Lacuna Hearts

RILEY'S POV

Coming home from work was my favorite part of the day. It wasn't because I was finally done with the labor, the paperwork, the angry bosses and the constant sexual harassment - it was because I was finally home with my odd little family.

The traditional spaghetti and meatball dinner wafted over me like heaven as I opened the door to my apartment. I breathed in deep as I went through my daily routine of slipping off my shoes and jacket, letting my hair down and waiting for the light of my life to notice that I had arrived…

"Mommy!" My daughter Sheree appeared out of nowhere and jumped into my arms, clinging to me with all of the strength in her little four year old body.

"Hello, sugar. How was school?"

She put a finger to her chin in thought, her big chocolate eyes (the only thing she inherited from her deadbeat father) swimming to the ceiling. She was such a character.

"I don't think I like preschool, the other kids are kinda dumb."

"Sheree, that's not very nice. Just because you learn faster than the rest of the kids, doesn't mean they're dumb." I told her as I set her down on our bed.

"But when I asked Faith why I could read and the other kids couldn't, she said it was because they were dumb."

I put a hand to my face and treaded between a laugh and an exasperated sigh. Faith was my roommate. We had both met in foster care, hit it off the moment we met and were inseparable ever since.

She was more than a best friend to me, I considered her my sister, and her twin boys my nephews. But like the absolute best of friends, we were almost complete opposites. I was quiet, she was loud; I was shy, she was outgoing; I thought before I spoke…

She had a big mouth.

"Do me a favor and go wash up for dinner, okay?"

She nodded and scampered off. I sighed tiredly as I went to trading my work apparel for some sweats and then stopped as I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I looked tired and stressed. I admit that the job I was just hired for was doing it to me, but it paid good and they were flexible with my hours so I couldn't afford to be picky.
Faith popped her blond head over my shoulder as I started trying to smooth out the dark circles under my eyes.

"Looking for someone in there?" She smirked as her bright blue eyes studied my almost non-existent reaction.

"My youth."

She scoffed at me and rolled her eyes. It wasn't the first time she had heard that from me this week.

"Listen. You're a twenty-four year old gorgeous little MILF with a snazzy new job. Now shut up and get your ass in the kitchen. Dinner's ready." She smacked my butt as if to get me going but I merely grumbled and trudged slowly behind her. Compliments didn't matter much coming from someone as gorgeous as her. She pushed out twin boys and she was more fit than most girls half her age - not to mention she was two years older than I.

By the time I got into the dining room, everyone was seated. I gave Sheree a wink and then smiled warmly at the boys.

"Hi Skylar, hi Rory."

"Hi aunt Riley." They both answered in unison, bobbing up and down in anticipation.

"You guys don't have to wait on me, dig in."

They both lunged for the food on the table at the same time, gaining a laugh from their mother and a disgusted look from Sheree.

"So how is your snazzy new job going?" Faith asked as she reached over the table to serve some food to Sheree and herself. I couldn't help but sigh again.

"I feel like it's…under me. I swear I went to get coffee for people at least twenty times in one hour. I even stained my new shirt. Oh, and my manager is a prick." I wouldn't have noticed my slip but Skylar and Rory almost choked on their food in laughter. Yes, they were at that age.

"So quit, I'll just work longer hours." Faith shrugged her shoulders as if it was nothing.

"No! You already work long enough as it is. You can't honestly think that I would let you do something like that."

Faith worked as a hair stylist from 6am to 2pm, picked the kids up from school at 2:30 and then danced at the strip joint down the street for a few hours when the kids went to bed. She didn't really need to work there, but it was extra money and she loved to dance.

"You need to tell those idiots to get their own coffee and let you do your damn paperwork."

"We can't all get away with things like that." She smirked as I shook my head. She got hit on a lot when she danced, but she never took shit from anyone. She even got in a few fist-fights but was never fired for it because it brought a crowd instead of turning people off.

"Oh, and please refrain from telling Sheree that her classmates are dumber than her."

"Tattletale!"

Sheree shrugged at her and Faith couldn't help herself as she burst out laughing.
That was us for you. I kind of envied her nonchalance sometimes. I was too worried about things and she wasn't worried enough. It evened things out though. You would think we would drive each other crazy, but oddly enough, it just worked.

Ultimately, it was an unwavering understanding of each other that got us through each day. She shrugged off my after-work meanderings because she knew that after I was done getting all of my complaining done, I was happy and life was just fine.
I scolded her for something but never nagged her about it, because even though she laughed me off, she respected where I was coming from and never made the mistake again.

That was the peak of my happiness, there eating dinner with my family. I would have stayed the happiest woman alive, content to never need anything more than that for the rest of my life…

If only it had stayed that way.