"we fell in love the way you fall in leaves."
Juwan "Rocky" Rockwell has had a pretty hard life. Between trying to find a way to fend for himself and dealing with the normal hardships of teenage angst, he had nowhere to turn as an adolescent and no...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"teams"
"Yo, what's up?" I nodded, Andrea widening the door for me and pulling me into the home shortly after. "It's good that you got here so quick, Rocky. Ava's pacing in the living room. Let me take your jacket," the urgency of the situation was evident in just her mannerisms and quicker-than-usual rate of speech.
I took off my denim jacket, handing it to her as I stepped into the living room. There, there was a small pool set up, Mrs. Winters filling it with water and checking its temperature.
"Rocky," Ava immediately called my name, waving me over to where she stood. "Is it your back again, sweetie?" her mother inquired as I halted right in front of Ava. She nodded, her nose crinkling as she placed a hand on my shoulder while the other was on her lower back.
"I got it," Andrea jogged over, coming from behind me and massaging her lower back a bit while both of Ava's hands became planted on my shoulders. She gazed up at me, her eyes of deep chocolate seeping into mine.
I smiled slightly, my hands finding the sides of her belly. "You're so beautiful," I told her softly. Her eyes only fluttered closed, a deep exhale escaping her lips as they formed the shape of an O.
"Remember, Ava. Do whatever you need to do. Pace, dance, curl up— whatever," her mother instructed.
Ava only nodded, seeming to still be handling whatever pain was rolling through her currently. Her hands joined behind my neck, her head resting against my chest while my hands moved accordingly.
"Rocky, sway a little," Ava said to me, and I did as she requested, essentially slow dancing with her.
"Am I helping at all?" Andrea asked. "Mm-mm," Ava shook her head. "But it'll pass. I appreciate your effort."
"Girl, this is what I'm here for," Andrea scoffed, smoothing the fly-aways of Ava's curls back so her ponytail remained uniform. "Is Angel coming?" Ava asked. "She's on her way. She's stuck on Broadway. You know they work those interns like slaves," Andrea replied. "Mommy, is Dad on his way?" Ava inquired.
"He's stuck in a meeting, but he's on his way," her mother answered. Andrea scoffed and muttered under her breath, "whatever that means."
"'Drea," Ava spoke, looking at her in a way that made her older sister roll her eyes. "Sorry for being 'negative.' I just— you know how he is," she reasoned. "Yeah, I do know, but I don't need to be reminded," Ava stated. Andrea sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry. . . Holler if you need me."
With that, she excused herself in order to go to the kitchen.
I decided not to comment on the conversation, knowing that Ava only wanted to dwell on the positive right now. Instead, I hummed softly to serve as our music as we swayed.
