Nouveau

Chapter 71: War

"My mother was my first country, the first place I ever lived."

-Nayyirah Waheed

Tremaine released the next generation within her.

In love, making love...

Laive wasn't a stranger to the feeling of being filled intentionally and purposefully by her love. This would be amongst the endless amount of times Tremaine successfully chose her womb to cultivate for months to come while Laive had no type of contraceptive to hinder the process from ever starting.

Laive wept.

L sobbed at how her womb took all of his warmth. How it selfishly pulled Tremaine in like a castaway washed ashore after being stranded at sea. How it welcomed him like a long lost love returning home. Laive's womb took him in as her body released in oceans...

Rivers...

And springs...

How beautiful it must be to be loved to endless endings and beginnings.

Laive

They'd returned with some frozen daiquiri's for themselves and the soda's as promised. Laive's announcement started a forever heated debate of whether to call a canned caffeinated beverage a soda, pop, or cold drink.

"Depends." Laive laughed. "I've used all three of them. But I say soda more than anything."

"Yo propa' ass don't count. It's a cold drink. What the hell is a soda?"Laive's Paw Paw said.

"Why call it a cold drink? It ain't always cold."

Cassidy spoke up, "Well I say pop because when you open it, the can make a 'pop' sound."

"It's a cold drink. I'm startin' to think y'all tails gettin' too big for ya britches since you done moved out of state."

"Long as nobody say soda water," Laive smiled. "That's just too dang country for me."

MéMé called Laive by her family nickname as she tried to pass the living room to get to the kitchen. Her great grandmother was sitting on the couch and made mention that Laive looked like she needed some rest. Meddlesomely announced that her eyes were red and Lai looked worn out. L huffed at MéMé's ability to subtly inform her that she payed attention to everything.

"I'm fine MéMé," Lai gently responded. "I'll make sure to sleep once I get back to the house."

"I can tell you gone need all the rest you can get for the next few months just by looking at you within these last few minutes."

Laive gasped, "Now what's that supposed to mean?"

MéMé sweetly relayed to Laive that she may have been born at night but not last night.

"MéMé!!"

Tremaine snickered, "MéMé said stop tryna play her."

"Shut up." Laive swatted at his arm.

Laive's mom playfully interrupted, "What took y'all so long?"

L told a white lie that it took them forever because they stopped to get frozen daiquiri's from a notorious daiquiri shop not too far away. A half-truth that was perceived as honest because the drive-thru line was always out in the middle of the street and caused hours worth of wait times.

Out the corner of her eye, Laive saw Paw Paw, Tremaine, and her father walk out the back door into the yard and tried to follow suit until her mom made a comment that made her stand still.