Young Love

13

Ariana hurries around her bedroom, desperately searching for her missing sock. She can't remember where on Earth she put it, and now it's disappeared.

Today is Sunday, a day after Ariana and Liam met Bella and Justin at his house. In a few minutes, Ariana's brother Frankie will be arriving at their apartment with his family after travelling down from New York for the weekend.

Currently, Liam is running around excitedly like a lunatic, waiting for his older cousin Henry.  The two children used to be very close when Frankie first adopted Henry, but then he met Daniel, the love of his life, and the small family moved into a decent sized home in New York. For them, it's practical and they enjoy living there.

Ariana doesn't agree with Frankie that NYC is a safe place for a six-year-old, but Frankie is capable and seems happy, which is all that matters to his younger sister.

As the brunette woman finds her missing sock and slips it on, the doorbell rings a couple of times. Ariana rolls her eyes despite feeling overjoyed. Is Frankie trying to raise her electricity bill?

The woman runs into the hallway and flings the door open, jumping into her brother's arms. She hasn't seen the beloved man for what feels like years, and she's so happy he's actually here.

"Hello to you too Ari." Frankie chuckles, catching his little sister and hugging her tightly. She sighs contentedly, and looks down to see a confused little boy tugging at her brother's pants.

Little Henry has a mop of fluffy brown hair and gorgeous green eyes, framed by these adorable thick rimmed glasses. Freckles litter his face and his dark eyebrows are pulled into a frown.

"Daddy, is that Auntie Ariana?" The boy asks and Frank chuckles again, before placing Ari back down on her own two feet and kneeling beside his small son.

"Yeah, that's her."

Ariana bends down to lift Henry up onto her hip, making him giggle adorably, and kisses his sloped nose. She can't believe how big he's gotten since she last saw him a few months back.

"Hey bug." The brunette woman smiles kindly at her nephew, who looks up at her through his thick eyelashes in curiosity. "You've grown up!"

"I'm a big boy now." Henry confirms, causing all the adults to stifle their laughter, and Ariana passes the child to her brother so she can greet his husband.

"Hey darling." The young man greets her, his brown eyes holding a friendly glint and his hair brushed away from his face.

"Hey Daniel. Come on in guys." The mother giggles again and turns around, leading them into the lounge of her spacey apartment.

"Henry!" Liam screeches as soon as he sees his cousin and sprints over to hug him. Both children topple over, laughing their cute little heads off. Daniel chuckles, helping them both up from the floor, and the families both settle down on the couches to catch up.

"So, how've you been?" Frankie asks his little sister and she smiles, ruffling Liam's hair up from his place on her lap.

"I've been good! I'm hoping to be promoted soon and I want to be able to buy a bigger place." She nods thoughtfully, looking at her big brother who is nodding aswell.

"How is New York?"

"New York is beautiful. I mean, it's really noisy and busy but we've all got used to it and it's a really nice place to live." Frankie grins, and Ariana can't help but notice how incredibly happy he sounds. She just wishes that she could have provided her son with a proper father figure.

"That's nice. And how are you Henry?" The woman asks the brown-haired child, who looks up in surprise at the sound of his name.

"Good." He replies, pushing his cute glasses up his nose. He's so adorable.

"That's good." Ariana smiles fondly and Henry giggles, going back to pulling funny faces at Liam, who is laughing hysterically from his place on his mommy's lap.

"So, what shall we do today?" Frankie asks with a wicked grin and Ariana grins too, Daniel looking slightly confused and maybe even a little scared at the sibling telepathy thing.

"The Woods!" The siblings both shout at the same time as if reading each other's minds and race each other childishly to the front door. It feels so good to throw away some of your responsibilities for a while and relax.

When Frankie used to live in LA near Ariana, and before she met her abusive boyfriend, they used to go for picnics together in the little forest by the children's playground, which is rarely used by locals due to it's location out in the middle of nowhere.

On their adventures, the brother and sister had found a perfect spot on the rocks by a small stream, and they loved sitting there and catching up during the warm Summer months before their lives changed.

"Liam! Come here!" Ariana shouts loudly and sees Liam and Henry's little faces appear round the door frame, giggling.

The brunette woman runs to her son and her nephew and scoops them both up, one in each arm, turning them upside down. They scream and giggle joyfully, Frankie and Daniel watching on in amusement.

Ariana carries them to the door, passing Henry off to his fathers'to have his shoes put on, and her keeping hold of Liam to tie his.

"We're going to the place where you found Jimmy remember?" Ariana giggles, thinking back to the day when he found a turtle in the stream and claimed it as his pet.

"Yeah! Can we see Jimmy?!" Liam eagerly asks, and Ariana shrugs.

"If you can find him." She replies, knowing Jimmy is long gone.

a/n
Hey guys, I had time this week to update!!!!
I love you all and tHANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU FOR OVER 900 READS😱
Remember to shine bright like a Frankie🌟💗