♡ Alaiya's POV: ♡
"Oh my goodness!" I squeal as Autumn walks out of her bedroom in her little blue, beach dress. I even put her hair up in a cute little bun with some of her curls falling out and a satin crisscross headband on top.
After Roman and I's conversation about Autumn wanting her hair straightened, I watched every tutorial on how to do hair. I'm usually not very good at it, but I couldn't give up so I tried new styles on Autumn every single day. From simple, to hairstyles that almost made my arms fall off, though I finished it to the best of my ability. She's loved them all and is finding the beauty in her natural hair which I couldn't be happier about, and if it takes me learning all these new hairstyles for that to happen, then I will try a million more things and even take lessons if I have to.
"I look like you," she giggles, talking about my beach dress which is matching with hers.
Roman walks out with Aubrey and Dayton in his arms. Aubrey is also matching with us, looking adorable and Dayton is matching with Roman-both of them wearing a loose black button-up.
Oh my god, our family is so perfect!
"Did you do Aubrey and Dayton's hair?!" I gasp when I see their little curls looking amazing.
"Yeah. Dayton kept slapping the gel out of my hand, but I gave him a hairbrush instead, so his hands might still be sticky." Roman kisses Dayton's temple.
He-did you hear-I can't.
You hear that sound? That's not an earthquake. That's actually my heart beating so loudly that it sounds like a natural disaster.
"Apparently, he is the hair-kind-of-doing guy," Autumn says to me which makes me laugh and Roman glare down at her.
"Damn Alaiya, I don't think there's going to be room for Autumn's forty-eighth Mulan doll," Roman hisses, trying to get his revenge.
"Mom would never do that to me. She's on my side." Autumn gleams with her arm wrapped around my legs.
Roman looks at me and so does Autumn, both of them telling me to pick a side with their eyes.
"Well, would you look at the time." I look down at my imaginary watch. "We don't want to get late." I begin to make my escape quickly and efficiently, but I still hear them whispering behind me.
"That means she's on my side."
"That's a lie."
"You thought red and orange were the same color!"
"There's no fucking difference!"
~~~~
I'm putting on my wedges as Roman's gotten the kids in the car. He walks over and smiles when he scans my body, dimples galore, meaning butterflies galore.
"How are you feeling?" he asks, speaking about my parents.
The situation happened last week, and I'll admit, it was a little hard to deal with those emotions after so long, but honestly, since my parents have done so much, it didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. I'm learning to accept the fact that I have a family that loves me and my parents aren't involved in that no matter how badly I wanted them to be.
"I'm better, promise," I assure him firmly which makes his entire posture relax.
"You look fucking beautiful by the way," he adds, kissing my forehead. "All my girls do." He looks back at Aubrey and Autumn sitting in their car seats. "Dayton, I think, is about to throw up on his shirt."
I laugh because that's a very high possibility. Dayton gets car sick very easily, especially if he sleeps or sometimes when he just sits inside the car and knows that it's going to move. That's why I brought a change of clothes and have bags ready just in case.
Roman and I get into the car and drive to the place where the ship departs.
It's a seven-day trip so it's very long, meaning Autumn wouldn't be going to school for a little bit. Thankfully though, we send her to a school where a lot of parents who have jobs where they travel a lot go to, so going online for kids is normal and an easy option. All of our friend's kid's go to either Autumn's school or the same kind where they're able to do online as well which is why going on this trip wasn't an issue.
We park where all kinds and sizes of boats surround us, and when we go to the one Sanchez told us to board, I'm in awe.
The boat is beautiful.
There's only us on this cruise because as we all know, Sanchez hates most people unless it's Skyler so he got us one with only our group. There are pools, activity rooms, spas, party rooms, entertainment rooms for kids-basically everything and more.
"You own more than one shirt?!" Rider gasps when he sees Roman without his regular black T-shirt on.
"You look like a fucking idiot," Roman retorts, talking about Rider's colorful, yellow, palm tree, button-up shirt.
"Jealously is a disease," Rider sassily says.
"Looking at you in that shitty-ass thing may give me a disease," Ivy joins in.
"Why the fuck do you have shells in your ear?"
"Why the fuck don't you have a brain in your head?"
"Both of you look dumb." Roman rolls his eyes.
They start going at it and I decide to let them have their little thing while I go say hi to everyone with Aubrey with me and Dayton with Roman. Autumn runs over to Iris who squeals her name, hugging her tightly.
Skyler suddenly runs up to me, more energetic than her normal self which is saying a lot because she is literally a ball of energy all the time.
"How should I say it?" she panics.
"Hello to you too."
"This is not the time for formalities. I need a plan, Alaiya!"
"All you have to do is tell him the news whenever you think is the best time." I hold her shoulder, trying to calm her down.
"That's too basic. What if he misunderstands what I said?"
"Skyler, how can someone misunderstand the word 'pregnant'?" I have to ask.
"What if he thinks that someone else is pregnant? Or I'm talking about my pet dolphin?"
"You have a pet dolphin?"
"Exactly! If you could doubt it, so could he!"
Wow.
"Okay, I promise everything is going to be fine. If you need to do it in private, you can do that, but if you still want Roman's help, then he'll be here for you too and so will I. Just don't make yourself anxious without knowing what's actually going to happen."
She gasps, putting her hand over her stomach. "Can the baby feel it?"
I laugh. "Most of the time, yeah. Wait until they start kicking. It's so much fun feeling it. Roman used to wait for any moment Autumn, Dayton, or Aubrey would and I'm sure Sanchez will be just as excited."
Tears swarm her eyes and I quickly step closer, patting underneath them and telling her to take deep breaths. She nods, trying to get her emotions under control since she doesn't want Sanchez to see her like this.
"I can't believe I'm going to be a mother," she whispers. "Will you please help me if-."
"I'll help you with whatever and anything you want," I cut her off because there was no reason to ask. When she needs me, I'm there. Sometimes she won't even need me and I'll still be there.
She smiles, nodding as she wipes the water away to prepare herself.
"I'll do it tomorrow since it's late right now."
I know she's pushing it off, but I completely understand the panic of an unplanned pregnancy. When it's planned, you're waiting and waiting until it will finally happen. That's a different kind of anxiety though. When it just occurs unexpectedly...that's something I can't even begin to describe. Especially the fear of what your partner might think since it was never spoken about during that time.
Everyone heads to bed because Skyler is right. It's very late and the kids are exhausted from the driving.
Skyler told me to tell Sanchez that she was very tired and headed to bed already and so I did. He immediately when to their bedroom right after that sentence left my mouth, probably to see if she's alright since they're usually together all the time.
Aubrey is sleeping in her crib which is in Roman and I's bedroom while Autumn is with Violet and Hope and Dayton's with Grayson and Finn. Iris and Legend's kids are in their own bedrooms, but I have strong doubts that Iris and Legend are with them currently and they're all playing games.
I think Roman's asleep, though I'm not sure. I'm bored because I can't sleep. Maybe it's the fact that we're on water. You think, Alaiya? The inside of my head is Roman in real life. I just can't escape the sarcasm.
I poke his cheek to see if anything happens.
"Mhmm?" He stirs slightly.
"I'm bored," I whisper so Aubrey doesn't wake up.
"Try sleeping," he whispers back with his voice dropped by an octave.
That was hot. Alaiya, he spoke. Exactly.
"Can we talk about something?" I ask.
He waits, but I was hoping he would start the conversation so I could piggyback off of that.
"No it's fine, let's just say fucking nothing," he grumbles.
"Start a conversation!"
"You're the one who wanted to do this shit in the first place!"
"Fine, then I'm going to sleep." I turn over to the opposite side, obviously kidding. About the rolling and staying on the opposite side part. I can't do that. It won't last for longer than an hour.
"Not like that you're not." He rolls me right back over.
I laugh softly as I adjust myself back on his chest.
"Tell me about football. What team won recently," I think of something that might spike his interest.
He smiles with his eyes shut.
"Nothing interesting."
"Okay, how's work then?" I move on because I know that Roman liked playing football and watching it when he was younger so he could learn, but after he retired, he never really cared for it anymore. He'll know about some big games, so that's why I thought he would have said something. Then again, I have no idea when those big games are. Listen, when he was playing, I tried showing up for every game, had his jersey on, along with a jersey made for Autumn, and was always there to hug him whether he won or lost. Learning about the sport? I gave up a long time ago.
"We fired that racist girl and now she keeps coming back and telling everyone how shitty our gym is. She kept saying that because she's rich, she knows better."
"Have you said anything to her?"
"Her dad owns a toilet paper business. I'm not arguing with anyone who wipes asses for a living and brags about it."
I laugh at that because you would think that someone who flaunts her money around wouldn't be flaunting money that came from a toilet paper company.
I suddenly decide to sit up and sit on top of his stomach, straddling him. He isn't wearing a shirt right now so I'm able to see some of the tattoos on his arms with a bit of the light that's making its way in. We sit in comfortable silence, the sound of the water splashing soothing.
"What if I got a tattoo?" I trace one of the beautiful birds, wondering what it would feel like to have a needle in your skin and the outcome of it.
"What would you get?" He doesn't oppose to the idea at all. I would think he would.
"I don't know. I was looking through a lot of things. Maybe a flower or something?" My mind goes back to the ideas I was scrolling through. "There were these cute hearts, but I really liked raison d'être. Maybe on my wrist or stomach." I smile.
A bright smile falls onto his lips immediately, his hands falling onto my hips as his thumb rubs circles into my skin.
"That's a good one. What would it be for?"
He knows exactly who it would be for. It literally means a reason for existing.
"I don't know." I shrug, sighing sarcastically and dramatically, falling against the right side of his chest. "Maybe it could be about our family and someone specific."
He tangles his hand into my air while looking down at me with deep emotion in his eyes.
"Or maybe it could be about me too."
I can't believe I say that and mean it. I can't believe that I've come so far that I can say that I want to live for myself.
The way Roman's smile widens so big from hearing that brings the pride level in myself that was already high to another level.
"But you have to be there because I know it hurts a lot," I add.
"I will," he promises, kissing my cheek before hugging me tightly like I'm his teddy bear.
~~~~
We all are sitting on the deck, watching the beautiful ocean while the kids are playing with one another around us. I took Aubrey to the baby side of the pool where there's barely any water and she's been splashing it for thirty minutes now.
She looks so cute in her little bucket hat!
I'm scared that she may hurt herself somehow and it'll hurt her skin even more because she only has on a diaper, so I've been holding on just in case. She's an adventurous child which means she hates my precautions. I think she's thrown about three tantrums, but then I think about the tantrums she'll throw if she does get hurt and I decide I'll deal with these.
"Hold yourself up." Roman holds Autumn's stomach in the pool as she holds onto the ledge.
He's teaching her how to swim and it's adorable. It's adorable because Autumn is struggling and Roman has held his composure very well, even when she makes the same mistake over and over again.
Dayton waddles to Roman with his floaties on, screaming with joy from being in the water as his hands hit the water. He kicks his best to get to Roman's side, trying to hug him but he's blocked because of the jacket.
"Dad! Don't let go!" Autumn feels the slightest change in Roman's hand when he's trying to push Dayton's hair out of his face so he can see more clearly, screaming in fear.
"Princess, it's three feet. You aren't going to see Narnia if I let go for a second."
"Not everyone is a giant," Autumn retorts. "Can you see Narnia from up there?"
It's funny to see her being so sassy while holding onto Roman's hand with her entire strength.
"Do you want me to drown you?" Roman questions back.
"Hope, honey, you have kicked me in my gut twenty times now," Rider says as sweetly as he can as he's trying to teach Hope how to swim beside Roman.
She kicks him again by accident, making him take a small step back while folding his lips for a second to hold in the pain.
"Roman, you lookin' for another daughter?" Rider bargains.
Hope's mouth opens in offense as she holds onto the edge of the pool, snapping back to look at Rider.
"Uncle Roman, how have you been friends with my dad for so long?" Hope questions.
"I was kicked in the head as a child," Roman responds immediately.
Ivy gasps. "You guys have something in common!"
Rider and Roman turn their heads toward her and of course, the three begin.
"No one was fucking talking to you."
"Exactly!"
"This is why no one likes you."
"You're not that special either."
"Oh, so I try to defend us and now I'm the bad guy."
"The annoying one? Hell yes."
"I agree with that."
"So are you."
"Jump off a cliff."
Hope kicks Rider in the gut again while trying to practice her swimming as they're arguing.
Ivy throws her head back in laughter since Rider couldn't argue back. "I love you, Hope."
"Dumbass, stand beside her and not where her legs are." Sanchez comes into the pool with Skyler.
"Do you think they all love each other or will kill one another?" Iris asks while taking a seat beside me.
"Both," Bethane and I say in unison who has been with me and Aubrey, along with Grayson, Aria, Leah, and Josephine.
"If you let go of me, I will annihilate you," Skyler threatens while holding onto Sanchez's side for dear life.
"You know how to fucking swim," he reminds her.
"I need a few minutes to remember, okay."
I can tell that Skyler isn't actually scared of being set alone in the water, but the baby.
Thankfully, Sanchez listens to everything she says on a regular basis and holds her carefully, so she isn't let go of.
Violet swims basically like a professional toward Eldon who is watching all of them go at each other's throats. She's Ivy's daughter so she's naturally perfect at everything.
Violet floats in front of her dad who realizes that her bun is falling a little apart, so he grabs a few strands and puts them back in place. She turns around after realizing what he fixed and hugs him gratefully while he kisses the top of her head and they begin conversing about something.
"How are you swimming like that?" Hope and Autumn ask Violet.
"I'm perfect." Violet shrugs teasingly which earns a glare from both the girls who were hoping for some good advice.
Again, Ivy's daughter.
Legend is seen a little further from the pool, his kids and him using water guns against each other. He's very outnumbered, but I guess he's taking the risk considering how happy they all look to completely soak him.
They're so cute!
"I think Lilly may kill Legend with that water gun," Bethane notices what I'm seeing which is Lilly not giving Legend a chance to breathe.
"I think Ellie, Ava, and Finn may do that first." I motion to them getting two water guns now.
"He'll live." Iris brushes it off. "I don't feel like getting wet right now."
We look back over and see Roman, Ivy, and Rider actually bonding over teaching the girls how to swim.
And, Roman just splashed Ivy and now they're about to kill each other all over again. Oh, and now Rider's somehow in on it.
"One day, they're going to commit a murder for just the sole reason that one of them tapped the other on the shoulder." I shake my head, and Iris and Bethane agree to that.
♥ ★ ❦ ✱ ♥
A/N: I literally love writing scenes when everyone in the friend group are all together.
Word Count: 3193
*Please tell me if there are any errors.