A/N: Hey Guys! I'm back with my next story 'What Comes First'. First I would like to thank my friend MidnightWriter6 for coming up with this title and being really supportive! Go check her out on Wattpad! I hope you guys enjoy this new story and don't forget to tell me what you think!
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"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now landing at the Los Angeles International Airport. Welcome to California! Please remain seated with your seatbelts fastened until the plane comes to a complete stop. The current time is 10:05am and the weather right now is 86°F with a 5% chance of rain. Thank you for riding with us and we hope to see you again soon." A female voice came out of the speakers on the large plane.
"Finally…" Sheva Alomar sighed. This was the longest flight of her life. The first time she came to America from Africa the flight didn't seem so long but this time it felt like years to her. Maybe it seemed shorter the first time because she wasn't traveling with a 4 year old.
Sheva looked to her right to see her daughter's sleeping figure covered to her neck in a soft pink blanket. Her hair was covering her face so she couldn't see her facial expression. Sheva always loved her daughter's hair; it went down to her mid back and reminded her of her own hair when she was her age.
Sheva sighed once again as she looked at her daughter, it took her forever to fall asleep. She would probably be cranky when Sheva woke her up because she only got about 20 minutes of sleep.
'Oh well…' Sheva thought, it wouldn't be much of a difference of the way she was acting before. Sheva gently pushed the dark brown strands of hair out her sleeping daughter's face and tucked it behind her ear. She then shook her shoulder causing her to adjust herself a bit but then to relax and go back to sleep.
"Come on Ayanna, it's time to wake up. We are landing." Sheva told her as she shook her once again.
Ayanna whined as she rubbed her eyes then yawned and stretched in her seat.
"I don't want to get up yet. I'm still sleepy…" She complained as she sat up and rubbed her eyes.
"I tried to get you to go to sleep earlier but you didn't want to. I promise you will be able to go back to sleep soon, ok? I just need you to get up because I won't be able to carry you this time." Sheva told her as she tried to smooth down the messy hair on her daughter's head.
"Ok…" Ayanna quietly agreed.
"Thank you for being a big girl for me."
"You're welcome!" Ayanna smiled.
The plane landed and finally came to a stop. The flight attendant made the announcement that it was ok to get things from the overhead cabinets and start heading out. Sheva stood up and got her and Ayanna's things out of the overhead. She handed Ayanna her backpack, slung her own bag over her shoulder, folded the blanket Ayanna used and neatly placed it in her bag. Sheva grabbed her daughter's hand in her own and led her out into the isle when she had the chance and they exited the plane and walked out into the terminal.
"Where do we go now mommy?" Ayanna asked as she tugged on her mother's hand.
"I'm looking for the person we are going to be staying with until our things get here from Africa." Sheva told her as she pushed past the crowd of people. Before Sheva could start looking, she felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned around to look to see who it was.
"Claire!" Sheva gasped and wrapped her arms around her best friend.
"Hey Sheva, it's been forever!" Claire told her excitedly as she returned the hug. "You look great!" Claire complimented her as they let go of each other.
"Me? Look at you!" Sheva told her with a smile.
"Mommy, who is she?" Ayanna asked as she pulled on her mother's skirt.
"Well you were a baby when you met her so you don't remember. This is Mrs. Claire." Sheva told her nervous child.
"Ohhh. Hi Mrs. Claire!" Ayanna greeted with a shy wave.
"Hi sweetie! You have gotten so big! How old are you now?" Claire asked her as she crouched to be on her level.
"I'm 4 and a half!" Ayanna told her excitedly as she held up her hand. Whenever she told someone her age she always got excited because she was such proud child and that was one thing Sheva was grateful for.
"Oooh, such a big girl!" Claire complimented her.
"I know!" Ayanna smiled. Both the women laughed at her then Claire stood up.
"Shall we go get your bags and make our way to my place?" Claire asked.
"Lead the way." Sheva told her. The three girls made it to baggage claim and picked up their luggage. Then they were on their way to Claire's truck to go to her house.
"Do you want to stop and pick something up or do you want to eat out tonight?" Claire asked once the three girls were in the truck.
"I want to eat out!" Ayanna yelled from the backseat.
"You always want to eat out, that's why you are getting so chubby!" Sheva told her daughter jokingly and then told Claire "Whichever you want to do we will be okay with."
"I think we should eat out. There is this really nice barbeque place Leon and I like to go to."
"That sounds great!" Sheva told her.
"Yay!" Ayanna said quietly as she softly clapped her hands. Sheva just smiled at her and so did Claire.
The rest of the car ride to Claire's place, the two girls talked about what has been going on the past few years while Ayanna was taking a nap.
"How is Ayanna dealing with the whole divorce thing?" Claire asked, she knew that Sheva and Ayanna's father, were no longer together and that's why she moved to North America.
"She's actually taking it well. When we first sat her down and talked about it she cried a lot, but now she dealing with it a lot better. He said he would call her EVERY night and we made a Skype so they could see each other. It just kills me to have her go through this at such a young age." Sheva sighed.
"Well just so you know; you're doing a great job." Claire told her with a pat on the shoulder.
"Thanks Claire. I try…" Sheva told her with a small smile.
They finally arrived at the house and Sheva picked up the sleeping Ayanna and followed Claire to the front door.
Claire unlocked the door and Leon stood up from the couch, walking towards the three with a large smile on his face.
"Hey Sheva, it's been a while…" he told Sheva as he gave her a hug, being mindful of the sleeping child in her arms. The hug ended and Leon looked at Ayanna.
"Hasn't she gotten big?" Sheva asked with a light chuckle.
"She has… Wow, it's hard to believe…" Leon agreed.
"Yeah, they grow up so fast…"
"Do you want to see the room you will be staying in?" Claire asked.
"Yes please," Sheva responded. Sheva followed Claire down the hall and she showed her the room that she and Ayanna would be sleeping in.
It was fairly large and had a light blue theme to it. There was a large bed in the middle and a nightstand that had a small lamp on it on each side. On the left wall there was an empty closet except for a few hangers in it.
"Sorry it couldn't be bigger…" Claire apologized.
"Claire, this is more than enough, thank you."
"No problem, you can go ahead and lay Ayanna down and Leon and I will get the luggage." Claire told her and left the room.
Sheva pulled back the covers and gently laid her daughter in the large bed. Sheva took off her pink sandals then paused for a second and thought if she would change her into her pajamas but remembered they were supposed to be going out to eat. She decided to let her take a nap in her clothes and pulled the blanket over her daughter's relaxed body up to her chin. As she did, she studied her face. She looked adorable and peaceful but that reminded Sheva of someone she wanted to but couldn't forget. Ayanna looked just like her father. She had his nose and most definitely his lips, her skin was a tad bit darker than Sheva's and she had the cutest cheecks that Sheva couldn't help but squeeze sometimes.
Sheva stared at her daughter and sighed, she was so grateful she had such a beautiful and amazing daughter to call hers. She kissed her on the forehead before walking out of the room.
Sheva went down the hallway, through the living room to the front door. She opened it to see Claire and Leon walking towards her with the luggage in their hands. Sheva opened the door wide enough for them to come in and closed it behind them. The two carried the luggage to the guest room and quietly put it in the closet then left the room.
The three adults met in the living room and talked for 4 hours about what happened over the last 4 and a half years. Sheva was so caught up in the conversation; she forgot her daughter was still taking a nap. Ayanna usually took naps for 3 hours so she should have been awake by now.
"I will be right back, I'm gonna go check on Ayanna." Sheva excused herself and went to the guest room. She quietly opened the door and looked on the bed. Ayanna was sprawled across the middle of the bed, taking almost all of it up.
Sheva quietly chuckled at her wild child. Then she remembered she would be sharing a bed with that child.
'This is going to be a pain… literally.' Sheva thought as she took a seat on the side of the bed by her daughter's side. Ayanna must have noticed her weight on the bed and opened her large hazel eyes to look up at her mother.
"Did you have a good nap, baby girl?" Sheva asked once she saw she was awake. Ayanna rubbed her eyes and nodded. She let out a small yawn as she sat up and stared at Sheva.
"What?" Sheva asked with a smile.
"I'm hungry; can I have some fruit snacks please?" Ayanna asked.
"You can have some fruit snacks but only one pack. We are going to go eat in a minute." Sheva told her as she stood up and grabbed a fruit snack packet then handed it to Ayanna.
"Don't eat that in here, follow me." Sheva told her and she offered her hand to her. Ayanna took it and walked out with her mother to the living room.
"Hey sleeping beauty! How was your nap?" Claire asked once they came into view.
"It was good." Ayanna told her as she blushed at the compliment. "But now I'm hungry…" Ayanna added.
"Oh I'm sorry! I totally forgot! Are you guys ready to go eat?" Claire asked.
"We would love that!" Sheva told her, and then she looked Ayanna who was struggling to open the fruit snacks. Sheva took them away from her and opened the package then gave them back to her and she happily ate them.
"You know you just completely ignored me, Ayanna." Leon said as he stood up and began making his way to her.
"Are you Mrs. Claire's husband?" Ayanna asked curiously,
"Yes I am, just call me Mr. Leon." He told her as he crouched to her level.
"Ok!" Ayanna said as she popped two fruit snacks into her mouth.
"Can I have one?" Leon asked as he pointed to the almost empty packet. Ayanna nodded and handed a fruit snack to Leon, who took it with a thank you and popped it into his mouth.
"Yummy!" He said as he rubbed his stomach. Ayanna giggled at this and handed him another one and Leon gratefully took it. She then ate the last one in the packet and ran to the trashcan to throw it away.
"Ok, everybody to the car!" Claire said as she grabbed the keys then handed them to Leon. Everybody left the house and Leon locked the door then they all got into the car.
"Alright, let's go eat!" Leon said as he started the engine and began to drive.
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So there you go, the first chapter to my new story! It's a family thing and I hope there is someone out there who would like to read it. Hope you enjoyed and review to tell me what you think. Next chapter is up!
~Sheva Redfield