Hope (JB+AG)

-27-

Ariana

Friday, April 20

3:46 pm

"Mommy, why are we just sitting here?" Aviella whined.

"Because the party doesn't start until 4, baby. It's almost time. Justin, I'm sure they'll let you in. Since you're done feeding Lessi, why don't you take Aviella inside and walk around until it starts."

"You want me to leave you in here with the twins and Bella? Are you sure about that?"

"Positive. As soon as Alex falls asleep, I'll put them both in the stroller and carry Bella inside. I got it, baby."

"Okay, if you say so. Come on, princess." Justin gets out of the car and opens the back door.

He takes Bella out and puts her in the drivers seat so she can press all the buttons her little heart desires, then he takes Aviella out and they walk inside.

Anna told me they have a daycare at this place and that I could leave Bella and the twins in there. Even Aviella, if she wants. I was a little hesitant about leaving the twins, but Anna said she'll be in there checking on them, if they even wake up from their food comas.

Of course, I know I can trust her, so I agreed, but I will be going in to check on them at least every 7 seconds.

"Mama!" Bella says.

"What, baby?"

Bella says nothing and I laugh. I put Alex's bottle in the cup holder and adjust him so I can burp him.

"That's two down. B, are you gonna let me put them in their stroller?" I ask.

She just ignores me, continuing to play with the buttons on the dashboard.

"I'll take that as a yes." I open my door and get out of the car, making sure not to wake Alex up.

I open the back door and put him in his car seat, then go get the stroller out of the trunk. After I make sure Bella is still content, I take both of the twins car seats out of the car and put them in their stroller. I then grab my purse, phone, and the keys and put them in the stroller before picking Bella up and placing her on the ground.

"Follow mommy, Bella." I lock the car and start pushing the stroller towards the doors.

"Bella McKinzey. Come with mommy, please." I wait for her to get to the doors before opening them and pushing the stroller inside.

Fortunately for me, Anna is standing right inside the doors and she picks Bella up.

"Good evening, Ariana. Justin told me you would be coming in with the babies so I thought I'd wait for you so I can show you the daycare."

"Wow, that's so sweet of you. Thanks."

"Of course. Follow me."

She leads me through the lobby to a hallway that has two doors on either side.

"This side is for babies and toddlers, ages newborn to 4. The other side is for the younger kids, ages 5 to 8. So, if Aviella wants to go in there at any time, feel free to let me know and I'll bring her right down."

Anna pushes the door open and we walk inside.

"Tyra, this is Ariana. These are her three youngest kids: Alexander, Alessia and Bella."

"Very nice to meet you, Ariana. We'll take excellent care of these little ones. Feel free to pop in any time to check on them."

"I will, thank you. I guess I should go find Justin and Aviella."

"They should be in the lobby somewhere. That's where I saw them last." Anna says.

"Okay, thanks. Be good, Bella." I reply.

I turn to look at Bella, whose already met some friends and found some toys. She's not paying any attention to me. I guess that's good so she won't cry when I leave.

I turn around and walk out of the door, making my way back to the lobby.

"Mommy!" I hear Aviella yell.

I turn to the voice and see her standing next to Justin, who's talking to another man. I walk over to them and Justin turns to kiss me.

"The kids okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, they're at the daycare. The twins are both asleep. Bella was distracted."

"Great. Babe, this is Dennis. He works at this location."

"Oh, hi. I'm Ariana."

"Nice to meet you, Ariana."

"Nice to meet you too." I smile, shaking his hand.

"Ariana, can we get a picture of you and Aviella?" I turn around once again to see a man holding a camera.

"Oh, sure. Come on, baby."

I lead Aviella to a backdrop and we take a few pictures for the man, who I don't even know the name of before returning to Justin, who had finished talking to Dennis.

"You two are so beautiful. I'm the luckiest man alive." He says, wrapping his arm around my waist.

He picks Aviella up with his other arm, kissing both of us on the cheek.

"Daddy, you're beautiful too." Aviella says, giggling.

"Thank you, princess. But I think the word you're looking for is handsome."

"No, I was looking for beautiful."

"She knows what she said." I tell Justin.

"Okay then. Let's go look around, shall we?"