Unexpected Love [GXG]

Chapter 32: Small Text. Big Smile

POV: ENID

The soft knock on the door was followed by the creak of it opening.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," Fatima’s voice sang gently as she walked into the room, tugging the curtains apart. The sunlight streamed in, warming the edges of the bed where Hamida was curled up, her little hand tucked beneath her cheek.

"I don’t wannaaa," Hamida whined from under the covers.

Fatima chuckled. "No choice, baby. We’re going to the park today, remember?"

That got her. The blanket shifted violently as a puff of curls shot up, wide-eyed. "Today?! Today-today?"

Fatima glanced back at me with a smirk. "Is there another kind of today?"

I yawned into my palm, standing at the doorway half asleep. "She wants to know if Daisy can come."

Hamida twisted toward me so fast her blanket slid off. "Can she?! Please, please, please—"

"I’m texting her mom right now." I held up my phone as proof. "If she says yes, she can come."

Hamida did a tiny victory dance in her jammies, then stopped and looked down. "Wait. I need to bathe first, right?"

Fatima nodded with the kind of fake seriousness only adults can pull off. "If you want your curls to bounce and shine in the sun, yes."

She gasped dramatically and ran off toward the bathroom, nearly tripping over her own feet. The door slammed shut behind her.

Fatima turned to me with a hand on her hip. "I’m gonna pick her outfit. If I leave her, she’ll end up in rain boots and that tutu again."

"Not the tutu." I groaned playfully.

She grinned. "The one with the glitter."

We both laughed.

✿⁠ 

Hamida came out a while later, smelling like strawberry shampoo, wrapped in her purple towel.

"Sit." Fatima patted the bed beside her, already holding out a brush and a hair butter. "Let’s get you all cute."

I watched as she dressed her in a soft sky-blue romper with little daisies printed across it, matching white sandals, and her favorite pink sunglasses. She looked like a living cartoon character. A fashionable one.

Fatima tied her curls up into two puff balls and added some butterfly clips that made her giggle with excitement.

"I look beautiful!" Hamida said, posing in the mirror.

"You always do," I told her, hugging her from behind.

Just then, the doorbell rang.

"I got it!" I said, heading to the front.

Daisy was standing on the porch with her big pink bag, a yellow pinafore dress, and her usual shy smile. Her mom gave me a knowing nod and said, "Don’t let them eat too much sugar."

"No promises," I teased.

As soon as Daisy stepped inside, Hamida came charging in. "DAISYYY!"

They spun in circles, giggling and holding hands, like they hadn’t seen each other in years.