😗sorry for any mistakes

Panama City Beach, FL

July 23rd

Wednesday

"Mm, okay. I have to go help Lyric and Si start cooking breakfast" Alani giggled as Matthias was kissing all over her face.

"Stay down here wit' me" He pecked her lips repeatedly, "I can't, it's our morning to cook," She said.

He groaned, moving from on top of her, and fell back down to the side "How we're on vacation and I can barely have you to myself" He grumbled.

He must love me or something She thought to herself.

"It's gonna be okay Bubba, at least we're on vacation together" She tried to reason. He just blankly looked at her, laughed a little "We're gonna give Rayah and Ken to your parents so we can be alone later" She smirked.

"Gimme another kiss" He mumbled as she sat up in the bed. She lightly chuckled, leaning down to peck his lips a few times. "Stop frownin', I'm just upstairs" She pouted, rubbing both of his eyebrows to fix them.

"I'm 'bout to work a little while y'all cook then" He chuckled, sitting up. Lani mugged him "What?" She asked with her eyes squinting a tad bit at work.

"I'm about to just check on a few things" He shrugged carelessly, moving to cover from over his body, getting out of the bed. "Why would you— you know what, never mind" Lani rolled her eyes, getting out of her bed, putting some different shorts on.

"Mama," He sighed.

"What?" She said with more of an attitude than she intended to. "You want to work while on vacation Matthias, do that then" She shrugged, grabbing her phone from the nightstand and sliding her feet into her slippers.

"Ailani sit yo' ass down," Matthias said sternly before Lani could fully walk out of the room. She groaned, throwing her head back before walking back into the room.

"I'on even kno' why you thought that shit was gon' fly with me. I don't even play like that" He mugged her as she sat on the edge of the bed and she rolled her eyes.

This was one of Lani's biggest flaws. Communicating and catching a little attitude. Matthias was the complete opposite, he liked to talk things out before it escalated into something bigger than what it should be.

She still hated speaking about her emotions and how she felt about how she was feeling especially when she has a slight attitude. She much rather just have her attitude than speak on it. Everyone always lets her get away with it too, expect Matthias. He was always there to put her back into her place.

He walked in front of her and turned her head to face him "I shouldn't have ta' tell you to use yo' damn mouth Ailani. You use it to catch attitudes and say slick shit so use it to speak up. You aren't a child so stop acting like one" He lectured, lifting her chin back to him she moved her face again.

"I get this hard fa' you but we shouldn't have ta' keep goin' through this Ailani '' He shook his head.

I ain' gon' be too many Ailani in a second if he doesn't change the name She thought.

"Speak" He raised his eyebrow. She huffed "You're always working Bubba. You overwork yourself actually and I get it, this is your business and your responsibility but we're on vacation." She stressed.

This was an ongoing issue for Lani. She felt like he overworked himself way too much. He never got a break, it was him always working. She nonetheless understood because she did it at times but he was different. He drowned himself in his work.

He lightly sighed "Baby we already talked about this," He said and started caressing her chin.

She nodded "I know. Your work is very important and I'm not saying it not but when are you going to take some time to yourself? When are you going to just breathe without stressing about something not going right? Especially this week out of all weeks. Yesterday was cool, we couldn't do anything because of the storm but like" She shrugged.

"I just want you to take a breather and enjoy yourself without all the work that's the whole reason for this vacation" She looked down and began fiddling with her fingers.

She was just very concerned with his health. Overworking himself wasn't good, he works 7 days a week and never gave himself a break. She never wanted to make it seem like she just always wanted his attention because that wasn't it. She just wanted him to take time for himself and relax and be less tense.

He pulled her up by her arms and put them on top of his shoulders then wrapped his arms around her while. He leaned down to peck her lips "I appreciate you for caring so much mama and I'll work on it." He spoke sincerely.

"I don't want you to feel like I'm nagging you or anything. I just— I understand baby, I do work a lot. I'm just used to doing all the time but I'll take a breath if your this worried" He cut her off from apologizing.

"I'ma keep working on my communication skills," She said truthfully. Ailani didn't know how difficult it would be to be in a healthy relationship. It took a lot of patience and work from both parties.

He nodded "We can work on it together" He smiled down at her.

"Okay, let me go help with breakfast before they start doing too much" She chuckled. He pecked her lips a few times before he let good of her.

_________________

"You want this one or the other one, Mami?" Ailani asked as she held both Sarayah and Kennedi's hands while they were in the ice cream shop. They played in the pool that they have at the house all day and decided to come to the boardwalk.

"Uhh, the unicorn one please," She said with a big smile on her face.

Lani nodded and looked over at Rayah. "And you're sure you just want to shark attack jelly bean?" She asked to clarify before she ordered. "Yes," She replied, leaning a little closer to her and looking around.

Lani rubbed her thumb on the back of her hand to calm her down a little more. Sarayah didn't like being in places where there were a lot of people, it made her nervous.

Lani ordered their ice cream before stepping to the side "Can I go with Tt Si?" Rayah asked, pointing to Sierra who was leaning against a rallying on the other side they were standing on. Lani nodded "Yes, make sure you say excuse me when you walk past those people," She told her before letting her hand go then watched her carefully as she walked over to Sierra.

"Lani, can I ask you something?" Ken asked.

"Mhm," She hummed, glancing down at her before paying attention to their surroundings. "You know how you tell me you love me all the time?" She asked.

"Mhm," She hummed again "Do you love me daddy too?" She asked, Lani, froze for a second.

"Uh— You make him really happy. He says it all the time" Kennedi smiled, causing Lani to smile back at her. Lani honestly didn't know how to answer this. She hadn't thought about whether she loved Matthias so she was stuck.

"Umm, lemme get back to you on that Munchkin" She chuckled, going to the counter to get their ice cream when she heard their number being called.

"Here Jellybean" Lani said and handed Rayah the ice cream when she walked over to her and Si. "Mami, Lil bit, C'mere" Matthias called out for them as he and the rest of the men were in the candy shop.

Lani shook her head when Rayah and Ken took off running with their ice cream into the store. "All I know is Kei annoyin' ass better get me some damn candy or his ass gon' be sleeping with the fishes tonight" Lyric huffed and licked her ice cream cone Lani got her.

"You kno' yo' sensitive ass ain't going to make him sleep anywhere else besides that bed with you" Si laughed.

"You know Si, if this ice cream wasn't so good, I'll throw it at yo' face" Lyric rolled her eyes.

"Nah cause you remember when y'all were clowning me about being in love andshit? Now, look at you" Si laughed as they walked into this clothing store.

"Unt unt! That's Ms.mother of two over there" Lyric jokes, pointing to Ailani. "She is in love but just hasn't come to the realization yet" Si laughed, Lani looked at them weirdly when she turned back into the conversation.

"What are y'all talking about?" She asked, looking through the kid's clothing rack to see if she saw anything cute for Sarayah and Kennedi.

"You livin' the white picket fence life all in love and shit," Lyric said, Lani just shook her head before she remembered she forgot to tell them something.

"Matt asked me and Rayah to move him with him and Ken," She told them and chuckled at their shocked faces "What you say?" They smiled.

"I told him I'll think about it" She shrugged, looking at a cute Adidas shirt before looking to see if they had another one.

"And?" Si raised her brow. She shrugged again "I'm leaning more to the no side," She said.

"Why? Y'all always at each other's houses already" Lyric furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"Y'all don't think it's too soon tho? And it's like that's a big change for not just me but Rayah and Ken too. Ken has to share her home when it's always just been her and her dad. Then for Rayah, that's a whole new living situation and environment for her" She explained. Lani wanted to really take Rayah's and Kennedi's comfortably into consideration before making a big change like that.

"Girl, now you know Kennedi isn't going to have a problem with that. The way she always wants to be around you, you're basically her mom at this point." Si said, Lani chuckled, everyone has been telling her that a lot lately but she did always treat Kennedi like her own.

She was even on her check out list for school along with her emergency call list for school. Took her to a few doctor's appointments when Matthias wasn't able to, even claimed her as her daughter when they were out and people asked. She really played that mommy role for her because she felt like she deserved that.

"And Rayah even really likes Matt. I'm sure moving in won't be a problem with her either" Lyric said.

"Maybe. I think I'm using them more as an excuse because I'm scared," She sighed.

"Scared of what?" They asked.

"That maybe we'll be rushing it or something." She said in a questioning tone rather than saying it. "We have been together only a few months ya know?" She said.

"That's true but when it's right then it's right. Most people get married within a few months and live happily ever after. It doesn't so much dictate how long y'all have been together just if y'all but come to the mutual agreement that y'all are ready for this step in yalls relationship" Si explained.

"Do you trust him? Like, trust him to know he wouldn't intentionally hurt you or Rayah? You can be honest too, it's just us" Lyric said.

She bit the bottom of her lip while thinking "I-I do. It's so scary tho. I feel completely vulnerable with him a lot of the time. Like I'm willing to change things about myself just to better our relationship" She explained.

Trust was something big for Lani being that she didn't do it often. The fact she trusted Matthias well enough to not feel like she has to love over her back or have this wall up with him kinda freaked her out.

"I say just talk to him first about your concerns before you just make the decision on telling him no" Si reasoned with her, Lani nodded taking in her advice.

Sometimes she was big on just saying no before actually communicating things out first and really thinking. Communication was something she definitely was going to work on not just for her but for the sake of her relationship that she really cared for.

Lani looked out the store door and saw they were still in the candy shop, Matthias coincidentally looked and they made eye contact. He smiled and winked at her before looking back down at Rayah and Kennedi.

Lani felt butterflies erupt in her stomach before looking back down at the rack just blushing.

Her feelings for Matthias were very deeper than she could realize at the moment.

_________________

Panama City Beach, FL

July 24th

Thursday

Matthias laughed watching Kennedi and Sarayah trying to jump the waves with his sisters.

He happily sighed, looking around the beach. He was kinda fully but not really on their side. He was glad he did listen to Ailani and take a break from work.

He honestly needed it.

"I'ma be going to yo' folks house every day. Pops be throwing down on this pineapple chicken" He heard and turned around to see Lani still in her swimsuit with some shorts on while eating off a plate.

He chuckled at her calling his dad pops too. His dad told her the first night they were here that if she called him Mr. Wood or Mr.Adonis again, he was going to punch her in the throat.

"Damn and you weren't gon' bring me a plate?" He frowned, as she sat down next to him and was still eating. "I did but I just couldn't help myself" She shook her head.

He mugged her "Girl give me my damn food! Fat ass" He fussed, snatching the plate from her. She sucked her teeth "See, you ain't have to snatch. I was trying to be the nice girlfriend and you know bring ha' man a plate but noo this heffa wanna be rude and not share. I could've let yo' ass starve" She ranted.

"You always eatin' off my damn plate when I kno' fa' a fact yo' fat ass already ate" He rolled his eyes and began to eat the food that was left. She always ate off his plate and he didn't know why. Everywhere they went or had food, she wanted his food even if they had the same exact thing.

"Because it tastes better off of your plate!" She reasoned, he just shook his head at her.

"I'ma find me a man that appreciates me" She joked, he glared at her before hitting her upside the head. "Ouch" She held her head.

"Play wit' someone else Ailani. Not me" He warned while still eating. Matthias was never abusive but he didn't have any problem with knocking her head off her shoulders sometimes.

"So abusive. How about you abusive this pu—" He covered her mouth before she could even finish. They started laughing at each other as the girls walked over to them.

"We're going to the pool. Ray said she is fed up with the waves almost knocking her over." Brook chuckled.

"No, she didn't. Y'all said y'all are tired of being out there with us" Kennedi scrunched up her eyebrows. "Right" Sarayah looked at Sydney and Brooklyn funny.

"And now y'all talk too much. Let's go" Brook shook her head, walking to the house as Lani and Matt just laughed.

"So why is Syd not going to Savannah with Brook again?" Lani asked and stood up to take her shorts off. Matt couldn't help but reach up and slap her ass. It moved like water.

"Stop it" She giggled, taking her sunglasses off.

"But Syd is more of the quiet one and didn't want to go anymore so she is going to Georgia state" He shrugged.

"This is going to be the first time they're separated huh?" She asked. He nodded, finishing his food.

"Let's go get in the water" She smiled and held her hands out for him to help him up. He grabbed her hands, letting her help him up before he went to throw his plate away at the nearby trash can. He took his shirt off first, folding it and putting it down.

He looked at Lani who was smirking at him "You so fine" She sighed, staring at him. He let his eyes shamelessly rake over her body as she had the yellow two-piece bikini on.

"We can go somewhere real quick if you want" He licked his lips still looking at her body. He loved her pudge, it was his favorite. He always made sure to kiss it every chance he got.

She started laughing "Maybe later but come on" She chuckled, grabbing his hand and they walked towards the water. "Oh junk, this is cold" Lani frowned and moved away when her feet hit the water.

"C'mon, it's not that cold" He chuckled, pulling her further in. "Wait, pick me up. You not finna have me almost drowning" She chuckled and let his hand go.

"Always wanna get on my back like I ain't old" He fussed, bending down a little and allowing her to jump on his back. "You're always fussing, hush" She wrapped her arms around his neck and jumped up, allowing him to catch her and secure his arms underneath her thighs.

"Now when I drop you" He trailed off as he walked more into the water. "You're going to be one single and dead nigga" She kissed the side of his face.

He couldn't do anything but laugh. It seemed like they were always fussing or laughing at each other. Lani was truly his best friend, that's why he loved her so much. He could be himself around her, his true self.

"Strong healthy black man" She poked his nose. He chuckled before stopping when the water was in the middle of his stomach.

"This was very needed. We needa take more trips in the future" Matthias said. He did very much overwork himself, he was very ambitious when it came to his work.

Even though he has an assistant, he was a hands-on type of worker. Never depend on anyone nor felt like he should fully depend on someone when it came to his work.

"Why are you staring at the side of my face, love?" He chuckled, feeling Lani burning a hole in the side of his face while letting the waves hit them.

He turned to look at her when she didn't respond back. His eyes grew big when he saw her crying "Why are you cryin' mama? What's happened? You wanna go back?" He asked and started to turn around.

Lani wasn't a sensitive person so she never cried for anything, it always was a reason. Especially if she's crying in front of someone when she hates doing that.

"No" She mumbled and wiped her face. He started to move her to in front of him so he could see her better. "What's wrong?" He furrowed his eyebrows.

"Yesterday Kennedi asked me something and at the time, I didn't know how to answer it. I had never put it in my mind seriously because I didn't believe in it. But the more I think about it and look at you, seeing everything you've done for me and Sarayah which is really important to me. And I-I love you more than I could seriously realize. I think I been and just didn't want to realize it. I haven't believed in this type of love in years but with you I do. I-I fell in love with you Matthias and I'm scared." She sniffed.

Matthias was too stunned to speak. He didn't see this coming anymore so he didn't see her saying it first.

"I love you too" He spoke simply causing her eyes to doubled "Why are you looking like that, like you weren't the one that said it first" He chuckled, walking back since the waves were hitting them a little harder now.