amara haven
Eight months passed by in the blink of an eye.
Nic had been sober for fourteen months, me for ten.
It was bothering me how fast time was flying by. We were driving back to San Francisco for my birthday.
Well... kind of for my birthday.
I'd be twenty in about a month, and it felt extremely weird to think about.
They say "Time flys when you're having fun" but they never mention how fast it flies when you're busy with your life.
"Can you at least try to listen to me? I've been talking to Michael for the last fifteen minutes," Nic said, snapping me back to reality.
That was another thing that was still surreal, we ended up adopting Michael.
I chuckled, "Sorry."
"It's okay," he replied, "Do you wanna stop in Kettleman again?"
"I don't min-"
"I regret asking," he muttered, making me laugh.
The intro to 'All The Small Things' started on the radio and I got excited, turning it up.
Nic shook his head at me and laughed as I badly sang the lyrics through my own laughter.
"Don't laugh at me!" I exclaimed in the instrumental part after the chorus.
"I'm laughing with you," he teased.
"Come on," I slapped his shoulder, "Have some fun."
He rolled his eyes at me, but joined in with the terrible singing and laughter.
The last notes of the song faded out and we continued laughing, I leaned over and mussed his curls.
"You're distracting me from driving," he said, trying to bite my hand.
I pulled away and giggled, "That's your problem."
"You're my problem," he countered, "Where'd all this energy come from."
I pointed at the cup holders that held two coffee cups, one mine and one his.
"I should've guessed," he rolled his eyes.
I noticed that he was wearing a ring on his right pinky finger, peaking my interest.
His right hand was on the steering wheel and his left was resting out of the open window.
"Switch your hands," I said.
"What?" He asked.
"Switch your hands," I repeated.
He brought his left hand to the wheel, "Why?"
I grabbed his right hand and slid the ring off of his finger to look at it.
It was a little silver band, engraved with words that my bad vision couldn't see without glasses.
"What does it say?" I asked, slipping it onto my ring finger.
"Life is too short to worry," he replied.
I giggled, "How perfect for you."
He chuckled, "You can keep it if you want to."
"What?" I questioned.
"It fits your finger, you can keep it," he smiled.
"I'd say it's a perfect quote for the pair of us," I teased.
"Absolutely perfect."
~
For the last hour of the drive I was hit with a wave of tiredness.
Nic rested his arm on the centre console and I leaned over to hug it.
"Wake up, sleepy head," he said, pulling me from my half-conscious state.
I sat up, letting go of his arm and rubbed my eyes.
"What happened to my hyper Mara?" He asked with a chuckle.
"She died," I replied bluntly, trying to wake myself up.
He laughed, "Rest in peace."
He opened his door and I followed suite, both of us climbing out.
David and Karen walked out behind two excited little blonde kids.
Daisy and Jasper ran straight to Nic, jumping against him.
He affectionately rubbed both of their shoulders and hair, I could hear his voice but I couldn't make out the words.
I opened the back car door to grab Michael's carrier.
I walked around the back of the car with Michael.
I hugged David and Karen, and mussed Jasper and Daisy's hair to say hello.
"What's this?" Jasper asked, looking at the carrier in my hand.
"Well," I looked to Nic and giggled, he rolled his eyes, "We adopted a kitten."
"A kitten?" David questioned.
"Mhm," I nodded, "His name is Michael."
Karen chuckled.
"Where are my sisters?" I asked.
"They're at your place," David replied, "With one of your cousins, I believe."
"Oh," I said, "I'll have to go see them then."
"They're coming over for dinner tonight," he smiled.
"Oh, perfect," I grinned.
~
After plenty of talking, Nic and I were able to sneak away from Daisy and Jasper and into his room.
The bed still sat neatly made while the rest of the room appeared to have been turned into a play area.
He dropped his bag on the floor and I placed Michael down, dropping my own bag.
"You can stay in the guest room, if you don't want to share," Nic said.
"Kicking me out?" I teased.
"No, I just- oh shut up," he shook his head and grabbed out his laptop.
I ruffled his hair and started to unpack Michael's things.
I let him out and he jumped up onto the bed next to Nic while I organised his things, then my own.
By the time I had unpacked, Nic was still typing on his computer.
I climbed onto the bed behind him on my knees and slid my arms around his neck, placing my chin on his head.
"Whatcha doing?" I asked.
"Writing a paper for Uni," he replied.
I gently swayed us back and forth in an attempt to annoy him.
"Amara," he muttered.
"Hm?" I questioned, continuing to be annoying.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Trying to annoy you," I giggled.
"Trying?" He teased.
I waited for him to click save, then reached over and shut his laptop.
"Amara!" He exclaimed.
I broke into laughter, letting myself fall backwards onto the bed.
"You are so lucky I saved that," he muttered, placing his laptop on the desk.
"I waited for you to save it, duh," I giggled.
"You're delirious," he rolled his eyes.
"I know!" I exclaimed.
"Have a nap before dinner," he suggested.
"Only if you come here," I countered.
I wanted his warmth. I hated admitting it, but it was true. I wanted his warmth every time I fell asleep.
"Why?" He asked.
The very question I was hoping to avoid.
I shrugged.
He chuckled, "You're helpful."
He climbed onto the bed next to me with his sketchbook and a pencil, I cuddled up to his side while he dragged the pencil around the paper.
His warmth, his steady heartbeat and the sound of the pencil lulled me to sleep in no time.