AILANI DIAZ

"what's this?" jalen asks with an amused smirk on his face as i dumped my planner with all sorts of sticky notes and papers falling out of it on the table in the local coffee shop.

"i'm a busy woman, jalen," i said as i flipped through the planner to the current month. "okay," i breathe out. "obviously, you know, the girls are in school mondays through fridays. yaleah does volleyball and raelynn does cheer, so everyday they leave school at three thirty, except for tuesdays and thursdays. on those days they leave at six."

"okay," he nods, so far following along.

"tuesdays and thursdays, i would like them to come straight home since they get out so late."

"they really do sports?" he asks, intrigued. jalen was always athletic. he's been playing sports since he was a kid, all the way into his masters in college.

"yeah," i mumbled. i couldn't help the small smile that formed. "they're really good too. definitely got that from you."

i was too busy looking through my planner to notice the smile on his face.

"do they have any games coming up?" he asks.

i looked up from the book with a blank expression. "they do, actually. i have a picture of the schedule on my phone, hold on."

it takes a few minutes, but once i found it, i sent him the picture.

"oh," i perk up. "they have a game coming up this tuesday."

"is it okay if i come?" he asks.

i shrug my shoulders and look up at him. "most likely the girls are gonna ask if you want to come so, why not."

he nods his head, smiling again.

"fridays is a free for all, sometimes i take the girls out, sometimes they go out, spend the night at a friends, pretty random so don't be too mad if you make plans and they're already booked and busy," i informed him. "saturday mornings i take them to my mothers to spend time with family for a few hours and then after i let them do whatever, homework, hang out whatever."

"what about sundays?" he asks.

i shrug my shoulders. "sundays is another free for all. except no sleep overs."

"i could take them to my parents on sunday," he suggests.

"no," i shoot down.

"ailani,-"

"jalen, get to know them first, please," i urged. "i'm not against you, i'm all for you being their dad but as of right now you're just a stranger to them. as a stranger, don't bring them around other strangers right now."

he opened his mouth to speak but i cut him off, "and no, it doesn't matter that you're all family. trust me, it actually makes the whole thing even weirder."

"asking wouldn't hurt."

i shake my head. "they're only gonna feel forced to go. that's the last thing you want jalen."

"they can tell me no," he argues.

"are you kidding me? those girls already adore you, they aren't going to wanna say no because they wouldn't want to hurt your feelings. just give it some time, please?"

he finally caves. "fine. i'll wait."

i nod. "thank you." i let out a breath. "i gotta head back to work."

...

i came back to my office in a bitter mood. i hate that he's back in my life. i hate having to communicate with him and play nice. being around him always brought stress and anxiety and seems to haven't change, even sixteen years later.

i tossed my phone on my desk and slammed purse on top of it as well.

it was then noah walked in. "hey, did you just come back from your lunch?"

"yeah, i was really hungry," i lie as i take a seat. "i'm sorry i didn't wait for you."

"that's okay," he says, unconvinced though. he was eyeing me with furrowed brows.

"oh my god, what?" i snapped.

"whats wrong with you?" he asked, his head jerked back.

"nothing, noah. i'm just not in the mood to be bothered. is that okay? to not be in the mood?"

he shakes his head. "go ahead, ailani."

with that he left my office.

i felt guilty for the rest of my shift. around four o'clock, i cleaned up my office before gathering my belongings. i made my way to noah's office, where i saw him getting ready to leave as well.

"hey hot stuff," i greet almost sheepishly.

"hey," he greets back, avoiding eye contact.

"i'm sorry about earlier," i apologized. "i just, really wasn't in a good mood and i didn't want to talk about it or be around anyone for that matter."

he looks at me. "it's okay. i can respect that. a heads up would've been nice."

i nod. "you're right."

he smiles as he walks up to me. he slid a hand onto the low of my back and pressed me into him for a kiss. when my lips separated from his, i asks amusingly, "oh, so you don't hate me?"

"please," he jokes. "i've dealt with you hungry. that was a cake walk."

we both erupted in laughter.

"everything okay though?" he asks.

i nod my head and plant a hand on his cheek. "yeah."