SAFE :: ZAYN

[15]

—

"Yemi, are we there yet?" Jahdai groaned as he ate chicken nuggets from Chick-Fil-A. He had gotten antsy, because today was the day Zayn got to come home.

Yemi shook her head and smiled. "We've got another ten minutes, baby, okay? Calm down."

"I can't!" he squealed, kicking his feet in the air, "I'm so excited, Yemi. Oh my gosh, I wanna see him so bad."

"Don't bounce too hard or an earthquake is gonna start."

"You calling me fat?"

Yemi laughed, looking at him through the mirror and grinning. "I might be."

"Ugh."

Thirty minutes into driving and Yemi quickly got antsy. Was Zayn really okay? Was he happy? Did he get good enough treatment? Not only was his wellbeing at stake, but the bill for this program was steep, but not anything she couldn't handle. It set a few projects back but she was really nice and loved to see other people get it together. She wanted that for him.

Jahdai had been hyper the whole way, until he drank his milkshake and fell asleep all of a sudden. It was cute and surprising, because this kid seemed to never want to sleep.

Yemi parked in the front of the center, turning the car off and getting out. She grabbed Jahdai and held the five year old in her arms as she walked in.

"Ms. Khan!" a cheery nurse greeted her quietly because of the sleeping child, "here to pick up Zayn?"

"Yes, ma'am," Yemi smiled, "are there papers to sign, or?"

"When Zayn comes in you both can sit down and sign them, alright?"

"Okay," she was directed to a table and let Jahdai straddle her lap and continue snoring in her neck. She kissed his cheek tenderly before rubbing his back.

Fifteen minutes later and Zayn walked through the door, looking as great as ever. His hair was shorter than she remembered and his beard was quickly coming back, probably from a shave. His face looked rejuvenated and the melanin was back, making him look younger. His honey colored eyes were bright and happy, and a cute plump-lipped smile took over his features.

"Yemi," he breathed, leaning down to give her a long hug, "how are you? You good?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine," she grinned back and stood, "you look better."

"I feel better," He ran a hand though his hair and looked at Jah still sleeping, "I'm surprised he's asleep."

"You and me both."

Zayn took him from her arms -- who knew a five year old was so heavy? -- and kissed his forehead. "Wake up, man."

Jahdai turned a little before blinking his eyes open and staring up at Zayn. "Daddy," he mumbled sleepily, holding his neck tighter and kissing it, "hi."

"Hi," Zayn chuckled, blinking back a few tears, "I hope you didn't miss me too much."

"I'll be back. I'm gonna get the papers." She turned and walked towards the front desk just as Spencer came out. "Oh, hi!"

"Hi, I see you're happy," he smiled, leaning against the counter and looking at her.

"Yeah, he's reuniting with his son right now," she looked back to see Zayn holding Jahdai closer than before, whispering whatever in his ear.

"He's going to be fine," Spencer said.

"Huh?"

"The temptation thing," he explained further, "the first thereapist was trash but...this new one spoke to him in ways I couldn't imagine. He expressed a lot of things that I couldn't even think of. There's gonna be a few hard days but honestly, Zayn thinks about his son a lot, which we thought was going to get in the way of his recovery, but it was such a great advantage to his resilience."

"Their bond is forever strong," she agreed, "Jahdai talks so highly of him, no matter how bad it got and how many times Zayn lied. I'm just glad he's okay."

"He'll be more than okay," Spencer replied, "he's gonna be great."

—

"I've fixed up the room a little bit," Yemi stared, leading the way upstairs towards Zayn's new room, "just had to move a few things out."

She opened the door and let him through first. Zayn looked around nervously before sitting on the bed and biting his lip. He looked so small and timid, it really bothered her.

"I have clothes in the dressers for you, some are new but most are from my older brother," she continued, then turned to him, "I hope you're not second guessing staying here--"

"No, no, I'm just," he looked down and played with his fingers, "I can say I've never met someone like you in my whole life. Selfless and caring and welcoming, like," he shook his head in disbelief while she tried not to get emotional, "just...thank you, Yemi. I don't think you realize how much you're helping me."

"It's no problem, honestly," she replied quietly, sitting beside him, "I mean, I'd want someone do the same and I often get told I'm too nice but...I'd hate to be in a position like yours and get no help. I love assisting people and that's what I'm doing for you."

"Thank you,"!Zayn looked in her eyes, making her blush but also thankful her skin was dark and it didn't show.

"You're welcome. Now, I'm going to start helping you out, which means we're going job hunting. Tell me when you're ready--"

"Now," he breathed, "I need to get back out there."

"Okay," she peeked up and smiled, "well, that's great, actually. We can go to the unemployment office and see if you qualify for anything."

"That sounds great."

"Awesome," she stood and went to the door, "I'll give you time to rest while I start making dinner."

"Thank you."

—

y'all this story is about to BLOW UUUUP

it's gonna be great and it's gonna move a bit faster