Finally
Chapter 26: Finally
“They really love Meena.”
Tawan and Ira were laughing and talking to themselves in hushes as they watched their children play with Meena in their backyard.
They were wrapped around each other on the lawn chair again like from a few nights ago. To celebrate Mr. Tek finally approving a presentation for the summer launch issue, they invited Meena over for dinner and wine and to also catch up without the pressures of work. The twins were ecstatic when she walked through the door and announced her presence, practically pouncing onto each of her legs in greeting.
“I feel like a million bricks have lifted from my shoulders,” Tawan sighed thankfully, pulling her closer to her.
Ira pecked her cheek then rested her head back on her shoulder to stare at her.
When the team got the green light for the rough draft, the first thing Tawan did was call Ira to tell her. She could feel her wife’s worries disappear even through the phone, and it made her smile and sigh in relief knowing that one obstacle for her work had been overcome. This was such good news that Ira prompted Tawan to ask Meena to come over and celebrate. She wanted to seriously take her up on her promise to visit their home again to have dinner and spend time together once things started to settle down.
“Now, we just need to book our trip to New York,” Ira said, watching a piece of her her hair blow in the wind.
“Don’t worry. I’m working on that,” Tawan chuckled and turned to press a kiss to the spot between her eyebrows. She had already spoken to Mali and informed Meena ahead of time about leading the team.
Ira smiled and closed her eyes. “And don’t forget Greece,” she told her when she pulled back.
“I promise I won’t forget about Greece,” Tawan chuckled again and rubbed up her back.
They settled into their embrace and watched their children and Meena for a moment before Ira asked Tawan what was next for her at work.
Tawan told her that Lai’s plans were to set up her conclusions of her time with Vibe/Me to show that the leadership and team were already well on their way to success if they had complete creative control. Ira had to refrain from rolling her eyes and inhaling sharply at her mentioning that name, so she focused on the positives of what she was saying or else her anger would show. The remaining time of the two months that Lai was hired for could not hurry up any faster for Ira.
Meena gave the twins high-five, telling them she was going to take a break, then headed back over to their parents. They smiled at her as she plopped down into the lawn chair beside them and took a deep breath with a very happy smile. She had nieces and nephews back in her home province that she missed dearly because they thought she was their super, rich aunt - titles she took seriously.
Tawan and Ira adjusted in their embrace some so they could face her a little to talk.
“Did they drain your energy?” Tawan joked making them all laugh.
“More than Sushi but no more than my nieces and nephews back home,” Meena winked in jest as she grabbed her water bottle to take a sip.
“No wonder you’re the #1 aunt,” Ira praised sincerely, making her blush some.
Tawan and Ira asked Meena more about her family back home and if she had any plans to visit them.
It felt nice to talk about something other than Vibe/Me unless it pertained to Tawan and Meena’s expertise outside of their duties to their employer. Meena wanted to prod Ira some more about her bringing up earlier that she was going to make her Instagram public because she had some ideas. Ira was taking mental notes and Tawan smiled as she listened to them bounce ideas off of each other.
Meena smiled as she watched Tawan mumble something against Ira’s temple as they watched their children roll around playfully in the grass with each other.
She was still curating her personal celebratory Instagram post for having completed their summer issue rough draft that needed little to no rework. Meena, scrolling on her phone, snapped a picture of the deeply in love couple and added it to her collection. She wanted a few more pictures and would post everything that night to close the stress on a high note.
“So, Ira, anything new on Versace?” Meena asked, leaning on her armrest excitedly. Both women looked to her and smiled.
Ira shrugged and sat up some more in her position. “Mali said she has a phone call with him tomorrow and she would have an answer then on a meeting if they wanted to move forward,” she responded with a nervous and unsure smile.
Tawan squeezed her back close and kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry,” she reminded against her hair.
“Yeah,” Meena agreed, waving her worry off. “My insiders tell me they are seriously looking for new talent and to boost their Asian markets.”
“Really?” Ira asked curiously, sitting up a little. She had some disbelief in her being up for that consideration.
“Babe,” Tawan chuckled and leaned back to look at her.
Ira frowned at her, wanting her to be serious about how this could go either way. Meena giggled at them and their dynamic.
“I don’t have the job, darling,” Ira reminded her again, rolling her eyes shyly.
“Yet,” Tawan reminded her, raising her finger the same.
“Yeah, I’m hearing that they are making their final selections this week,” Meena added as she grabbed her wine and took a sip.
“How do you always know everything?” Ira asked, laughing in amazement.
“Networking,” Meena answered and tapped her pointer finger to her temple. “I never forget a name or a face. People respect that when its genuine and not for selfish means.”
“And the fact you have helped boost a lot of those brands engagement over the years,” Tawan added knowingly, looking to her pointedly.
“Eh, yeah. I guess,” Meena agreed and shrugged humbly.
Tawan chuckled and shook her head. “The both of you are blind to the impact of your talents,” she gently teased as she looked back to the twins.
“Oh, this coming from someone who was named in the top ten young leaders of the nation last year,” Meena teased back.
“She is worse than us,” Ira chuckled, grabbing her chin to shake teasingly.
Tawan rolled her eyes and tried to shrug them off. “That’s in the past. We’re talking about now,” she mumbled in retort.
“Don’t be modest, my love,” Ira persisted, pecking the corner of her mouth. “You more than earned that AND it was your first year.”
“Yeah, Tawan,” Meena chimed in. “That’s a huge deal for someone in their first year of leading a large magazine.”
Tawan thought about what they said momentarily before shrugging again at how shy she felt being praised by the both of them.
Meena snickered behind her hand while Ira continued to stare at her with a proud smile, always admiring how modest and dismissive Tawan could be about her skills and achievements. It was something that she both loved and would be irritated the most by her because she wanted Tawan to see how valuable she was and the great work that she did. Another reason why Ira wanted to strangle Mr. Tek for how he affected her wife.
“Thanks again for inviting me over for dinner. I really appreciate it,” Meena said appreciatively and they looked to her.
“You are always welcome to our home, Meena,” Tawan smiled assuredly and nodded the same.
“You are our family,” Ira added, scrunching her nose at her.
Meena looked away shyly making them all laugh. “Thank you,” she said sincerely, bowing her head at them.
Suddenly, the twins started screaming and they all snapped their attention to them.
Their concern was quickly replaced with confused amusement when they realized it was enthusiasm. The twins were yelling in cheers at Sammy landing his first bicycle kick. Star had been coaching and tossing the ball to him while he threw himself backwards to try to kick it into the back of the net.
Tawan quickly untangled herself from Ira to shoot up from her seat as it registered with her what had just happened. She ran over to them with her hands thrown in the air like a proud dad whose child just won the World Cup. Ira and Meena laughed at her as she dog piled on the twins and rolled in the grass with them, their infectious little laughs mixed with her hearty one piercing the air.
“She looks like their coach,” Meena joked.
“She basically is,” Ira affirmed, smiling as she watched the loves of her life.
Meena smiled as she watched Ira look at her family as if there was nothing else in the world.
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“Momma? Do you think I can make the bicycle kick in a game?” Sammy asked, looking up to her as she tucked him into bed.
Tawan smiled and leaned down to kiss the bridge of his nose. “I think you can do anything you set your mind to as long as you keep practicing. That’s why you made it today,” she told him.
Sammy giggled up to her, his hands becoming fidgety with excitement as he clasped them under his head. Tawan laughed as she leaned down again to press a kiss to his cheek then her nose to his hair. She was so proud of him and how much more confident he was becoming with his sports skills. Though she never pressured her children to participate in activities that they did not want to, she was ecstatic that they embodied so much of her athleticism.
Though she did not grow or birth them, her personality traits, mannerisms, and so much more shone through them just the same as Ira’s did.
“I know what I want to do for my science project now,” he informed and she pulled away.
“Oh,” she hummed and kneeled beside him, running her fingers through his hair. “What are you thinking?”
“Space!” He said excitedly making her chuckle.
“Space,” she repeated and nodded along. “Okay. We can stop by the bookstore tomorrow after guitar practice to pick up some things. I have a few in my library, too.”
“Really?” He asked curiously.
“Yep,” she answered and nodded. “Before Momma graduated in journalism, I wanted to be an astronomer. I had a telescope when I was your age that I would use every night to look at the Moon or Saturn or the stars.”
“A telescope?!” He said more excitedly and started to sit up some. “Momma, can we get one? We got to use one when we went to the space museum! It was really cool.”
Tawan chuckled as she made him lay back down. “I’ll talk to Mommy,” she told him.
Sammy cheered and leaned over to circle his arms around her neck to press a loud kiss to her cheek before hugging her tightly in appreciation. Tawan smiled and squeezed him close around his middle, pressing her nose to the back of his neck then kissing the spot. Nothing brought her more joy than fulfilling her children’s wants and needs because they looked at her like she could pick up and move the Earth.
Tawan laid him back down and kissed his nose as she told him she loved him.
Ira was finishing tucking Star into bed, a very meticulous undertaking with their daughter because she valued her sleep more than almost anything. She loved how Ira carefully fluffed her pillows, gently laid her down into the bed to get her in the right position, and tightly tucked the covers around her. Star always giggled when Ira would lean down to pretend to eat her cheeks and pepper her face and nose with kisses which made Ira’s heart swell in love at how precious she was.
Both parents wished they could keep them this small and innocent forever as they kissed them both goodnight.
“Everyone good?” Tawan asked them, grabbing Ira’s hand to head to the door.
Star and Sammy both replied yes and snuggled under their covers as Tawan closed the door. She led her and Ira down the hall to their bedroom so they could get ready for bed. For once, and especially on a Monday of all days, they were able to enjoy a peaceful evening that ended in laying in bed without much worries.
Though Ira still had the issue of Lai weighing heavily on her conscience, her family, friends, and work gave her much needed distractions. Tawan actually felt like she was floating now that most of her work stresses had been alleviated.
“When was the last time we got to lay down for bed before 9 PM?” Tawan asked, turning on her side to her wife and smiling.
Ira finished fluffing her pillow then laid down close to her. “Before we had children, that’s for sure,” she half joked, making them both laugh as she turned to face her.
“I feel like that is all going to change,” Tawan whispered mostly to herself, her eyes looking past her in deep thought.
Ira smiled and reached over to caress her jaw. “Two more years,” she reminded her.
Tawan looked back to her eyes and smiled. “Or less,” she added.
Ira smiled and leaned over to kiss her and Tawan looked at her closed eyes for a second before closing her own.
They definitely felt like it something different was in the air, a heavy presence that sat in the corner of the room and watched them as if it were waiting for the right moment to jump in. Despite it not feeling negative and having a sense of much needed change, Ira’s mind fed her that it had something to do with Lai. For Tawan, she felt like the shackles she had been wearing the last year were coming loose.
Either way, both women knew that what was to come was inevitable and long overdue.