Always & Forever (Choni)

Chapter 96

Thunder clapped as it rained lightly, the sunny California sun hidden behind grey clouds. The sound of the car unlocking brought Aliana out of her thoughts and she turned to see her mother pulling her seat belt off. "You want me to walk you two in?" the brunette questioned, looking through the rear view mirror.

Hunter pulled off his ghost face mask with a short breath. "No, it's okay, momma."

Toni met Aliana's eyes and the small girl nodded, showing that she agreed with her brother. Toni took notice of her daughter's lack of speech. Something was up.

"Okay. Stay back for a second, Alia." the tanned woman turned to look at her kids. The twins stood up in the back seat as Hunter opened the door. "Have a good day, my loves. After school we'll go trick-or-treating," she promised.

"Are you going to wear your costume, momma!?" Leileena asked excitedly, waiting patiently for her twin brother to get out of the car safely.

"I will. Mommy and I will dress up."

After bidding 'see you later, Hunter shut the door behind his little brother and sister before rushing into the school so he wouldn't get wet, despite it only drizzling.

"Okay." Toni breathed out, turning to look at her daughter. The Topaz heiress was dressed in a scientist costume. The couple thought that it was cute that she wanted to be that instead of the characters her siblings chose. "What's going on, baby? You've had a frown on since breakfast."

"What do you mean, momma?" the smaller girl played it off. Toni gave her a look and she averted her gaze, the blue flecks in her eyes becoming prominent. That only happens when she's excited or hiding something.

"Alia." the brunette chuckled softly. "You know that you can't lie to me and mommy, right? We know you like the backs of our hands. I know you like the backs of my hands."

Aliana played with the end of her lab coat as she stared down at her lap. "I don't want to wear this costume," she mumbled.

"Why not?" her mother frowned, turning her body so she could completely face her. "You were begging us to buy you that. It also cost almost two hundred dollars," she mumbled the last part, breathing out.

"I'm not being ungrateful." Aliana shook her head. "I just don't want to get picked on..." her fingers continued to mess with her costume.

"Aliana...is someone picking on you?"

"No." the smaller girl immediately answered. "No one is picking on me, momma. I promise. I think my costume is kinda nerdy." she shrugged.

"Nerdy? Baby, you are a nerd. You're my nerd. And you're mommy's nerd. You are who you are, and that's okay." Toni reassured her. When Aliana didn't budge, she sighed. "If you really don't want to wear it, I brought your firefighter costume."

At that, Aliana's face lights up and she nodded. Toni reached into the passenger's seat foot rest and grabbed the Party City bag before handing it over to Aliana. "Want me to come inside so I can take your other costume home?"

When her daughter nodded, they both exited the car and Toni held her hand as they entered the school. Toni greeted the security guard and explained to her that she was going to wait for Aliana.

The small brunette rushed into the girl's bathroom and quickly changed into her new costume. Once she was done, she made sure everything was decent before exiting the bathroom once more.

"Feeling better?" Toni asked once she looked up at her. Aliana nodded with a smile, expressing that she indeed did feel better. Toni took her bagged costume and then handed the girl her backpack. "You're a bit late, so hurry, kay?"