Still

04.

Procrastination would be the death of her. With the piles of work that Maia had to complete, she found herself waiting until the morning of Olivia's birthday party to decide that it would be the perfect opportunity to wrap her gifts. There were so many and she was positive that her parents would think she was crazy and had gone overboard.

After putting the last gift into her black Kia, she locked it, and went back inside to get ready for the party. The last thing she wanted to do was have to worry about putting the gifts away while running late.

Today was a beautiful summer day, perfect for Olivia's water fun party. Her parents were renting a water slide and bounce house. They also have the pool open for any adults and older children that wanted to enjoy. Unfortunately, Maia only planned on enjoying herself outside of the water. Because she knew how kids parties typically went, she would still be prepared in bringing an extra change of clothes. She threw a shirt and shorts over her black one piece swimming suit and slid her feet into the pair of sandals.

The Blanch family only lived about twenty minutes away from her apartment. Their home was in a gated community, but it wasn't in one of those uppity communities that would call the police on you for being out too late. It had two stories and more than enough space for the family of three. Maia pulled up to see the array of vehicles in the driveway and on the side of the street, outlying their home. The sound of children screaming could be heard, signaling that fun was being had.

"Maia!" Derrick Blanch spoke as he walked over to her vehicle. His dark chocolate skin glistened in the sun. "You need a hand?"

Thinking of all the gifts that she'd purchased, she grinned. Derrick took one look in the popped trunk and let out a chuckle. He wasn't surprised. He couldn't be. Olivia was truly loved and Maia showed it in numerous ways. Whether she was there physically to give her gifts or not, she was always getting or sending something for her. "Alright, I'll have the boys come and get this. You go on in."

She thanked him and made her way into the home. Kids and adults were entering in and out of the home. Music was blasting at a level where it wasn't too loud to disturb the neighbors, but loud enough to set the tone that this was a party. The elders had taken over the living room chitchatting about God knows what, reminding her of how her own family was before Big Ma passed about three years ago.

"Maia!" Asia Blanch called out from the back door. She was carrying someone's one year old on her hip. Asia was a thirty three year old woman, but she didn't look a day over twenty eight. She was donning a two piece swimming suit with a coverup wrapping her thick waist. Her naturally thick and curly hair was put into a wet bun.

"Hey! How are you?" Maia beamed with excitement, as she usually did any time she was around Asia. She was one of those people just had a positive aurora to her. She was always happy, welcoming, and encouraging.

"Tired," she answered honestly. "You know, as many of these parties we throw, I always say this one will be the last."

"Knowing it won't be." Maia laughed, because it happened every single party. The family would throw a party for every single event, just because they loved having people around.

"Exactly."

Maia directed her attention to the chunky little boy on her hip. His beautiful, big brown eyes lit up as he reached his short arms out for Maia. "Who is this little cutie?" Maia cooed while holding her index finger out for him to wrap his little hand around.

Asia smiled down at him. "This is my nephew Harris. You want to hold him? Little fella is the life of the party."

Happy to hold anybody's baby, Maia quickly obliged with holding him. Babies, in her opinion, were the greatest humans in the world. Sure the little cuties usually turned into little shits as they aged, but in the baby stage, they were perfection. She softly talked to him as she walked behind Asia to the backyard in search of Olivia.