♡ Alaiya's POV: ♡
"Hi." I smile as I walk in through the door, stepping up to Roman and kissing him on the lips.
"What's in the bag?" he notices immediately even after my failed attempt to hide it behind my back.
"Don't worry about it," I brush off.
He looks at me once.
"It's fucking books, isn't it?"
Oh, he's good!
"Hold on." I hold out my finger, walking back to the car now that I know he's downstairs.
I step back inside after taking a trip to the car with a bouquet in my hand-only white lilies because Roman doesn't like strongly scented things.
A smile immediately reaches his lips, his dimples causing butterflies to kill me.
My cheeks turn red as I hand them over to him. He takes them and sets his other hand on my cheek. A soft and gentle kiss lands on my cheek.
"I fucking love them. Thank you," he says in the most grateful tone possible.
That causes even more happiness to crash down on me.
"Those are so pretty!" Autumn exclaims when she enters the kitchen.
"You think so?" Roman picks her up and sits her down on the counter.
He then breaks off a flower and puts it behind Autumn's ear, smiling from ear to ear when Autumn looks overjoyed by the gesture.
"You look beautiful," he awes at our daughter.
Stop it! Stop it or else I will faint. And that is not an over-exaggeration.
Her grin widens before she kisses his cheek as a way of saying thank you.
"You guys are so cute!" I have to squeal, not hiding the fact that I took pictures of that entire thing.
Roman and I both hate taking pictures when it's set up. We prefer it to be natural rather than forced and this is as natural as it gets.
I'm actually framing this picture of them adorably smiling and getting it painted on the ceiling. And if you think I'm joking, I'm not.
"I love your hair," Autumn gasps when she looks over at me and notices the change.
I just took my braids out and now my natural curls are back. Hence, why my arms still feel like they're about to fall off. And Roman even helped me with a lot of it, yet they continue to be sore because of how much hard work it takes.
"Thank you!" I pick her up and give her a big ole kiss on the cheek as we walk to the breakfast table to eat our lunch. "Dad did it. Can't you tell?" I ask, fluffing up my curls when we all are seated.
Autumn looks utterly shocked.
"Dad did not do that," she objects while shaking her head.
Roman glares over at her while carrying Dayton over to sit him down in his chair. "And why is that?"
"Nothing." She shakes her head again, though I sense a little sarcasm coming from her. The smile that appears right after gives her away.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Roman argues with a child. His own too!
"Nothing. It's just...you're not very...what's the word?" She thinks.
"Hair-doing kind of guy," I finish.
"Exactly," Autumn agrees. "You're like Gaston, except for the whole being mean part. ...sometimes."
I nod, fighting a smile, but it's really hard.
Roman looks over at the both of us.
"Eat your damn pizza." He stubbornly nods toward our plates.
We laugh as Autumn takes a bite of her slice and Roman does too respectfully. Even with age, he still is the neatest eater I've ever met.
After lunch, the day goes by normally. Roman does some work, I get some emails looked at and responded to, along with some phone calls, we spend time with the kids, eat dinner, and now I'm spending time with Autumn.
"Mom, can you straighten my hair?" Autumn asks me out of nowhere right as I'm done reading her a story.
I scrunch my eyebrows. "But I love your curls." My hands slightly bounce her tight curls playfully.
"Please! All the other girls have straight hair at school," she whines.
And that's when I realize where this is coming from.
Winter break ended a while ago and Autumn's been going to school regularly. I've been to her school. There is diversity, though the insecurities for colored women and little girls don't just stop. We still watch lighter-skinned girls as if they're better than all of us because that's what everyone thinks and has thought for decades.
"Did someone tell you to straighten your hair?" I question just in case.
"No, they just have pretty hair and I wanted it too." She shrugs.
"Honey, you have gorgeous hair! I wish I had pretty and healthy hair like yours." I say, earning a small smile to appear. "You know, I straightened my hair so much when I was little that it literally burned off."
"Really?" Her eyes widen.
I nod, cringing at the tiny bald spot I had at the ripe age of ten. I decide not to tell her that I didn't straighten my hair because of what I wanted, but because my mom thought I would look more "put together". Sadly, I believed her and didn't stop until it got really bad.
First of all, what ten-year-old is put together? That's my question. Secondly, who tells their daughter that?!
"I wish I had your beautiful skin, or your amazing eyebrows, or your adorable smile and dimples. Everything about you is perfect. Don't compare yourself to those girls because I promise, they feel the same way I do."
I see her cheeks turning red, those dimples that I was talking about arising.
"And if anyone thinks the opposite, they're wrong and blind and I want you to know that you can come to me if you ever need to talk."
She nods.
"Can we hug?" she asks.
"We can always hug." I pull her in to sit on my lap as her little hands wrap around my back.
I gasp. "You want to do self-care tonight?!"
She gleams at that.
I run back to our restroom and grab the nail polish, face masks, and moisturizer. I tell Roman what we're doing and he says he's fine putting Dayton and Aubrey to sleep, so we have about an hour or two until it's Autumn's bedtime.
I paint her nails a pretty lavender color and she paints mine the same because we have to have matching colors, I help her set her face mask on and then lay the other one on my face, we talk as we wait for the timer to go off for our nails and the masks, and then we moisturize each other's faces gently to end the night off.
Roman steps in as we're finishing up the moisturizing and giggling about a story that I was telling Autumn.
"You told mom she was annoying when you were telling her you wanted to marry her!" Autumn exclaims toward Roman.
"I never said that," Roman denies as he takes a seat beside me and wraps his arm around my back.
"You called me annoying at breakfast this morning," I remind him.
"You did do that." Autumn nods.
See!
"Whose side are you on?" Roman glares at her.
"What else did he say?" Autumn asks me curiously.
"Umm, oh, you said I get on your nerves all the time."
"And you said yes?!" Autumn exclaims like I should've made him start over.
"Hey, your ass wouldn't have been here if she said no."
"The ring was really pretty," I whisper.
Autumn laughs when Roman pinches my side playfully. I fall onto his shoulder before wrapping my arms around him to soften the blow.
"I'm kidding! He told me how much he loved me right after," I reassure Autumn.
"Then your mother started an argument with me."
"And I won."
"No the fuck you didn't."
"I have never lost one of our arguments. Anyways, you want to get a facial. Autumn gives the best ones."
"On it!" Autumn grabs the lotion and walks up to Roman.
Roman doesn't object to the skincare, but he does care about what I said earlier.
"You do not win all of our arguments."
"Baby, your daughter is trying to give you a facial. There is no point in arguing about the truth." I shake my head sarcastically.
I obviously know I don't win every one of our little petty arguments. It's just funny to see how mad he got when I said that.
"We're talking about this later," he states when Autumn begins putting the lotion on his face and massaging it into his skin.
~~~~
We slowly walk out of Autumn's room once she's asleep and to Roman and I's bedroom.
When I step inside, my waist is suddenly pulled and a pair of lips make contact with my neck. A laugh escapes my mouth as he picks me up and lowers me down on our bed with his lips now on my throat.
"Roman," I wrap my legs around him, inhaling my words
"Mhmm?" He hums deeply.
"We have a problem."
He stops kissing me and lifts himself to look down at me. His chain hangs from his neck and the coolness touches my chest slightly, sending the best kind of shiver down my spine.
"Autumn suddenly wants to straighten her hair because other girls have straight hair too," I explain.
He raises his eyebrow. "What the hell is wrong with her hair?"
"Nothing. That's the point," I express with my hands held out.
"You think other kids are pressuring her into doing it?" he asks, now worried too.
"I don't think that's it. I mean, I get it. I felt like I needed straight and thinner hair too when I was younger because of other, lighter-skinned girls. Maybe she's pressuring herself into looking like others."
"Why don't you style her natural hair with pins or something like you do with yours? Find an in-between."
I agree with that because it sounds like a good idea. I just don't want Autumn to get addicted to seeing her hair straight and start hating or burning her beautiful curls or thickness. If I style it, maybe it'll feel like a change for her and she'll realize how pretty her curls actually are because when I tell you they are stunning, I'm not kidding.
"I'll take her to the store tomorrow and let her pick out the pins she wants," he says and I nod, a yawn escaping a second after. "For now, let's go to sleep."
"Pull me up." I hold out my hands when he stands up, still laying on the bed.
He grabs my arms gently and hauls me up.
What I didn't ask for was to be thrown over his shoulder randomly, but at this point, I'm used to it. A laugh still escapes as he takes me to the restroom so I can do my night routine. Roman's already showered and done his so he stays with me until I'm done.
I wash my face, put on my oils and stuff, brush my teeth, and then put on my bonnet. Roman helps me with the last step, and once he's pulled it over my head, he grabs both sides of my face and kisses me.
The first time I ever put a bonnet on when we were in a relationship was a long time after we got together. I was afraid that he would think it looks weird or not sexy. But then again, it's Roman and he did say that I could be wearing a grinch costume and he'd still love me. Also, Roman sometimes says a lot with his very limited expressions. A very specific smile from him means he actually loves something which is what he showed when he saw the bonnet on me and how he looks at me basically every day, including right now. He then asked respectfully, of course, what it helps with. I explained it, and now he's a professional at putting them on me and also reminds me on the days I forget.
"By the way, you do not win every fucking argument," he has to bring that up again.
"You seem very defensive about this." I tilt my head at him.
"I don't like you."
"I love you too. Wanna watch Vampire Diaries?"
"Hell no."
"Vampire Diaries it is." I walk out, the remote already in my hand as somebody whines behind me. And no, it is not a child, but a grown man.
So dramatic.
~~~~
"One, two, three!" I exclaim as Dayton slides down the slide in our backyard.
He falls right into my arms, his uncontrollable laugh creating actual joy in my heart.
"What do you want to do next? You want to go on the swings?" I point.
He looks over and then back at me.
"Yes?" I ask, nodding so he'll understand what that means.
"Yes!" he responds with a squeal.
"Good job!" I walk over and set him down.
Each time I push him, he comes back as I cover my eyes and play peek-a-boo. For some reason, it gets funnier each time for him. I'm not complaining though because as long as he isn't crying, that's all that matters to me.
After thirty minutes on the swings, I take Dayton back inside.
It's springtime so he's actually able to go outside without a big ole coat on. Not that he would let me put it on him anyways even if it was freezing. The arguments we have gotten into over that are crazy, usually involving him screaming and me having to catch him when he decides to run away.
Tonight, we have our friends coming over for dinner and most likely, a sleepover for the girls. It's funny to watch them get so nervous asking us when we've already planned it out. You think Ivy or Bethane just randomly brings Hope's or Violet's clothes each time? Plus, even if they didn't, we'd still most likely say yes and just let them share clothes. It also gives Iris, Skyler, Bethane, and Ivy an excuse to stay late, meaning we can talk so it's a win-win situation.
"Roman! Did you take the food out of the oven?" I shout because I don't know where he is.
"I'm changing Aubrey's diaper," he answers from upstairs.
I quickly set Dayton down on the couch carefully next to Autumn whose watching TV and rush over to the oven. When I pull out the tray of food, I see that a lot of it has been burned. Not brown burned, but completely black.
Great.
Roman walks down the steps as I'm setting the tray on the stove.
"Roman, I told you to watch the food. Why didn't you take it out before you left?"
"Aubrey just shitted all the way up her back. I couldn't just hold her up in the fucking air while I took the food out like she was Simba." He grabs a pack of baby wipes from the cabinet.
"I guess we're getting takeout then." I shrug because no one can eat this.
"If you change this diaper, I will make another meal and order out," he bribes me, desperation on his face.
Absolutely not!
"I think you got it." I fake a smile, achieving a serious glare from him that sends knives right at my soul.
"I hate you," he says before walking away.
I laugh at how defeated he looked.
Do you know how many diapers I've changed for all three of our kids with poop literally everywhere? Too many. Roman's got this one. I'd much rather do the dishes and that says a lot.
The doorbell rings after about an hour or so of setting plates into the dishwasher and wiping down the counters, so I go and answer the door.
I hope it's my package.
I may or may not have ordered a few more books. By accident, of course.
It's an addiction, okay. Roman's right. Roman also doesn't know so let's keep this between us.
The second the door swings open, my heart plummets to the floor because of the two people standing in front of me.
And not just any two people.
"Hi Alaiya," my mom mutters.
I-no.
♥ ★ ❦ ✱ ♥
A/N: I would like to formally apologize for bringing her parents back.
Also, there's only a few more chapters until the end of Roman and Alaiya. I may cry.
Word Count: 2778
Please tell me if there are any errors.