The Brightest Stars ✨

Chapter 31

There were a lot of things Natalia still didn't understand about America. One of them was basketball; its rules in general but also how it became a microcosm of racial relations in America. Someone somewhere had written into stone that white men couldn't hoop, probably in the same place it said that Black men couldn't be Quarterbacks. Just another day in post-racial America.

Which is how Natalia ended up watching as Gabe and his assistant football team coach faced off against each other with their respective teams on the wraparound porch at Ella's on the last day of the academic year.

School was done and dusted and they had been barbecuing and celebrating the end of it under the waning sun.

"Ella, please, it's weird. Don't you think it's weird?"

"It's only weird if you make it weird," Ella laughed, patting Natalia's stomach fondly. She did that often. At a certain point in being pregnant you just had to accept that people would pat your belly unprovoked like it was Aladdin's lamp. "Besides," she continued, "I'm taking credit for getting you and Gabe together, it's only right that I throw you a baby shower."

"Let her throw you a baby shower, I need an excuse to day drink," Porsha commented to her side.

"You day drink every Sunday at brunch, I don't think the summer holiday will be any different."

"Why are you so ungrateful?"

"Why are you a lush?"

"I'm not the one sniffing people's wine glasses." Porsha pointed out.

"You said I could smell your wine!" Nat shouted indignantly, crossing her arms. She craved a glass of red something rotten, even the smell of it was enough to curb some of her craving. Her doctor had actually said it was safe to have a glass, but there was new and different guidance every day. She wasn't going to take the chance. God knew her kid would have a lot of obstacles in life without adding foetal alcohol syndrome to the mix.

"Ladies!" Ella intervened, her eyes dancing with mischief. As if she hadn't started the discourse in the first place.

"I'm throwing you one and it's final. I might even throw it here, something super small. Don't worry."

And that's exactly why she was worried. Did Ella know the meaning of something small? No, she did not. She did everything in extremes. Which is why Natalia was surprised she had gotten away with her birthday not being a big deal, so if she wanted to throw a small baby shower then she'd just have to let her. Maybe that would pacify her.

Natalia sucked her teeth and turned her gaze back to the intense game going on.

Gabe was one of those annoying people that was good at everything he turned his hand to. Academics, sports, creativity...just the other day she had found out that he played the guitar and could carry a decent tune.

Whenever he sketched something out, it looked like an engineering diagram, if he ever came out and told Natalia he could make clothes or something equally random she'd actually have to entertain the idea.

Therefore, when he was the top scorer in the impromptu ball game, she had no choice but to be impressed. He was just so physically dominating. His long, strong limbs and quick reaction times were perfect for the game.

Not to mention that she was also mesmerised as she often was by his athleticism and all the perks of it. Like the washboard abs that came into view when he used his shirt to wipe at his face or the incredibly sexy and cocky smirk he got whenever he was marking his opposite number.

He got a version of the same look whenever he flirted with her and made her words die on her tongue. His confidence was so hot, she shifted in her seat uneasily and pressed the back of her ice tea tumbler to her neck.