more life / b.simmons (2)

38

amari opens the door, sighing in relief as she sees nia behind it, bags en tote. "i tried to get here as fast as i could," nia says, dropping her bags and engulfing her best friend in a bear hug—as best as they can with amaris belly.

amari hadn't told anyone besides tahj, until she just couldn't take it anymore. she knew how nia would feel and react, and didn't want her to stress her out. but sometimes the only way to get through things is talking about them and involving others, so that's what she did.

they hold onto each other tightly, amari squeezing her eyes shut as she tries not to cry for several reasons. "i know this is stupid to ask, but how are you? honestly," nia asks, still holding onto amari.

"awful," amari mumbles. she's cried every night ever since she found out about bens infidelity. she keeps it together all day, but when she goes to bed and realizes that he isn't laying down with her, she loses it. kyra has heard her twice, but keeps it to herself.

"i'm sorry," nia says, letting go of amari and holding her at arms length. she frowns as she notices the bags underneath her friends eyes and her dull skin. "have you been eating?"

"of course," amari says, placing her hand on her belly. the baby is due any minute, and she can't imagine going into labor without ben being present.

"come on, let's sit," nia says, grabbing amaris hand and pulling her into her living room. nia removes her parka and takes a seat next to amari on the couch. "talk to me."

so amari unloads on nia, telling her exactly what she told ben. nia listens tentatively, cracking her knuckles out of habit. she expected way better from ben, and this goes to show that once a cheater always a cheater.

amari manages to get to explaining his reason without crying, but it pisses nia off just hearing about it. "wait—he got mad and decided to cheat? instead of being a fucking man and talking about it?" nia asks, clarifying. amari nods, her eyes welling up with tears. she blinks rapidly to stop them from falling and daps underneath her eye with her knuckle.

"yes, with his physical therapist at that—at least she's cute," amari sighs, leaning her head against the couch cushion. nia gives her a sad look. "too bad she's fucking twenty two."

"twenty two?!" nia exclaims, sitting up. amari nods, closing her eyes and sighing. the baby kicks in her stomach and amari winces. "the baby?" nia asks, her mood going from pissed to concerned in a split second.

"i'm fine," amari says, letting out a breath. nia nods and looks down at amaris hand that rests on her stomach, noticing the lack of a ring on her fourth finger.

amari notices her stare and slumps her shoulders. "we met with a divorce lawyer two days ago," she admits. it was quite possibly the worst encounter she'd ever had. divorces are not easy processes, and all she wanted to do was cry the entire time. it's hard imagining a life without ben, since he's been in it for so long.

nis makes a face and bites the inside of her cheek. she doesn't fully support the idea of the two of them separating for good. "what?" amari asks, noticing the wary look on her face.

"you sure about a divorce? what he did is bigger than just you—think about the kids, amari. you have a baby on the way, you really want to be co-parents?" she asks. amari scoffs. she's tired of being forced to think about the other people involved when it's obvious that ben didn't.

"he should've thought about them before he did what he did. we're getting divorced, and that's that."

nia holds her hands up in surrender. "okay, okay. how are the kids, anyway?"