more life / b.simmons (2)

8

three years later

"i think i'm more nervous than the kids," amari mumbles as she packs the twins' lunches. ben leans against the counter and chuckles, handing her food as she goes. today is the twins' first day of kindergarten, and amaris stressing the hell out.

"you think? you are," ben says, causing amari to glare at him. he shakes his head and picks out his hair. "they'll be fine. if anything, they have each other." he adds.

"but i don't want them to only hang out with each other. they have to become their own people," amari says, putting the last snack into each of their lunch boxes and sipping them up.

"baby, they're five," ben says, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards him. ben puts his hands on her waist and she holds onto his shoulders. "they'll be okay." he says and leans down to kiss her, pulling her close by the small of her back. amari moves her hands up to his face and gently cradles his jaw in her hands.

she pulls away and pats his chest before walking out of the kitchen to go wake up the twins. ben follows after her and when the enter kyras bedroom, she's already awake and playing with her toys. "are you ready for school?" amari asks, dropping down onto the floor next to her. kyra looks up and shouts "yes" before dropping the dolls and jumping on amari. "are you excited to make some friends?" amari asks, tickling kyras sides.

"are me and adrian in the same class?" kyra asks, looking up at her mom, her face suddenly becoming scared.

"of course, baby," amari says, running a hand over head head soothingly and glancing at ben. he shrugs and sinks down next to them and kyra crawls into his lap.

"can i have pancakes for breakfast?" kyra asks, looking at ben and amari. the way she says 'pancakes' comes out like 'pan-a-cakes'.

"sure, princess. let's go wake up adrian, first," the three of them gets up and ben puts kyra on his shoulders as they walk across the hall to adrians bedroom.

amari enters first, smiling as she sees him asleep in his little bed. "time to wake up, babyboy," she says, gently shaking his shoulder. he opens his little eyes and smiles when he sees his mom.

"hi mommy," he sits up and rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. amari takes a seat next to him on the bed and he hugs up, crawling into her lap and resting his head on her shoulder. "i'm hungry." he says.

"daddy's gonna make pancakes," amari says. ben opens his mouth to object, but amari holds her hand up and stops him. she picks up adrian and the four of them walk out of the room and downstairs to the kitchen.

they set the kids down on the bar stools and ben starts making the pancakes for the kids. "can i get some help?" he asks.

"you need help flipping pancakes?" she teases, kissing kyras forehead before walking around the counter and watching ben as he pours the mix into the pan.

ben glares at her and she smiles at him. wrapping her arms around his torso, she looks around him at his cooking. "you're doing fine," she says, placing a kiss on his arm and letting go of him.

ten minutes later, ben finishes breakfast and places pancakes on the twin' plates. amari gives them some chopped fruit and helps them cut their pancakes.

kyra bounces in her seat as she eats and amari smiles at her and pours herself some coffee. she was never a big coffee drinker until she had the twins—now she can't get enough.

ben makes a face as she takes a sip and she furrows her brows at him. "what?"

"still don't understand how you drink that," he says, throwing his arm around her shoulder and kissing her temple.