30

                                    

                                          
*June 30th*
                          
Amy's POV 
"Amy! Your ride is going to be here in any minutes. Are you ready? Have you packed your toothbrush? Your brush? Do you have your passport? What about-" 
"Dad. I think I've packed everything. I'll only be gone for six days." I said wheeling my suitcase out of my room to the lounge room. 
"Oh. I'm going to miss you so much." Dad smiled and hugged me tightly. I let go and picked up Charlie's plush toy up. 
"Snuggles!" Charlie reached for her plush toy. I bent down and got to Charlie's eye level. I gave her back her plush toy. I smiled at her. I've never been away from my family like this. My birthday is in a couple of days and I'm not going to be celebrating with them. 
"I'm going to miss you so much." Charlie wiped her eyes. 
"I'll be back before you know it." I smiled and kissed her forehead. She nodded. "I'll get you a present from my trip." I smiled and she hugged me again. 
"You ready to go love?" Dad asked me and hugged me again. 
"Yep. I'm all packed." I smiled and grabbed my handbag. I had my passport, in the front pocket with my purse. Anthony opened the front door. 
"You ready?" Anthony asked. He was picking me up and taking me to the airport. 
"Yeah." I smiled and said my last goodbye to my father and sister and left. 
"I hope I've got everything." I mumbled. 
"Babe. You'll be fine." Anthony said as I got into the cab with him. We had made it to the airport. 
"I-I guess this is I check in. I'll call you when I land." I smiled to Anthony as he pulled my suitcase of of the trunk of the car. 
"Im going to miss you so much." 
"It's only six days." I laughed and hugged him 
"When you get back, I'm going to throw you a party. I'll be the one organising it, not you." Anthony smiled and I nodded. 
"Looking forward to it." I smiled and kissed him. Anthony brought me closer to him by pulling my hips closer to him. 
                          
~*~ 
                          
I got off my second plane and landed on the island. I sighed. I already feel out of place. I picked up my handbag and rolling my suitcase down the road where my Grandmother waited. "You're late!" She said pulling me into her house. It was 9pm. 
"Sorry!" I gulped. She showed me to her room and I put my things down. 
"You need to rest. I will speak to you in the morning." My Grandmother said and I lay on the uncomfortable bed. 
                          
~*~ 
                          
July 4th 
                          
I rolled over and picked up my phone. I smiled knowing I had finally turned 21. I stretched my arms up and got out of bed. 
"Ata psi!" My Grandmother smiled. 
"Good morning to you too Kuia." I smiled and she walked over and hugged me. 
"Huritau Oaoa." Happy Birthday, I quickly translated in my head. 
"Thanks Kuia." I smiled and she gave me a present. 
"Open it up." She smiled and I opened up a box. It was a dress. It had a floral print to it. "You can wear this tonight." She smiled. 
"Kuia it's gorgeous." 
"It was just like your mothers. Except hers was red, and yours is blue." She told me and passed me another small box. "This was your mothers." She smiled and I opened up the box. It was a piece of string with a traditional symbol on it. It was a spiral. "This. This is what your mother had tattooed on her." My Grandmother told me. "If you don't want to-" 
"Oh I will." I smiled. At 11:00 am my Grandparents would take me to get my tattoo done. My family in this village created a tradition that when you turn 21, you shall get a tradition tattoo. Apparently it hurts more than a regular tattoo. I was shitting myself. I hate needles. At 4:00 pm I am meant to get ready for my birthday dinner, where the locals in the village bless me. This night is meant to be full of dancing, singing and eating. I grabbed my phone as it vibrated. 
"Hello?" I smiled. 
"Happy Birthday!" Anthony shouted in the phone. I could also hear Daveed, Lin, Oak, Phillipa, Jason, Leslie, Brian and Jasmine shouting the same words. They were so loud I could've become deaf. 
"Thanks guys." I smiled and my grandmother walked out of my room. "What time is it over there?" 
"It's currently 10:37pm." Lin yawned and I looked at my clock. It was 8:37am here in New Zealand. "Why are you guys all together?" I questioned. 
"Bro! Lin threw a massive party! You're missing out." 
"Geez. Thanks Oak." I rolled my eyes. I loved celebrating my birthday in America. Americans Independence Day was always awesome in New York. The parade, the fireworks, the entertainment. 
"Hohoro Ake!" My grandfather yelled from the lounge room. 
"What did he say?" Jasmine asked. 
"Does he hate us?" Phillipa asked. 
"No no. He just told me to hurry up, that's all." I told them. "Look guys, thanks for the phone call but I've gotta go. I'll talk to you later." I said and hung up. After hanging up and sent a text to Anthony saying, 
-Thank you. I miss you. 😘 
Freckles: No worries love. I'll call you again later 
-Looking forward to it. 
                          
~*~ 
                          
"Let's see what it looks like." My grandmother said looking at my new tattoos on my body. I got the spiral on my left rib and a palm tree on my right rib. They were both only about three inches long. So they weren't too big. I could definitely hide them. I got my grandmother to take a photo of them. As someone who rarely uses phones and technology, man it was funny to see her use my phone. I sent the photos to Anthony, Phillipa, Dad and Lin. Lin has always hated the thought of tattoos, but considering he was doing Moana he wanted to know what they traditionally look like. I knew my mother would be proud of me. Sure a let out a couple of tears, because it hurt so much. One of my cousins came in. He was covered. And I mean covered. 
"They suit you." He said and looked at me. 
"Wh-what?" He stuttered. 
"You're lighter than I remember." He said sitting down across from me. 
"Are you saying that I'm less of a Maori because my mother married an American?" 
"N-no." He stuttered. 
"Ohmygod you totally do." I slapped his arm. "Just because I'm mixed race does not mean I'm less of a Maori than you are." 
"Technically-" I stood up to cut him off. 
"D-do all of the family think that?" I questioned him. He shook his head. 
"You know your fathers parents weren't the greatest support of your parents marriage. Your mother was so strong. She would be looking down at you right now." My cousin smiled at me. "You have so many traits it's uncanny. You should be extremely proud to have both your mother and your fathers heritages." He was right. I went over and hugged him. 
"She would be so proud." He smiled. I wiped a tear. I knew she would be. 

                          
~*~ 

                          
Just a short one, but I'll post the next chapter as well.

                          
A/N: Also the picture inserted is the tattoos which Amy gets.