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"mani," i heard as yaku and i were standing near the refreshments outside. i turned my head to the call and saw that it was tendo walking towards us. "akari wants cake so i thought it'd be good to sing happy birthday before she gets impatient." he placed his hand on my lower back and i nodded, swallowing what was in my mouth. "sure, then presents?" i questioned. "yeah but maybe half of them. she got a lot." tendo scratched the back of his neck and i shook my head in disbelief. "jesus christ." i mumbled, walking into the house.

aran grabbed the cake and i lit the candles while tendo had akari perched on his hip. akari's eyes lit up and a smile was painted on her face when we all sang happy birthday to her. i couldn't help but to get a little teary eyed from it all. she was my baby after all.

akari blew out the candles and i immediately removed them from the cake so she could eat some. "you okay?" my mom caught me as i placed the candles on a napkin in the kitchen. "nooo." i pouted, giving my mom that look and she pulled me into a hug. i let some tears fall and hugged her a little tighter. "she's growing up, baby. i had these same emotions when dealing with you." my mom rubbed my back and i nodded in her shoulder. "i just wish...i could go back. to holding her when she was just a tiny baby. i wish i would have told tendo and he could have been there." i wept in her arms.

"i know, my love. you know...you're not too old to have another one." my mom pulled away and looked at me with a smirk. i rolled my eyes, wiping the tears from them. "i don't think ten could handle that right now. he just got to know akari and we're working on some things right now. another child would not be great." i explained. "i know that but...i'm not getting any younger and neither is your father. i want another grandbaby." my mom crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow with a pointed look.

"don't even start, mother." i let out a laugh. "i'm being serious."

"oh i know."

_

when all was said and done, akari was passed out on the couch from the festivities. many people stayed back to help clean up which helped a lot since i knew i didn't want to the following day. "bye mani." aran winked as he was the last to leave. "bye negro." i rolled my eyes and plopped onto the loveseat. i stretched a bit, the days activities weighting on me.

tendo finished doing the last touch ups before coming back into the living room. "she sleep?" he asked, pointing to akari. "yeah, knocked out." i yawned, laying my head back. "can you believe she's gotten so big? it feels surreal." tendo smiled, sitting next to akari and brushing her hair back. i hummed, acknowledging his statement.

he furrowed his eyebrows at me, "are you okay?" he asked and i nodded. "yeah? why wouldn't i be?" i questioned. "well...you've been acting strange since the whole thing at the nightclub and today you've been pretty distant." tendo was fully looking at me and i sighed, sitting up and rubbing my temples.

"i'm stressed out. i don't feel in control right now. things are not going the way that i want them to go." i explained, tears threatening to fall. i had cried so much in the past week and i felt so stupid for doing so. "mani, let's go upstairs so we can talk, okay?" he got up and held out his hand so that i could follow him into the bedroom.

we sat on the bed and he wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight against his body. "now what's up? why don't you feel in control?" he asked. i sniffed, "everything with trey is causing anxiety and stress. then our living situation, our differences in that and then akari getting older. i just...i don't know how to handle it all." i looked down and played with the rings on my fingers before tendo stopped me.

"you know i'm here right? you don't have to battle anything alone anymore. just because you're dealing with it directly, doesn't mean i can't help, mani." tendo rubbed the side of my arm. "and we will figure something out with our living situation, okay?  there will be a compromise. you will get what you want and i will get what i want. i just want you to be happy."