Independence

twenty five'

Leilani Marie Johnson
24
June 2023
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"Thank you Alina. I'll be sure to bring her back in one piece" I smiled while hugging Ari's mom as she chuckled before we pulled away.

"Please do. Look after my baby nie, Mari" she pulled him into a hug. We said our final goodbyes before walking out of the door and towards the car where Isaiah was sitting in the driver seat with a sleepy Azariah in his lap.

I walked over to Jah's car which was parked right behind ours and knocked on his window until he rolled the window down and tiredly looked at me.

"Ya'll wanna get something to eat before our flight. It ain't for another....2 hours" I looked at the time on my phone seeing it was 3 A.M. and he nodded his head. We spoke about it for another minute before I got back in the car.

I looked over at Isaiah who was already looking at me with his head leaned back while rubbing Azariah's back.

"I'm ready ta' go back ta' sleep" Mari sighed making me nod and agree. I looked back seeing him laying down on a pillow with Ari sleeping between his legs and her head on his chest while he rubbed her back making me pout.

"You want me to drive baby?" I asked looking at him as he just stared at me for a moment before shaking his head no. I looked at him briefly before getting out of the car and walking to his side.

"What you doin'?" He asked and I motioned for him to get out as he shook his head no making me sigh.

"Bubbie, I know you're tired. Let me drive, please" I said and he sighed before getting out with a sleeping Zari in his arms. We switched seats and I adjusted the seat before backing out of the driveway, following behind Jah.

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"Ej, stop before I pop you" Kae gritted making him immediately stop then walk over to Jah who was sitting next to me as I laid my head on his shoulder with his arm around my shoulder.

"You better stop boy, fa' she beat us both" Jah spoke lowly to him making me tiredly chuckle. I looked at the time seeing it was almost time for our flight before looking back up at everyone else.

"Good morning passengers. We are now inviting those passengers to Gate 4 with small children, and any passengers requiring special assistance, to begin boarding at this time. Please have your boarding pass and identification ready. Regular boarding will begin in approximately ten minutes time. Thank you." We heard making us all sit up and get our things ready.

30 minutes later we were all getting settled in our seats. Luckily we all got seats close to each other. Isaiah, Zari and I were sitting on the side with me at the window and Zari in between us. Next to us in the middle row was Mari and Ariyah and behind us was Jah, Ej and Kae.

"You excited Angel?" I asked pointing the camera in her direction as she smiled tiredly before nodding her head while snuggling closer to her dad.

"Where we going Da?" She asked looking up at him as he turned his head to look down at her before smiling.

"We goin' to the Maldives Princess" he answered placing a kiss on her forehead as she nodded her head slightly. He ended up telling us before we left the house because we kept nagging him.

"Ya'll, I am so tired you guys don't even understand" I spoke to the camera as I felt Isaiah burn a hole into the side of my face making me look at him.