, Elijah's little sister, smiling widely up at Theo as he bent down to her level.
"Hey little Parker" Theo smiled as Skai wrapped her arms around Theo's neck for a hug, as he looked up at Naomi stood besides looking at them with a look he couldn't quite decipher
Placing his attention back on the little girl infront of him, Theo noticed her staring up at Naomi with curiosity.
"Skai, this is-" Theo began to introduce Skai to Naomi when the little girl immediately interrupted him, with a wide smile as she said, "Naomi! Your girlfriend Naomi, the one you showed me the pictures of!"
That same wide smile which adorned Skai's face was then replicated onto Theo's as he didn't take his eyes off of his girlfriend as Skai revealed all. He watched how Naomi's swallowed the moment Skai finished saying that she knew exactly who she was. How Naomi smiled at the little girl but didn't dare look at Theo as it was clear she was scared to.
She was scared to look into the eyes of the boy who could make her heart beat harder than before without even saying anything. The boy who decided to show a little girl he was clearly fond of pictures plural of her in his spare time, talking about her, expressing his feelings for her.
God, how did she get so lucky?
Watching Theo play with Skai was something Naomi didn't expect for her to be so immersed in. She couldn't take her eyes off of how Theo effortlessly made the little girl giggle and happy to spend time with him. How he was literally her favourite person. How he was so good with her.
Is this what Theo would be like as a dad?
Fuck, he looks really good right now
"Naomi?" Theo said
"Baby you okay?" She heard Theo call out to her as he had Skai on his back, giving her a piggy back ride
"Yeah I-" she stumbled on her words trying focus on something to say and not what she was actually thinking
No I know exactly what I want to say...
Fuck, I wanna have a kid with you...Right now
"Yeah I'm good" is what actually came out of Naomi's mouth instead as she tried to rack her brain over what she was just thinking. Of the idea of her putting everything on hold to just...to actually have a child.
To start a family with Theo.
Her Theodore.
Feeling a touch to her arm, Naomi looked over her shoulder at who was attempting to get her attention.
And there was a woman who she immediately recognised the moment she opened her mouth earlier in the day, to the way she greeted and smoothly spoke to all, to the way she had that same dimpled smile that she'd given to Elijah through birth, Carmen.
"Naomi now I know that look for sure, don't rush into having pickney" Carmen whispered as she stood next to Naomi with a knowing look
"Wait what?" Naomi immediately turned her head to Carmen's face, only to find the older woman looking at her with a knowing smile
Sipping on her glass of wine, Carmen continued as she nodded her head towards Theo playing with Skai, "You're young, you've got plenty of time to have kids"
"I never said, I don't- I didn't-" Naomi tried to deny what the older woman somehow knew what she was thinking
"What? You're about to say that you never wanted kids before? Hmm, yeah I was like that at your age and then, well I met Darius and a lot changed, as you can see from Elijah and Skai" she smiled knowingly as Naomi tried to think of a lie to attempt to make it seem like Carmen didn't catch her practically drooling over Theo with kids
"That boy...Your boy, he's special and it's clear he's got a lot of feelings for you. Now I know I'm not one to talk on behalf of him, but as a mother I will say do not hurt that boy. He's been through a lot and he's like a son to me"
Nodding her head, Naomi defended herself, "I know, and I have deep feelings for him as well...I'd never intentionally hurt him, he means a lot to me" she tried to explain as she realised the alcohol was making her say more than she knew she wanted to.
Quickly, Naomi turned her head back towards the sight of Theo playing around with Skai, only to notice Ollie, Elijah and Tiana making their way towards all of them.
"Carms!" Ollie yelled as he held his arms open wide, making a beeline for the older woman
"Oliver Stone" she warned as she let the boy hug her, accepting the embrace after a moment with a small smile on her face
"Oh come on Carms, you know you miss the nickname" Ollie teased as he let go of the woman only to step to the side, "I'm pretty sure you missed it more from my mum though" he smiled as he revealed his mum behind him
"Selena!" Carmen screamed as she looked at her old bestfriend of thirty years
"Hey Carmen, long time no see" Selena smiled, hugging her friend
Accepting the embrace, Carmen couldn't help but admit something, "I feel like I could cry. Never did I ever think our sons would be the reason why we reunite"
Watching the two friends reunite, Naomi looked over at Tiana. "You think this is gonna be us in like forty years?"
"Forty years!" Both women turned to the girls with their hands on their hips, "Now I know you ain't calling us old" Selena raised her eyebrows as Carmen sipped on her wine, knowing damn well it wasn't that long ago they were their age involved in love triangles, breakups and friends with benefits situations
"Ma, she didn't mean that" Elijah defended Tiana attempting to hide his smile at the look on his mother and Ollie's mums faces
"Mhmm" both women hummed as they tuned back to each other to catch up
"Well even if these young ones think that we're old, we definitely don't look it" Carmen said moreso directly towards the kids, who all agreed in harmony to keep her happy
It wasn't like they were lying, Carmen and Selena looked great for their age but they'd never tell anyone how old they were. It's not like anyone could even tell, they still looked like they were in their twenties, but to be honest could've been fifty.
"Oh we don't! And have you seen Gina these days, she looks just as good" Selena mentioned, reminding Carmen of their trio back in the day
"Oh Gina" Carmen remembered fondly, "I miss her, I wonder how she's doing nowadays"
"Well...you remember how I used to know all the gossip back in the day" Selena began as Carmen nodded eagerly, "She lives like an hour away and I invited her down today so we could have a little reunion"
"You didn't!" Carmen gasped, "is she here?"
"She'll be here in five minutes she texted me and guess what"
"What?"
"She's got a kid the same age as yours."
"Hear that Lijah?" Carmen looked over at him, "Gina's got a kid the same age as you! If she brings them, they can hang out with you guys tonight"
The group nodded in agreement, happy to let anyone tag along.
It wasn't even a second later that the two women screamed in delight as they saw the final piece to their trio make her way to them across the garden.
Amongst the loudness of the reunion, Naomi felt nothing but ease as Theo kept his hands securely on her waist.
"Can you pass me my drink?" Naomi asked as Theo didn't need to be asked twice, grabbing her drink from the nearby table and passing it to her
"Go steady though, I don't need you getting too drunk" he hummed, knowing that Naomi knew her limits but she'd definitely be mortified the next morning if she did something embarrassing whilst she was drunk infront of everybody at the party
"Of course not" she swallowed as she took another sip
"Gina, where's your kid? They need to meet up with ours" Selena asked, wanting to see their younger generations meet up
"Oh he's around here somewhere-" she began to say as Carmen screamed at another familiar face making their way towards her
"Jordan Hampton is that you!" She asked
Jordan, Elijah's hometown bestfriend didn't even get a chance to answer before Elijah practically tackled him to the ground in a brotherly hug
"Hey man" Jordan coughed out as Elijah couldn't stop smiling
"Oh shit sorry" Elijah apologised, getting off of him and lending him a hand to get up, "Bro what are you doing here? I thought you were still at-"
"I got better...and uh, I'm thinking about coming back to university" Jordan awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck, awaiting Elijah's reaction
"No way!" Elijah denied, "man that's great!" He truthfully said, "but first things first, you're not Gina's kid right? Like I'm not tripping, right?"
"Nah, nah" Jordan laughed, only to stop when he felt a arm being slung around his shoulders
"Finally!" Gina huffed, "Everyone this is my son-" she began to say as she saw her son stood next to Jordan but was interrupted
"Mummy, my hair" Skai whined
"Oh sweetie what happened?" Carmen bent down to her level
"I was playing and then...I-I, it just got messy, I'm sorry" she hiccuped, tears threatening to leave her eyes
"Skai I told you to be careful today, I warned you that I wouldn't be redoing it because my hands have been cramping up too much"
"But mummy-"
Interrupting the conversation Naomi blurred out a, "I can do it" as she could understand the interaction between the mother and daughter as she too had messed up her hair a lot when her mum would warn her she wouldn't be redoing it when she was younger
"Would you Naomi?"
"Yeah of course"she said quickly, already ushering Skai through the garden and towards the house as she took another sip from her cup feeling the alcohol burn her throat more than usual, stepping out of Theo's grasp
"Thank you so much" Carmen smiled
"Come on Naomi, I'll show you to my room!" Skai skipped as she pulled on Naomi's wrist, leading the older girl who seemed to be quite eager to leave the garden