The Sun and Her Moon | CHONI |

Three

The alarm on her phone blaring on her bedside table pulled her from her peaceful sleep. Groaning she decided it would be best to get up and be prepared rather than hit the snooze button like she actually wanted to do. She worked her way around the kitchen to make herself a coffee so she could have a second to wake up before waking up Tommy. She sat on the couch and stuck on the cartoon channel. She couldn't deny she was a big kid at heart and would often sit and watch cartoons even when her son wasn't there. She had gotten their outfits out the night before to make the morning easier. She changed into her plain black skinny jeans and black t-shirt it was the best option she had given the circumstances. For Tommy she chose a black tracksuit and white sneakers, simple but cute.

Toni moved back to the kitchen side of the apartment making Tommy his pack lunch and his breakfast. She popped his lunch box on the counter once she was done and put his breakfast consisting of cereal and orange juice on his blanket on the floor so he wouldn't spill it all over the couch. She went into his bedroom to wake him up so she could get him ready for the day. 'Time to wake up sleeping beauty' she smiled as she kissed his face. Cracking open his eye he smiled at Toni and brought his arms above his head as he stretched. Whenever he was woken up by his mom he reached out for her so she could carry him out of his bed. Toni scooped him up, taking him to the bathroom first and then into the main room of the apartment setting him down on the ground so he could eat his breakfast. As she expected his pyjamas were covered in milk, she cleaned him up and got him ready for his first day. She decided on clearing the pots away later so she could spend ten minutes with Tommy before she had to set off to get him to school. 'Are you excited buddy' she bumped his shoulder as they sat on the couch. 'Yeah' he smiled 'but can Rory come?' he asked clenching the teddy bear to his chest. 'If you want him to,  let's get going for your first day'. She put on his coat and then her own, making sure she had everything she needed in her bag she picked it up along with Tommy's lunch box. The school wasn't too far away, around a five minute walk from Pops so she didn't have to walk far to get to work after dropping him off.

As they approached the main door to the school she feels a little hand curl tighter around hers. She looks down at her son watching him as he looked around curiously. They managed to find his class and they were greeted by a teacher at the door. She had short black hair, blue eyes and a kind smile. She smiled at Toni before bending down to Tommy's level. 'You must be Thomas Topaz'. He nodded as he moved behind his moms legs. 'Well Thomas I'm Ms Smith, you are going to have lots of fun and meet lots of new friends. What do you think? Shall we go inside and meet everyone'. He looked up at Toni who also bent down to his level 'you're going to have fun and I'll be right here to pick you up when you finish okay?'. 'Okay Mommy' he whispered. She pulled him into a tight hug before standing back up and watching him taking the teachers hand. He gave her a little wave before he was met by a small group of other students introducing themselves as he showed them his teddy bear. She smiled and slipped away so she could get to work.

The bell above the door rang as Toni pushed it open. 'Hi Pop' she smiled. 'Toni, it's good to see you. I just have a little paperwork for you to fill in before we get you to work' he smiled. She filled in her paperwork after siting in a booth, it didn't take long and she was soon back up and handing it to Pop. 'Okay Toni, here's your apron, you'll be waiting tables. Most of our customers are regulars so you'll meet plenty of new and interesting people'. She put on here apron smoothing it down with her hands. 'Sounds good' she smiled. 'Here's your notepad and pen, any questions be sure to ask' and with that she got on with her job. No new customers had come in yet so she just glanced around to see if anyone needed their table clearing. As she looked around Toni's eyes landed on possibly the most beautiful woman she'd ever seen. Trying hard not to stare she studied the woman. Long thick red hair, dark brown orbs and porcelain skin, her glasses on the end of her nose as she stared down at her laptop bringing the coffee to her full lips every so often. Toni had relationships with women before met her ex and honestly she'd always prefer women but her, she was something else. Suddenly realising she was lost in thought she pulled herself out of it and moved to clean empty tables. She took a few orders, some customers having more of a conversation with her than others. After a while she saw the redhead packing away her laptop. She made her way over to her booth. 'Hi I hope everything was okay?' she smiled. 'Fine, thank you' she said curtly with a tight smile. 'Okay great! I'll just take these' Toni said reaching out and picking up the mug and plate 'have a great day' she smiled as she made her way to the kitchen. Okay the redhead definitely wasn't one for conversation, she took a mental note of that for future reference, that's if she's even a regular customer.

The day went by with ease and Toni was soon signing off with a wave to Pop and set off to go and pick up Tommy. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining. Toni made her way to her sons class and waited among the other parents for the bell to ring. Tommy came barrelling over to her when the biggest smile on his face. Thank god she thought. 'Hey little man, did you have a good day?'. She took his hand. 'The best day' he jumped up and down. As they walked home she asked him what he had been doing with his day and if he had made any friends. He explained he had been playing and drawing and that he had made lots of new friends. Toni was glad to hear it, it made dropping him off at school that little bit easier knowing he was happy. The rest of the day was pretty routine, making them both dinner, relaxing while Tommy played, bath and bed.

In fact the whole week went exactly the same. Take Tommy to school, work, picking Tommy up and go home. Toni got to know a couple of customers on a first name basis, except the redhead, though she was there every day she was very minimal with conversation but not in a rude way. It was nice for her to have adult conversation with customers as she was used to it being it her and Tommy. Tommy was doing well at school, he had a regular group of friends and was a great student. Her heart swelled with pride whenever the teacher praised her son. It was Friday afternoon just as she was about to leave work Pop called her to the back. Suddenly she was worried, maybe she didn't do a good job. 'Everything okay Pop?' she asked closing the door behind her. 'Great Toni and I'd like to offer you the job permanently'. 'That's great' she breathed out relieved. 'There is one more thing, could you work tomorrow morning? The regular girl has called in and I really need the help'. 'Tomorrow is Saturday, my son isn't at school and I don't have any family to take care of him'. 'He can come along and sit in a booth, free fries and milkshakes to keep him occupied' he smiled. Toni thought about it, Tommy was usually well behaved and Pop said it would be okay for him to be there. 'Okay Pop, I'll be here tomorrow'. 'Thanks Toni' he smiled.

She took Tommy to the park after she picked him up from school. The park was huge with a play area for children, a lake, scattered trees and greenery. Tommy skipped to whole way there and as soon as he spotted the play area he looked up at his Mom silently begging to run. She let go of his hand and watched him run towards the other children. She kept a close eye on him as she took a seat on a free bench. 'Hey Toni right from Pops?'. A dark hair man and his blonde haired wife sat down beside her. She remembered them as Jughead and Betty, a couple of customers from Pops. 'Hey Jughead, Betty' she smiled. 'You had the same idea as us then' Betty smiled nodding at Tommy playing with who Toni assumed was their little girl. 'Yeah that's my son Tommy' she pointed over. 'Well Tommy seems to be making good friends with Alyssa, she talks about how much fun they'd had at school' Jughead smiled. 'Yeah he's mentioned her, I'm glad he's settled in well and made some friends' Toni smiled. The conversation flowed well between them, they agreed to set up a play date for their kids before going their separate ways.

Since it was Friday Toni ordered take out as a treat for her and Tommy. They spent the evening eating pizza and watching Disney movies, Toni treated herself to a glass of wine after Tommy had fallen asleep with pizza sauce smeared all over his face. He was the cutest kid ever, she knew she was biased but the way his dark eyes opened as she picked him up to put him to bed before closing again just made her smile. She wished she hadn't agreed to work tomorrow so she could spend time with her son but it was only a couple of hours and she needed the money. After cleaning up the mess she showered and took herself to bed ready for another day of work.