more life / b.simmons (2)

4

five months later

amari hands ben the twins' presents and he sets them on a table in the backyard. a group of little kids run by, screaming and giggling with adrian leading the pack. ben looks around for kyra, and sees her playing with the other little girls.

after they set the last present down, amari turns to ben and sighs. "what?"

"i'm tired," she says, dropping her forehead onto his shoulder. he rubs her back before patting it, a sign that she needs to get up. last night, kyra was up all night because she was scared after watching shrek. she cried all night and kept amari up because kyra for some reason only wanted amari.

"go sit down with nia and them," ben says, as she pulls away. he guides her over to her friends with his hand on the small of her back and drops her off in the circle.

"you okay, girl?" nia asks, a concerned look on her face.

"i look that bad?" amari asks. clothing wise—she looked good. but i guess her fell short on makeup.

nia turns her hand side to side in a so-so gesture and amari rolls her eyes. "you look fine, just tired," hunter tries. amari chuckles and sighs.

"in other words: bad."

"up all night?" kailee asks, taking a bite of the food. amari nods and pulls her hair out of the bun it was in and shakes it out, trying to make herself look alive.

"yup. ky was up all night and she only wanted me," amari says, shifting her weight from foot to foot. if she sat down, she'd knock out.

"she don't look like she was up all night," camille points out, looking at kyra. she was playing house with the other little girls and by the looks of it, was having the time of her life.

amari sucks her teeth. "that because she got up only 30 minutes before she had to party. slept in on her b-day," the group chuckles and the group of little boys runs through the circle.

"hi,mommy!" adrian yells as he runs by, not stopping to give her a hug or anything.

"bye, baby," amari calls after him, smiling as he stomps through the party. "so when the rest of y'all having kids? the twins need more friends." amari says, stuffing her hands into her back pockets and looking at nia.

"uh-uh. don't look at me, girl," nia says, waving her hand in dismissal. "look at all the friends they got!"

"i guess," amari mumble tiredly.

"if you don't take your ass inside and sit down," vanessa says, pointing in the direction of the house. amari sigh in protest and she says, "go."

amari gives them all a peace sign and walks across the lawn, passing ben on the way. he notices her and grabs her wrist as she walks by. "where you going?"

"inside to sit down," she says. she gives the men around them a wave and they return it with "hellos".

"okay. i'll come to check on you in 15," he says. she nods and walks away, heading inside. she flops onto the couch and immediately closes her eyes, blocking out the noise from outside.

kyra runs up to her dad and wraps herself around his legs. "daddy, when can we eat cake?" she asks, looking up at him and stretching her arms up. ben picks her up and puts her on his hip.

"soon. did you say hi?" he asks, she looks around and then hides her face in his neck, getting shy. "say hi." he whispers, kissing her head.

"hi," she says, lifting her head and looking at everyone. she waves at joel, lebron, tahj, kemba, tristan, and tobias, but shys away at the unfamiliar face like anthony, devin, josh richardson, kyle oquinn, jimmy butler, and jayson tatum. yes, jayson tatum is here. amari and him got over all of that bullshit a long time ago. and deuce is twins' age, so it all works out anyway.