BANGIN' (Urban)

THIRTY-NINE

Zyaire was gorgeous.

Nadine missed her little niece, but the young girl standing in front of her was not the same one she left all that time ago. As Zy opened the door, Nadine's breath caught at how much she had grown up since they had last seen each other. She was taller and her cheeks had lost their baby-like quality. She smiled from ear to ear, looking up at her.

"See?" She said, looking back towards someone in the living room.

She didn't immediately register it was Braxton, but she knew it was him. She felt that connection between them tugging at her, pulling her in even though she hadn't moved at all.

"TT, come inside!" Zyaire grabbed her hand, snapping her out of the shock that had frozen her in place. Once inside her old home, she set her small duffle bag on the ground and knelt down to Zyaire, really taking her in. She cupped her cheeks and smiled, letting tears drop down her face.

Zyaire raised her eyebrows and frowned. She mirrored Nadine's movements, placing her own small hands against Nadine's face. She used her thumbs to wipe away the tears that stained her cheeks. The gesture made Nadine feel like sobbing, but she held it in. "Don't cry, TT. I missed you!"

"I missed you more, Zy. You don't even know," she smiled, hugging the little girl close. She was surprised that Zyaire still remembered her, and the fact that she did made her feel warm inside, as if no time had passed between them at all.

"Where did you go?" She asked innocently.

Nadine froze. She couldn't tell Zy what exactly happened to her, but a good lie had eluded her. She looked down at their hands locked together, trying to find a way to answer the question.

"Um..."

"Zyaire, let your auntie breathe. Already askin' her so many questions."

Nadine felt something inside her relax after hearing his voice. She felt like there had been a wire coiled tightly inside of her, wondering if she'd ever hear that voice again. While she was fighting for her own life, she imagined he was too. She couldn't know whether or not he would survive whatever he was facing; after all, she almost lost him more than once.

Nadine hadn't looked at him since entering, only feeling his presence and hearing his voice. That voice that was just the right pitch, deep enough to send waves down through her stomach.

Heart racing in her chest, she turned to face Braxton. Those bottomless brown eyes met hers, and she all but melted.

She knew from his mug shot that his hair had grown out and his beard was much fuller. But the image that floated around the news cycles didn't do him justice. It didn't show the way the little coils in his hair were sponged to perfection, the neat trim of his facial hair, or the way his muscles were larger and perfectly contoured. It couldn't do justice to the deep brown of his skin, only a few shades darker than her own, still soft and smooth as she remembered.

"Naytee!" Zyaire snapped her out of the trance she fell into. Nadine didn't even notice if he looked at her the way she looked at him; she was just too shocked, too in awe to even realize that he had the same look of longing in his eyes.

"Yes, baby?" She let her eyes linger on his features for a second longer, then turned back to Zyaire.

"Come play wit' me! Unc don't wanna play dress up, but I got a good outfit for you..."

Braxton opened his mouth, probably to tell Zyaire to back off, but Nadine looked at him and nodded. She needed a little time to gather herself after seeing him; any speech she had practiced to say to him had jumbled up in her mind, her thoughts completely scrambled by all of the emotions she began feeling all at once.