"Okay Nai you ready?" Nadira asked a now nine year old Nayeli. Today, January 19th was her ninth birthday, and she had her final ballet performance at her school today before she switched over to her mom's school full time.
It was a school performance, but that happened already, and she got to do a solo performance since she was leaving. She chose to do it with Nadira, which almost made Dira cry. She was officially adopted now, and had been since Thanksgiving.
They celebrated then, but this was like a special celebration for Nayeli. Dancing, especially ballet, was something she found extremely important and something she held dear to her heart, and to have her mom share in something that was so important to her was a gift she couldn't have even wished for.
"I'm ready mama. Are you?" she asked, looking up at Nadira who was fixing her bun. She wore it slicked back into a tight bun just like she used to when she did ballet as a child. Nayeli, of course, wanted to match.
"Yes ma'am! Let's go," she held her hand out to Nai and they walked towards the curtain together.
On the other side, Gionni sat in the crowd with an annoyed Omari on his lap. He was not at all fond of all the noise in the auditorium and G could see it all over his face. He bounced his knee up and down, anxiously waiting on Nayeli and Nadira to come out. They refused to let him see any part of their routine and he definitely tried every way he could to sneak a peek.
"Okay we here at AP Academy wanna thank everyone again for coming to see our first performance of the year, and coming to support our dancers. We have one more very special performance, a solo by one of our talented ballerinas, Nayeli Cartier! She's switching to a bigger ballet school soon so this is her last solo with us, and her mommy is joining her! Everyone can we give her a round of applause!" the announcer spoke into the microphone, causing everyone that came to see her to go up in applause and cheers immediately.
Gionni clapped Omari's small hands until the curtain was pulled back and the dark stage revealed his wife and daughter's silhouettes, making him grin widely. "You see mama and Nai? Look baby," he stood Omari up, pointing at the stage. The lights came up as the music began and once Omari saw his mom and sister he was smiling too.
He watched in amazement as their routine began, gliding around the stage flawlessly and seamlessly, moving like liquid, fluidly but still so accurate in all the moves. Gionni could never remember all of the different names for the positions and the dances they did, but he was enjoying it nonetheless. He thought they looked beautiful.
On stage, Nayeli was in her element. She felt so at home there and her dancing was her most precious form of expression. She couldn't explain it as well as she wanted but when she danced she felt free. Free from the things that loomed on her mind daily, off of therapy and school, she could just be while she danced and she loved that feeling. The music was the only thing that mattered.
Everyone watched the two in amazement, some people hadn't ever seen Nayeli dance ever and some hadn't seen Nadira dance in years. Either way everyone loved the whole routine and were honestly left wanting to see them continue when it was over.
Nadira stood next behind Nayeli once they finished, curtsying as gracefully as they could while their friends and family hollered and cheered, throwing flowers on to the stage for them. Once the curtains were drawn back, Nadira bent down and hugged Nayeli tightly, kissing her cheeks.
"You did such a good job babygirl! I'm so proud of you," she smiled gently.
"Thank you mommy! You did so good too, thank you for dancing with me, it means a lot to me," she spoke, reaching to hold her hand while they walked from backstage together.
"Of course, Pea. I'm glad I was able to dance with you, mamas, I loved it, I can't wait till we're dancing together all the time," she smiled at her daughter, lacing their fingers together. "You excited to start my class next week?"
"Of course! I like the girls in your class," she nodded.
"They like you too, they keep asking when you're coming," Dira laughed, finally reaching the door that led back to the auditorium. Once it was pulled open, they were greeted with more applause and cheering from their family. Everyone was there, even Gionni's mom.
Sidra met the kids a little after Christmas officially. Gionni had to explain to Nayeli that his mom was gone for a while but she was back now. He was finally ready to introduce them, and it went perfectly smooth. Nayeli was her usual bubbly self and got along with her perfectly well, and Omari...was himself. He always let people hold him, he even would lay on certain people, but he looked like he hated every second of it until someone came around that could make him laugh.
Nayeli even asked what she should call her. Sidra had no idea how to answer that, and Gionni intervened, telling Nai that Sidra was her grandma too. Nayeli decided she'd be called Gigi, since she already had a Mimi.
"You did so good, babygirl!" Xavier called excitedly, handing her some flowers and picking her up off the ground. He was a very proud Godfather.
"Thank you uncle Xavier," she beaned, beginning to accept compliments from everyone around her, as was Nadira. They both received flowers from everyone, bouquets of roses.
"Hi mommy's baby!" Nadira cooed, taking her son from his father. "You look so handsome, papa," she continued fawning over him, kissing him.
"Wow " Gionni shook his head. "No love for daddy, huh? That's crazy," he sighed dramatically, making Nadira laugh. She walked over to him, Omari still in hand and planted a loud and dramatic kiss on his lips.
"There ya' go, daddy," she smirked, making him laugh and pull her in for another one, and Omari did his usual, pushing at his dads face. "Omari, mommy can't get no kisses from anybody else?" she chuckled. He shook his head no, kissing her himself. "Aww thank you, thugga," she cheesed.
"See here lil boy, I'm getting real tired of you," Gionni spoke, poking his stomach in different places, making him erupt in a laugh. "I don't see nothing funny, Nassim," he chuckled, kissing his chubby cheek.
"It was so good seeing my babygirl up on stage," Nadira's dad spoke with a smile, walking up to them.
"Aw, thank you daddy! I had so much fun, I missed it," she smiled fondly. "And Nayeli is so good, I love dancing with her," she glanced over at Nayeli who was now in her father's arms.
"Yeah, she was fantastic, I already talked her ear off," he laughed. "Lemme see my grandson, hey man," he smiled at Omari reaching out and taking him from Nadira.
Once everyone congratulated Nayeli and Nadira, some people left and went home but mostly everyone else went back to Gionni and Nadira's house to hang out since it was the weekend.
All of Nayeli's cousins were over, so they completely took over the living room while the adults sat around the kitchen with Omari and Cianna in their laps so they wouldn't get trampled in the room. They were discussing Saija and Vinny's wedding that was just about a month ago. Everything was beautiful of course, courtesy of Nadira's seamless planning.
"Girl your colors were everything," Tink gushed.
"Oh thank you! Lavender is my thing," Saija laughed. Her colors were like a palette of lavender, different shades, and chiffon. It wasn't a huge ceremony, it was pretty intimate and small since neither of them had huge families. Nadira made sure it was just as extravagant as Saija had always dreamed of, though.
Before anyone else could talk, they heard feet running toward them.
"TT! TT Dira!" she heard a now thirteen year old Kareem calling for her.
"Yes pooh?" she tilted her head, pulling some lint out of his hair. "You're so grown up, stink. I hate this," she pouted, squeezing his face In her hand.
"TT please," he laughed. "Can we go outside?" he asked.
"I don't mind, you gotta ask your daddy—"
"I told him ask you!" her brother yelled from across the room, making her shake her head.
"Go head, pooh, be careful, watch the girls for me, okay?"
"Yes ma'am," he nodded, running back off where he came from.
"Them kids love them some you, Dira," Giovanni laughed. It seemed like whenever they came to Gionni and Nadira's house, Nadira was the authority on everything, they came to her for everything, always asked her for things and loved being around her, even if their own parents were there.
"Man, what? Uncle G don't exist no more, especially with them boys,"'G shook his head.
"That means she has a beautiful spirit. Kids are attracted to that," Amina nodded, bouncing Omari in her lap.
"I try my best," Dira smiled, doing a fake hair flip, since her hair was in a bun.
Later on that night, all the kids were asleep. Amora and Pheonyx slept over and were in the room knocked out. Omari fell asleep in their bed a few minutes ago, and Gionni just came back from putting him in his crib. He loved being in their bed and he co-slept often but they didn't want him doing it every night.
"I gotta start planning his first birthday party," Nadira pouted. "It feels like he was just born how is he already one," she whined. In three months time, Omari's first birthday would be here and Nadira was a bit emotional about it.
"I know, my boy getting big. I wanna know why he ain't talking," he chuckled. He responded to things nonverbally, like shaking his head, nodding and reaching for things when they were called by name, so they knew he understood and that he was probably just being stubborn.
"His lil stubborn butt gon just start talking out the blue when we least expect it. I hope he says mama first,"
"He probably will, lil mama's boy," he laughed.
"Don't do my son, I'll fight you, Gionni," she fake threatened him.
"Yeah yeah, sure you will," he waved her off with a laugh. "You know what else we need to plan for come March?"
"What?" Nadira asked, pulling her hair from the bun, getting up to go grab her scarf from the bathroom.
"For you to throw that birth control out," he smirked, grabbing her by her waist, turning her to face him.
"Throw it out?!" she gasped.
"Yes throw it out. And I'm not pulling out no more," he laughed. "You said March so I'm getting you pregnant," he shrugged.
"You're really serious Gionni..." she chuckled almost in disbelief. "You really want another baby, papa?" she tilted her head, "Like really?"
He nodded his head quickly, pulling her closer to his chest. "I never wanted more kids before you. You made me want all these kids on some American dream type shit," he laughed.
Nadira just stared at him, with a small smile on her face. She knew he wanted to have more eventually, and so did she, but the fact that he was so excited to make their family bigger made her heart swell.
"Okay," she nodded.
"For real? Like really?" he asked excitedly, a smile growing wide on his face. She nodded again.
"Yeah really, let's do it.have another baby," she grinned, wrapping her arms around his neck. He leaned down and pecked her lips repeatedly, making her giggle.
"I love you, man. I love yo ass so much," he leaned his forehead on her own.
"I love you too, baby,"
The next morning was the start of Nayeli's birthday weekend. Nadira woke up extra early to make the girls breakfast, waffles, pancakes and french toast, with bacon and sausage, some mixed fruit, eggs, grits, and some cinnamon rolls.
"Wake up, princess, mama made breakfast for you, mamas," Gionni shook her body lightly, making her crack her eye open. "Hey big girl," he smiled.
"Hi daddy," she groaned, stretching out before sitting up. He kissed her on the forehead, moving to wake his two nieces up too.
"Y'all gon head and come down, TT made breakfast," he informed the girls. They all nodded sleepily, getting out of bed one by one, Dior stretching from her plush dog bed in the corner, walking behind Nayeli.
The girls trotted behind Gionni, little feet pitter pattering down the stairs until they reached the kitchen to see a smiling Nadira, holding a sleeping Omari.
"Good morning beautiful girls!" Nadira greeted, making them all smile back at her.
"Morning TT," Amora and Pheonyx spoke, giving her kisses on the cheek.
"Morning mommy," Nayeli kissed her as well, going to hop up to the dining room table. They thanked her for the food and said their grace, beginning to make their own plates and dug in. Omari woke up soon after, yawning loudly.
He looked around, seeing all the food on the table and his eyes immediately got wide.
"Hey fat man," Nadira laughed. "You hungry?" she asked him, and he nodded. He cut two or three teeth now, so she fed him some eggs and fruit before breastfeeding him. She probably wouldn't wean him off until a little after his first birthday, or when she got pregnant, if that happened as soon as they'd liked
After breakfast, the girls all washed up and got ready to go. The mall was the first stop of the day, and then they'd be going to get their nails and toes done at a kid's spa, coming home for lunch and a nap and then they were going to SkyZone that night with all of their cousins and some of their friends from school.
Nadira and Gionni decided to save Disneyland for her tenth birthday, since ten was a big deal, her first double digit. They thought a week out in California would not only be a memorable trip for Nai but for the whole family. Plus, Omari would be nearly two by then.
"Y'all look so cute!" Nadira cooed, once they were all ready. "Lemme take a picture, say cheese!" she held her phone out, causing the girls to immediately strike three drastically different poses, making Gionni bust out laughing.
"Okay, say bye to Uncle G and Mari, we're about to go," she chuckled after sending the pictures to their mothers and fathers.
"Bye Uncle! Bye Peanut," Amora waved, blowing kisses at them.
"See ya later daddy! Bye bubby," Nayeli kissed her dad and brother.
"Be good Uncle G, don't forget to feed cousin Peanut, and the dogs" Pheonyx instructed, making him laugh again.
"Yes ma'am. Y'all three behave for your auntie, okay?" he spoke.
"Yes sir!" they called, running to the car.
Nadira walked back over to her husband, pressing a kiss to his lips, and doing the same for her son. "Y'all behave," she pointed a finger at them both. "See you soon, love you," she waved, backing up to the door.
"Say we love you mama," Gionni waved, causing Omari to do the same.
"Okay ladies! Let's get this girls day started!" Dira spoke once they were all buckled in the g-wagon safely. The girls all cheered from the backseat as Nadira drive off.
"Y'all had fun?" G asked Nadira when they returned home.
"We had the best time. Them are some spoiled ass girls, they was in that spa like they owned it," she laughed, showing him the pictures of them getting their mani pedis and face masks in their robes.
"That's all we ever wanted," G smiled looking at the pictures. "Me, my brother and sister swore we was gon' give our kids everything we ain't have when we was kids," he nodded.
Like Nadira, Gionni wasn't born into money. His father broke his back a struggled until Gionni was about ten or eleven, building a brand from the ground up. The entire reason Guiliana went into law was because her father was a fantastic lawyer. He only ever lost one case in his twenty five years in the practice. He was not only a lawyer, but owned and operated a firm of other young up and coming lawyers, which he'd been doing until he acquired enough to retire comfortably.
He turned his eldest son from C.O.O of the company to C.E.O, and Guiliana was lead partner of the firm ever since she was twenty two. Generational wealth and making absolutely sure that his children, and his children's children were secure was his main priority and he was able to achieve that, making his family proud.
"Well you're doing a fantastic job, y'all are giving these kids the world and a family to share it with, that's all they need," she leaned her head on his shoulder, watching Omari crawl around the bed, playing with his blocks. Gionni nodded in agreement, settling in silence with her. The girls were napping, and they were so close to doing the same.
Omari sat up a few minutes later, just staring at his mom.
"Wassup thugga bear? You done playing?" she asked, turning her head to him. He nodded, and she reached over, picking him up, and laying him between them, hoping he'd sleep so they could sleep.
"Mmm," Omari hummed, making her eyebrows shoot up.
"What was that, papa? You said something?" she eagerly asked, and immediately started recording. Gionni's eyes went wide and he sat up straight, looking over at his son, excited to see if he'd repeat it.
"M-ma-" he continued to babble.
"Yes! Good job baby. Say mama, mama," she coached him, showing him how her mouth moved when she said it.
They kept that going for another minute or so before he finally did it. "M-mama," he babbled out, making Nadira squeal loudly, lifting him from his seat tossing him up and down.
"Yes I'm your mama! Good job papa! I'm so proud of you, baby," she pouted.
"Good job man! Now say daddy," G took him from his mom.
"Let me have my moment, Gionni!"
"Say dada...dada," he ignored her, making her laugh.
hi y'all. it's 2 in the morning 💀
i'm very tired but these are done so i wanted to get them out tonightttt. or this morning or whatever lol
i saw someone request nai and dira do a duet and i thought that was freakin cute so here we have it!
also they are planning for another baby. love to see it 😂
leave some general thoughts! i have an announcement next chapter ☺️
till next time babes ❤️