"... And, at first," Leah continued speaking in front of all of her friends and family during her 15 birthday celebration.
Aryan made a comment with water in his mouth, sounding like a middle age man that was being help in a cave and Aryan couldn't contain himself. He laughed, covering his mouth with his forearm. Walker acted nonchalant, though a small smile tugged at the ends of his lips.
"I wanna thank my mom because she did all of this stuff..." Leah spoke as the applause upwelled.
Walker missed the words that Leah spoke, stuck in a daze until everyone started clapping so he went along.
Leah was mouthing the words, "Yeah Yes Yeah." ready to finish her speech.
"Alright alright... Alright." Leah said, hoping the applause would simmer down.
"You're to welcome baby, I love you." Her mom said, holding the camera.
"And then my brother because he's the one..." Leah spoke as the applause roared once more over her voice.
Floyd had a grin on his face, looking at his sister stuck in the beautiful moment.
Aryan was tearing up that food.
"Thank you a lot a lot a lot and... My dad too..." Leah spoke.
Her bestie, Trinity got her phone out to record Leah.
"Who's also in L.A." Leah said, raising her eyebrow, remembering to make it clear that he wanted to be there.
"But I want to thank every guys..." she stumbled over her words, the feeing of everyone's presence making her emotional.
"Oh I'm sorry." She said covering her mouth, her throat tightened slightly as the tears began to well.
Being the soft heart Aryan is, he looked back at Leah. Walker let his ears guide him.
"Gimme a second." She said with her hand up. She took a gulp, trying to resist her tears.
"Don't cry! You're about to cry!" Her mom said.
Her cousin also encouraged her not to cry saying, "Don't cry! I love you!"
"It's alright, it's alright. I'll make it." Leah said, trying to stay strong even when the emotion was heavy.
She opened her mouth to speak and the deep feeling of being fifteen with so many blessings hit her.
"Woo!" She said, putting her finger up to her mouth, doing her best to control her tears.
"So..." she said, raising her eyebrows, gesturing herself to calm down.
"I'm very grateful..." she said slowly, keeping her cool. "...And I'm happy... That everybody's here." She said as a tear blurred her vision for a moment and she turned her head, squeezing her eyes.
It hit her... Another year, another day, another blessing not only for her to be alive and well but the ones she loved too.
"Aww!" A few people exclaimed.
Leah inhaled sharply trying to contain herself.
"I'm gonna close my eyes because I can." She said, trying to avoid the sentimental embarrassment of crying.
"Thank you guys so much for coming..."
She inhaled again. The weight was heavy on her.
"And..." she said, covering her face with her hand, resisting the urge.
"Hold on." She said to everyone....
She made up in her mind what she expected to do:
Leah inhaled, finding herself again. "Okay! I'm back. Thank you guys so much for coming I super appreciate it enjoy your food and everything and stuff. Thank you guys so much!" She would say, flooding her words. Then sit down, everyone clap, all is well!
That's what she planned to happen... But it wasn't so much what did happen.
"Um." She spoke, still squeezing her eyes shut, her hand up to everyone.
She put her hand up to her face again.
There was a moment of silence as she stood like a statue. Her mind raced with so much emotion of her life when she met everyone. From the jubilant days, to love after hurt, to the support after hate. They were all there.
Her tears rose and slipped as she covered her eyes. The hand that held her cup went down along with her head.
Everyone paused for a moment, laser focused on her to see if she was crying or just taking a moment to breathe.
She hunched her back as she sniffed, her shoulders jolting up, soft whimpers escaping her lips.
Everyone filled with a sentimental expression. Walker stood up first, Aryan to follow, and Trinity next to him.
Aryan and Walker put their hand on Leah's back as Trinity walked in front of Aryan to caress Leah's shoulder.
"Awww!" Everyone exclaimed with a joyous and low smile.
Walker grabbed Leah's glass and Trinity took the ownership to place it on the table. Leah brought her other hand to her face, staining her delicate makeup.
Her gentle cry turned into a sob as her head fell on Walker's chest uncontrollably. He covered her from the cameras, placing his hands on her shoulder. Aryan continued rubbing Leah's back and Trinity's hand rested on Leah's and Walker's shoulder.
"You're okay, sissy. It's alright." Trinity whispered, her head lowered close to Leah's.
Leah tried to control herself but the touch of Walker, Aryan, and Trinity created an instant burst of emotion.
"It's okay, Leah." Aryan said softly. "You're good." Walker whispered.
"I'm sorry." Leah said, her voice cracking and quiet and gentle.
"It's alright, Leah." Walker said gently. "Yeah, you're okay." Trinity and Aryan said.
Leah kept her head hidden in Walker's chest as she brought her hands down and wiped them on her dress.
Walker backed up, trying to see if she was okay.
"Wait a second!" She said softly with a small chuckle.
The chuckle relieved everyone and Walker moved a bit to cover Leah once more.
Leah wiped the tears from her eyes with her thumb, trying not to ruin her makeup more than it already way. She fanned her tears away with her hands, trying to make a better impression other than an embarrassing tear stained face.
She calmed down and looked up at Walker. He smiled gently and so did she. Aryan and Trinity looked at Leah with a sentimental smile.
"You good?" Walker asked. Leah nodded, wiping her eyes once more.
She turned around to face everyone, her friends' hands still on her, bringing her comfort.
"So..." she spoke, finding herself again. "Before that!... Thank you guys so much for coming, I appreciate it. Enjoy the food and everything and thank you!" She said with a clap.
She averted to her friends. "Thank you guys." She said quietly before sitting down. Aryan still had is hand hovering over her back.
Everyone clapped again, saying sweet and fun things to enlighten the moment. Leah had a wide grin on her face, glimmering around the atmosphere.
