Landed || Tori Kelly

Who's To Blame

continued

Irie and Tori sat in the living room after the lawyer had left, trying to figure out Irie's next moves. "So, are you feeling confident enough to be in your own or do you want to stay here for good or what?" Tori asked, taking a sip from her water and kicking her feet up on the coffee table.

"I don't know. I mean, I love having your help, but obviously at some point I want to get a place for Nomi and I. But, right now, I think the best plan is for us to stay with family," the twenty-three-year old replied. "Umm, can I ask you something. And you don't have to answer if you aren't comfortable," Irie disclaimed. Tori, concerned, put her water bottle down and glanced to her eldest.

"What's up?" She invited, opening up a warm and inclusive space to talk with her daughter.

"Well," Irie fidgeted, "I was wondering about Bean. I know I haven't been here in a while, and she told me her side, but to you is she doing okay? Is she in right standing with you?" She asked, teasing the waters to see if she was going to have to start looking for a place. Tori shrugged, unaware of the severity of her daughters question.

"Yeah, I mean, she doing better. We are praying for continued growth in her. But, daddy and I are very proud of how far she's come," Tori said.

Oh really? Well I don't think this was the growth you meant.

"Why do you ask? Is she telling you something different?" Tori asked. Irie quickly shook her head, placing her baby on her shoulder and getting up.

"No, I was just wondering, but it seems like everyone is in agreement," Irie replied, before rushing down to her room to text her sister.

Irie
Mom seems like she would handle this well. I didn't get a read on Daddy, obviously, but my heart is saying no. I think you should tell her and wait on him

Abiah
Thanks, mama. I still don't know if I'm keeping it yet, but I will think about that.

—

Abiah sat her phone down as the memory of the day she went into labor with Ford hit. Somehow she felt like telling her father anything had to be done after telling her mom a week in advance.

then

Abiah uncomfortable sat in her math class trying to get a grip on her test. She was a couple of days shy of her due date, but she had to take her math final to pass the class. The previous night she had started to have terrible contractions, but they weren't regular, so she she was planning to wait until after school to tell her mom. "B, are you okay?" Brexton asked, noticing her friend gripping the edge of her desk to combat the pressure in her back.

"Yeah, I'm just having a contraction," she whispered. Brexton knew how much pain she was in having Feather and couldn't imagine being at school during that time.

"Your mom still sent you to school?" Brexton freaked. "She just had your sister, she knows how painful this is," she continued. Abiah glanced up to the new female teacher to see her, grading the test that had already come in.

"It's not like that," she replied, looking back down at her test to finish the last page. "I didn't tell her. I have to take this test, and then I'm going to a doctors appointment. So I figured I would tell her when my dad picks me up," she justified. Brexton rose an eyebrow as she flipped to the last page of her test.