Ariana 💕
I sat at one of the many tables, watching Violet swim to Kyle. I was drinking some lemonade. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves and I liked that. Nobody was bored. They were either in the pool, playing cards at one of the tables, the kids had the bounce house and the water slide. Everything was perfect.
"Ari, come get in the pool." Sydney exclaimed, from the steps of the pool.
"I don't know, I'm kinda comfortable right here in this chair." I say, sipping some more of my lemonade.
She playfully rolls her eyes, then goes into the water. I watch as she swims up to Kyle and taps his shoulder. Whatever she said made him look at me, and I just knew that he was about to come bother me.
He handed Violet to Sydney, then made his way over to the edge of the pool.
"Why you not getting in?" He asked, folding his arms onto the edge of the poolside.
"I don't want to." I shrug.
"So you just gonna sit there?" He asked.
I shrug again and he rolls his eyes.
"Come get in the pool Ari." He said.
"That requires me taking off my clothes...and I don't want to do that." I exclaim.
"Is the swimsuit under your clothes?" He asked.
"Yes."
"Then take off the clothes and get in the pool." He said, like it was simple. Which it was, I just didn't feel like getting in the water.
"I'm good." I take another sip of my lemonade.
"Come on baby, please? Just five minutes." He said. "I gotta get out soon anyway to grill some burgers and hot dogs; give DLo a break."
I shake my head and he waves me off. He then goes back over to Sydney, taking Violet from her. Soon Violet is coming out the pool and walking over to me, dripping wet.
"Mama, swim." She grabs my hand.
"No baby. Mommy doesn't want to swim right now." I shake my head.
She pouts and it looks like she's about to cry. I sigh, standing up. She runs back into the pool. I glare at Kyle, who beams at me.
That's some bullshit.
I step out of my shorts and top, placing them on the chair with Violet's towel. I make my way to the pool steps, getting in. Kyle walked over to me, grinning.
"You better stop doing that." I push at his bare chest. "Using Violet to extort me."
"It was just that one time." He chuckled.
I roll my eyes. He wraps his arms around my waist, lifting me up and walking me further into the pool. I don't protest, I just let him carry me.
"You know carrying me won't be this easy in a few months?" I say.
He nods. He puts me down and my feet don't touch the ground, but I just tread the water. Violet floated over in my direction, then started floating the opposite way.
"The guys want to play Volleyball. You wanna play?" Kyle asked.
I shake my head, treading the water some more. Bron, AD, JaVale, Quinn, and KCP were on the opposite side of the pool, I guess trying to figure out the teams for the game. Zhuri, Genevieve, Zoey, Riley, Ryan, Cannon, Duece, Noah, Kaavia, Jordyn, Skye, Carter, and Violet made their way to the shallow end, giving the men the deep side of the pool to play Volleyball.
Sydney, Denise, Ariel, Giselle, Nina, Gabrielle, Ayesha, Savannah and I made our way to the shallow end with the kids. We didn't want to intrude on their game of Volleyball, so we just sat on our end watching the kids and having girl talk.
Shortly into our discussion, the kids were running over to the water slide. We watched from a distance as they went up the ladder and down the slide, again and again.
"You ever wonder if kids get tired of playing all day?" Sydney asked.
The eight of us shake our heads because we're all moms. Sydney is the only one here without a kid.
"It never ends." Ayesha face palmed.
"Girl, it is crazy." Nina said.
We all laugh. I invited almost all of the NBA moms, wives/girlfriends because we're all pretty close. They bought their kids and everybody is having a good time.
Just how it's supposed to be.
*****
I brush all of Violet's hair back, then pull it into a curly bun. Her edges were laid, even though I felt strongly about doing them to begin with. It's just something about slaying your child's edges that doesn't really sit right with me. But I wanted her to look nice before we cut the cake.
When I finished with her hair, I put the Unicorn headband on her head. I adjust her white Unicorn shirt, as well as her pink/purple tutu. She had on white pumas and the gold bracelet that Zo got her, that she has never taken off. She definitely looks like a Unicorn Fairy Princess now.
I take her into the bathroom so she can see herself. I stand her on the counter, then uncover her eyes for her to see the finished product. She gasps and smiles widely.
"You look gorgeous mamas!" I exclaim.
She giggles when I poke her stomach. Then she holds her arms out to me and I take her off the counter. I carry her down the stairs and she runs off to play with the kids.
"Kyle, keep an eye on her please." I plead.
"I got her babe. Go get dressed." He said.
"Are you sure?" I ask.
He gives me a blank stare and I chuckle, holding my hands up in defense. I make my way back upstairs to get myself cleaned up. I sang to myself in the shower while I washed my hair.
Once done, I walk into Kyle and I's bedroom. I continue humming to myself while I pick out what to wear. After deciding on black bike shorts and a white "Unicorn's Exist" t-shirt, I picked out my undergarments.
After I finished with my complete wardrobe change, I was pulling my hair into a neat ponytail. I grin in content, then head back downstairs to the party. When I get down there, I see Kyle closing the front door with a bag in his hand.
"What's that?" I ask. It's pretty obvious what it is.
He turns to face me. "A gift for Violet."
"From who?"
He scratches the back of his neck. "Winnie."
"Oh." I pause. "Cool."
He goes to put it with the rest of the gifts as I head to the backyard. He comes up behind me as I stand at the door.
"Please don't be mad about that." He said.
"I'm not." I say.
"I don't believe you." He exclaimed, wrapping an arm around my waist.
I move out of his grip and turn to face him. "I said I'm not."
He gives me a face but I don't stand around to figure it out. Instead, I walk over to the bounce house where Violet is. The giant smile on her face made me smile.
*****
"1...2...3!" I exclaim.
"Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday dear Violet! Happy Birthday to you!" Everyone sang.
After that, Kyle helped her blow out the number 2 candle in her cake. When the flame went out, everybody cheered. We stood there for a couple minutes while everyone took pictures. I put a little bit of icing on Violet's nose and she pouted, then I cut the cake.
Everyone went back out into the backyard while I cut up the cake to distribute. Sydney helped me put the cake on plates and the ladies helped with the party favors and cupcakes.
About an hour later, people started to leave. I waved and hugged people goodbye, while Bron and AD helped Kyle take down the bounce house and water slide.
With everything done, it was going on 9PM. I was waxed out, as well as Kyle. But somehow we both mustered the strength to take Violet's gifts up to her room. She was out cold though, so I guess she'll be opening gifts in the morning.
I go downstairs to pack up whatever treats and food was left over. It wasn't a lot, which means we did really good. Baby girl had a successful birthday and mom is tired.
Kyle walks into the kitchen as I'm cleaning off the counter. He sits at the island counter and just watches me, and after a while it starts to get uncomfortable.
"What?" I mumble.
"So you just don't want to talk about what happened earlier?" He asks.
"What happened earlier?" I ask.
He gives me a blank face as I rinse out the rag, placing it on the dish dryer. I give him my undivided attention while I dry my hands with a paper towel.
"The situation with Winnie." He said.
"There is no situation." I say, tossing the paper towel into the trash can.
"It's either we talk about it now, or you get mad at me later." He said. "The time is now for me."
"I wasn't making it a big deal to begin with." I shrug. "She came with a gift for Violet, that's it."
"Hmm." He fists his mouth. "You sure that's it?"
"Kyle, you're the one trying to make it a issue." I fold my arms.
"No, actually I'm not. I'm just trying to know if you're going to question my motive." He said.
"Such as what?" I ask. "You inviting her here in the first place? She's your ex Kyle, whatever y'all had going on is none of my business."
"Well you're my fiancé. I just thought I'd run it by you just in case." He said.
I point at him. "And this is what I mean by stress."
I leave the kitchen and go upstairs to get myself ready for bed. That man was going to get on my nerve however many ways he can, but I can't let him. I want to have this baby, and it's quite evident he does too. But if he keeps this shit up, there will be no baby at the end of this.
I just pray to God that there is.