The Single Mom & The Popstar

7

I was laying in bed with my head resting in Dinah's lap as she gently played with my hair. "I'm not sure if this is any good but I guess I kind of just wrote down what I was feeling and put them into a song. Again I'm not sure if it's any good or what you're looking for." I said.

Dinah took the notebook from me and read over what I wrote. Handing it back to me she looked at me with pretty widespread eyes. "You know, you have a natural talent for song lyrics because these are amazing Lo." She says truthfully. I couldn't help but blush. "Wow thanks Dinah!" I said as I hugged her. Before Dinah could speak the door opened and in ran Charlene. "Hey baby did you have fun with Auntie Mani?" I asked.

Charlie nodded "yeah! She took me to the ice cream shop and let me get whatever I wanted!" She tells me. I smirked when I saw all the ice cream on her face and shirt. "I can tell sweetie." I laughed softly. "Let's go run you a bath and then we can have dinner." Charlie hums and waved at Dinah before running off. I chuckled before turning towards the beautiful blonde. "Mind waiting for me?" Dinah shook her head. "Absolutely not."

After giving Charlie her bath I headed towards the kitchen with Dinah right behind me. Taking a seat at the island Dinah opened up the notebook and began writing. "Wow you seem pretty inspired." I said. Dinah giggles "yeah thanks to you. You've made it really easy for me to find inspiration again." She says. I lowered my head as my cheeks warmed up. "Oh, well you're welcome DJ." I spoke softly. Dinah smiled softly and thanked me before going back to writing.

As I was cooking I noticed that Dinah would sing the lyrics out loud ever so often and it was oddly relaxing. "How do you do that?" I asked. Dinah looked at me with her big doe eyes. "Do what?" She asked curiously, tilting her head cutely to the side. I laughed a little. "The song hasn't even been recorded or produced, but yet you know exactly how it should sound. How do you do that?" I asked again.

Dinah smiles softly. "I, uh, I kind of imagine what the song is going to sound like in my head. Invision it and I immediately know what I want." She tells me. Locking eyes with the beautiful brown ones in front of me, I blushed when I realized just how close we were. "I know what you're thinking Lo." She whispered gently. I raised an eyebrow. "And what am I thinking?" I challenged. "How close we are and...other things." She hinted.

I tucked my hair behind my ear as I looked down at her and immediately focused on her lips. With a deep breath I gently cupped her face in my hands and gently pressed my lips against her. Placing her hands on my hips Dinah slowly kissed back and I couldn't help but deepen the kiss. Something about kissing her just felt right. It felt like I should have done this sooner but in a way I'm glad that I waited because it made this moment even more special.

Smoothing her hands up to my waist she kissed me once more before pulling away. "You're a pretty great kisser Lo." She said smoothly. I smiled at her. "Thanks DJ."

Sitting at the table I was like a girl in school with her first crush. I just couldn't take my eyes off of Dinah and whenever she did anything I just had this huge smile on my face. I'm not sure why but that kiss just made me feel alive, something I haven't felt in such a long time and it felt great! It felt good to feel good. I'm just so happy!

"With the way you're smiling it's like your husband didn't just die."

The sharp tone and aggy voice had me clenching my jaw in pure anger as I looked up at the blonde curly haired girl. "Jilly what are you doing in my home?" I asked coldly. "Mani told me that she'd be here." She answered. I nodded "well she's running a tab bit late but she's coming." I told her. Jilly hummed and picked up Charlene. "Hey Serena. How are you baby?"

Charlie frowned when Jilly called her by her middle name. "Ello auntie Jilly." She mumbles softly. Jilly smiles as she brushed her hair out of her face. "I see your mommy still doesn't know how to take care of your hair." She jabs. "But don't worry I'll fix you right up!" I glared at her but before I could defend myself a voice stops me.

"Jilly hush. Lauren takes extremely good care of Charlie's hair." Normani said as she walks into the dinning room.

Jilly scuffed "really because it looks like a mess to me." She says. Normani rolls her eyes. "Her hair is super curly, like mine. So it takes time to understand the best way to care for it and honestly with mine and mom's help Lauren is doing absolutely great. Charlie has beautiful hair." She compliments. Charlie smiled and reached out to Normani and hugged her. "Thanks Mani!" She said.

Jilly glared at them and scuffed. "Why does she love you more than me! I mean I'm the only one who calls her the name Keith wanted!" She cries. Normani's face fell as she looked at her sister. "Keith didn't want that name for her. He and Lauren agreed on Charlene. He just came up with Serena as her middle name." She says. "That's what he wanted."

Jilly shook her head. "Nope! The week before she was born he came to me and asked me if Serena was a good name and I told him it was amazing. Why would he ask me that if he wasn't going to use it as a first name? Tell me that!" She challenged. "Because we both were having such a hard time coming up with a middle name for her and I told him not to tell me anymore names until he finds the perfect one." I said. "And with your help he did."

Jilly frowns "I don't believe you. You're probably just lying." She spits. I just sighed. "If that's what you believe, then fine but Mani, mama Drea and I know the truth." I said. Glaring at me one more time Jilly storms out of the house and slams the door.

"Who was that?" Dinah asked.

Normani frowned "that was Jilly. She's mine and Keith's half sister. Our father was in a relationship before our mother and the women was pregnant right after they split. Of course he took care of her full time because her biological mother became addicted to drugs and left her when she was about four. Right before Keith was born." She explains.

Dinah nodded understandingly. "I'm not trying to make excuses but does she feel like apart of the family?" She asked. "I hope so because we have never treated her like she wasn't apart of this family. We love her." Normani says. I bit my lip. "This is my fault. Her and Keith were best friends growing up and when we started dating he spent a lot of time with me. He was scared if we didn't spend time together that I would leave and he didn't want that." I told them. "He didn't mean to ignore her. He was just so caught up with me and I was so young that I had no idea I was coming between them."

Normani hugs me and kissed my cheeks. "Lo, it's not your fault. Keith was amazing and extremely smart. Unfortunately he was never really good at balancing things. He would focus so much on one thing (or one person) and kind of push everything (or everyone) else to the side. It wasn't your fault. He could never really balance between two things he loved." She tells me. I chuckled as I rested my head on Dinah's shoulders. "Believe I know. Unfortunately I didn't know about that until college when he had to balance our relationship and football." I said as I remember the fight we had about that. That was definitely something.

After dinner I decided to walk Dinah out. "I wasn't giving mix signals when I was talking about Keith was I?" I asked. Dinah shook her head. "Lo you don't have to apologize. I understand and I know where we stand and I'm fine with that." She tells me.

I smiled as I walked in front of her and held her hands. "And where exactly do we stand?" I asked cheekily. Dinah pulled me close to her and brushed my hair out of her face. "I think we're one step closer." She says. My eyes lit up as I looked up at her. "Yeah, we definitely are."