She's Got Moxie In Her

Cheers To The Future

"You're WHAT?!" Luca burst from his room, falling so clumsily onto the floor that his back cracked from the scorpion pose he faceplanted himself onto. We let out snorts and snickers while he sat there embarrassed.

"You were listening?" I finally could ask in between laughs.

He stood up, groggy and blushing, rubbing his back. "I wasn't trying to," he started. "I smelled pizza."

Cloudy's mouth dropped to the floor when he saw Luca. He stood, slowly, walking up to him like he was approaching an artifact on a pedestal. Luca stood there, too awkward to stop him. Cloudy now had to look up to Luca when side by side with him. "W-when did you get so... tall??" He felt his arms and grabbed him in shock. "YOU HAVE TATTOOS?!"

At this point Luca just became a mannequin and let Cloudy do what he wanted. He lifted and examined random parts and exclaimed at them. We laughed again. Cloudy hadn't seen him in 4 months, so it was understandable that he was so surprised at the changes.

"My dad was tall," Luca said with pride, "I got the good genes."

"Let me borrow a couple inches," Cloudy sighed. Luca's face scrunched.

"Pause, Bro." They shared a laugh.

...

It was now 3 in the morning and we were cackling while playing Uno at the family table. Amy had way too much to drink and brought her full Hispanic dialect out, a first for me since we started dating. She cussed out Luca, who made her draw 10, in Spanish, then caught herself and hugged him, almost in tears that she got so upset with him. I'd never seen him so confused in my life and it was fucking hilarious.

"I will never fucking understand women," He whined to himself.

Cloudy was smiling ear to ear, a peace on his face that brought warmth to my heart. When Zoey came out of her room to grab another slice of pizza, he sized her up the same way he did Luca. She was now eye level with him and his heart couldn't handle it.

His phone rang. It was his new girlfriend. He shot up, a whole new wave of excitement wiping across his face. "Oh shit! It's Faith y'all. I gotta take this," he stepped away for some minutes and didn't return until we finished the last round of Uno. Tired and showing early signs of a hangover, Amy clearly needed to be put to bed. I picked her up, pregnant and all, and carried her to our room, refusing to let her try to fight to stay with the group.

"Ay dios mío bebé," She whined, "I wanNA LOve yoOoOuU!"

"You need sleep," I stood firm, laying her on the bed and taking off her clothes for her. "and to never touch alcohol again,"

"¿porqué? I feel fineee." She pulled me to the bed, making Little Mix shuffle and giving me slight nausea. Amy sobered up a bit after seeing my face change. "Oh shit I'm sorry babe! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I reassured. "This kid loves fucking with my organs tho," Amy giggled, slightly concerned, with sleepiness all over her face. She was already sweet, but she gets extremely lovey-dovey when she's sleepy. I'm just not capable of being aggressive when I look at her cute ass face like that.

"I definitely should sleep, you're right," She nodded, her clothes now fully off except for her underwear. She balled herself into our blankets, demanding kisses from me before I went back in the living room.

As I walked to the light, turning back to see her snuggle into the blankets before I turned them off, I couldn't help but wonder how I got into this situation. How that tough punk girl with all black clothes and platform boots became this squishy little bunny that wrapped herself in a burrito. I felt... blessed.

Blessed that I had her by my side.

Cloudy caught me on my way out the room just as I closed the door behind me. He looked nervous. "Hey, sorry to have to stop and go but..."

"Faith needs you?" He nodded.

"She said she doesn't feel well. I can't move her out here until the baby comes and we can make sure she's okay. We still have to work on her visa." He explained. I only saw him so concerned when he thought about his gang. "I sent my boys in Tokyo to watch after her until I get there, but I gotta go now to catch the next flight in about 2 hours."

I smiled and dapped him on the way out. He waved happily, running down the hill to his car just in front of the gate.

"I promise I'll be back soon! Once baby me is here! Shit, once baby US are here!"

I waved to him. Luca popped his head from under my hip, squeezing me further into the doorway. "Ow, dude? What the fuck,"

"SEE YOU CLOUDY!" Luca yelled happily, "Cheers to being a pop, dude!"

The roar of his car complimented his blue xenon lights. It was clear by the sound of his engine that he customized his car, which looked like some sort of modern muscle car. It was hard to tell from so far away. He backed away and soon was too far to see from the other side of the gate. I sighed. Luca, intuitive as always, picked up on it immediately. I tried to play it off as no big deal— to no avail.

"You've been so down in the dumps lately sis, and I don't think it's little dude." His face was serious. Unmoving.

"Yeah." I agreed.

"Was it Cloud?"

"Not necessarily. I just... am having a hard time adjusting to this new life. This new... peace."

I looked over to him.

He looked constipated.

"You shittin' me?! Girl, bye. I thought it was something serious."

"Fuck?"

"Get used to it. You're free, sis. You don't need to be Red Bull anymore. You made your legacy, and now," his hand rested on my belly, with Little Mix giving a small nudge in response. They were always responsive to him. "This is your new legacy."

A weight sat on my shoulder. Guilt. Responsibility. Worry.

Only the future could tell if this is truly my destiny.