look after you ( andrew bazzi )

XV

  "adeline, zion. i'm glad you guys could make it." andrew smiled to the two, giving the woman a hug.

  adeline felt her cheeks redden, the woman quickly looking away after they released from the hug. zions gaze went around the house, there was music playing loudly from outside along with a few unfamiliar people walking around. his eye caught onto a man holding rosalia, the said child smiling brightly towards the man.

  "i— uh, i brought rosalia this for her birthday. i think she'll like it, or at least i hope she does."

  andrew grinned softly at the nervous woman. "i'm sure whatever it is, she'll love." the man licked his bottom lip, hearing his daughters laugh from where she was at. "come on, she's been asking about you all day."

  adeline felt her heart warm knowing the child had asked about her. she saw a lot of unfamiliar faces, only recognizing nate from the times he'd pick up rosalia from school. she sent zion a look that said 'are you okay?' to which the boy nodded, a smile tugging at his lips.

  "rosalia, guess who's here?" andrew asked the child, taking her from jack's arms.

  "miss kuwonu?" rosalia replied, her eyes lighting up.

  adeline and zion walked into sight, the child letting out a squeal of some sort, running to the woman. rosalia hugged her waist, peeking to zion who's gaze was already on her. the boy sent her a smile to which the child looked away shyly.

  jack and andrew watched rosalia with amused grins. adeline bent down to the child's height, handing her the gift.

  "this is for you." adeline said, rosalia taking the bag from her hands. "i like your hair, rosalia."

  "thank you, miss kuwonu."

  "you're welcome, birthday girl."

  "tomorrow is my daddy's birthday, but mine isn't until next week. we just celebrate together." rosalia said, dropping her box of drawings on her bed next to the boy.

  "that's cool." zion replied, leaning back on his arms, watching as the child's eyes darted from the different drawings. "what's your favorite one?"

  "i don't have it with me, i gave it to my mama before she went away."

  zion tilted his head, sending the child a sympathetic look. "i know how you feel."

"i wish my mama could've came to this years birthday party, but she hurt daddy so she would never come here again." rosalia let out a sigh, examining one of her old drawings.

"i'm sure she'd want to come, rosalia. maybe she's scared."

"where's your friend?"

zion let out a soft laugh. "he's mad at me, i think."

"i don't have any friends to get mad at me, at least you have one." the child said, standing up and starting to put her drawings back into the box. "i don't get along with kids my age. they're too immature."

"the right people come at the right time, plus you never really keep friends you have at your age. you grow out of people eventually."

rosalia sat on the bed, sitting next to zion. she furrowed her eyebrows, thinking about her dad and his friends. what if they grew out of each other and they left them like her mother did? she didn't know if her father could deal with losing his best friends too.

"itd still be nice to have someone other than miss kuwonu to talk to at school or even someone to hang out with on the weekend other than my daddy and uncles."