Is It Worth It? (Sequel to 12th Avenue)

45

LAUREN

Things have been weird, but not in a bad way. Two weeks since Normani and I came to terms with our relationship and the direction of it. We don't spend every day together, but we do every couple days and it feels nice every time. It feels good to just be with my family and not have everybody mad at me. Some people, yes, still mad *cough* Quincy *cough* and her mom. I'm not worried about that though, it's only up from here.

I sit on the hood of the car, waiting for this deal to wrap up so I can get outta here. The woman counts the racks of money while glancing at me every few seconds. I play with the rings on my fingers, becoming impatient with how long this is taking, she's taking her sweet time.

She looks at me while flipping through the last rack and closes the money bag, nodding. I nod back and grab the box full of drugs. I put it in my trunk and call Luke as I get into the car.

"Yo"

"On my way"

"Aight"

I pull out of the lot and make my way to him, I carry the box into the house and place it on his desk. He checks through it and nods before dapping me.

"Never disappoint L, my bitch," He grins while pulling out stacks.

I shrug with a smirk, "You know I gotta stay elite."

He laughs, "I feel it. Here."

He hands me two bands of two thousand dollars and starts distributing the drugs in the box. I nod and dap him again.

"I catch you later," I say.

"See you player."

I go back to the car and pull off, tryna figure out what the next move is. I check the time on the dash and see that it's just past six in the morning; Normani should be awake or waking up soon to get the twins ready for school. As I stop at a red light I pull my phone out to send a quick message.

Me: U up?

The read receipts come immediately, followed by the three dots. The light turns green and I put my Phone down, driving until I reach the next red light. I pick my phone back up and open her message.

🥶💓💍: Yes ma'am wassup?

Me: I'm prob gonna come over 😴

🥶💓💍: Well then come over 🥴

Me:

🥶💓💍: Hehehe hurry

I chuckle to myself and lock my phone; I drive to my parents house to get a couple of things like my toothbrush and charger. I stop at 7-eleven on the way cause a bitch was hungry. I make my way through the isles and grab a chocolate muffin. Knowing Normani's pregnant ass is gon try to take my muffin, I get her a blueberry one. Even though she's still gonna wind up with mine in some way, rather that than the whole thing. I grab a bottle of orange juice and take everything to the counter. The cashier rings it up and the total comes to $5.38, I give the lady six dollars and tell her to keep the change.

I finally head to Normani's house...or our house? My old house?? Point is, I finally make my way to her. As I pull up and turn the car off, I see the twins running to the bus from the house and Normani standing at the door watching them. I grab the bag and get out the car, jogging over to them. I grab them and lean down, kissing their faces repeatedly.

"Te amo, bye bye!" I say

"Te amo mama!"

They get on the bus and the bus driver beeps at us, we wave at her and she pulls off. I turn to Normani and start towards the door. I get face to face with her and give a little smirk, backing her into the house.

"Hey," I give her a big hug and kiss her cheek.

She hugs me back and gestures to the bag, "What's that?"

"I stopped for a muffin and got you one," I say.

I move to the kitchen to wash my hands and bust this muffin open. She follows me into the kitchen and sits next to me with a smile.

"You're so sweet."

"I try," I grin.

We eat our muffins and as expected she starts eyeing mine. I don't acknowledge her until at least half of mine is done so I won't be a hungry bitch. I turn to her and she cocks her head to the side.

"You know...I am feeding for two," She starts.

I laugh and take one more bite before giving it to her. She gladly accepts it and smiles at me.

"Thanks mama," She says.

I drink some of my juice and leave the rest for her just off the strength. I go to the bathroom and grab the spare toothbrush I have here.

"Normani!" I yell.

"Yes?" She yells back.

"Do I have extra clothes here?" I ask while brushing my teeth.

"Yeah, it's in the drawer."

I finish up and grab an extra rag and towel from the closet. After stripping out of my clothes I hop into the shower, anticipating the amazing sleep I'm about to have. When I get out I wrap the towel around me and go into the bedroom, grabbing the lotion off the dresser. I rub it on and the deodorant, I put the extra clothes on and tie me hair up into a ponytail. I get into the bed and Normani follows after me.

I lay on my side as Normani lays on her back, my head on her chest. Her sweater is raised above her belly, exposing the baby bump. I gently caress her stomach as we lay in silence. It's not an awkward silence, it's a comfortable one. No words need to be spoken, sometimes it's nice to just let the actions do all the talking. I place a soft kiss top of her stomach and continue to rub her baby bump. Mani starts to caress my head and I close my eyes, snuggling up to her closer.

We stay like this, in this simplistic serenity, until we fall asleep in each other's arms.