Today is Kenzo twenty-sixth birthday. He's out with the team celebrating. They won the rest of the games after the loss in Toronto. So they didn't beat themselves up too bad.

I realized over the last few days that Kenzo's very protective. He was trying to figure out ways to get to me or me get to him while he was away. He felt like he couldn't do enough for me with all the distance. I reassured him that I was ok.

Char and I finished getting everything together for tonight. I'm glad my brother was able to go tonight to the party. He's helping me get the guys back here to my place.

I kept my look simple, a sleeved metallic gold jumper suit, with strapped gold heels. My now mini baby bump was visible. I made sure Char took my picture so I can add it to the baby book.

I bought Kenzo a little gift. I hope he'll like it. What do you get someone who has access to just about everything?

After a few hours went by I heard a knock at the door. I don't know what Jr did to convince Kenzo to come through with some of the team, but he did it. A few of the players and their women came with them.

"Surprise!" We all yelled as the door opened, catching him off guard. I snapped a photo.

He started laughing. "What's this?"

"This is your surprise, after-party." I smiled at him.

"Damn y'all got me. I can't believe all of you were in on it." He smiled, shaking his head while looking around at everyone.

"She pulled it off, Zo. We just agreed to show up." Marcel's wife Bria spoke. "Her brother told us he needed to get you back here and that she was planning something for you.

I smiled to her, Char and I are huge fans of her on the reality show. She's the one on there that's grinding and making things happen. It's inspirational to see.

Kenzo walked over to me and grabbed my face connecting our lips. "I missed you so much." He went in for another kiss. I started laughing, just because.

"Aight that's enough of that. Get the fuck off my sister." Jr. joked, which made Kenzo add more kisses, making dramatic lusty moans.

Everybody shook their heads walking off, leaving us. We continued kissing on each other. I missed him too.

"What did my brother say to get you to come with the team?" I asked curiously after we finally stopped kissing.

"He said you got off early and that it would mean everything to you to see me on my birthday. I guess he had already clued in everybody else. They all started saying they were coming along too. I thought I was coming to surprise you. I didn't plan on seeing you until in the morning."

"Smooth." We both laughed. We walked over to the kitchen, where I had food prepared.

"Thank you, everybody, and special thanks to my pretty lady Adira and Jr. Red. Thank you as well, Char, for helping her with everything. I'm happy Adira has you in her corner." They shared a genuine smile. "Now, let's eat!"

Everyone agreed while forming a line to fix the food. I said a beautiful prayer, thanking God for filling the room with such amazing people to celebrate Kenzo's birthday.

Char and I pulled Bria to side. We wanted to meet her officially. The guys were all clowning and joking around about the game.

"It's so nice to meet you. We're such huge fans of the show."

"Thank you, and as much as Zo talk about you, I can say the same for you. Marcel said when he met you last week at the fan appreciation Zo was acting like a little schoolboy." She smiled.

I laughed nervously, changing the subject. "This is my best friend Char, you're my weekly inspiration, and she's my daily inspiration." I hugged Char from the side, squeezing her.

"Uh oh, this pregnancy got her acting all mushy. I promise you on a regular day she's not like this." Char joked making us laugh. I shoved her a little.

"Nice to meet you, Char, I love your style. With your curls, I love a short style. Let me guess you're into the nineties era?" Bria smiled, admiring Chars hair, which was similar to hers.

"Yep and the early two-thousands, but mostly the nineties." She started doing the Bankhead bounce. Bria joined in doing the tootsie roll, and I started doing the running man. We were so random.

"Aye, aye, aye." All three of us said in unison, hyping each other up. The guys looked over laughing.

"That's my shit," Char added.

Our laughter died down. Bria gave me a serious look. "Marcel also told me about what happened between Zo and his mother."

I looked at her, my brows came together, and I sighed. "Yeah, it was bad."

Char rubbed my back for comfort.

"Don't sweat it too much girl. This isn't a new thing for them. Marcel's always telling Zo he needs to create some boundaries as a man. —But Zo's learning, he'll get there. It's not easy when there's friction with a family member, especially when it's mom."

"Yeah." I started rubbing on my stomach.

"How far along are you?"

"I'm five months."

"I remember those days, and Marcel wants more. I told him he better figure out a way to push them out." She paused, smiling at my stomach. "It's a good feeling though, bringing in new life."

"Right, I love it now. It was rocky in the beginning, but I think I'm finally settled into this pregnancy thing." I smiled at her.

My brother came walking over to us. "Char I need to steal you for a moment."

She smiled, looking up at my brother. She had to look up with her short self. "Excuse me, ladies." She walked off with my brother holding her hand. They went over to the sofa, and she sat on his lap.

"Well, alrighty then," I smirked.

"Come on, let's go see what the men are talking about. — Remember what I said, don't let it get to you. The only thing that matters is how the two of you feel about each other. Y'all don't owe anybody anything."

I nodded, and we walked back over to guys and the other ladies who were talking amongst themselves. I grabbed my little gift off the table.

Kenzo snaked his arms around me from behind, rubbing on my growing bump. I leaned my head back against his chest. I was content.

Next thing we knew we felt some movements. It caused Kenzo to move his hands instinctively. "Woah, you felt that?" He asked.

"Yes, that was her first big kick. — It feels so crazy." I grabbed his hands, placing them back on my stomach and covered them with my own hands. We felt her kicking again.

"That seals my day. Babygirl just wished me a happy birthday. —I think she likes me."

I smiled, rubbing over his hands. "I think so too."

I had his gift looped around my arm. He glanced at it. "Is this for me?"

"Yes." I nodded. "It's not much, but I think you'll like it."

He pulled away from me, turning me to face him. "Anything you do is more than enough for me."

He pulled the gift bag from my arm and opened it.

He chuckled, pulling out the items inside the bag. "Thank you, baby. I love it."

I smiled. "Now you have the same essential oils I use, and you can take them with you on road games. There's some shungite stones in there also to protect your energy. You wear it around your left wrist."

I held out my wrist. "See so that you can match mine. Energy is everything, always protect it no matter where you are in this world."

"This means so much Adira. —With everything going on with my mom and what she said, it's been weighing me down. I don't like fighting and arguing with her, but she was disrespectful." He looked into my eyes, and I continued to listen. He's been avoiding dealing with this.

"I know I have to figure out how to make things better, but right now, I need to focus on changing my living situation. I can't keep crashing at your place when I'm home." He smiled.

"I need to find somewhere to live, and then I can deal with my mom. —I also have to let her go as my PR, and that shit is going to be hard. So I appreciate this gift. It means you pay attention and you listen." He added while wrapping his arms around me.

"Y'all come on so we can cut this cake," the rookie Jackson spoke out loud, grabbing our attention. We walked over to sing happy birthday. I pulled my phone out so I could record this moment. Everybody gathered around.

I got him a specially made cake with this year's championship hat and rings. It had fondant molds of him and his teammate holding up the O'Brien Championship trophy.

"This shit fyyye!!!— That's right Adira speaks it into existence. We're taking it all the way." Jeremy, the center stated loudly, and everybody made noises agreeing. Everyone took out their phones, taking pictures of the cake.

"Thank you, baby." Kenzo leaned in and kissed me.

My brother went over to light the candle while I held my phone up. We started singing happy birthday. He made a wish and blew out the candle. Everybody clapped and chanted.

Everything worked out perfectly today. Kenzo had a good time. His birthday was a hit.

We finished straightening everything up. Everyone started leaving. I noticed Char and my brother heading out at the same time.

"Goodnight Char, Goodnight twin," I smirked at them.

"Goodnight." They said in unison with sheepish grins on their faces.

I rubbed at my stomach, giving Char a look with my brows raised. Letting her know not to do anything I've already done. She laughed and waved me off.

Finally an empty condo with just Kenzo and I. After everything was back in its place and neat we decided to turn it in for the night.

We made our way to the showers and got ready for bed. Our showers we're quick, the exhaustion level was pretty high.

I climbed in my usual spot on the bed and Kenzo got in on his. We've gotten pretty comfortable with each other.

"Damn, I had fun today." He pulled me close to him.

"Me too." I snuggled up closer to him, raising my leg over his getting comfortable.

I sleep in his shirt with only my panties underneath. I've been getting night sweats, so less is more. He's usually only in his underwear. He loves skin to skin contact.

I guess him being here during his off time brought on a lot of new things. Us getting closer, being familiar around each other. Kissing is such a habit for us.

"Goodnight baby girl, let mommy get some sleep tonight. We're proud you're finally kicking around and everything but let her get some rest, ok?" Kenzo said to the baby, looking down at my little stomach poking out between us.

"Goodnight Mr.-"

"Don't even say it." We laughed.

"Ok, I'll stop. Goodnight Zo." I leaned over and kissed his forehead.

"Goodnight Dira, don't forget you're helping me house hunt tomorrow." He kisses my lips, and I nodded.

****

We left the third house and nothings sticking. It was either not where he wanted to live or not very appealing, to his liking. All of them, in my opinion, was equally nice and spacious.

I wore a light floral sundress with some gold strapped sandals. I knew we planned to walk around, so I came prepared. My hair was down, in its same state from yesterdays party. It paired well with my dress. I'm learning.

Mr. Kenzo Martin, on the other hand, was dressed to the nines in his pink suit. It didn't clash or anything. The shade of pink chosen went perfectly against his skin.

"Ok, Kenzo I have one more to show you today. I think you'll like this one. It's out in Calabasa, so commuting to the games won't be an issue. You already know the area and some of the neighbors. I think it would be a great fit."

"Ok, but remember man nothing over six thousand square feet. I don't want it to be too big."

"Got it, go ahead and follow me over." The realtor motioned over to his vehicle.

We made our way back to the Escalade. Benjamin waited for us to open the door. We got in, and Tyson did his usual thing securing the car before joining us. The other guard Bo went ahead and got in the passenger side.

We came up to a beautiful home after we entered the gate and drove through to a secluded area. I smiled at Kenzo.

"You like this one?" He questioned.

"I love this one. I think it's not too much, but at the same time, it is. It has a lot of windows, so it has natural lighting. You can have parties here. You can relax and have your privacy."

"I like it too. I guess we can check it out." We all nodded. Then made our way out to head inside.

The house was contemporary with very high ceilings. The outsides were painted in an off white color, all cement with big tall palms trees all around. It has a six-car garage and a grand entrance. Hills and trees surround the estate, and cemented walls adequately guard it. This is definitely a beautiful place for him, plus some of the other teammates live out here as well.

"Didn't you say your family lives out in Oaks?" He asked me.

"Yep, not too far from here."

"Well that's good, —it's still about thirty minutes from your condo though in Lincoln Heights."

"Yeah, but that's ok. It hasn't stopped you from seeing me before."

"You're right." He grabbed my hand. We continued to view the inside.

After we did a walkthrough, we met up with the realtor down on the first floor in the kitchen which was extremely open and brightly lit.

"So what do you think about this one?" The realtor smiled.

"Jonah I think I need to keep looking. I like it, but I want to make sure. —It does have way too many bathrooms for this to be a six-bedroom house. I don't need that much space, but I don't mind it. —I don't know."

"That's ok, Kenzo we can keep looking. I can email you tonight, get a few more options together for you. You are ok with this area right, we agree on that?"

"Yeah the areas perfect, either this or Hidden Hills. My families not too far, I can easily get to them. Adiras family is close. This area works."

"Alright we'll be in touch, and it was nice meeting you, Ms. Adira."

"Thanks, same to you," I replied, smiling.

"Alright, Jonah we'll be in touch." They shook hands, and we all left out. I guess its back to the drawing board with this house hunt.

Kenzo got in the vehicle after me gulping his chilled drink straight from the bottle. I had to steal a few glances. The pink suit he was wearing was doing something to me.

"I'm starting to think you have separation anxiety. You don't want to leave me." I stated as I fastened my seat belt. He placed the bottle in the holder and pulled me close to him.

He began rubbing my stomach. I smiled filled with contentment. He leaned in and propped his head on my shoulder.

"Where to Zo?" Benjamin asked with a smirk, he already knew where.

"Back to her spot." He mumbled.

We busted out laughing as we made our way back to my condo.

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