🥺

"You've got to be kidding me," Naala mumbled to herself as she rang Dave for the 10th time. She was currently sitting in the car outside of Sinai's recital, waiting for Dave.

He was meant to meet her at the house but when he didn't show up, Naala decided to leave and meet him at the recital. It was now 7:05pm and the recital started at 7:15pm.

Naala dialled his number once more but this time it went straight to the automated voice message,

"I can't believe this," Naala said out loud,

"Is daddy not coming?" Sinai asked from the back seat,

Naala sighed, "I can't get a hold of him baby, let's get you inside,"

This was very unlike Dave, he would never miss out on anything to do with his children so Naala was quite worried.

"I don't want to go if Daddy isn't here," Sinai whined crossing her arms. Naala took a deep breathe, she didn't want to explode on her,

"It doesn't work like that Nai, look how much you've practiced for today. Don't let that go to waste," Naala said softly turning to look at her in the back.

"How will daddy see it?" Sinai asked feeling defeated,

"I will record every bit of it," Naala replied with a smile, "And I'm sure your baby brother would love to see you dance," Naala added.

"He can't watch me dance," Sinai laughed, "He's too small,"

"He can!" Naala insisted, "Hand me the sling so we can get inside," She said,

Sinai leaned over and handed Naala Saint's sling. Naala put the sling on and then got out of the car. She carefully unbuckled Saint's seat and lifted him into the sling so he could lie on her chest.

Sinai opened her door and got out of the car. Naala walked over and helped her fix her ballet costume,

"You look beautiful baby," Naala cooed trying to snap some pictures,

"Mamaaaa," Sinai dragged out, everyone knew how much she hated pictures.

"Okay okay, I'm sorry," Naala smiled taking Sinai's hand and hiking her purse up on her shoulder. She checked her phone again to see if Dave had messaged her back but he hadn't.

Naala led Sinai into the ballet centre and through to wear all the other dancers were. She leaned down,

"Good luck baby, I will be right out there, okay?" Naala said soothingly,

"Okay mommy." Sinai nodded before walking off to her ballet teacher.

Naala turned on her heels and went back out into where the audience is. She found a seat in the front row and got comfortable. Saint wiggled on her chest to get into a comfortable position,

"You are not about to sleep the whole time," Naala whispered to him before kissing his head.

A white lady sat a few seats down from them and gushed,

"He's adorable." She pointed out as she looked at Saint.

"Thank you," Naala smiled, the woman parted her lips to speak,

"How old is he? He looks too tiny to be out," The woman continued.

Naala raised a brow, she didn't understand why this woman was in her business.

"He's old enough," Naala responded, keeping her response short.

The woman nodded, not understanding that Naala didn't want to talk.

"Is it just you two? No dad?" The woman questioned again.

Naala sighed and rolled her eyes, she could see where this woman was getting at,

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Naala replied mugging her,

"It's just an observation, I don't see a ring either. You people and having children out of wedlock," She said shaking her head,

"You people? Bit-" Naala started but was stopped by the ballet teacher walking onto the stage and announcing the girls. Naala bit her tongue and shook her head, she was here to watch her daughter perform, not to check a racist bitch.

The show started and Naala was in awe of how well Sinai moved across the stage. She kept her promise and made sure to record the whole performance for Dave. Naala was more than disappointed in him, she could face being let down but she couldn't have him disappoint her children.

The performance ended and there was still no word from Dave. Naala checked her phone and saw a message from Mia,

Mimi 💕

Amari says hi!

: my fat fat 🥺

Mia had given birth a few weeks ago and her and Ace were in love. Ace didn't let anyone hold the baby at the hospital apart from him and Mia.

Sinai came running back to her mom, her smile falling when she realised that Dave was still not here. Naala caught her sad expression,

"You were so good baby! The best out of everyone," Naala gushed, to try and make her feel better.

"Really?" Sinai asked with a small smile,

Naala nodded, "Yes! Even Sainty thought so." Naala said just as Saint started to wake up,

"He was sleeping," Sinai pointed out tilting her head to the side.

Naala bit her lip, "He just fell asleep," she lied.

"Oh," Sinai nodded, "Did you record it for daddy?" She asked hopefully,

"I did, from the start to the end," Naala responded.

Naala took Sinai's hand and led her out of the ballet centre. She got both of the children into the car and started the car, leaving the car park.

She attempted to call Dave again and got no response once again. Naala really didn't want to call his mom because she couldn't bare speaking to her.

"I hope you're okay Amir," Naala mumbled to herself as she drove in the direction of their house.

~~

Naala had finally got Sinai into bed, and was currently feeding Saint in his nursery. It was not 11pm and Naala had still not got in contact with Dave, she had decided that she was going to pull up on him the next day.

Saint had fallen asleep with his mouth still attached to Naala's nipple so she detached him and put him on her shoulder, slightly winding him. After she was done, she set him down in his cot.

Naala retreated back down the stairs and into the kitchen to grab a snack. A loud bang sounded through the house causing Naala to drop her grapes.

"Shit," She mumbled as she tried to scoop them up. A series of loud knocks rang through the house again making Naala stand up straight.

She made her way to the front door, "Who the hell?" She asked as she peeked through the peephole. When she saw who it was, she dragged the door open quickly,

"You have some nerve showing up here now," Naala fussed at Dave as she looked him up and down.

"Love?" He croaked, stumbling into the house. Naala smelt the alcohol on him, immediately knowing he was drunk.

"What's the matter?" She asked him as he collapsed on the couch.

Dave avoided eye contact as tears welled up in his eyes,

"Amir talk to me," Naala said softly sitting next to him on the couch.

"T-they killed him," He muttered lowly. Naala raised a brow and moved closer,

"Who? Who died?" Naala questioned putting a hand on his shoulder. The sound of her soothing voice caused Dave to break down into tears,

"M-my pops," He cried leaning onto Naala. Naala gasped and pulled him into her, his head resting on her chest.

"How?" She asked quietly rubbing his back.

"He got into a fight with his cellie and he got shanked." Dave spoke lowly, tears still flowing. Him and his father didn't have the best relationship but he was getting out soon and Dave was hoping to repair their relationship however now that could never happen.

"Oh baby, I'm so sorry," Naala whispered holding onto him tightly. This was weird to her, here she was comforting a man whilst he cried - the same man that was the cause of her crying her self to sleep on many occasions.

"I-it's so fucked up Love, why me?" He cried, his tears wetting her shirt.

"You can't question God Amir," Naala said soothingly,

"Why would God let this happen then?" Dave replied quickly, "My whole life is fucked up, I'm fucked up,"

"Don't say that," Naala replied, "You aren't fucked up, you're just going through a lot,"

"I messed this up," He said lifting his head up, "I've fucked up our whole family because I couldn't bare the thought of you fucking with someone else,"

"Let's not talk about that right now," Naala replied moving away from him,

"Look, you can't even be close to me," Dave said scoffing, "I've lost you huh?" He asked.

Naala didn't reply. To tell the truth, she didn't know what to say.

Dave put his head back onto her chest and sighed. Naala continued to rub his back before something caught her eye,

"When did you get this?" She asked her finger tracing it,

"Last week," Dave mumbled, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

Dave had recently got the initials, N.L tattooed on the back of his ear. Which were coincidentally Naala's initials.

"It's pretty," Naala responded. She was torn, it was a nice gesture but he did walk out on her for 3 months.

"Just like you," Dave replied rubbing her leg. Naala tenses up at his touch, Dave took that as his cue.

"Let me leave, I don't know why I came here," Dave said getting up and stumbling slightly,

"No!" Naala jumped up, "I can't let you drive like this," She said standing in front of the door.

"I don't want to overstep," Dave replied, "How will ole boy feel if I stay here?"

"Don't worry about him," Naala muttered. She led him back over to the couch and helped him take off his jacket and shoes.

"You want to have a shower?" She asked him setting his stuff to the side. Dave nodded and stood up,

"I can use the guest shower," He said stretching,

Naala shook her head, "There's a problem with the shower head in there, you can use my bathroom,"

Dave nodded slowly, "Why you ain't tell me about the shower not working?" He asked.

"I was gonna have a look at it tomorrow." Naala replied truthfully,

"Nah I'ma fix it, you can't do everything Naala," Dave said seriously,

Naala gave a light smile, "You know where the bathroom is," She said leaning against the counter.

Dave cleared his throat, "Yeah I'll be quick," He spoke before walking off towards Naala's room.

Naala sighed, this was really weird to her. They hadn't spoken in three months and now he was about to shower in her bathroom.

Naala walked into her room to get her phone and saw a few missed calls from Gray. She dialled his number and sat down on the bed,

"Hey Teddy," Naala said softly as he picked up. His face lighting up at Naala's smile.

"You good?" Gray asked straight away, it was unlike Naala to not pick up his call.

"I'm fine," Naala smiled, "You miss me already?" She questioned playing with the ends of her hair,

"You know I always miss you when I can't see you," Gray laughed,

"I miss you too," Naala replied, "Are you still at the shop?" She asked looking at his surroundings,

"Mmm, I had a last minute client," He said his eyes going to the left as he watched someone off the screen.

"It's very late," Naala responded. It was now 11:45pm, what tattoo shop would still be open, Naala thought.

"I know but she needed an appointment quickly," Gray explained,

"She?" Naala asked, "It's a friend?" She questioned,

"Yeah something like that," Gray replied, his eyes leaving the screen again. He was obviously looking at someone, Naala could see how distracted he was.

"I was just returning your call, but if your busy I can speak to you later," Naala said getting ready to hang up,

"Nah I -"

"Love you still have some of my sweats or something?" Dave asked coming out of the shower, his towel hanging low on his torso with water dripping of his body. The shower had practically washed away the alcohol and now he wasn't as drunk as before.

Gray's eyes shot to the screen at the sound of a male's voice. Naala ignored his glare,

"There should be some in my closet," Naala replied breaking her eyes away from Dave's chest.

"Who's that?" Gray asked with a straight face, even though he knew exactly who it was.

"Dave," Naala said simply. She didn't have to explain herself to him.

"What's he doing round there?" Gray asked just as Dave left the closet. He was wearing tight grey sweatpants and was topless. His eyes were red from a mixture of the alcohol and crying earlier on.

"We had to speak about something," Naala said watching Dave move around the room. She wasn't quite sure what he was doing because he didn't live there anymore.

"Y'all had to shower before you speak to each other?" Gray asked with an attitude. Judging by Naala's glowing face, she had also had a shower but way before Dave turned up.

Naala rolled her eyes, "Do you know what? Let me call you back tomorrow." She said. Dave looked over at her and smirked.

Naala stifled a laugh at the stupid look on Dave's face, making Gray's face heat up,

"Don't bother," He said blankly before hanging up.

"Look what you did," Naala whined, throwing a pillow at him.

"Good, his ass shouldn't be calling my girl anyway," Dave replied catching the pillow.

"Don't do that," Naala replied with a straight face, "We aren't together,"

"Why though Naala?" Dave asked. Naala looked at him like he grew ten heads.

"Because you called me a hoe when I had sex with Gray even though we weren't together. You then disappeared for 3 months and I was left dropping our children off at your mom's house just so you could see them," Naala explained feeling herself getting angry.

"I was angry," Dave huffed, "I never meant to speak to you like that, the thought of you being with anyone but me made me mad."

"I get that but we're adults, you can speak to me like one. The way you spoke to me took me back to how Darnell used to degrade me." Naala replied, tears welling up on her eyes

"Don't cry," Dave sighed going over to her, "I hate seeing you cry,"

"That's funny because that's all you ever seem to make me do," Naala replied smartly, tears still falling down her face.

"I know, I'm an idiot," Dave said wrapping his arms around her.

"This isn't about me anyway," Naala said softly moving away from him, "Are you okay?"

Dave shrugged, "It doesn't feel real," He said thinking about his dad, "I spoke to him yesterday, he couldn't wait to get out man," Dave said with a sad look.

"Have you spoken to your mom? She needs you by her side," Naala asked, even though her and Sonia weren't on good terms at the moment, she still cared about her at some point.

"She's not trying to speak to nobody, I was round there before I went down to the bar, but she was sat the same place, staring into space."

"What about your sister?" Naala asked again,

"She's not picking up," Dave shrugged. Something was telling Naala that Von was the reason behind her not answering his calls.

Naala nodded but didn't say anything. She wanted to bring up Sinai's recital but it seemed the least of his worries.

"I didn't remember about the recital till after I left the bar." Dave said as if he was reading her mind. "You think Nai will forgive me?"

Naala sighed and looked at him, "I've never seen her that disappointed," She spoke honestly, "She was looking forward to you being there,"

"Damn, I keep fucking up." Dave said mostly to himself. Naala put her hand over his,

"She'll understand why you couldn't make it," Naala reassured him, "I got it all on video for you," She said reaching for her phone,

Naala clicked on the video and handed Dave the phone. He leaned into her and watched the video, he was barely focusing on the phone, he was watching Naala stare at Sinai in awe as if she wasn't there to see the performance.

"She did so good didn't she?" Naala smiled looking at him to catch him staring at her. "What?" She chuckled nervously, smoothing down her hair.

"You're so beautiful," Dave whispered rubbing his thumb under her eye to swipe away an eyelash.

Naala blushed and looked down, feeling nervous under his stare.

"Look at me," Dave spoke grabbing her chin. Naala sighed and looked at him, "Don't let anyone ever tell you that you're not worth the world - because you are." He said quietly.

"Stop it Amir," She said feeling overwhelmed suddenly.

"I can't appreciate your beauty?" He asked letting her face go,

"No because you know what that does to me," She replied biting her lip.

Dave leaned forward and kissed her lips, catching her by surprise. Naala pulled back quickly,

"Yeah no, this was a bad idea," She mumbled standing to her feet. "I'm gonna sleep in the guest room," She said quickly,

Dave also got up, "Nah this is your room, you can sleep here," He said, thinking about how he just fucked up.

Naala nodded, "Okay, I'm gonna go check on Saint," She said walking past him, her sweet smell invading his nostrils.

"Damn," He mumbled looking down at his dick that was now hard, "I need a blunt," He said walking out of the room.

Naala stood in Saint's room with her back against the door. She let her fingers graze her lips and a small smile spread across her face. She craved his touch but she knew it was wrong, especially because of Gray. After checking on Saint, she left the room to find Dave.

Naala found him outside in the yard, she pushed the glass door open and stepped outside. The smell of strong weed over took her,

"You okay?" She asked quietly watching him stare into space. When he noticed her presence, he cleared his throat and took another drag from the blunt.

"I'm chilling," Dave said looking over at her. Naala took a seat by him and crossed her legs, there was something about the way he was smoking that was turning her on.

Dave watched her, "You wanna hit?" He asked holding out the blunt.

Naala shook her head, the last time she smoked, she ended up fucking Gray.

"I am sorry for everything Naala," Dave started, "I feel like I'm always apologising for shit,"

"I think I should apologise too. I shouldn't have had sex with Gray because I knew how much that would have hurt you. Honestly I did it so that you could feel how I felt when you fucked Millie - but I was wrong." Naala sighed. As much as she likes Gray, he was a distraction for her, someone to take her mind off of her hurt.

Dave nodded. "I don't blame you," He said blowing out smoke, "We have a lot of shit to get through," He mumbled.

"We do," Naala agreed, "I think we should actually consider going to Dr Black," Naala said referring to her therapist.

"She's been helping you?" Dave questioned pulling her chair closer to him.

"A lot," Naala nodded, "I've learned so much from her," she finished.

"Then book an appointment," Dave shrugged, "We won't know till we try."