“Are you sure?”
She turned to look at him. “I’m sure. I can stay for a little while longer. I don’t want you to feel like I came over here just to dump my problems onto you and run off.”
“One, we’re in a relationship. So, if you can’t dump your problems on me, then we don’t need to be in one. Two, I know you have other priorities, Jalen. I won’t be upset or fault you for needing to take care of them.”
“I just…I don’t want you to think that you aren’t a priority.”
Rohan scoffed. “We’ve had a conversation about you not treating me like the little boys you dated in the past.”
“I know. Let’s watch another movie.”
He nodded, handing her the remote from beside him and allowing her to choose before he went back to absently scratching at her scalp.
It was going on ten o’clock that night, and Rohan found himself on his laptop. He was doing some Christmas shopping. Last-minute at that, since it was a little over two weeks away, but he’d always done that. He had already gone through and picked out gifts for his mother, brother, niece, and Jalen. He was now looking for something for Kodi.
If he were being honest with himself, he wasn’t sure what to get her. He’d never had to buy a gift for a teenage girl. At least not since he was a teenager, and of all of Jalen’s sisters, aside from her enjoying doing hair, he didn’t really know her hobbies. He in no way was going to try to buy her things she’d need in order to do other people’s hair because he would not have the faintest clue where to start.
He knew he was going to get Landon some canvases and a canvas-size sketchbook. It would go well with the pencil set Jalen was going to get her. He also knew that he was going to get Mikal some comic books. Rohan knew she’d started reading theNew 52and was sure that Jalen had told him she’d bought Mikal the first six, so he planned on getting her at least the next ten.
The twins were fairly easy as well because while they may have shared a face, the things that kept them entertained were completely different. Jalen had told him they liked the same movies, but while Nathan preferred to make crafts, Omari liked to write to kill time.
So, that just left him completely stumped in terms of Kodi. He knew he could get her a gift card, but he felt that was impersonal. Especially considering he’d put thought into his other gifts. He was doing his damnedest to put thought into hers as well.
Deciding that he’d add the other things he was going to get to his cart first and come back to find something for Kodi, he did that instead. Maybe giving his brain a brief break from thinking about it would allow something to come to him easily when he circled back.
However, when he made it back around to Kodi, he still had no clue. So, he decided he’d ask Jalen tomorrow before she went to work. He knew that she and her sisters were having lunch with his mother tomorrow afternoon, so he wouldn’t encroach on that time.
Closing his laptop, he set it aside and went into his bedroom. With tomorrow being Sunday, he didn’t have any major plans and figured he’d do some things around the house. Maybe actually put up his Christmas tree and a few decorations. Not that he had to have them; however, he knew Alynn enjoyed seeing them when she came over.
Since they had done Thanksgiving at his house, they were doing Christmas at his mother’s. He would ask Jalen tomorrow if she and her sisters wanted to join them. Though he had no problem going to them and splitting his time. Especially if that made her more comfortable.
Rohan turned on the shower, waiting for it to heat as he pulled off his clothes and placed them in the hamper.
Once he finished showering, he moisturized and pulled on a pair of boxers, then slid into bed. Turning the television on, he flipped through channels until he came to something he didn’t mind falling asleep to, settling in for the night.
????????????
Jalen walked intoBite N Playbehind her sisters. They were meeting Vivian for lunch, and the older woman had chosen a place that the kids wouldn’t get bored at. For that, she was thankful because she knew the twins well enough to know that once they finished eating, if there wasn’t something else for them to do, they were ready to leave.
Vivian was standing at the front waiting for them, and when they stepped in, she pulled them all into a hug. Jalen was just about to ask if she’d brought Alynn with her when the little girl bounded up to them from the game section.
“I’ve already gotten us a table; I just wanted to wait for you all to get here,” the older woman informed.
Jalen nodded, and they waited for Alynn to hug and greet everyone before going to the table. Jalen could see the four younger girls squirming in their seats, wanting to go play. She refrained from laughing at them.
“Once we have drinks, and you’ve picked your food, you can play until it comes,” Jalen told her three younger sisters, but all four girls responded with a, “Yes ma’am.”
Once they had their drinks. They placed their food orders, and no sooner had the waitress walked off and Jalen had handed Kodi some money to get them all tokens, than the four younger girls were out of their seats.
“Wait!” Kodi called, halting them in place before they got too far away.
“You can go too, Landon,” Jalen informed her little sister, who was shifting in her seat. The teenager nodded before standing up and following behind the rest of them.
They hadn’t really had a conversation about her actions or her apology yet, but Jalen knew it needed to happen soon. She just wanted to make sure she took the right approach. Landon’s words had hurt when she’d compared her to their mother. Jalen wanted her to realize the impact of her words, but not to come from a place of anger, because she had been hurt.
“How have you been?”
“Good,” Jalen responded. “A bit busy. We’ve had more kids than we normally would, now that it’s flu season. How have you been?”
