Simple Kind of Life

It was around 5am when the house next door finally quieted down; like clockwork. Just as Avery was waking up for her morning jog, they always seemed to be winding down. A large group of people had shown up a few days ago and since then, they had been carrying on until the early morning. Not that Avery minded. Hell, if she didn’t have a child to raise and a little brother to look after, she’d probably be doing the same thing. Becoming Aaron’s guardian at 19, getting married at 20, and having a baby at 21 wasn’t exactly conducive to a partying lifestyle. But Avery loved her unconventional family; she wouldn’t trade them for all the jello shots and one night stands in the world.

Avery was out on the deck eating an apple before her run when a deep voice caused her to jump. “You’re up early.”

She turned her head to the direction of the voice and found her scruffy looking blond neighbor sitting on his balcony, beer in hand and minus a shirt. Once her heart stopped pounding from the initial surprise, Avery took in the image of his muscular physique and promised herself she wouldn’t gawk at him. It was times like these that made the pathetic nature of her dry spell even more obvious.

“And you’re up late.” He chuckled and shrugged his broad shoulders.

“Have we been keeping you guys up?” His speech was slightly slurred, but she ignored it.

Avery shook her head. “Nope. We’re heavy sleepers, you’re not bothering us.”

He smiled. “Yeah? Normally neighbors with kids are such a pain in the ass.” He paused for a second. “No offense.”

Avery frowned. She absolutely loathed when people thought ending their sentence with ‘no offense’ made their previous comment acceptable. Especially if they were referring to her offspring.

“None taken, I guess.” She finished up her apple and stood. “I gotta get going before everyone wakes up.” And her morning run would be ruined by requests for chocolate chip pancakes and bacon.

“You going for a jog?” Hunky AND observant. Perhaps the all-night alcohol binges haven’t killed all of his brain cells.

She nodded. “Yep. It was nice talking to you-” The woman trailed off, hoping he’d get the hint and introduce himself.

“Jeff.” He took a final swig from his beer bottle and placed it on the floor of his balcony. “Listen, um-”

“Avery.”

He grinned. “Avery. You should come over some time. Like tonight or whatever. Have something to eat, grab a drink or two, relax. ”

Probably not gonna happen.

“I’ll think about it,” She put her hand on the screen door leading into the house. “See ya, Jeff.”

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Sweat and sand stuck to her body as Avery’s chest heaved and her legs burned. There was nothing quite like a long jog on the beach to get the morning started. Ang was curled up on the porch swing that hung on the deck in front of the house, book in hand. She looked up when Avery plopped down next to her, causing the swing to sway.

“How was your run?”

Avery simply nodded as she took a long swig from her water bottle. She swallowed the cool liquid and smacked her lips together. “Are the kids still asleep?”

“Yeppers.”

The women were quiet for a moment, enjoying the sound of seagulls squawking and waves crashing. Avery was the first to break the silence. “The neighbor asked me to come over for drinks.” Ang stopped turning the page of her book and peered over at her younger friend.

“Which one? That hot blond with the cute butt?” Avery nodded. “Girl, he’s got yellow fever.”

“Shut up!” Avery jabbed the blonde with her elbow.

“What? All men love asian women, that’s a fact. Why do I have to be so boring and aryan?”

Angie was far from boring. With her blonde hair, blue eyes and statuesque body, she was stunning and she knew it. But Avery wasn’t about to fall into this trap. She had known Ang long enough to recognize when she was fishing for compliments.

“Whatever. I’m not going.” As Avery dumped about of a pound of sand out of her running shoe, Ang watched her closely, arms folded and eyes narrowed.

“So the Ken Doll invited you over and you’re not gonna go? What is wrong with you?”

Avery shrugged. “He’s like a frat boy or something. So not my type.”

“Aren’t we being just a smidge judgmental, Miss Nanahara?” The younger female tossed her running shoes to the wooden deck and turned her attention back to her friend. Avery cringed at the use of her maiden name. It sounded so foreign after years of being Mrs. Santiago. But she’d have to get accustomed to it; by autumn, her students would be calling her by her old moniker.

“Care to elaborate?”

“I’d love to,” Angie closed her book and shoved it under her thigh. “How many dates have you been on since the James fiasco?”

Avery sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. She knew exactly where the conversation was heading. “Two.”

“And how did those dates go?”

They had been fantastic. A few months back, Avery had met a man at work; he was a substitute teacher taking over Angie’s fifth grade social studies class while she was sick with the flu. She had wandered into the empty classroom during the students’ lunch hour looking for some gossip with her best friend, but found the tall, dark and handsome John instead. She was absolutely mortified to be seen in her stained smock with paint all over her after a session of finger-painting with the kindergarten art class.

Their chemistry was instant. John was smart, funny, good-looking; he was perfect. They made plans to get a drink after work and followed up with dinner a few nights later. Both times, Avery enjoyed herself immensely. John made her feel special and sexy, not like a soon-to-be divorced mother with endless amounts of emotional baggage.

During their second and last date, Avery dropped the atomic bomb. She told him that she was still technically married, had a four year old daughter, and guardianship of her teenaged brother. Initially, he took it well. He even asked to see pictures of her little family. For the first time in months, Avery was happy.

But the next day, Angie was back at work and John was nowhere to be found. Then he stopped returning her calls. And just like that, it was over. The situation left Avery with a heavy heart and a shaken confidence.

“They went fine.” Avery tried to play it off, but Angie knew better; it was her shoulder Avery cried on when John didn’t make plans for a third date.

“Is it safe to say he didn’t want to go out again because of your circumstance?”

Avery shrugged. “I guess.”

“So he unfairly judged you and your situation, right?”

“Yeah.” Avery mumbled, annoyed with how good of a point her friend was making.

“If you completely write off Ken Doll because of an assumption, you’re no better than that shithead who dumped you.”

Avery scowled. We had two dates. I hardly call that being dumped.

“OK, Dr. Phil, maybe I can make an appearance,” She threw her arm around her older friend. “But you’re coming with me.”

A huge grin spread across the blonde’s face. “You don’t have to twist my arm.” That was an understatement. Ang probably already knew what outfit she was going to wear.

“Now if you’ll excuse me, I have pancakes to make.” Angie gave her friend a sharp smack on her behind as she pulled herself off of the porch swing. Avery simply laughed and headed into the house. She took a cold shower to wash the sweat and beach particles from her heated body before getting dressed and heading to the kitchen.

The house was eerily quiet as the sun peaked out from the horizon. Avery cherished this short timeframe; nobody was tugging at her, yelling at her, or demanding anything. She was simply basking in the silence as she threw together some batter and added way too many chocolate chips. Once the batter was smooth, she poured little blobs of the concoction onto an awaiting hot griddle.

"Mommy?" Avery turned to see her daughter clad in a one of Aaron’s old soccer shirts, dragging a stuffed polar bear behind her. The woman grinned at the unconventional stuffed animal given to her by her father. Since she made her debut into the world, Liliana had gone to bed every night with that polar bear by her side. His name was Snoopy and he used to be a pristine shade of white. After four years of abuse, he was now a dingy gray hue.

“Yes, Squeak?" She shuffled over and stood on her tiptoes to get a good look at the stove before smiling ear to ear.

"Are those chocolate chip pancakes?" Lili asked, rubbing her rounded stomach.

"You know they are." She hummed her approval and hopped over to the kitchen table. She sat Snoopy in a chair and climbed into the seat next to him.

Avery prepared a plate for the child and sat it down in front of her.

"Syrup?" The mother held up a container of the golden ooze.

"I can do it." Lil took the sticky bottle and thanked her, making Avery smile. With shaky hands, she slowly squeezed the bottle, getting more syrup on the table than on her pancakes. Avery fought the urge to help when the syrup made an appearance on the floor and the child’s shirt. But Liliana was in that "I can do it myself" stage, so any assistance would be met with a severe scolding.

"May I have some milk, Mommy?" Lil had gotten her act together and now had a mouth full of pancake, muddling her words.

"Yes you may,” Avery looked over her shoulder at the child. “What did we say about talking with food in our mouths?”

The girl smiled sheepishly before dramatically swallowing. “It’s rude and gross.”

Avery stepped away from the stove to pour a glass of milk. “And?”

“And...” She peered up at her mother with big dark eyes. “I could choke?”

The woman smiled and nodded before placing the icy beverage in front of her.

“Oooh, I hope I’m next.” Angie’s husband, Hank entered the kitchen and plopped down next to Liliana. She waved obnoxiously at him, earning a ruffled head of hair via his large hand. Avery loved the bond those two shared. When James wasn’t around, Hank was always there for her daughter. It was a shame he wasn’t interested in women; he would have made a great dad.

“I put the syrup on myself, Hank.” The girl boasted, grinning up at the man.

He smirked at the mess she had made. “I can tell. I think you got some on Snoopy too.”

Avery placed a big stack of steaming pancakes in front of Hank, causing him to rub his hands together. There was nothing Hank enjoyed more than Avery’s cooking. He often blamed her for his love handles.

“So Hank,” She began, watching bubbles form in the pancakes on the griddle. “I was wondering-”

“Ang already asked me. I supposed I can hang with the kiddies tonight,” he turned to Lili. “Pocahontas?”

She shook her head vigorously. “Lion King.”

Hank sighed and pushed a lock of his blond hair out of his eyes. “We watched that last night, my manhood can’t survive another night of bawling my eyes out over Mufasa’s demise.”

Avery laughed softly to herself as Hank then had to explain to the child what “manhood” and “demise” meant before they finally agreed upon The Little Mermaid.

“Are you sure it’s not a big deal? I don’t want to impose.”

Hank just shrugged his broad shoulders. “Please, it’s no imposition. We always have a great time, don’t we, Squeaker?”

Lili’s cheeks were too puffed out from pancakes to speak, but she nodded and gave a thumbs up.

“Besides,” Hanks continued. “You deserve a night out once in a while.”

Avery smiled before leaving the stove to give him a kiss on the forehead. “You’re too good to me.”