more life / b.simmons (2)

39

three months later

amari cradles her new born son in her arms, watching him with a content smile on his face as he sleeps. it's been an interesting three months, to say the least. for starters, amari moved out and now has her own place, but the divorce is currently not in process. he still wears his ring.

amari knows that the house she's currently living in isnt permanent, due to the divorce being put on pause. it's a lot smaller than the other house because she doesn't need all of that space when the kids have one year left in high school.

she knows that she still loves him, and probably will never stop. they're connected in more way than one, and it's too valuable to completely cut off. amari will always have love for ben.

everyone might've thought that the birth of their son, cameron, would further push them apart, but if anything, it made things the tiniest bit better. the three of them shared a few nice moments alone in the hospital, with nobody else. ben is just as involved as he was with the twins, even though they're not living under the same roof.

cameron makes a baby sound and his eyes flutter open. he stares up at his mom and amari strokes his face gently, causing him to smile. she moves him and holds him against her chest and rubs his back. cameron is a happy baby, but he's very quiet. his birth was scary because he didn't come out crying and she thought they were going to lose him. but he eventually cried and then was diagnosed with asthma.

adrian barrels down the stairs, gym bag on his back. "leaving?" amari asks.

"yeah, i'm meeting julian and mark," he says, walking over and sitting down next to his mom. he takes his baby brother away from amari and kisses his cheeks. adrian loves cameron like he's his own, it's cute. "man, i cant wait for when he can talk." adrian says, tickling cameron's sides and making him squeal.

"i can! let him be a baby," amari says. the doorbell rings and amari gets up, already knowing who it is. "kyra!" she yells before unlocking and opening the door.

she lets ben inside and he stands in the foyer, dressed nicely. "where's cam?" he asks. amari points in the living room with her thumb.

"i'll go get him," he nods and she turns around to walk back towards the living room. and maybe it's because he rarely sees her and can't have her, but he swears she gets finer with age.

kyra comes out of her room and jogs down the stairs, dressed in blue jeans, a white corset top, jordans, and jewelry. "hey, daddy," she says. he smiles at her just as amari comes back with cameron.

ben takes his son from amari and kisses his face repeatedly, making cameron giggle. amari watches them, a small smile on her face. ben is the best father to her kids. "he's getting so big," he comments, gently tossing cameron up in the air.

"be careful—and i know," she says. ben gives her a look before kissing cameron and handing him back to amari.

"ready?" ben asks kyra, holding his hand out for her. she nods and says good bye to her mom and baby brother, kissing them both. she shouts a bye to adrian and the two of them are off.

they hop in bens rolls royce and drive in the direction of analieses place. it's her baby shower/gender reveal today, and kyra willingly volunteered going with her dad—partially for support and the other half because she wants to know the gender of her future sibling.

"are you excited?" she asks, hooking her phone up to the bluetooth to play music.

"yes and no," he says. kyra nods, because she understands without him having to explain it completely. it's great to be there for his kid, not the guests.