Aria.
"You're getting in the back" I pondered, looking at the side profile of my boyfriend. It's so weird to refer to Keith as my boyfriend. I get giddy every time I think about it. 15 year old me is crying and throwing up right now. His lips curved into a smile as he feigned offense, removing his right hand from mine and putting it on his chest.
"Why I gotta move?" He appealed, as I reached for his hand again, missing the sensation of his hand in my own. "Cause, my best friend is coming. You have to sit in the back with the other kids, my love" I teased, successfully grabbing his hand. He laughed, gripping my hand in his again, our fingers interlocked now.
We were on our way to the airport to pick up Lani and Noelle to prepare for the wedding. This is the longest she'll be back in town in years, only a day and a half longer than last time, but longer. Maybe I could convince her to move back, all I'd have to do is get rid of Jeremiah. He and Keith have been hanging out more often and playing on the game together for hours, along with Javier.
I'd eventually have to tell her, but it was the last thing I wanted to bring up and decided on waiting to tell her before she left, I'd take the possibility of her never showing her face in Seattle again, I just wouldn't feel right not telling her. Keith also doesn't know about their history that is now a long life responsibility. He's reasonable as hell and he would for sure tell Noelle that Jeremiah needed to know about Leilani, and as much as I love how much he loves his sister and niece, I know it won't be something that she would wanna hear in this exact moment.
Plus, there's a time and place for everything, and this weekend is dedicated to Ayva and Derek, the topic of Jeremiah can be handled after all of this is over, in due time. We didn't plan on being anywhere near places where Jeremiah might be unless he's in dress shops and shit like that.
"Hey, has Noelle told you who Nani's dad is?" Keith broke the comfortable silence. I looked out the windshield then back to him, staring at his perfect side profile, "I don't know him, per-say, but I was there when they met each other and I've met him a few times" I divulged. My stomach churned, I didn't exactly lie to him, but I didn't exactly tell the whole truth. I figured that when she was ready and knew how to handle the situation, she'd tell everyone. On her own time, it wasn't my business to tell that her child's father was his new fast bestie.
He, Jeremiah, and Javier have already formed a three way bromance, I don't wanna put Noelle on the burner about her personal information, especially to her older brother, even if he is my boyfriend. Keith nodded his head, "He's white isn't he?" He asked, disappointed. I let out a full belly laugh at his reply, as if the girl he's dating isn't white. "Keith, I'm white" I grinned, "Yeah, but you ain't white white. You white, we fuck with you. I fuck with you" he replied, bringing my hand to his mouth and pressing a gentle kiss to it. "We rockin' with Aria cause Aria rockin' with us" he added, earning another full belly laugh from me yet again.
I gently mushed his face to the side with a little giggle at his words, he's been saying that to me for years now, it makes my heart swell that he doesn't care about my race. Growing up, I never though I had a chance with him cause he normally always went for black girls, and while I never wanted to be those girls, it did make me feel a little self conscious when it came to him, but look at us now.
We pulled into the airport terminal and I greeted my niece with wide arms and a squeal to match hers, as if we didn't see each other a week ago. "Uncle Keith!" She shouted, arms wide as Keith came jogging from around the drivers side of my car, arms wide, "Oh my God, Oh my god, cousin Nani!" He matched the high pitch of her voice, making her giggle as he scooped her in his arms as me and Noelle laughed, arms wrapped around each other in a hug.
"Hi babe, how are you?" She asked, holding my hand, "I'm great, I missed you" I replied, wrapping her in another hug. "How are you?" I asked, releasing from the second hug as she laughed, "I'm good" she replied, as Keith finished strapping Lani into her booster seat and made his way to his sister, he pulled her into a hug as she hugged him back, "Just so you know, you're sitting in the back" she mocked him, as she released from the hug and rushed to the front seat.
He laughed to himself as he grabbed her bags and put them in the trunk then sat in the back with Leilani. He moved her booster seat behind me on the drivers side so he could see me while i drove. The co-dependency is strong for him already, but I loved how clingy he was. With everyone strapped in, I pulled off and we headed back to my place.
I could hear him and Nani in the backseat talking as me and Noelle talked about the wedding, "Wait, so have you guys met Derek yet?" Noelle questioned. "I haven't, I think Keith has a few times" I replied. "Yeah, I've met him a couple times, he'a chill ass dude. He real goal oriented, he got Ayva in love, I ain't never seen her not be the dominant one in her relationships, and I ain't never seen her be with a dude for longer than a few months. They good together" Keith gave his insight.
"So he's like you?" Noelle rolled her eyes jokingly. "I like people who like me, so if you say so" Keith chuckled back. I loved their sibling digs at each other, even Ayva, even though I'm not too fond of her. The rest of the ride to my place was filled with laughter and excitement for what was to come, me and Noelle were gonna meet up with Ayva and go dress shopping for her and Nani, it was gonna be a girls day, and I needed a new dress cause Ayva had asked me to be one of her bridesmaids, I guess this was one step closer to us becoming somewhat associates, especially now that me and Keith are officially together.
——————
Noelle.
"So who are the rest of your bridesmaids?" I asked, my hand interlocked with my sisters as we sat at dinner together, Aria included. Her face changed, eyes got a little wider as she looked away, taking a sip of her drink. I looked over at Aria who shrugged, "Ayva" I said sternly. "Macie, Aleya, Isis, you, Aria, and Cheyanne" she listed everyone, mumbling the last name. "Cheyanne?!" I exclaimed, getting a hand over my mouth from Aria, "Noelle" Aria whisper yelled. My eyes cut to my sister's. I visibly relaxed, taking a deep breath even though my best friend's hand was over my mouth.
She removed it after she saw I was relaxed as Ayva looked at me with soft eyes, the straw to her drink still in her mouth. I could see the liquid getting lower and lower as she chugged it subtly. "Ayva, Cheyenne? Seriously?" I asked, deflation in my voice. "Is it the same Cheyanne-" "Yes." I confirmed, cutting Aria off. "We talked after you left Noelle, she apologized and that was the last time something like that happened" She informed me.
I sighed, sitting back in my chair, remembering that as a woman of God, I can't dog people out and wanna result to physical abuse, but Cheyanne takes me there. She always gave off the vibe that she was jealous of my sister, "Ayva, it wasn't just the situation of her getting with Evan knowing you liked him, let alone Giovanni, it's the fact that she always seemed iffy to me. I don't think she's a 'friend' that you should have in your life. I know she knows the in's and out's of your whole life story, down to our parents, but she's not a good person." I spoke somberly, holding her hand again, our fingers interlocked.
Before I left, I nursed my little sisters first true heartbreak, a double one at that. The first time Cheyanne did some shady shit to my sister was when they were in 10th grade. Ayva'd had a crush on this man-boy named Evan since like 6th grade. It's rare for Ayva to actually have a crush on a guy, she says it's me, but she's the queen of having a roster. She used to tell me all about him and how she would drop her roster for a chance to be with Evan, until word got back to her that Cheyanne had slept with him.
She was so hurt, but she eventually let it go. I suggested that she took a minute away from Cheyanne to work through her feelings and emotions around this time, and she got to a place where she accepted her apology simply because she had that attachment and love for her friend, and I backed her %100. She'd told me that Cheyanne had apologized and even cried to her that she didn't mean for it to happen. It was a drunk moment, and I was never one to judge anyone.
I know how teenagers are, drinking and smoking was normal, parties were normal. Ayva made the conscious decision not to indulge in drinking cause of our parents, but I did know that at one point she was a major pothead, that was her guilty pleasure. I also knew that she would sneak out to parties cause I used to help her. Not my proudest moment, but what can I do about it now?
I'd noticed a few things about Cheyanne's body language, facial expressions, and even the little things that she'd say to Ayva that rubbed me the wrong way and made me keep an eye out for her and her intentions with being friends with my little sister, but the final straw was when my little sister had finally gotten over Evan and a new guy named Giovanni started school with her. It took her some time to finally let him in and decide that she liked him out of everyone else one her roster, and she decided to give him a chance.
They were together and she was absolutely in love with him. In 11th grade, she told me when she lost her virginity to him and everything. They were together all through 11th grade up until almost the end of her 12th grade year. As far as I could remember, Cheyanne had stolen his number from Ayva's phone and was texting him for almost half of their relationship, telling him all of our family business and was trying to get with him, telling him that Ayva had slept with Evan and made it seem as if Ayva was the shady one.
I don't know when, where or why on God's green earth she decided to become friends with her again, but it was very unsettling to me. When Ayva had told me about everything I almost went to Cheyanne's house and drug her out of it and whooped her ass on her parents lawn, but we'd already had one sibling in jail, I wasn't gonna be the second to go, but my anger was through the roof. I had to pull my big girl pants up even further to console my younger sister and nurse her double broken heart. I know that as a God fearing woman, I'm supposed to forgive people, and I completely have forgiven Cheyanne, but I will never forget how she was a huge part in my sister's trust issues and first heartbreak.
"Do you trust me?" Ayva asked, locking her dark brown eyes with mine. I thought for a second, then eventually decided to let it go, knowing how headstrong my sister can be. "Yes, Ayva. I trust you" I replied, holding back an eye roll. I keep forgetting that she's an adult now and technically I can't tell her what to do. If she forgives Cheyanne, I forgive her. But let her simply look at my sister the wrong way, I will put hands on her and repent later.
We finished up dinner then went to take Ayva home, "Don't forget, we have wedding rehearsals tomorrow morning, then brunch, then the bachelorette party later tomorrow night" my sister spoke as she got out of Aria's car. She pressed a kiss to my cheek then hugged me from through the car window. "I won't, love you" I replied, "Bye Aria" she rolled her eyes jokingly, reaching her hand through the car window as Aria rolled hers back with a smile and grabbed her hand, squeezing it, "Love you guys" she replied, turning on her heel to strut to her front door, "Love you" me and Aria spoke at the same time. We waited until she made it in the house safely as Aria gave her a goodbye honk and we pulled off.
"I guesss Ayva isn't that bad" she finally admitted out of nowhere, breaking the silence. I looked at her, a huge grin growing on my face, "Don't do that. Don't make this a thing" Aria groaned causing me to giggle at her words, "You like my sister" I poked at her sides, "I'll take it back right now" she laughed, grabbing my finger with her soft bright hand. "I knew that eventually you guys would come to like each other, it just takes time. And Ayva is different now. She's really grown up. I couldn't be proud" I replied happily for my little sister.
"She is, I hate to say it, and I mean hate, but she's really grown into her own person. I never thought I'd see the day" Aria confessed, a small smile on her face as I grinned, holding back an excited squeal like a child. All I've wanted was for my two favorite people to get along, and my prayers just keep coming to pass right in front of my eyes. My phone dinged with a message, a picture from Keith. He was babysitting Nani for the first time, and it was 11pm, I was sure he'd have her up playing cops and robbers still, but it was a photo of her snuggling up in Aria's bed asleep.
I grinned down at my phone and hearted the message then showed it to Aria, "He actually let her sleep? He's been talking about keeping her up all night since last week. He was so excited to babysit her, said they were gonna stay up all night" Aria giggled, probably remembering him saying exactly that to her. I laughed, one thing about Leilani, if she's sleepy, she's gonna go to sleep. She never passes up on a good nap. "She must be jet lagged. I hope she does good with my grandparents for the day. They agreed to watch her while we situate everything and go to brunch. I had so much fun when I was with my grandparents, they're older now so I don't know if she'll enjoy being with them like we did growing up" I confessed.
"Your grams and papa always find a way to make fun, even if they just take her to the park and let her run around. There's no doubt that papa Deion won't be out there running around with her" Aria chuckled, causing me to do the same, knowing she was right. "I don't know if you've noticed it, but Leilani has healed a part of everybody in your family since they met her, she's already obsessed with them. Everything is gonna go smoothly tomorrow, promise" Aria consoled me, holding up a pinky as I interlocked mine with hers. I can always count on her to tell me exactly what I need to hear and calm my nerves, Keith always tells me I think too much, maybe he's right.
——————
"Leilani, you have to wake up, you're gonna spend the day with papa Deion and Grams." I spoke softly, gently caressing her arm, moving her curls from her face. She stirred in her sleep before sitting up. She and Keith kicked us out of Aria's bed and we slept on the couch while they took her bed. When I checked on them earlier, she was clinging to Keith, her head laid on his chest, and he had a arm wrapped around her, it was so heartwarming to see that their first play date went good.
"Mommy, I'm hungry" she spoke, climbing on to my lap and laying her head on my chest as I cradled her and ran my hand over her curls, "TT Aria made you breakfast. Let's go see what it is" I spoke. It took all of two seconds for her to get out of bed and make her way down the stairs as I followed behind her. "Good morning, Nani" Aria smiled, as Lani made her way to her and laid her head on her legs, rubbing an eye. "Good morning" her little voice spoke. "Your uncle Keith made you a pancake" she replied, running her fingers through Lani's curls as she looked around her at Keith who smiled, stealing a piece of bacon and snapping it in half, taking one piece for himself and giving the other to my daughter.
"Your food is at the table waiting for you. You better get to it before boomer do" Keith joked causing Lani to look at the table then down to boomer who was sitting under her chair as if he was waiting for her. She went to the table and climbed into the chair and started eating as I made my way to my brother, "Did you guys play Cops and robbers?" I chuckled as Keith cracked a smile, "We did, I put Nani in jail three times" he bragged, a smile of pride on his face, "No, I put you in jail" Lani spoke from the table. Aria and I broke out into a fit of giggles as Leilani joined us.
—————
When Aria, Keith and I made it to our childhood church, everyone was already there, Ayva friends, and Cheyanne, the wedding planner, priest, and finally, Derek. Ayva grinned excitedly as she made her way to me, Keith, and Aria as she wrapped us both in a hug, "You can finally meet Derek" she squealed happily. This was a side of playboy Ayva that I've never seen before, happy, to introduce her family to a man.
"Derek" she said happily, waving him over. I did a double take when he turned around cause for a split second, I thought he was Jeremiah. The resemblance was uncanny. He broke out into a smile, a slight dimple in his cheek, a set of pearly whites, even his nose looked like Jeremiah's. "You must be Noelle" he spoke, his voice deep and proper.
I smiled and nodded, "Yeah, it's so nice to finally meet you" I replied. He held his arms open and I gave him a small welcoming hug. "This Aria, Noelle's best friend" Ayva beamed as he went in for a small hug from her too, and she hugged him back, "It's nice to meet you" Aria smiled, "Likewise" he smiled back. "Keith" He held his hand out as him and keith did a man-bro hug handshake.
"Wassup? So how we do this? We just stand where they tell us to?" Keith asked, causing Derek to chuckle, "Basically. We still waiting on my best man, he should be here soon" he informed. "He normally always on time, I don't know what's taking him so long" he added, looking down at his Apple Watch. "College friend?" Keith asked. Derek shook his head and I noticed Ayva's body language shift and she rolled her eyes a little. She must not like whoever this best man is, typical of the bride.
"He's my older brother, few years older" he replied. His eyes locked onto someone behind us and everyone turned around in turn as Jeremiah walked into the building, greeting people, a brown skin woman on his arm, she looked older. Aria grabbed my hand slyly as I felt my knees buckle and my breath hitch in my throat. "Brother?" I mumbled to Aria. No fuckin wonder they look alike. I lifted my head to look at the ceiling, "Really, God? Really?" I mumbled as the two men left.
My eyes locked with my sister's, "Why are you upset?" I asked, a slight sense of confusion in my voice. "Me and Jeremiah don't get along. This my first time meeting his mamma in person too, what if Jeremiah put stuff in her ear about me? He called me crazy one day" she confided. "Have you ever talked to her before?" I asked. She nodded her head, "We have each other's number and she calls me every now and then to check in, she real sweet, ion know how she gave birth to Jeremiah ho' ass" she replied, a look of disgust on her face, the same face Lani makes when she's upset.
I slapped her hand, "You're in a church, Ayva" I scolded her. She covered her mouth, "My bad Jesus, let this go well, I'm sorry, forreal" she looked up, hands in a praying position. "You're gonna be okay, go meet your mother in law and talk to your favorite brother in law" I giggled, Aria also, as she rolled her eyes at us and plastered a smile on her faced striding over to her new family.
I watched her as she made her way over and I guess I stared too long, and Jeremiah caught my eye. He smiled in my direction and started making his way over to us. My stomach started doing backflips, "Aria, he's coming" I whisper yelled. Memories of the first night we met flooded my mind, then the dream I had came, and I did what I didn't have enough courage to do in my dream, and I ran. You heard me, I ran. Knowing the layout of my childhood church, I darted for the bathroom, grabbing Aria with me.
The moment we made it in, I went for a stall and let the vomit that swam its way up, out into the toilet, Aria holding my hair back. "Tell him." that still, small voice poked in the back of my head. I could feel the lump in my throat growing, I wanted to cry. Right now isn't the time nor the place. I hadn't even got the chance to curse Cheyanne out in the bathroom like I planned. Apparently Jesus had other plans. I'm the maid of honor, he's the best man. I have to walk down the aisle with him. What am I gonna do? I literally have to talk to him.
————
AN: Mb I ain't been updating yall, I been tryna work on myself and figure life out. I figured I'd give y'all two chapters today cause yall deserve it. I love y'all but Jesus love yall more💋
Side note: YALL FINALLY GET TO SEE HOW I IMAGINED LEILANI 😩