😗sorry for any mistakes

Atlanta, GA

August 23rd

Saturday

Matthias put his hand on his chest as he was trying to catch his breath from laughing at Jabari. Jabari just mugged him "Dawg this ain't funny" He grumbled, falling more into the couch while he waited for Lani to finish getting Kennedi and Sarayah ready.

Matthias laughed even more "Nigga this yo' kamra fa' cheatin' on my baby back in the day. But I'm laughing more at her dumb ass thinking she won't go ta' jail" He held his stomach, still laughing.

"Nigga I already got my payback fa' that. I've suffered enough" Jabari huffed while Matthias was still cracking up. He couldn't believe Bonnie threw rocks at his car and slashed all his tires.

She was truly crazy and trying to act like Jabari was in the wrong for divorcing her and leaving her with nothing. He's been winning the settlement case so far and Bonnie wasn't getting a dime or anything of his.

"She betta' be lucky I got two cars. I'on gets it bruh, how she mad when this all started because of her" Jabari ranted as Matthias's laughter started to calm down.

"You can use what she did for yo' case," He told him, Jabari nodded "I know, I already sent it ta' my lawyer. Shawty crazy for real" He shook his head.

"Get a restraining order" Matt shrugged.

Jabari sucked his teeth "A black man like me tryna get a restraining order? Really Matt" He straight-faced him.

Matthias frowned confused "Yes. I got one on Anikka. My pops can help you out wit' it" He shrugged. He agreed with him, people don't care about black men, especially policemen. But being that his dad is retired from the force, he still has connections to get things like that enforced.

Jabari nodded as the girls finally came down the stairs "Bet, can you ask him fa' me?" He asked, standing up from his spot on the couch.

"Yeah, I'll have him call or text you," Matthias said while standing up from the couch.

"We're readyyyyy" Kennedi smiled, giving her and Rayah's bag to Jabari. "Tell em' Mami, they needa stop kidnapping my kids" Jabari mugged Ailani and Matt. Lani stuck her middle finger up at him before walking away.

Matthias just laughed. He was happy at how mature they all were. How they acted and really were like a family. They never left any child out. When it was time for Rayah to go with Jabari, he took Kennedi right along with them. Both he and Jabari referred to each of the girls as their own. Jabari even had a room for Kennedi at his place.

It was a beautiful thing to see black parents coming together for the kids and being genuine about it.

Sometimes Matt wishes Kennedi's mom was mature enough to grow up and do right by Kennedi because she deserved that. She wasn't but Matthias wasn't going to dwell on the past and just be thankful now that his baby had more than one parent to love her truly.

Jabari and the girls said their byes while Kennedi of course had to boss him around first about being 3 minutes late.

🎶I hope that I can make you mine

For another man steals your heart

And once your beauty is mine

I swear we will never be apart🎶

Beauty by Dru Hill played loudly throughout the house once Matthias walked back inside the house. He took his shoes off first before Lani started fussing then walked into the kitchen where he thought Lani would be.

He smiled watching her sway her hips side to side to the music while mixing what he assumed was pancake mix. He walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, and swayed side to side with her.

Matthias was enjoying this trial period of them living together. The past month, he could get used to coming home to her every day, it was what made his day. Their relationship was always good in his opinion but now it was fantastic.

Like any other couple that hasn't lived together before, they had mini disagreements about things in the house as to the way each other cleans. Or for example, Lani was a very organized person and everything had to be sorted or put in a specific place. Matthias was the opposite and just put things anywhere.

They agreed to allow Lani to wash clothes since she just felt like she had to. Matthias didn't mind, he liked the way her clothes smelled after she washed them because he never smelt like that.

Matthias' house was still new because he bought it a year or 2 before he met Lani so that if his babymomma came back, she didn't find Kennedi. They decided after the 2 months are up to just stay there instead of buying a whole new house. He wanted Lani to change things around and redecorate since it would be her home too.

This period has also changed, in a good way, Lani's communication skills. They had daily talks at the end of the day right before going to sleep. They still had a few slip-ups when Lani didn't want to but Matthias always put her in her place. Family dinner 4 times a week let them communicate with the girls as well and allowed them to talk about things with no judgment.

Matthias and Ailani thought a lot of parents rather judge their children first before actually getting to the bottom of their thinking or what they feel that way. They didn't want that for Rayah and Ken, they wanted them to feel safe and know that they would never be judged.

_________________

"Bubba! stop it" Ailani fussed while laying on top of Matthias, looking through his beard for ingrown hairs. Matthias' hands kept wandering into her shorts and very close to her lower lips.

"Mama, you got all this ass on me and you think I ain' finna touch? Lost yo' mind" He grumbled, continuing to rub and cuff them with his hands.

"You know what you're doing and I told you we can't because my cycle is about to start so stop" She huffed, reaching back to pop his hands away.

"It's not on now" He smirked, rubbing his finger down her lower lips again feeling how wet she was like always.

She sucked her teeth, moving his hands out of her shorts before moving from on top of him. "Just annoying" She mumbled, getting her supplies from the side of the bed. He slightly frowned at her attitude. It's been seeming like she's been getting annoyed faster than usual today.

"C'mere mama" He sat up and moved to the side of the bed. She annoyedly walked in between his legs with a blank expression on her face.

"What's wrong? You've been catching a small attitude all day" He rubbed the back of her thighs. Touching while having a serious conversation was their thing. It worked for their communication skills showing that they aren't mad and you're free to see whatever is on your mind. Matthias noticed it comforted her a lot to give her that ability to express herself and talk.

He didn't know if it was because of what her parents had going on but he saw she didn't like expressing herself before she felt like he was going to yell at her. Comforting her was the best way to tell her it was okay without saying it.

"You have been gettin' on my nerves all day," She said.

He chuckled a little "That's nothing new. You say that all the time. What else is wrong?" He asked.

She sighed "I'm about this close to going back to my old self and I don't want to do that," She said, pinching her thumb and index finger close together.

"Old self?" He questioned.

"Yes, I used to fight. A lot actually the more I think about it but having Rayah calmed me down from that but apricot or whatever is about to take me there" She huffed, Matthias was kinda shocked. He never saw Lani as a fighter except when she fought Bonnie other than that she never gave off those vibes to him because of how calm she seemed.

"Who? and Why?"

"I'on know her name but that girl that keeps harassing us. Yeah, that bitch is about 2 point 5 seconds from me slamming her head into a wall. I will put that bitch 6 feet under actually if she keeps playin' wit' me." She ranted, causing his eyes to go wide.

"I swear on my daddy and brother's grave I will drag that hoe." She punched her hand into her fist into her hand. "I'm not even that type of girl anymore. I'm calm, I have daughters to think of but she is really about to bring me out my character bro forreal" She ranted.

"Baby, calm down." He said gently and grabbed her hands. She started to turn a little red on the skin a little. She started to take deep breaths while looking into his eyes.

"You're talking about Annika?" He asked, she nodded. He sighed and shook his head. He never saw someone do this much over someone they barely knew. With her being a lawyer, he didn't think she would be doing this much with her being so involved in some cases like this.

"She came to my job Matthias"

He scrunched up his face "What? When? Why didn't you tell me" He asked, getting heated now.

"It happened this morning. One of my employees was about to open and she came in there looking for me. It's never that serious and I've been trying to stay calm because I know you can handle it but my job? I love you but a nigga is never this serious to do all this for" She ranted, shaking her head.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked again, confused about that part.

"Because I knew it was already annoying to you and I didn't want you to be even more annoyed" She explained, he shook his head. "It doesn't matter, baby. She is harassing you too and that needs to be handled." He spoke, letting her hands go.

She nodded "Why didn't you tell me y'all dated before? You made it seem as if you just met her when you didn't" She raised her eyebrows.

He jerked his head back some "We didn't. I did just meet her when her mom became my client" He said looking at her weirdly.

She shook her head "Y'all didn't. Y'all been knew of each other" She said, moving his hands off of her and reaching to grab her phone off of the bed. She sat on one of his legs, he watched her go to her messages and click on a contact.

"How did you get that?" He asked, taking the phone from her and looking better at the picture of him in high school next to a girl.

"She showed it to my employee. She said y'all dated for like 2 years back in high school" She looked at him weirdly. Matthias just stared at the picture, he didn't even realize it was her. She grew up a lot, she used to be really skinny and her face didn't look the same.

"Yeah, she took my virginity in 9th grade," He said, still in shock.

"You acting like you don't remember her"

He scoffed "Because I didn't. She doesn't look the same and we didn't date for no 2 years. Maybe 7 months and she moved and I never talked to her or saw her after that" He shook his head and handed her back the phone.

"Mm," She hummed.

_________________

Atlanta, GA

August 24th

Sunday

"I'm not mad per-say at least with him. Just annoyed at all of it" Ailani shrugged, talking to Sydney as they had a sister picnic date.

Lani has gotten really close with both of the twins since they met. They were like little sisters to her. She did hang out with Sydney more since she was going to Georgia state and Brook was going to Savannah. She still called Brook when they were both free so she wouldn't feel like Lani was playing favorites or forgot about her.

"That's crazy tho. Even tho that's my brother, you believe him right?" Sydney asked using her chopsticks to grab a piece of sushi they got from a sushi place.

"Yeah. I'm kinda good at seeing when someone is lying to me and he never gave me that impression plus it just doesn't seem like he would lie to me" She explained while grabbing a piece of sushi with the fork.

Lani trusted Matthias 100 percent. He never gave her a reason to believe that he would lie to her. Since the beginning of their relationship, he's been upfront and honest about everything.

She loved that for her how much her trust issues had progressed.

"How is school though? Wasn't this your second week?" She asked, grabbing her sprite.

Sydney nodded "Yeah, it's..... it's okay. I go to class and come back home" She shrugged.

"Do you think you have social anxiety?" Lani asked. She remembers how Matthias would tell her how quiet and standoffish Sydney was. She even liked that when Lani first met her but Lani was more so being gentle and gave her space until she was comfortable with talking to her.

"Honestly yeah but sometimes I feel like I'm going through a crisis" She admitted.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

Sydney shrugged "I'on know. It's like I have such amazing and loving parents and siblings that will do anything for me. I even have you and Si and Lyric but I just... I just don't feel happy." She said and looked down at her fingers, Lani's face softened.

"In high school, I felt like Brooks lil shadow or her little follower. That's why I didn't want to go to the same college because I wanted it to stop. It wasn't her making me like that but it was like— yes we're twins but we're both different in a lot of ways but I got judged for it. I wasn't the fun like to party like Brook, I'm the chill one I guess you can say and people just judged me for it. Brook always stood up for me though but sometimes I felt like she deserved a better twin or something" She vented and wiped the tears that fell.

"I felt like Brook deserved someone that didn't kill the mood because I'm not happy and I don't know how to act as if I am. I don't know why either, I am surrounded by love but I'm just so unhappy with myself" She broke down in tears, and Lani immediately wrapped her arms around her.

It sounded like depression to Lani. She's been at this stage of life where you honestly don't know what's wrong but you know you're sad and unhappy. It was so confusing as well especially when you couldn't open up to anyone about it because you don't know how to explain it.

Lani didn't know what to do. She wanted to help her and get her the help that she needed but didn't know if she should tell Matthias or her parents. To her understanding, she probably was the first person she told this to and Lani didn't want to break her trust or anything by telling someone.

_________________

Atlanta, GA

August 25th

Monday

"Lyric.... baby you aren't making any sense" Sierra furrowed her eyebrows as she pulled up her leggings after Lani just gave her a wax.

"It's the hormones," Lani mumbled, cleaning up everything.

"It has to be because I'm confused. I thought you had feelings for Kei?" She asked.

Lyric groaned while eating her pickle "I don't knowww. When I said that, I was pregnant. Who knows, if I actually feel that way. It could just be the hormones like y'all said." She shrugged, taking a bite out of the pickle.

"And on top of that, he wasn't interested in me until I told him about the pregnancy." She added.

"Why do you think he wasn't interested? You didn't even give him time to really talk before you just cut him off" Sierra said, sitting in one of Lani's chairs. She was off of work today so she had time to sit around and talk.

Lyric just shrugged "I feel like this pregnancy is affecting our so-called 'feelings' and there aren't actually any besides the bomb ass sex"

"No, you're just scared," Lani said as she wiped down the chair.

"Scared of what?" Lyric jerked her head back.

"Of actually settling down. Think about it, you haven't been in an actual relationship since we were sophomores in high school after Rodney cheated on you. You haven't settled down since and we're almost 24 years old" Lani explained.

Lyric swore off men after that boy broke her heart in school. She always had sexual relationships or went on dates but never an actual relationship. She has always been DTN and too pretty to let another man stress her out. And her absolute most favorite line was no man had met up to her standards.

"She is so right. You sholl haven't been in a relationship since sophomore year" Si agreed.

"That's because no man can live up to my standards!" Lyric argued "I'm not finna settle for less and all these niggas are less" She bit her pickle.

"Okay, what about Kei? Does he live up to your standards?" Lani raised a brow.

"Right, he has his own money, very successful. He's a grown man and not a little boy clear if he got you pregnant and has been trying to be involved in every way. He has his own care, he's respectful sometimes when he isn't playing too much." Si listed off things about Keith and Lani nodded agreeing.

"I still feel like maybe we should wait to see if something is there until after the baby. Just to be sure" Lyric sighed.

"And that's completely fine boo just communicate with him about that. I'm sure he would understand." Si assured her, going into her purse to hand Lani the money.

"Right. Y'all just two confused whores right now" Lani teased taking the money.

"I wasn't a whore!" Lyric laughed.

"Your right he was a whore. I know y'all hear Matt's mama talking about it when we were in Panama" Lani laughed.

"Yes! Ruben was telling me how he was a slut, a whore. And he was a que dawg back in college" Si laughed. "Just how I like them" Lyric stuck her tongue out and danced a little in his seat.

"Weren't they all Que dawgs in college?" Lani asked, remembering seeing a que dawg tattoo on Matthias's arm. Si gasped "They sholl was cause Ruben got the tattoo on his back!"

"Pause" Lani shook her head and put her hands up while they laughed at her "You mean to tell me, my man, my man my man was flicking his tongue in other girl's face and looking them in the eyes like he does me? He was picking up other bitches the way he was picking me up?! back in the day?!" She covered her mouth and faked crying.

She couldn't believe it. She just knew it was something about him. The fraternity men were different breeds, especially the que dawgs.

"My man my man my man he was a WHORE. He's fine now and I just KNOW he was even finer back in college. The tongue! I knew there was something about his tongue" She fake sobbed.

They were laughing at her but she really wanted to slide down a wall right now. She wished she was in college when he was so she could see him. She just knew he was fine.