DÈJÁ VÛ -Norminah-

25

It was only a couple of days away from Christmas, and Daniel was extremely saddened by the possibility of his mother not being present for it. It would be another year celebrating the holiday without Dinah being there. He was hoping that he wouldn't ever have to go through that again, but deep down he knew that there was a possibility that the time will come.

Seeing as his mother wasn't present for another Thanksgiving or Halloween, he was expecting it to happen to Christmas too.

Normani looked down at her only child and attempted to give him a reassuring smile, but of course she failed. The smile that spread across her lips was a sad one, and the boy noticed.

"I thought she would be home by now." Daniel mumbled into his mother's clothed stomach. The room was silent for a moment and he sighed. He wasn't expecting his mother to say anything back and he didn't quite feel like talking, but he didn't like the silence either.
"The next game is Friday..." he thought aloud. "...and in Dallas. So why isn't she and the team back already?"

"Listen baby, I know you don't understand, but you should trust me when I say she'll be here. I promise." Normani spoke softly as she let her hand brush down some of Daniel's curls in the back of his head.

You need a haircut soon, which is what Normani thought.

You say I should trust you, and I do but I can't help but worry. I miss my mommy and I need her here with us, which is what Daniel thought.

As a few minutes passed, the room stayed silent and Normani sensed that the conversation was over now, so she stood up from the couch and walked back to her room. She knew that Daniel would follow. He had been asking to sleep in her room ever since Dinah told him that she might not be home until next week.

Meanwhile, Dinah was indeed in the same state-even better-same city as her son and girlfriend. She had been back since this morning, but she knew Daniel was with his grandparents and Normani was at work. She had planned a special surprise for the two of them, but of course things went wrong and the team didn't arrive in Texas until 9 hours behind schedule.

So now it was around 5pm on a Sunday, and she was rushing through every toy and electronic store in the mall to find a gift for Daniel. She was well aware of the holiday this Tuesday and she hadn't gotten a chance to get him or Normani anything special besides a few sweatshirts and keychains from the cities that she's traveled to over the past couple months.

The blonde was hoping to get Daniel something more than just nerf guns and basketballs like he asked because that was her gift to him for his birthday. She wanted to do something bigger, but she didn't know what to do for him or gift to him. He already had an iPad and she gave him his first phone within two weeks of meeting him, so there wasn't much left on her list of possible gifts to her son.

All Dinah knew was that everything had to be perfect. This year would be their first Christmas together as a family. She didn't want to be the one to mess things up. In fact, she didn't want anyone or anything to mess it up for them.

This was way too important to her and she knew how much it meant to both Daniel and Normani.

*********

Normani internally groans as she forces herself to sit up in her bed. She stretches out her arms before looking over at her son, whom was sleeping peacefully. She smiles a little before shaking him awake. "Daniel...it's time to wake up baby."

He groans and turns his body in the opposite direction . "10 more minutes."

Normani shook her head and continued shaking his shoulder. "That's asking for too much and we'd be late if I allowed it."

She sighed when she got no response and Daniel laid in his spot, motionless. "Fine, I give up." She mumbled before standing up completely and stretching the rest of her body.

Today was already feeling like a long one, so Normani decided to make coffee to help her get the day started. She walked into the kitchen and turned the light on, while shielding her eyes from its brightness.

"Hey, beautiful."

Normani quickly whipped her body around and screamed at the figure who just called her "beautiful". Her eyes were wide in fear and she still couldn't see the person because they were sitting in a dark room.

Then she heard the person begin to ... snicker? Why were they snickering?

"Oh my gosh, babe you should've seen your face. It was hilarious." Dinah laughed freely now as she stood up and walked into the room with light.

Normani rolled her eyes and finally let herself breathe. She hit Dinah's shoulder and began to scold her. "Why would you do that, Dinah?! You almost gave me a heart attack!"

Dinah tried to stop her laughing, but of course failed. She moved closer, her face and body completely visible to her girlfriend now, and reached out to hug the older woman.
She only continued to laugh when Normani swatted her arms away and stomped towards the back room.

Once Dinah pulled herself together, she slowly creeped her way into her son's room. She tiptoed her way to his bed and quietly pulled his covers back, only to find that he wasn't in it.

She furrowed her eyebrows and went to check the bathroom. She looked around the room and observed the young boy's underwear and a couple of towels on the ground in the corner. She grimaced and turned around once she knew he wasn't in there. She knew he was in his mother's room. There was nowhere else she hadn't checked.

Walking into the bedroom, Dinah saw Daniel laying faced down on the bed with his legs spread across it. She smirked and shook her head at the idea of him taking up majority of the bed from his mother when he was smaller than her. She wasted no more time taking in the scene before she walked over to Normani's side of the bed and climbed in it.

Daniel groaned at his mother moving his legs over to make space for herself, but he thought it was Normani and not Dinah.

The blonde woman had a never ending smile on her face as she used her sharp fingernail to poke at her son's back. He squirmed and groaned for her to stop. "Stoppp mama! It hasn't been ten minutes yet."

"Yeah, but it's been 2 months and I think that's more than enough time." Dinah spoke. The young boy's head then whipped around and he caught sight of his mother. He immediately jumped on her and squeezed her to near death, but she kept smiling nonetheless because she missed him so much.

Normani stood by the bathroom, now finished with brushing her teeth, and smiling as she watched part of the interaction between the two. She had to admit, this was a weird but cute way of coming home to your family. She was still a little upset that Dinah scared her though.

"I missed you so much, mom!" Daniel exclaimed, his words muffled due to his face buried deep into Dinah's shoulder.

"I missed you more, baby boy." Dinah replied as she softly stroked his growing curls.

They laid in one another's arms for a few more minutes before Dinah confessed that she had a surprise for the both of them. "I want you and mama to meet me in the living room in about two minutes okay?" Daniel nodded with excitement. "Not a minute earlier because I don't wanna spoil the surprise okay?"

The younger version of herself and Normani nodded again, but this time with an impatient squirm. He whined and told her that he understood in response.

Dinah nodded and kissed his forehead before getting up from the bed and leaving the room.

Normani then entered her bedroom again and walked over to her closet to grab her slippers. She had an idea of what Dinah brought she and Daniel as their "surprise" but she wasn't sure and didn't want to spoil the moment either way.

As long as Daniel was happy again and Dinah was back home, she was happy too.