thirty-six..

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One Month Later

Nayeli had just got off work. It was only 4, and her last class had just ended for the day.

"Look at Ms. Nayeli! Working overtime," one of the daycare teachers, Danielle smiled as she came upstairs, ready to go. Danielle had been working here since Nai was still enrolled in after care.

"Yes ma'am, my mama and daddy went on a date, so I had to cover her class," she chuckled. She'd done this for her mom a few times already and she didn't mind. She liked the older kids, and they loved her.

Once Nai talked to Danielle a little more she told her goodbye and went to get in her car and pick up Cianna and little X from her god parents house because they wanted to sleep over, and their house was literally always open.

Nai was having a good summer so far, she'd been working, shopping way more than she should have with her cousins, she went to six flags about four times already, she got even darker than she already was, being outside all the time, too. Dallas and Kareem's girlfriends both were spending the summer down in Atlanta, and looking for apartments for when they all graduated together.

Pheonyx had found her a Morehouse man, who was also an Alpha, and a criminal justice major. He was fine and Nyx was with him whenever she wasn't with her cousins, Nai thought it was so cute.

Israel was still hoeing, and his mother knew nothing of it. Amora was single, fresh from a breakup and very much enjoying her fair share of hookups here and there. As long as they stayed safe Nai encouraged them to live their best lives.

"Hi TT!" she smiled, after Rayne opened the door for her.

"Hey pretty girl," Rayne smiled. "Cianna! Xavier! Your Godsister is here bring y'all behinds downstairs!" she called. Nayeli heard two sequential replies of 'yes ma'am' before they started running around.

"How's your man, pooh? He was so nice, he needs to come back down," Rayne gushed. All her aunties thought he was so handsome and so sweet.

"He's good, TT. He's been working a lot so he's always tired," she pouted. "But he likes his job and he says he's making good money, so he's happy, but I wish I could see him too," she sighed.

To say she missed Armani was an understatement. She literally thought about him every single day, she wished she could just be with him. He told her things at home were a little rough now too, and she hated that he was so stressed about it and that there was nothing she could do.

"Hi Nai Nai!" Xavier jr. said, running up to her. He was 9 now, and just full of energy. "Bye mommy, love you," he kissed his mom and sprinted to the front door.

"Hey godsissy," Cici grinned. "See ya later, mama," she waved at Ray.

"Y'all behave, don't let me hear you not listening to TT Dira and Uncle G," she pointed at them, making them nod. Nai said goodbye to her Godmother and made her way back to her car with the kids. On the entire way to her house they talked her ear off, like they always did.

"Children! Your cousins are here!" she yelled once she got home. Omari was of course the first down, since he and Cici had been attached at the hip since birth, basically.

Sarai was probably sleep, and Ajani along with Amani came down to steal X so they could play on their switch in their room.

She was finally gonna have quiet.

She went straight to her bedroom, which was sparkling clean, thanks to her paying her brothers and sisters to do it while she worked. She got out her robe and her hair towel, since it was Friday and all she wore were low slicked back buns to work, she needed a wash desperately.

Once in the shower she cut on her music and took care of everything from washing her hair to shaving and exfoliating, and washing up of course. When she finally got out, she took care of her skin and brushed her teeth before going downstairs to grab some ice water and mangoes she saved for today

She sighed heavily once she sat down, ready to relax once her MacBook started ringing, then her phone, and her iPad. She grinned widely because it was now 8:45, and Armani was home from work, calling her. She grabbed her MacBook and accepted his call.

"Mani!" she squealed, smiling all big, making him smile too.

"Hi mamas," he smiled back at her, happy to see her face. "You look beautiful,"

"Aw thank you papa. How was your day?" she tilted her head, sipping her water.

"Long. I talked to my auntie Tamia today," he smiled. It turned out the woman he found on Facebook was in fact his aunt. He learned a lot about her, and they'd become close over the past month. He also found out his mom was alive and well, living with her.

"Really? That's good babe, she's doing okay?" she asked. Nai was so happy he was getting closer to finally seeing his birth mom again, especially since it made him so happy.

"Yeah she's good. We're working on a date to meet up so she can surprise my mom," he nodded, making Nai smile wider. "I missed that pretty smile, babygirl. I miss you bad man," he frowned his face up.

"I'm so excited for you! Aw I can't wait to see the pictures. And I miss you too, I can't wait to see you, baby. My TT asked about you today actually," she told him.

"Which one?" he chuckled. She had entirely too many aunts for him to remember. While she told him about which aunt it was and eventually how her day went he just stared at her while she spoke. He wanted nothing more than to just be under her. He wanted to kiss and hug her, he wanted to be with her instead of at home, and he couldn't wait till he saw her face. He knew he'd miss her of course but he wasn't expecting to be so emotional about it. He was glad to be talking to her especially right now.

"Yup, them kids love me," she laughed as she talked about her last class. "My mama ditched them for my daddy today, they had a lil date. They're so precious," she cooed. "But they need to come home, because when Sarai wakes up and sees daddy's gone she's gonna be mad," she shook her head, hearing keys.

"Oh I think that's them, lemme call you on my phone, papa," she said.

"Aight baby," he nodded.

Once she called him back, her parents were already inside. "We're back!" Gionni yelled. The kids called back and Nai jogged down the steps, phone in her pocket and Airpods in her ears.

"You hear him being loud? Hey daddy! How was the da—" she stopped short at the bottom of the steps, coming face to face not only with her grinning mom and her dad with a smirk on his face,

But Armani, too.

"Wait—wait...how did you—wait," she stammered, looking between the three of them. "Mani how—but you were just—" she continued as he began walking towards her, laughing at her. As he got closer, he could see she was about to start crying.

"Aw mi amor, don't cry," he said, finally reaching her, hugging her to him tightly. "Hi mamas," he chuckled when she buried her face in his chest.

"Hi," she sniffed, trying her best not to cry. She pulled back to look at his face, just to make sure she wasn't dreaming, and all that trying went straight out the window. She immediately started crying and off instinct he picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him, hugging him around the neck.

"I-I missed you," she said once she finally gained composure. "How did you even get here without me knowing?!"

"I missed you too, mamas. Lemme put you down, so your dad doesn't shoot me," he chuckled. She laughed and glanced over his shoulder at Nadira pouting in their direction and Gionni just being himself.

They all got settled in the living room and Nayeli was waiting for Armani to explain.

"Well me and my aunt were talking, and she told me she lives Macon, and earlier when I told you we were working on a date, I meant we already have one. It's on Sunday," he told her, making Nai grin. "So I got my ticket and I figured I'd come see my baby," he tilted her chin up with his finger.

"I'm so happy for you, Mani! Oh my gosh this is so exciting, babe! Thank you for thinking of me," she pouted.

"Of course, hermosa," he smirked down at her. He completely forgot he was supposed to be asking her something, getting lost in just because around her because he missed her so bad. "Oh! Right, um, so I was wondering, would you wanna...yknow, come with me and meet my mom?" he asked anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck, like he always did when he was nervous.

"Armani! Of course I would," she pouted. "I would love that, babe. Thank you for inviting me, I know how important this is to you," she smiled.

"You're important to me," he spoke softly. She literally had to fight the urge to kiss him because her parents were sitting right next to them. "I told my aunt about you too, she's excited to see you," he chuckled.

Armani was so glad this was panning out. It was a dream of his for so many years to meet her again, and he was finally gonna see her after fifteen long years. Nothing could make him more excited, well besides the fact that Nayeli agreed to come.

The next day, before anybody woke up, Gionni went into the basement where Armani was sleeping and got him up. They were gonna go to the store and make breakfast for the house, and since Armani could cook so well, according to Nai, why not bring him along?

"So," Gionni spoke, making Armani look his way as they walked around in the store. "You were telling me yesterday about your dad? We didn't get to finish talking," he said.

Gionni genuinely wanted to get to know Armani, especially since he said he planned to be in Nai's life for good. He wanted them to have a good relationship.

"Oh, uh yeah. Well me and him really aren't speaking right now," he chuckled bitterly.

"Why is that?" G asked.

"At first it was because he didn't support the fact that I chose to quit basketball and pursue a culinary career full time. Now it's because he constantly disrespects my mama and my sisters for supporting me. I'm not just gonna stand around and let the women in my house get disrespecting by nobody," he said firmly. Gionni definitely respected that line of thinking, he'd probably do the exact same for his dad.

"He doesn't support you?" he asked incredulously.

"Nah. He was all for me making it big in the league, but that's not what I wanted. My friends and Nai helped me understand that I had to learn to start putting myself first," he nodded.

"Good. I agree. Not everyone in life is gonna agree with you, not everybody is going to want to see you live your dreams but it's all about making you happy, kid. Your pops is not gonna live your life for you. You gotta do that on your own, and I'm glad you had the heart to choose yourself," Gionni spoke, as they walked the aisles, grabbing different things.

"Thank you," Armani smiled slightly.

"No problem," G nodded. "Now, the only people you gotta worry about actually pleasing in your life besides you is your wife and kids," he chuckled, thinking of his own. "I got some easy ones to please, but you don't always get lucky like me,"

"I think I found an easy one to please too. She a lil high maintenance, but I can maintain her," he smirked confidently.

"You can thank me for that," G chuckled. "It's always been hard for me to tell that girl no. Now she got sisters. Even before they were born, Nadira and Nayeli could bleed my pockets dry and I wouldn't even care. She's spoiled as shit, ain't she?" he laughed.

"She is," Armani agreed, with a slight chuckle. "You can tell she's used to getting what she wants whenever she wants it, but she's real humble with it. I love that about her," he continued. Gionni just watched him talk about Nai, and he had this look on his face. It was a very tranquil look, that reminded him a lot of himself when he started dating his wife. He could tell Nayeli really made this boy fall in love with her.

And just from the look on her face when she saw him last night, he could tell she felt the same about him.

"The warriors had been cheeks since KD left that year," Armani shook his head as they entered the house with a plethora of groceries.

"I wouldn't say cheeks, but they definitely lost a good man that year," G replied. They had been talking about basketball for the last hour and a half, and Armani promised him a game before he left.

"Gionni! Since when do you leave home without giving me a kiss goodbye?! You wanna fight? I'll fight you," they heard Nadira yell from the top of the stairs, Nai standing right next to her, smiling dreamily down at him, causing him to wink up at her.

"See there she go, always want some attention," G muttered to Armani with a smirk. "I'm sorry mama, I'm coming," he replied to her, dropping the bags in the kitchen and heading upstairs.

Nai came into the kitchen after he left and immediately planted a kiss on him.

"Lord, I missed that," she sighed. "My dad was harassing you, baby?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his torso.

"Nah," he laughed. "We were just talking it was cool. He's supposed to help me cook, but uh, I guess your mama had other plans,"

"She's so needy," Nai laughed as well. "I'll help you, papa,"

"I know you not talking about nobody being needy, big baby" he chuckled, kissing her again softly.

"This is not about me, sir!" she moved away from him, making him laugh again as she started to unload the bags.

surprise!

lol y'all know i couldn't keep em apart too long.

let's chat!

how do y'all think the meeting with armani's mom is gonna go next time? good or not so good?

how do we feel about mani asking nai to come 🥺

and lastly how do we feel about g's talk with mani and them actually getting closer? g is warming up to him, we love that. nadira already loved him from the jump lol.

leave me some thoughts! and questions if you have any lol.

till next time 🥰

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