Part 2 of this story will be on that account ]

𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚃𝚇.

❦

"Look at mommy's little birthday boy!" Mari smiled at Sani who walked into the kitchen holding his dad's hand.

"Mama!" He smiled, letting go of Samiron and running to Mari's legs. She picked him up and kissed his cheek repeatedly as Samiron walked around them to the stove to see what Mari was cooking.

"I'm not done Samiron!" She whined, seeing him already start to fix his plate.

"And? Niggas hungry."

She rolled her eyes, "Dada is fat, isn't he?" She tickled Sani's stomach and he giggled.

"I wish that lil' nigga would call me fat. He'll get his first whooping on his first birthday."

"Bye Samiron 'cause you're not whooping my baby." Mari rolled her eyes before eyeing Sani who had his finger in his mouth. "Hollup because my son is flyyy! Don't play with him, period." Sani wore a black kid's Givenchy shirt with the multicolored logo going across the front, some plain black jeans from Gap and his Air Forces. He was only wearing this outfit until he got to his grandparents house but as usual Samiron had to be extra.

"That's 'cause I dressed him. You would've had my son looking like one of those muthafuckas that play golf with Trump." Samiron said with a mouthful of eggs.

Mari's mouth dropped open, "Yea get the fuck out my face. I don't dress him like that! Only reason I be letting you dress him is because you're a nigga."

"Letting me?" You forgot it took both of us to make this nigga?" He pointed at Sani who was cluelessly staring between his parents with his finger in his mouth.

"Shut up and eat."

"Tuh. You're Sani's momma, not mine."

Mari rolled her eyes, "Sholl am Sani's momma. Ain't that right baby?" She ticked his stomach. "Say I-love-mama."

"Wuv wuvbsbhthsg."

Samiron shook his head and Mari laughed, "Close enough."

⇊

An hour later Mari, Samiron, and Sani arrived at Mari's parents house. Cheyenne and Travis threw the basketball themed birthday party at their house because their backyard space was bigger than Mari and Nasir's houses. They also had half of the backyard sectioned off with concrete to make a half-basketball court because Bri'on used to love playing. So Nas, Cheyenne and Travis paid people to decorate the entire outdoor space to be basketball themed.

There were large tables set up with food and desserts that sat under blue, orange and white balloon arches. Small blue, black and white jerseys that had Sani's name and the number 1 on them were hung all around the area too. Needless to say the grandparents went extra crazy for Sani's birthday.

Sani wore a plain white T-shirt underneath the same jersey with his name on it. His mom changed him into some plain black Nike shorts and he still had on his Air Forces.

Mari held Sani in her arms while she talked to Mayah in the crowded backyard. Sani is a quiet boy but he's never shy so both of his parents were confused because he was being extra clingy today of all days. There were a number of new faces but most of the people in attendance were family members that Sani's was familiar with. Yet he clung onto his mom or dad or stuck with his cousins for a majority of the afternoon.

"Come on Sani, mama's arm hurts." Mari groaned, trying to loosen the arm that was holding Sani. He'd been clinging to her for the past 10 minutes. She bent down to put him on the grass but he just lifted his legs up and whined.

"Aw!" Mayah laughed while Mari shook her head and stood back up. As she continued talking Sani wiggled in her arms to get down and she silently thanked god before putting him down. She thought he was finally going to play with the rest of the kids but she followed him with her eyes just to see that he was wobbling towards his dad who was walking off of the makeshift basketball court alongside Rell and Duck.

"Da!" He whined and held his arms up. Samiron shook his head and picked Sani up. "You just spoiled as fuck, you know that?"

"Bubdhshwh."

"Attitude just like yo momma too. Jesus Christ."

Duck laughed, "Y'all gon' get off my nephew. Lil' nigga just be minding his business."

Samiron shook his head and looked down at Sani who was looking around the crowded backyard. "He's just clingy as hell. Especially with his momma. I can't even touch Mari without his ass tellin' me no."

"He swear he run shit." Rell laughed and tickled Sani's stomach making him giggle and squirm in his dad's arms. Duck, Rell and Samiron sat down at one of the many tables that were set up. Sani leaned back onto his dad as he sat in his lap.

"Zari used to be clingy as fuck with her momma too. I thought she was gonna be a momma's girl but when she was five months she started clinging to me. Tasia's ass was so mad." He shook his head.

"Y'all over here talking about y'all kids and shit. I can't relate." Rell said. It wasn't like he wanted kids right now anyway. He was perfectly fine with his nieces and nephews who clung on to him everywhere he went.

"Maybe if you didn't fuck things up with Aijah you would've had that chance." Duck shrugged, making him roll his eyes.

"What's done is done. She chose who she wanted."

Samiron scoffed while Sani played with his fingers, "It's not like you gave her a choice forreal, my nigga. It was either stay in y'all's toxic ass relationship or move on." He said truthfully. Even though Rell has always been a brother to him, Samiron never hesitated to call him out on his bullshit.

Rell sucked his teeth, "We could've worked through it. She gave up on the relationship. I'm not excusing what I did 'cause I know I was definitely wrong for it but we both played our part. In the end, I was willing to stay and work on us together because I love her but she wasn't."

Samiron spit his Sprite back into the cup and Duck's eyes damn near bugged out of his head, "Hollon.. did you just say "love?"

"Yea.."

"You loved her?"

"Yes nigga."

"Damn. You fucked up."

"You don't think I know that?" Rell narrowed his eyes, starting to get irritated. He knew he was wrong but he didn't want to repeatedly be reminded of what he lost. He was already reminded about it every time he saw Aijah with Thirty together.

"Daaa!" Sani dragged, making Samiron turn his attention away from Rell. "Wassup?"

"Wuvvv ouuu." He smiled.

Samiron laughed along with Duck and Rell, "I love you too, baby boy."

"He's smart as fuck." Duck chuckled.

Samiron popped his invisible collar, "But are we surprised? Look who his dad is."

"He sholl ain't get that shit from you." They heard a voice say. The three boys turned around to see Thirty and Ju approaching the table.

"Shut yo punk ass up, Ju." Samiron mugged but dapped him up. "Where Ry at?"

"Jail." Thirty shrugged after dapping Duck up.

"For what this time?"

"Aggravated assault." Ju said, "The nigga gon' punch the cashier at the lil' corner store because supposedly he was that P.O officer's boyfriend."

"The P.O officer Ry fucked?"

"Mhm."

Samiron shook his head, "A fucking shame."

Thirty and Ju sat down across from Rell and Samiron. Sani crawled off of his dad's lap and went to his uncle Ju who smiled and picked him up. Rell stood up to leave but Samiron stopped him.

"Where you goin'?"

He discreetly glanced at Thirty who was too busy looking around the busy backyard space, "I need to talk to Aijah."

Thirty snapped his head towards Rell with furrowed eyebrows. "What do you need to talk to her fo'?" He questioned while the other boys exchanged glances with each other. Thirty felt like there was no need for Rell to be communicating with Aijah at all. Especially given the fact that he's 100% sure Rell still wants her.

"Nigga that ain't yo business. You're her nigga, not her damn daddy."

"You wish you were huh?" Thirty chuckled.

"Wish I was what?"

"Her nigga— you wish you were her nigga." He reiterated. "It's obvious as fuck you still want her. That's why you don't got no business speaking to her now after that shit you pulled when y'all were together."

"That ain't for you to decide. We grown as fuck. If I wanna talk to her I'm gonna talk to her at the end of the day." Rell narrowed his eyes at Thirty. Samiron sighed and sat up. It was obvious that Rell was getting more rowdy and he wasn't about to let anything pop off between them. Especially not at his son's first birthday party.

"Like I said, after what you did to her it's best you just stop trying to communicate with her. How the fuck you gon' cheat on shorty and get mad when she moves on? Shit crazy." Thirty chuckled again.

Rell took a deep breath. He knew he fucked up when it came to him and Aijah's relationship but he didn't need everyone around him pointing out the obvious. Especially when they acted like Aijah was completely innocent in the situation. Their relationship ended because they didn't know how to deal with their problems and they resorted to finding sanctuary in other people instead. So he didn't understand why he was getting all the heat. Sure he fucked up by linking up with his ex on multiple occasions, but Aijah took it a step further by sleeping with his homeboy multiple times.

"Y'all chill ou-"

"Nigga stop speakin' on shit you don't know about. Yea I fucked up with Aijah and yea our relationship was toxic as fuck but I love her. And still do. You keep trynna use y'all's relationship to intimidate me and I promise you it ain't working. If anything, you're the one who's intimidated by me because if you weren't you wouldn't have a problem with me talking to shorty." Rell shrugged.

Thirty ran his tongue along his bottom teeth before standing up from his seat, still staring at Rell with a look that could kill. Thirty getting up prompted Ju, Samiron, and Duck to all stand up too.

Samiron was the first to walk to the other side of the table and put his hand on Thirty's chest to back him up. "Yo y'all gotta chill out on some real shit." He looked in between the two who were glaring at each other. "Y'all got muthafuckas lookin' at y'all and shit. And on my momma y'all not gon' fight at my son's birthday."

Rell didn't show any signs of backing down but Thirty retreated slightly because he knew Mari would have his head if he caused a scene right now.

"You got it, Rell. I'ma let you be since it's my nephew's birthday and shit. But make no mistake, if I hear you were trynna talk to Aijah on some slick shit, we gon' have a problem. I'm not intimidated by yo ass in the slightest bit. You envy me because I picked up the pieces of the girl you're in love with after you broke her." Thirty looked at Rell who stood there glaring at him silently. Mari had taken notice of the interaction along with a few other family members. She went and took Sani out of Ju's arms so he could help calm them down. The last thing she needed was for her cousin and someone who was like a brother to her to fight.

"At the end of the day, you can't blame no one but yourself. You were sneaking off for weeks to go fuck your ex just to come back and lay up with Aijah in the same night. You had her feelin' like there was something wrong with her. And now that you finally realized her worth you want her back? She's good nigga." Thirty eyed him one last time before walking past Mari, towards the front-yard.

"Just calm down." Duck told Rell who was still fuming. He's always had a naturally goofy personality so it was unlike him to be this mad.

"Man, watch out." Rell shrugged Duck's hand away and sat down in the chair. Mari turned to look at Samiron and Ju who were standing side by side.

"They were arguing ove-"

"Aijah." They both finished for her. Mari shook her head and adjusted Sani on her hip. She wasn't surprised that Rell and Thirty finally went at it. She was just surprised it didn't happen sooner.

While Ju and Duck listened to Rell rant, Samiron led Mari, who was still holding Sani, towards the front of the backyard where the cake table was set up.

"Mir!" Mari and Samiron both turned around to see Travis and Nasir nodding their heads, gesturing for Samiron to come over there.

He sucked his teeth, "They old asses just wanna know what happened. Nosy as hell." Mari chuckled as Samiron reluctantly walked over to their dad's.

"You wanna cut the cake soon?" Cheyenne asked her daughter as she walked off the porch.

"Yea. We been out here for a while and I can tell Sani is tired. Plus my back is killing me." Mari groaned.

Cheyenne eyed her daughter, "You said yo back is killing you? You pregnant?"

"Who pregnant?" Aijah cut in with her wide eyes and a mouth full of collard greens.

"I'm—"

"I knew it! I knew something was different about you." Cheyenne cheesed and wrapped her arms around Mari, bringing both her and Sani in for a hug.

"Oh my god! You're pregnant, I can't believe this!" Aijah grinned from ear to ear and bounced on her feet. "I'm getting my niece!"

"I wonder who you're getting your niece from 'cause it ain't me." Mari said with a chuckle. Cheyenne and Aijah looked at each other confusedly.

"But I thought you just sai-"

"I was gonna say I'm on my PERIOD."

"Okay? Why the whole world gotta know that you bloody?" Mari heard Samiron's voice behind her and she couldn't help but palm her face.

Sani perked his head up when he saw his mom put her head in her hand. Like always, he assumed she was crying or hurt.

"Wuvvvv ouuu." Sani wrapped his arms around Mari's neck and kissed her cheek. Chy and Aijah both cooed while Samiron smiled.

"Aww! I love you too my baby." She showered him with kisses as he giggled and squirmed in her arms.

"Crying and throwing up." Destini fake sniffed, sitting at a table to the right of them with Zion, Cami and Eli.

"Shut up Des." Mari laughed.

⇊

Ten minutes later Aijah was walking back to the backyard with a frown on her face. Thirty had just gotten into his car to leave when Aijah asked him why he was leaving and what was wrong. He told her about what Rell said. It was obvious that Thirty was beyond irritated by how Rell's been acting but that irritation rubbed off on Aijah when he insinuated that there was still something going on between her and her ex.

Aijah felt like her only choice was to confront Rell because she felt like he shouldn't have been coming to find her in the first place. She also felt like Rell had been making people think that they still have unfinished business for long enough and she's kept her mouth closed about it. Aijah was 100% sure her and Rell were done. It was just Rell who wasn't comprehending that.

She spotted him standing on the basketball court next to Eli so she made her way over there. She knew talking to him in front of everyone would probably get back to Thirty but she honestly didn't care. She had to set a few things straight with Rell.

Eli saw Aijah approaching them so he took it as an opportunity to walk away, leaving Rell standing there staring at her.

"We needa talk." Aijah instantly said.

"You ask yo boyfriend for permission first?" Rell chuckled. Aijah could sense the bitterness and sarcasm in his voice but she ignored it.

"I let you slide so many fucking times, Latrell. The slick-flirty comments, the holding on to hugs longer than you should, the staring at me and licking yo lips and making it obvious for everyone around us— all of it. I held my tongue for so long about your disrespect but you have me absolutely fucked up when you try to jeopardize my relationship." She started as Rell stood there staring at her.

"I don't understand why you continue to provoke Thirty because this definitely isn't the first time. Like I honestly don't understand your logic either— YOU cheated on ME. So what? You don't want me but no one else can have me?"

Rell shook his head as he looked off before meeting Aijah's eyes again, "Can you blame me for bein' mad? Especially when you rub yo relationship in my face every chance you get? And let's not forget you cheated on me too."

"First of all, I don't rub my relationship in your face. I act the way I do towards Thirty because we're TOGETHER. You just don't wanna see us together so naturally everything we do is gonna annoy you. And second, I know I cheated on you too— we cheated on each other— but that's more proof that our relationship wasn't healthy. We started having problems and you ran to your ex for normalcy and I fucked yo homeboy out of spite— does that sound fucking healthy to you?" Aijah squinted at him.

She hated how Rell would constantly flip stuff on her just to take some of the heat off of him. She didn't even approach him to talk about their relationship, she approached him to tell him to stop trying to come in between her and Thirty. But Rell's deflecting had her bringing up the past when that's the opposite of what she wanted to do.

Aijah scoffed, "Fuck "healthy," does that sound like something two people with common sense would do? Because it's not and that's the problem. My common sense always went out the window when you were involved and vice verse. That lack of sense led us to doing the stupid shit that ended our relationship. We were toxic as fuck. It's time for you to man up and admit that to yourself."

"Yea I can admit it was unhealthy and somewhat toxic. But at least I was willing to stay and fix the fucking relationship. You gave up on us and damn near ran to Thirty when we broke up. How do you expect me to feel?"