more life / b.simmons (2)

48

"so, whats the plan for tonight?" amari asks, cutting into sausage and looking at the twins over her glasses. the four of them sit together—as a family—in miami, eating breakfast at their villa. ben sits on her left, cameron on her right, while the twins sit across from them. ben was actually staying in a hotel a few blocks away, but amari invited him over.

kyra shrugs. "well, i planned to just hang with avery, jada, and daniel all day. i don't know about mister man," she says, pointing at her brother with her thumb. adrian just shovels food into his mouth.

amari snaps her fingers in adrians face, getting his attention. "huh?"

"what are you and your friends doing tonight?" she asks, getting annoyed with him because hes changed the plan five times in the last three days. first, they were hanging out at the hotel, then it was a yacht, then it was a night out on the town, and blah blah blah. because their birthday falls during the first two weeks of college, they're celebrating early.

adrian shrugs. "going out, i guess—and avery is going with us, by the way," he adds, looking at kyra. her utensils clatter to her plate and adrian smirks because he's lying and wanted to see her reaction.

amari scoffs while ben shakes his head. "leave her alone, adrian," ben says.

"i was kidding," he says, the mischievous smirk on his face. kyra flips him off and the two adults let her.

"well, i told you both that gabby invited me out, so we'll all be in these streets tonight. i better not catch either of you, too," amari says, pointing at the two of them with her fork. they celebrated their birthday dinner last night with their friends and family, and amari and ben agreed to let them do their own thing since they were turning 19. it's not like they can do anything in miami anyway—they're underage.

amaris friends also heard that she was in town and invited her out tonight, so she'll be having her share of fun as well. ben, on the other hand, was staying in. if the kids called, they had to have a sober adult and he was the chosen one. besides, he's not going to make amaris parents watch cameron all night.

the four of them finish up and amari takes cameron out of his high chair. "i'm gonna call my friends over to swim," kyra announces as she heads upstairs, adrian on her heels.

amari shouts an 'okay' up the stairs and cleans up the dishes in her free hand. ben joins in to help and they work in silence, cameron's blubbering being the only noise. there's not much to discuss between the two of them, he's about to leave anyway.

"i'll take cameron tonight so your parents don't have to," he says, setting the dishes in the sink. amari nods and hands him the rest of whats on the table. cameron tugs on her necklace and amari pushes his hand away.

"they'll appreciate it. they leave tomorrow morning anyway," amari replies, setting cameron down on the counter and tickling his sides. ben watches the two of them with a small smile on his face. things have been easier between him and amari, and they seem to just get better as time goes on. maybe because there's too much keeping them together so they have to at least tolerate each other, but ben doesn't mind. as long as hes in good graces with the one he loves the most.

"i'm gonna head back to the hotel," ben states, wiping his hands on the towel after all of the dishes were in the sink. amari picks up cameron and places him on her hip.

"lets say bye to daddy," amari says, talking in a baby voice to cameron, not realizing the weight of her words. recently, she refers to ben as the children's "father", always putting a 'your' in front to signify possession. even to cameron, she usually says it, and ben notices because of how she says it. she slipped up, and now he's going to be thinking about it all night.