The Sun and Her Moon | CHONI |

Two

'Mommy! Time to wake up!' Tommy yelled as he bounced up and down on her bed. Toni pretended to still be asleep as the boy moved closer. 'Momma come on' he groaned as he moved towards her face. Suddenly she reached for him pulling him towards her and attacking him with tickles and quick pecks to the face. He squealed happily and Toni could listen to that laugh forever. 'Okay first one to the couch is a rotten egg' she shouted as she went to get up. Tommy's eyes widened as he scrambled off the bed and raced out of the room. 'I win! I win!' he shouted his arms in the air in victory. 'You did! You're the fastest little boy in the world' she smiled. 'I'm going to order us some pancakes for breakfast but later on we need to go to the store, sound good?'. 'Yep' he said sat on the couch snuggling Rory to his chest. Toni turned on the Sunday morning cartoons and pulled out her phone to make an order for breakfast from somewhere. 'Okay kid they'll be here in 30 minutes' she said taking a seat next to him.

'So are you excited to start school tomorrow?' Toni asked. Tommy was usually a confident kid but this was all new and she hoped it wouldn't overwhelm him. 'I am, I'm going to make lots of new friends!' he smiled. 'Yeah you are' Toni smiled back 'is there anything you're worried about that you might want to talk about?'. Tommy frowned obviously thinking. 'I don't want you to be all by yourself and be upset' he looked at her. 'I won't be upset sweetheart, I start my new job tomorrow so I will be making new friends too'. 'Yay' he smiled. He was so young but the way he cared for her made Toni's heart melt. There was a knock at the door. 'Okay pancakes are here' Toni said standing up and going to the door. They sat on the couch eating their breakfast as they laughed together at the cartoons. 'Come on little man eat up so we can go grocery shopping'.

The shopping trip was pretty simple, Tommy only asked they if he could have some sweets to share with his new classmates. Toni agreed and told him to pick something for himself as well for when they got home. The city was so big and she couldn't wait to explore it. She just wanted to get herself and Tommy in a routine with school and work and then they could spend their free time exploring and experiencing new things. Toni hoped that Tommy would make friends easily and fit in well, she was sure he would but she was a mother and she would always worry about him no matter his age. She watched him as he played quietly on the floor as she put away the food. Finally she would be able to cook at home and have snacks on hand for her son who had a seemingly black hole for a stomach and was never full for longer than an hour. The nerves mixed with excitement as she thought about starting a new job. The diner seemed quiet and the customers seemed nice, she just hoped she didn't have to deal with more difficult customers like she had when she worked in a bar in her home town. Although that being said she supposed she could handle whatever was thrown at her.

The day soon turned to night, a little bit quicker than Toni would have liked as she wanted a little more time with her son before she had to get him to bed. She cooked his dinner, bathed him and sat on the floor in his room with him playing with his toys. 'Okay it's time for bed, go brush your teeth'. He obeyed without objection running off to the bathroom the sound of his feet pattering on the floor. He zoomed back in the room after brushing his teeth 'Mommy please can you read me a story' he asked tumbling into bed. 'Of course' she smiled. Tonight he chose one about a knight and a princess from his small selection. He cuddled with Rory as Toni squeezed in next to him to start the story. As she read through the pages, doing silly voices for each characters Tommy fell asleep, a light snore escaping as he breathed calmly. Toni laid there for a moment studying his face like she had many times before. His dark eyelashes fluttering as he dreamed and the freckles scattered over his  nose and cheeks. His dark curly hair spread over the pillow. She kissed his head before quietly sliding out of his bed and leaving the room, she had also decided to have a early night so she was prepared for the day ahead. Heading to bed she wondered what her life would be like here once they had settled in, would she find friends, maybe mom friends from Tommy's school. Now that they were safe she trusted that everything would work out and as long as her and Tommy were happy that's all that matters.