Model; Steph Curry

c h a p t e r - t h i r t e e n

Stephen

"You guys excited for mommy to come back?" I asked, finishing taming Riley's afro.

Both girls nodded with smiles.

"She has work a lot." Riley sighed.

"Daddy you work a lot too." Ryan chimed in.

I gave them a soft smile, knowing I had just come back from my own road trip.
"I know..I miss you guys so much when I'm away. That's why I always talk to you guys on the phone when I'm away."

"We miss you too." Ryan said, hugging my leg.

The doorbell rang and the girls immediately ran to the door. I followed them to see Ayesha walk through the door, bombarded by their hugs.

"Oh my beautiful babies!" She smiled, picking them up and kissing them. "I missed you guys so much!"

"We missed you too mommy!" Ryan yelled, clinging to her.

"Yeah, Ryan missed you a lot." Riley emphasized , laughing and standing back.

Ayesha smiled and closed the door behind her.
"Well why don't you guys sit in the living room and I'll show you what I brought you guys."

Their eyes widened as they ran to be meeted in the living room by Ayesha. She dropped her stuff and sighed, looking up at me.
"Congratulations on the road trip."

I nodded, noting the strong tension between us.
"Thanks." She went to walk past to the girls but I grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Are we going to be okay?"

She moved her arm away and gave me a slight smile before a small shrug.
"I don't know..I should get to the girls. These gifts aren't going to be gifted themselves."

There's my answer...

London

I furrowed my eyebrows and looked around at the easels and paintbrushes within the studio. Rome had convinced me to come to a paint class with him. We took our seats and I overheard two other people comparing the quality of the paintbrushes that they brought.

I furrowed my eyebrows.
"You told me this was a beginners class Rome."

"Actually I said it was for all levels, but don't freak out. It's about the experience, not the result."

I sighed and nodded, scanning the paint supplied once again. We put up our easels and Rome suggested something.

"Why don't we switch paintings at the end of the night? You get what I paint and I get whatever disaster you paint." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes and hit his head.
"Why not? No returns or exchanges mr. artist."

He chuckled and nodded.
"Okay. No peeking though, until we're both finished."

We shook hands before the instructor started the lesson, and as it continued and we progressed through the lesson, it turned out Rome was right. I glanced at my finished painting and it didn't turn out to bad. By not focusing on how it looked and focusing on the experience of painting it, I had produced something that I was almost tempted to keep.

"Are you almost done?" I asked Rome.

"Almost.." He sighed as he placed a few last brush strokes on his canvas. "Okay..I'm done." He smiled turning towards me. "You first."