"Mr. Kazimir, I'm ready for bed!"
"I'll be up in a minute, Khristina."
Hearing small footsteps run downstairs, Kazimir places his sewing kit on the table and Khristina takes a seat next to him.
"Is Mr. FluffFluff almost finished?"
"Yeah, just let me finish this last stitch."
The small girl tilts her head in curiosity as she watches Kazimir stitch the teddy bear's foot together.
"Did your mama teach you how to sew?"
"No, I actually had to watch a few videos. Okay, your stuffy is all better now."
Smiling, Khristina happily takes the stuffed animal from Kazimir.
"Thank you for helping him, Mr. Kazimir! Mr. FluffFluff, thank Mr. Kazimir for helping you."
"Thank you for helping me, Mr. Kazimir!" Khristina says, mimicking a fictional voice.
"You're both welcome. Now let's get you two tucked in and ready for bed."
Following the little girl up the stairs, the young detective chuckles as she energetically ran ahead.
"Is that lady gonna be all better by tomorrow?"
"No, Khristina. It takes much more time for humans to get better than stuffed animals. It's good she's in a stable condition, though."
"I heard Ms. Nyelle said there was a baby in the fire but she died."
"As unfortunate as it sounds, that's correct."
Holding her stuffed animal tighter, Khristina looks up at the ceiling fan.
"I'm glad that you weren't injured, Mr. Kazimir."
"I know, Khristina. I know."
Kazimir watches as the small girl begins to drift off to sleep before placing a goodnight kiss on her forehead with his hand.
"Sweet dreams, little one."
——————
"Alright, your exam results are in. Now, I want you all to remember that if you didn't do well on this one, I'm going to give you one more chance to make up for it."
Watching as the professor walked over to his computer, the curious law students eagerly kept their eyes on the smartboard to see what place they'd came in.
"Here you are. I'm only showing the students who ranged in the 200th rank to the 11th rank. For the students that came in places 1-10, I'd like to call them to the front so that those who didn't score as high as they would have liked can come to those who scored highly and ask them for advice."
"Let's go! I came in 65th!" Jai says, rocking both Lennox and Alexei back and forth.
Smiling over at his two friends, Lennox subtly nods.
"20th. I can respect that."
Hiding his smirk on the inside, Alexei fixes his wristwatch as the professor begins to call out names of the top 10 students.
"And coming in 1st place, Alexei La'rine. I'd have to say this is a very impressive young scholar. With all the hardships he's currently going through, he's still managed to take the top spot. Job well done."
Walking to the front, the young man turns and watches as the class gave him a round of applause.
"I designed this exam based off of the national bar exam, watering down 97% of the questions." the professor says, closing his laptop. "If you came under the 100th rank then I'd strongly suggest a retake. You are all dismissed."
"You did it, Alexei! You beat those stupid triplets!"
Jai happily gives Alexei an slightly aggressive hug before turning to Lennox and another girl.
"Well done, bro." Lennox says, patting Alexei's shoulder. "Crazy how you still showed every single one of us up."
"Thank you, thank you. Now, may I have an introduction to the madame here?"
"Oh shit! I almost forgot!" Jai says as he makes his way over to a caramel-skinned girl with glasses and braids. "This is Yimirah Midton. She's new here; came about two weeks ago. Yimirah, this is Alexei La'rine. He's really, really nice!"
Giving the girl a warm smile, Alexei gently shakes her hand.
"Well, what kind of a winner would I be if I didn't show acknowledgments to the lady here? It's a pleasure to meet you, my love."
Smiling, Yimirah places a hand on her heart.
"Thank you. It's finally nice to meet you; both Jai and Lennox have told me lots about you."
"I'll get my mom to make us dinner!" Jai says as he walks in front. "I wanna introduce you all to her! As a matter of fact, what's y'all favorite food?"
"Medium rare steak." Lennox says. "Especially if it's grilled."
"Spaghetti." Yimirah replies.
"It really doesn't matter." Alexei adds.
"Yeah, Dréy told me that you were a big foodie! Yimirah, Dréy is Alexei's older brother."
Chuckling, Alexei shrugs.
"I can't hold Andréy against that."
"He also has a little sister named Khristina and a cousin-
"Jai, I believe I can speak for myself." Alexei interrupts. "Yes, I do have a half-brother who is 2 years my senior, a little sister who is 15 years my junior, and my cousin Laurenté is 11 years my senior."
"I have an older brother who is 29. He's paralyzed from a work-related accident so that's the reason why I'm trying so hard to get through law school. I want to hold the company accountable for what they should be ashamed of."
"I'm sure your parents are very proud to have such a bright young woman in the family."
Yimirah gives Alexei a smile and shrugs.
"I hope so. I don't get to see them often since they're in the hospital with an unknown illness. Fortunately, they write me letters filled with so much inspiration, it's almost like they're standing behind me and giving me hugs of praise."
"Glad to hear that."
"Are your parents the same as well?"
"Mine actually passed away back in November." Alexei replies as his voice grows quieter. "A week before my birthday actually so it's a little hard to talk about sometimes."
"I'm so sorry to hear that. I'm positive they're smiling down at their successful son, though."
The young man lightly smiles and looks up at the sky.
"I'm almost certain they are. I promised myself I wouldn't let my father's name be forgotten."
Swinging his keys around his fingers, Jai waves his hands in the air.
"Yimirah! Would you like to come ride with me?!"
The young woman smiles and nods as she begins to walk over.
"She seems like a decent girl." Alexei says as he makes his way over to Lennox. "How'd you all meet?"
"The triplets that Jai's always talking about were following her around and taunting her a few weeks back. You should know the rest from there."
"I see. Unfortunately, she doesn't really seem like a girl who would fit into the law career. She's too…compassionate. If Jai likes her, maybe he can turn her into a housewife in the future."
Turning to his classmate, Lennox raises a brow.
"I mean, this is a male dominated career." Alexei continues as he watches Jai open the car door for Yimirah. "We all know women love to argue but would it be enough to keep a man out of jail?"
"At this point, I think so."
"I'm not talking petty relationship arguments, I'm talking about actual logic. While I do believe women were created to be a man's equal, society was absolutely useless in getting them to the point that now they want to feel the need to work labor and 9-5 careers. I believe that a man should do every bit of the financial providing while his wife stays home and takes care of the household."
"I can see where you're coming from." Lennox says, nodding. "As long as she's being provided for, though. Let me ask you this; what if you were to meet a woman that you really liked but she didn't want to give up her career to be a stay at home
"Then I'd wait. While waiting, she'll get spoiled with gifts, extravagant dinners, and we'd go house hunting together before I pop the question. Once she realizes that I'm willing to provide for her, then she'll quit immediately."
"ARE YOU TWO GONNA COME ON OR DO I NEED TO DRAG YOU BOTH TO YOUR CARS?!" Jai screams from across the parking lot as people turn to look at him.
"Yeah, we'll be right there." Lennox says, holding up a finger. "Alright, one last question; what if you unexpectedly lose your job?"
"Then I'll get another one." Alexei replies as he begins to walk over to his car. "Even if it's illegal. The hell do I look like having the female gender providing for me who was made to be superior over her?"
"Yeah, but illegal? What if she doesn't agree with it?"
"Who said I was telling her that I'd lost my original job in the first place? If she were to find out, she'd have no say regarding my career affairs; she's just a stay-at-home mother. My wife better not even think about sharing her opinions with me into what I do for a living."
Lennox watches as Alexei walks over to his car and chuckles.
"Damn."
————-
"Mama! Mommy, I'm home! And guess what?!"
Taking his shoes off at the door, Jai runs into the kitchen, followed by Alexei, Lennox, and Yimirah.
"Congratulations again, honey! Oh, are these your friends?"
"Yeah! Meet Yimirah, Lennox, and Alexei!"
"It's very nice to meet you all." Jai's mother says, smiling as her son clings to her. "I'm Daphne Domonkos. I'd like to thank you all for helping take my son out of his room. My goodness, this boy was always on the computer until he came here for school."
"Ahhh, mama!"
"Anyway, dinner should be ready in about the next hour."
"Alright." Jai says. "Come on, I'll show y'all my mancave!"
Heading downstairs, the four enter a large room filled with neon LED lights.
"This is where I basically spend all of my time when I'm not at school or out with you guys."
"It seems so cozy in here." Yimirah says, placing her hands behind her back.
"It is! And y'all can come over whenever you want! Feel free to get comfortable for now!"
"Do you guys think I should take the next test the professor is giving?" Yimirah asks, as she sits down next to Jai.
Lennox gives her a small shrug
"Only if you're ready. It's kinda tough if I'm being honest, so you really need to be prepared."
"But Yimirah's hella smart! Why don't we study for the next test together?"
Turning to Jai, Yimirah gives him a warm smile.
"I don't mind."
"Can we play some video games now?" Lennox asks, picking up a game controller.
"Yeah!" Jai replies as he passes everyone a controller.
"I'd like to thank you all for taking me in your group. It's nice to feel welcome in a place that's very different from what one knows."
Jai gives the young woman a large smile before hugging her.
"Awwww, no problem! Now, what do y'all wanna play?!"