#Nali’s starting to feel some type of way about having Rosie’s family so close and getting closer to them

[lady-assnali]

Ooooh we’re feeling Rosenali for this “six sentence” Sunday because of course we are.

“Again! Again!” There’s peals of little laughter as the pigtailed girl skips ahead, turning only to poke her tongue out at her aunt teasingly. She laughs along too, calling out a warning about staying close while exaggerating her steps into wild stomps. The boy on her shoulders squeals with delight, roaring along with her. He’s freckle-faced and pudgy, his tiny hands grabbing at Rosé ’s as they chase down his sister.

Denali skips ahead, roaring at the girl before swinging her around in her arms. She beams at the sounds of pure joy coming from her stomach, the way Rosé ’s double clings onto her arm the second Denali puts her down. They’re side by side, the child chattering happily at Denali about what she learned at school.

This is the third week in a row their typical Wednesday routine has been like this; her sister had recently picked up an extra shift, leaving too big a gap between the kids’ school and her return from work, and the ginger had been eager to add this hour into her routine.

Wednesdays being their day, it was only a matter of time before Denali began to tag along instead of meeting her later on. This had been Rosé ’s favorite day before, but now…now she looks forward to it all day, the fuzzy feeling she gets when they stand at the door, Samuel on her shoulders while Ava comes barreling toward them, throwing herself into their arms while cheering their names.

They hold onto her hands, swinging her between them. Sometimes Denali sneaks ahead with her, the two of them locked in their own little gossip that she’s not permitted access to because ‘Nali’s my best friend and only best friends get to know.’

Sometimes, Rosé and Ava take the lead with their scooters, singing loudly while Denali shouts out song requests. They get sillier and sillier, the three of them wiggling around on the sidewalk to their own made-up musicals.

Sometimes, Samuel snuggles his face into Denali’s shoulder, holds her cheeks with his pudgy little hands and babbles at her. She dotes on him-on both of them-so adoringly that Rosé feels this new, unfamiliar longing tugging at her heart. Sometimes, she really wants this-the sidewalk routines, the inside jokes, the scooters and after school snacks and a child’s hands in their own. It comes as a surprise-a real shock. She’s loved her niece and nephew their entire lives, would do anything for either of them without so much as a second thought. But kids of her own, that lifestyle…she’s never wanted to change the way she lives now, with the freedom of childless life and the whirlwind of performances and the selfish nature of coming and going as she pleases.

But when Denali kisses Samuel’s cheeks, or braids Ava’s hair at the kitchen counter?

Yeah, she wants this.