Justin
Thursday, January 12
11:38 am
"I have to see Alexa and Sascha while I'm down here too. I miss them." Ariana says.
"Who are they?" I ask.
"Best friends from high school. I haven't talked to them since I left. Now that I'm saying that out loud, it sounds terrible." Ariana sighs.
"They've both been over here a couple times. In the past year. Checking on me and Nonna." Joan replies.
"Oh really? That's why I love them so much. They're great." Ariana smiles.
"I wanna meet them, too. They sound cool." I say, placing Lilia on the floor.
"You will. I'm gonna text them and see what they're doing this weekend." Ariana takes out her phone and starts typing.
I watch Lilia on the floor, playing with her Mickey Mouse doll.
"You're cute." I say to her.
She just looks up at me then back to her doll.
"Fine. No more compliments for you any time soon." I cross my arms.
"Justin, tell me a little more about you. Where do you work?" Joan says.
"Oh, I'm actually in the military." I reply.
"Really? That's amazing. That means you go to like Afghanistan and fight in the wars?"
"Yep. I actually just got back from Iran about two weeks ago. On Christmas."
"Oh, I imagine my daughter was a mess when you left."
"Not a complete mess. She didn't cry. That much. We all know she cries about everything." I whisper the last part, but Ariana still hears me.
She looks up at me from her phone, glaring.
"But I still love her to death." I add, smiling.
"Don't we all? So, when do you expect you'll be leaving again?"
"In about three weeks, I'm going to Afghanistan, actually." We both laugh.
"I'll be there for almost a month, instead of just two weeks. I'm gonna be giving vaccines to kids and training some new people. No actual fighting this time."
"Great. That's what I like to hear." Ariana says.
I chuckle.
"That's awesome, Justin." Joan says.
"Thank you. Ever since I was little, I've just wanted to help people. I'm so glad I got the opportunity to."
"Yeah. So, where does your family live?"
"Most of my family lives in Canada, but me and my sister moved to California about two years ago."
"Wow, two very different environments. How do you like California?"
"It's pretty cool. It is the home of my amazing girlfriend and her daughter, too, so that makes it even better."
"Well, that's great. Ariana, you picked an excellent man. He definitely passes the mom test." Joan nods, and I smile.
"Oh, cool. I didn't know I was taking a test, but I'm glad I passed." I laugh.
"Mommy, how long does Nonna nap? It's seriously been ten years." Ariana says.
"Well first of all, she's not napping. That would imply that she woken up sometime today, which she has not. It's almost 12 pm, she'll be down here soon."
Sure enough, Ariana's grandma comes downstairs a couple minutes later.
"Nonna!" Ariana squeals, jumping up from her chair.
I smile, watching them reunite for the first time in a long time.
"Yes, Nonna. This is my boyfriend, Justin. Justin, this is my Nonna." Ariana says.
"Yeah, I got that, thank you. Hello, Ariana's Nonna. I'm Justin."
Ariana rolls her eyes as I hug Nonna, laughing.
"It's great to meet you, Justin. I see you make my granddaughter very happy."
"I would hope so." I look at Ariana, and she nods.
Nonna sits across from Ariana and they start talking, leaving me with my phone and Joan to watch Lilia play.
"Uh oh!" Joan says out of nowhere.
I look over at her and see her picking Lilia up off the ground. After about 2 seconds, Lilia starts screaming. The delayed reaction to pain that babies have is astonishing to me.
"What happened?" Ariana asks.
"She fell forward and hit her mouth on the floor." Joan answers.
"Oh, she'll be alright. She does that all the time." Ariana sits back down and I laugh.
"Baby, that was terrible." I say.
"Oh, fine. You want me to baby my baby?"
I nod and Ariana takes Lilia from Joan. She rocks her in her lap until she calms down then she pulls her shirt down to feed her.
"She's tired." Nonna says.
"She is. She doesn't usually nap this early, but I guess the plane ride and the different time zones are messing up her sleep schedule." Ariana replies.
Ariana allows Lilia to eat until she's almost asleep, then she takes her upstairs.
"She's the best mom. Besides me, and my mom." Joan says.
"I agree." Nonna replies.
I just laugh. Grande women are hilarious.
YOU ARE READING
Leave Me Lonely (JB+AG)
FanficAriana's ex-boyfriend is moving back to Arizona, leaving her and their daughter alone in California. Ariana doesn't know what to do since her family is back in Florida. She's raising her daughter by herself, until she meets Justin. He comes into her...
