Young Love

7

"Welcome home honey."

Ariana jumps at the unrecognisable voice in her apartment and grabs one of her trusty heels off the rack by the front door.

She creeps into the lounge stealthily, trying to find the source of the voice but screams in delight when she sees her best friend standing there with outstretched arms.

"Fredo!" The brunette woman squeals in delight and lunges forward to hug him. "You scared me! I almost killed you!"

"With a shoe? Nice try sweetheart." The tanned man chuckles lowly and plonks down on one of the couches in the spacious lounge.

"Happy Birthday." Ariana grins at him, but then widens her eyes in alarm when she realises she hasn't given him his gift or his card yet.

"I'll give you your gift and stuff when Liam's here." She decides, playing off the mini panic-attack she just had in her mind with a giggle.

"Okay. Where is my little man?" Alfredo pats the space next to him on the couch and his best friend takes the seat gladly.

"He's at pre-school. And he's already picking up the girls." She smiles, thinking of how much her son has come out of his shell since he met Bella. The two children are just too innocent and sweet.

"That's my boy." Both adults giggle at those words, and Fredo starts to make friendly conversation.

"So how are you coping?"

"I think I'm coping alright. Work isn't too stressful at the moment and everyone seems nice. Liam's doing good too but he's just a bit stubborn at times." The young mom vents to her friend, sighing and smiling all at the same time.

"Like his mommy then." Alfredo chuckles and wraps a spare arm around his childhood friend. "I'm glad you're doing good Ari."

"And you? I haven't seen you in ages!"

"Yeah I'm good. They gave me the job that I wanted so I'm happy." The young man responds happily.

"That's great!" Ariana squeals, hugging Alfredo tightly as he grins a cheesy grin, wrapping his other arm around her too so they are in a full embrace.

"Do you want to wait here when I pick Liam up later so you can see him? Then we can all get takeout for your birthday." Ariana suggests, watching the man's lips tug into a smile.

"Sure. Liam's gonna be surprised."

"Yeah he is." The young woman replies, standing up and holding her hands out to him cheekily. "You wanna make cookies?"

"You know I could never turn down that offer." Alfredo smirks playfully and takes his friend's hands, hoisting himself up off the couch.

The two young adults spend the next few hours making way more batches of chocolate chip cookies than they intended to.

"You're the one who said to use the recipe made for 15 people!" Ariana giggles, staring in shock at the three-and-a-half trays of baked goodies.

"The more the merrier." Alfredo smirks at her, wiping his fingers on a kitchen towel before grabbing one.

Soon after taking a cookie, Alfredo drops the piping hot food on the ground with a yelp and complains about his burnt tongue grumpily.

"Idiot." Ariana laughs, picking up the chewed cookie and throwing it in the trash can. "Well now that you've burnt your tongue, I guess we need to eat some ice cream." The young woman grins wickedly and grabs a tub of chocolate ice cream from out of the freezer.

-

"Ugh I can't move." Ariana complains when she can't get off the couch after a mad ice cream eating session. She's eaten way too much, and not even unzipping her jeans can save her from feeling incredibly bloated.