"No no no!" I exclaimed grabbing his Burberry sweater I'd stolen from his apartment a few days ago, he didn't seem to mind anyway, he thought it looked better on me than it did him. It automatically became the most expensive piece of clothing I 'owned’ the second I tossed it in my closet. "I didn't mean it, let's go!" I grinned childishly and he leaned down to kiss me, and when he did so Keomi threw a fluffy pillow at us.
"Not fair please leave I can't do this right now!" She groaned and we laughed.
"Um River Gene told me to tell you to give her a call, she said that you know what it's about," Keomi added just as we were walking out the door. I looked up at him in question but his gaze didn't meet mine which was odd, but I didn’t care because they were friends and knew each other long before he even knew my name.
We made our way to his car and I deliberately took a seat in the back out of respect so his mom could sit in the front. As we make our way over to the St Agnes Women's Clinic I noticed how truly exquisite Paris was in winter, the leaves had almost completely fallen off and left the trees barren in expectation for the frost to soon fall. I reached my hand outside the window as we drove but River scolded me and told me to close the window. We waited patiently in the parking lot for his mom.
"Your dad is rarely home is he?" I asked and he looked back at me with a wry smile,
"No, he's always really busy." River disclosed turning up the heat in the car, "Not to mention he doesn't quite like the holidays."
"Aww that's a shame, why not?" I replied, drawing shapes on the window due to the humidity,
"It reminds him of when mon grand-mère passed away, it was on Christmas Eve," River told me,
"I'm sorry." I apologized, mostly because I felt like I had to- I didn't know what else to say, River simply shrugged nonchalantly,
"Don't apologise, I never even met her, he was twelve when it happened." River added and I wrapped my arms around the front seat to place my hand on his, there was a pause before he asked, "Would you ever want to go back to Kenya permanently?" I give him a slight laugh at that,
"Just because you miss something, no matter how dearly- doesn't mean it's the right thing for you."
I told him and I felt him thread his delicate fingers through my own, "But if you're asking what I think you're asking, I'm not going anywhere." I assured him and he didn’t think I noticed but I saw him smile a little in the mirror.
Just then I saw a woman waving at us from the entrance of the clinic, she was beautiful, absolutelybreathtaking. She had luscious locks of chestnut brown hair and the most radiant natural olive skin, it was a slightly darker honey than River's. She wore a dainty floral white dress and as she made her way over to the car with her hand over her growing belly I could see her eyes. I knew those eyes, they were the first thing I captured in her just as they were the first thing I'd captured in River. Sharp, almost cat-like, the kind that pierced your very soul and made you feel seen.
"I'm sorry that appointment took much longer than I'd expected, didn't mean to keep you waiting-" She spoke like what I'd imagined a silver stream to sound like, she had a not-so-heavy Hispanic accent, she placed her Louis Vuitton handbag in the front seat before pausing when she saw me, "Ahhh now who is this beautiful young lady in the back?"
"Maman, this is Armani Nnandi, my girlfriend." River introduced me and my cheeks caught fire at the use of that word, I hadn't really thought about it much and it felt odd to say that I was in fact River Kennedy's girlfriend.
"I'd been waiting for you to finally introduce me to the mystery girl I've been sensing in your apartment this past month, took you long enough." She teased before reaching out her hand to me and shaking it, "I'm Violette, it's a sincere pleasure to meet you, Armani, my son hereneverbrings any girls home."
"It's a pleasure to meet you too." I beamed trying to make a good first impression, "Congratulations on the baby!"
She smiled at that and placed her hand over her belly, I'd assumed she was only just entering her second trimester. "Thank you, sweetheart, they’re a real kicker this one, I can tell they’ll be quite the opposite of their big brother here. I had him when I was nineteen, didn't even know I was pregnant until three months with him because he was so silent." She told me, brushing a loose hair away from River's face, she had this youthful essence about her- she didn't look a day over twenty.
"He still is," I added and she laughed,
"True, but what can ya do?"
"I'm notthatquiet," River commented starting the engine up again,
"You spoke your first words when you were two years old." Violette contradicted and I couldn't help but laugh, "We considered speech therapy only for those first words to beI have nothing to say."
"Oh gosh, emo since birth huh?" I teased,
"Home?" River asked her and she paused,
"Yes and you're both coming with me, do say you'll stay for a late lunch?" She insisted and I quite literally could not say no.
"Maman..." River warned but she proceeded,
"I'll make your favourite." She persisted and he turned to look at me for confirmation,
"Of course, I'd love to." I agreed,
"Great then!" She said buckling her seatbelt, "Let's go Mijo."
We drove for a long while to the countryside. All the homes we passed by were old and luxurious, but none even remotely compared to his parent's residence. There stood the tall faded grey brick walls surrounded by infinite acres of evergreen oak trees that'd lost their leaves in the harsh winter. I read the gold sign that readViolette Manor.
