'We go through a lot in order to meet our other halves.'
"Oh my God, Gwiza, remember me?" I smile as I play with the Gorilla girl Gwiza.
She is so energetic as I remember her to be but sad, she seems to not remember how bestie we were the last time I was here.
She is running all around, am so mesmerized. I really would not complain if I were to live the rest of my life here but I know my life doesn't belong here which is a bum.
"Kai, do you see that?" I ask once I join him.
Visiting the gorillas always drains me but I have grown to love them so much.
They have a way of living that is so close to humankind that's for sure, they are so rare and pure gold for sure. Rwanda knows what it's doing to sustain their lives to not diminish.
"See what darling?" He rests his arm at my waist. I look up at him.
"What I see? How amazing these gorillas are?" He brings his other up and cups my cheek.
He has a small smile playing on his lips.
"I don't know about them, but I think you are much more amazing than them." I smile at him.
"I will take that," I say with a nod.
"You deserve it." He leans in and brushes his lips alongside mine.
I rest my arms around his waist and dwell in the blissful lips kissing mine.
He pulls back and we stare into one another eyes.
I look up in Kai's blue ocean-like gaze and I am surprised at how I can't remember not finding comfort in them. Not living without them in my life.
I don't remember my life before without this ocean-like gaze in it.
"Can we play with Gwiza a little bit more before we leave?" I ask and as he looks down at me, he offers me a smile.
"We?" I smile before I roll my eyes.
"Me." He chuckles and then we meet halfway for another kiss.
I pull back and then walk back to play with gorillas.
Gwiza ignored me but it was fine because watching her is as appealing as playing with her too.
We linger around in the Volcanoes for almost the whole morning.
We go back to the one and only gorilla's nest for lunch.
We get in the helicopter and fly to the city in the afternoon.
We have a late-night flight back and we are going back with the Rwema's back to Los Angeles.
"Thank you for doing everything I asked of you today," I say to Kai as the Uber parks right at the front of my family's house.
I wanted to spend some time with baby Sumac before we left, it's sad because I don't know when I will see him again and it hurts knowing he is going to grow not as close to me as normal siblings are.
But I will put in the effort for him.
"You know I can not deny you of anything." I arch my eyebrows. "Even if I wanted the world?"
He looks at me and smiles. "Let me get the door." I don't obligate.
He gets out and rounds the car and comes to my side to open the door for me.
"Thank you, baby." I take his hand as he helps me out. He kisses my knuckles.
"And about the world, I would give it to you darling. Do you want it?" I look at him and smile.
"You will go and steal and I don't want to lose you to that, so no I don't want it yet." He leans in and kisses my cheek before brushing his lips over my ear. "Whatever you want and it's yours." His words bring a wave of warmth down my spine while his breath tingles my spine making a certain part arch in desire for him.
But he pulls back and grins at me like he knows what he is doing before leading me to the doors of my family's house.
Before we got to knock it flew open.
"Hello, dear sister," I smirk at Yarrow.
"Were you holding your breath for our presence?" I tease him.
"Like hell, I would do. Come here." I giggle as he pulls me in his arms. "Ew, you smell bad." I tease again pretending not to want to hug him but he still holds me close to his chest.
"This is the perfume I wore today, you left it behind." I glare at him when he pulls back.
How dare he make fun of my perfume. They do smell good.
"Hello, big brother-in-law." I smile as they share a bro hug.
I know Yarrow calling Kai his brother-in-law should freak me out but it doesn't. If anything it brings a smile to my face.
"Come on in, Mom is the one that is been holding her breath for you." I walk in shaking my head at that guy, he never changes and truly it feels like it's been a decade.
"Hey, Dad." I was surprised to find him in the living room I thought he would be at work.
"Hey, darling." I smile before walking to where he is sitting, he gets on his feet once I approach him so we can hug.
"Am glad I get to see you again."
"It's why you didn't go to work?" I ask with a frown.
Since when?
"Sort of." He gives me a one-shoulder shrug, I move aside so he can greet Kai.
"There is this game match that I didn't want to miss and then there is you. I couldn't let you leave without sending you off properly this time." Wow.
Am interrupted before I say anything.
"Dad…dad look look." We turn to Yarrow calling Dad and then I realize it's about their game.
"Goooooooo." They cheer together as someone with the ball in the game gets closer to the winning side.
"Shooooooot."
What is going on?
I turn to look at Kai but realize he is also into the game.
Perfect.
"I guess I will go find Mom," I say but no one pays attention and I just leave like that.
The guy turns out to make a win and as I am rounding the stairs I hear cheers and grunts of happiness.
Like the winning team will know or care.
I never understand the feelings behind cheering on games.
Dad and Yarrow have been like but I didn't think Kai also liked games.
Although am glad I get to learn these small things about him.
I walk downstairs to where the baby's nursery is and mom is there rocking the baby in her arms.
"Hey." She looks up at me and smiles.
"Hey, I didn't know you came." I walk to her and hug her lightly.
Baby Sumac is looking up at us.
I poke his cheeks. "Hey you, big sister is here to see you. Were you waiting on me?" I ask poking his cheeks lightly but playfully and he makes my day when he wiggles happily.
"Oh, you like that. You like me poking your cheek?" I do the same thing to his other cheek and he wiggles again happily.
I lean in down to him and shower his cute bubbly face with kisses.
I pull away and make him funny faces while making him voice too.
He shifts and moves wildly in Mom's arms. I keep on poking him everywhere and he eventually laughs with bare mouth. Such a sight I tell you.
"Mom he is laughing," I say feeling taken by surprise.
Oh my God, I reach for my phone and snap a few pictures of him laughing and smiling like he is.
He looks at my phone and stops laughing. It takes his attention but I pull it away. I don't want anything else to take his attention away from me.
I look at my mom as she smiles at us.
"May I?" I gesture to baby Sumac, I want to hold him.
"Yes, sweetheart." She stands up from the rocking chair beside the baby's crib and puts him in my arms.
Missing the absence of his mother's warmth makes him wiggle and move in my arms like he wants to cry.
"Okay, okay Sumac. It's alright." I say slowly patting his back in my arms. "Shhh, it's your dear sister. It's okay Sumac. Shhh it's okay." I say to him and he starts to calm down.
I sat right where Mom was sitting.
"Do you mind getting him to sleep? He just finished feeding and I changed his diaper so it's all about rocking him till he falls asleep." I shake my head at my mother while I keep my gaze on Sumac.
What a shame was it going to be if I didn't grow some pair of nerves and come to meet my parents.
I would not have forgiven myself if I didn't meet him.
"I will take a quick shower." I also nod my head at her absentmindedly.
Baby Sumac has me imprisoned really.
This baby.
I bring my hand to his cheek and run the back of at his soft cheek slowly and slowly, he is looking at me attentively it makes me wonder what he is thinking about.
I move my index finger all over his little body but when I poke him on his side, he takes hold of it.
His grip is strong in just a small hand he has.
It makes me smile when he plays with it and moves his little hand with my index finger in front of him.
He is so cute and so perfect.
I spend time with him until he falls asleep and he doesn't sleep just minutes before mom comes back.
"Let me help you put him in his crib." I let her show me and after we've tucked him in his little crib.
She reaches for the baby monitor.
"Now come have a late lunch with me." I want to object and stay looking at baby Sumac but I know I should spend some time with mom too.
We walk back into the living room but we head to the kitchen, she heats lunch in the microwave before she sets it on two plates.
"Can we eat from the outside?" The guys are aloud that it's reaching all over the place.
We walk to the backyard and we sit at the chairs set there.
"Oh, it's funny how I have missed this place," I say once we sit down.
"You did?" I nod my head. "Yeah, it's funny, right? I didn't want to come but then I came and met this handsome intelligent man in a place where I thought I was going to be miserable." She is smiling at me.
"You know, you never told me how you guys met. All those times I never knew you were even seeing someone."
"I was scared of how you guys were going to take it, I never knew anyone here knew of it and then it came like phew in my face in some way that I didn't know it would." She looks away.
"Me and your father I don't think we will ever show you just how sorry we are. The things we did, what we said." She shakes her head looking haunted by it.
I reach for her hand and hold it in mine. "It's okay, that was something about family, and like you said neither of you knew I was dating so for a small part I understand, and then the other part I forgave you. Please forgive me too for not saying anything to you and making you guys go through all of that." She twists my hold and holds my hand in hers instead.
"Don't apologize, hearing you say you forgave us shifts a weight off my shoulders. I guess what awaits is for me and your father to try and forgive ourselves." I nod.
"You will get there."
"I hope."
"You will Mom," I say to her with a smile. "Listen I want you guys to find time and come visit us in Los Angeles more often, I will also make it my goal because I want to spend time with baby Sumac. I want him to grow while knowing of me." That gets her mind off of things.
"I would love that, I like it." I beam at her.
"Okay, did I tell you that I also met with Kai's family?" She looks interested and she asks looking curious so I tell him everything.
How I loved the Royals and all about the Howard but my favorite is me telling her about how I met Kai.
That incident will always be my favorite.
"So you hit it off then? Was it love at first sight?" It was when she asked me about it that it hit me.
"I guess so, I loved how good-looking he was and then we conversed a little he seemed to get me and I got him but then we had to meet again at the embassy. He caught me doing cleaning chores there."
"Cleaning?" She asks and I realize I hadn't told her. I smile at her sheepishly.
"Am sorry but that first day in the embassy it felt so home to me like I was somehow still in America and I didn't want to miss the feeling so behind your backs, I was assigned the cleaning job but then Kai caught me and offered to let me by his secretary and everything started from there." She looks at me but I can't read the look on her face.
"Well am glad it went well for you but I have to say I wouldn't have allowed you to work there as a cleaner if it hadn't gone like that." I smiled because I knew.
"I would have hidden it." She gives me a look. "I would hope to this very moment you would have learned the consequences of keeping things. For the sake of your love sweetheart please be open, and be the kind of woman to Trenton that will make him always be transparent to you too."
I take her words in seriously.
I know the way me and Kai have been living is such an open life and I hope that it will stay like that.
But I guess I will have to take my mother's advice to make it better.
"Listen I didn't mean to scare you or anything sweetheart because I know every relationship has its way of things but trustworthy is always necessary no matter what even before love." She holds my gaze before she carries on. "Always remember that." I nod my head.
"Am also glad you got to meet your soulmate at just a young age. Go out there and enjoy your life sweetie. So many people aren't lucky like you are. We go through a lot in order to meet our other halves, always remember how lucky you are and hold on to your love. A man who stood there with you even when your family was against you. Lily Samantha, he is definitely a keeper."
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THANK YOU FOR READING.