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NOELANI LIFTED A PAIR OF tweezers to her boyfriend's eyebrows then let out an impatient sigh.
Jalen wouldn't stop scrunching his face in fear and fidgeting under where she was positioned on top of him as they laid on top of the covers in their bed.
"Stop moving," Noelani commanded as she went to pluck an extra hair at the end of his right eyebrow, "Before I fuck your brows up."
"Ow!" Jalen complained.
"It doesn't even hurt, stop." Noelani replied then went to grab the yellow eyebrow razor from behind her, "Such a big baby."
"It does hurt." Jalen replied, grumbling a little.
"You wouldn't let me wax them like I wanted so..." Noelani said as she gently bladed away the tiny hairs between his eyebrows, "If you wanted to walk around with eyebrows like the vampire guy from Sesame Street, you should've just said so."
"Mmm." Jalen grumbled but grew still and relaxed his face, "So mean to me. I do not look like that purple guy."
Noelani very lightly blew on his face before picking up the tweezers once more and extending it towards a stray eyebrow hair.
Before she could pluck it however, the doorbell rang, the sound bouncing off the walls all the way up to the first floor of the house and causing the dogs to bark.
Noelani leaned up into a straddling position, her eyebrows raised in confusion, "Are you expecting someone? I thought this was a day off for you."
"It is. I don't know who that could be. Is Ayo in town again?" Jalen asked, his expression just as mystified as hers.
"Nah, she would've called." The doorbell rang once more and the sound of Alani fussing came through the baby monitor resting upon their nightstand.
"I get the door, you get the baby?" Jalen suggested.
Noelani plucked the eyebrow hair off of him, causing Jalen to yelp, startled, before swinging her leg to stand and then dropping the objects in her hand onto the bed and going to her daughter's nursery.
As soon as Alani saw her mother enter the room, she crawled from the middle of the crib to the bars, "Mama. Mama."
Noelani simply smiled and picked the child up and Alani gripped the collar of Noelani's t-shirt.
"Uh... Lani? Can you come down here?" Jalen called down from near the front door.
Still carrying the baby in her arms, Noelani slowly went down the stairs and then stopped in surprise at who was now standing in the foyer.
"Lei?" Noelani asked at the sight of her cousin standing next to Jalen, with two duffle bags at her feet, "What are you doing here?"
"Your mom didn't call you?" Leilani asked, her expression a touch forlorn.
Noelani glanced at Jalen who shrugged and Noelani looked back at her cousin, "C'mon. Let's talk in the kitchen."
Leilani and Jalen had sat themselves on a chair from the table while Noelani was adjusting Alani in her white high chair.
Once her baby was comfortable, Noelani placed a paper plate of peas and cut up sweet potato onto the tray in front of Alani, "So what's going on?"
"Your mom was supposed to call you..." Leilani said, passing Jalen an uneasy glance.
"Maybe it's best if I let you two hash this out." Jalen rose and then was out of the room.
"She didn't call me." Noelani stated as soon as Jalen was out of ear shot.
"Yeah... Um, Keoni outed me. It was an accident but it still happened." Leilani shook her head and then looked down at her shoes, "My dad wasn't the most understanding person about it."
Noelani's eyes bugged out in alarm and surprise, "He kicked you out?"
"Yeah. Your mom and Keoni tried to change his mind but the house is in his name so... Luckily I had enough money saved for a flight. I know this is out of the blue but I had no where else to go." Leilani pleaded, "I won't stay forever. Just long enough for me to find a job and a place out here."
Noelani let out a tiny sigh and turned to look where her daughter was smashing peas into her mouth, "Can you stay here for a minute while I go talk to him about this?"
"Of course," Leilani nodded and soon Noelani was up the stairs, back on the first floor.
Jalen was in their bedroom pacing and as soon as Noelani closed the door behind her, he shook his head, "She can't stay here."
Noelani gave him a look of disbelief, "Jalen..."
"Don't 'Jalen' me, alright? She's a party animal and we have a kid. The girl doesn't stop." Jalen replied.
Noelani tucked her bottom lip in at the truth of his words.
Leilani did suffer from an extreme case of 'FOMO' but truth be told, Noelani wasn't quite so sure that this was the biggest issue.
"See? You know I'm right!" Jalen pointed out.
"I'm sure if we tell her to chill out, she will." Noelani replied, crossing her arms across her chest.
"And if she doesn't? Then what?" Jalen shot back.
"What do you want me to do? Huh? Send my cousin out to live on the street?" Noelani demanded, "She has nowhere else to go."
Jalen's silence revealed that was exactly what he was thinking and Noelani's eyebrows shot up, "Wow. You're cold."
"I'm thinking about our kid. If that makes me cold then fine." Jalen started to head for the door when Noelani cleared her throat, "Her dad knows."
Jalen paused, his back to her, "Who told?"
"I don't think that matters. She needs help." Noelani stated, "Please don't ask me to put my family out."
Jalen sighed and turned back around to face her, licking his bottom lip in contemplation, "The minute something pops off with her, she's out. I'm not dealing with unnecessary shit around Alani."
"Agreed." Noelani nodded firmly.
Jalen sighed and pursed his lips, "I really hope you know what you're doing."
Then he exited the room, the look of annoyance still on his skull.
