“Dad, can I sit down there with Landon?” Mikal asked.
Rohan turned to look at Mikal at the same time Vega did.
“If you want to,” Vega responded.
“Sure,” Rohan replied simultaneously.
He’d gotten so used to Landon and Kodi calling him dad whenever they went somewhere, and the two thought some woman was hitting on him. So now, when he heard it, it was like an automatic reaction. Jalen laughed as she shook her head while he and Vega chuckled because Rohan knew Mikal was speaking to Vega. It was just a reflex.
She slid down to the bench below them, and instead of sitting beside Landon, she situated herself on the teenager’s lap.
“You have to get up when they’re about to call Kodi’s name so I can get some good pictures,” Landon informed her, but mostly, didn’t mind.
“I will,” Mikal responded.
They’d finally started calling the students’ names. Each row stood and lined up on one side of the stage and walked up to collect their diploma as their name was called. When Kodi’s row lined up, Mikal slid off of Landon’s lap, so she could stand to get ready to take pictures. Kodi was ninth in line, and when her name was called, they all cheered loudly. The twins stood and jumped up and down on the bleacher Mikal was standing on. Rohan and Vega both kept hold of them.
Kodi turned to wave at them since they weren’t sitting too far up from the field. It was one reason they’d arrived an hour early when Kodi had to be there. So, they could get good seats. He could hear yelling from down the way as well when Kodi’s name was called, and knew it was Trent, his mother, and Alynn.
They’d shown up when the ceremony started, his mother texting him and Jalen to let them know they’d arrived. Once Kodi was back in her seat, and the ceremony carried on asnormal, the twins and Mikal returned to what they’d been doing previously.
They only had a couple of rows left to get through, and then the closing speech before it was over. Nathan turned to Jalen and tapped her on the shoulder.
“Can I have some juice?” she asked.
“You had two juice boxes before we left, and I’m sure you’ll want some when we go to lunch. So, no more juice right now, but you can have some water if you’re thirsty.”
Nathan shook her head before looking up at him. “Rohan, can I have some juice?”
“Nathan, Jalen just said no,” he responded.
“That means you’re going to say no to, right?” Nathan asked with a pout.
“Yes, I am.”
The six-year-old sighed before turning her attention back to Jalen. “Okay. Can I have some water?”
Jalen reached into the small backpack she’d brought and pulled out a water bottle. She handed it to Rohan, and he opened it, giving it to Nathan. She took a couple of drinks before passing it to Omari after asking if she wanted some. When Nathan took it back, she handed it to him, and he replaced the cap.
Once the ceremony was over, they went onto the field to meet up with Kodi. Everyone congratulated her before they took more pictures. They were going to lunch, and later that night, Kodi was going to a graduation party one of her classmates was hosting.
After taking pictures, they went to the parking lot. Rohan, Jalen, and the girls got into Jalen’s vehicle while Vega got into his rental, and his mother, brother, and Alynn got into his brother’s car. They’d rented a section at Kodi’s favorite restaurant for the occasion and headed in that direction.
After they finished lunch, they went to Jalen’s apartment. His mother, Trent, and Alynn went home. Once they arrived, the girls headed down the hall to their rooms to put up everything they had and take their shoes off. He sat on the couch with Jalen while Vega sat on the loveseat.
“To think I could have missed this,” he said, shaking his head. “Missed her graduating, her college acceptance.”
“We’re glad you didn’t,” Jalen replied. “I know it means a lot to her to have you here for this moment. To have you here when she received the acceptance into her first-choice college.”
Rohan couldn’t begin to truly understand how Vega felt. However, he knew that if he were in the situation, he’d feel the same. Vega had taken it better than Rohan was sure he would have. He himself would have been pissed, and there was no guarantee he wouldn’t have said something to Valerie.
Vega hadn’t spoken to her at all outside of when she’d popped up at Mikal’s birthday party. He commended him for that.
Kodi was the first one to come back down the hall, and she sat on the loveseat beside Vega, tucking one of her feet under her.
“I thought that now with school out, I might come to stay with you for a little while this summer. You’ve been coming here, but I want to know what your life in Colorado is like. Maybe Mikal and I can both go if that’s okay with you and Jalen,” Kodi said, looking between the two.
Rohan watched as Vega smiled before turning his attention to Jalen.
