"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!"
Toni looked up from her phone as the little raven-haired boy ran up to her. She opened her arms wide and the child jumped into them. Toni spun him around before setting him back down.
"Hey, Luke. How was your day today?" Toni asked.
"It was good! Bella invited me to her birthday party! Can I go? Please?" He begged, waving a colorful piece of paper around.
Toni raised an eyebrow. "Can I see the invitation?"
He gave the paper to Toni and Toni scanned through it.
Bella's 6th Birthday Party
-Where it's at- No. 4132 Ellem st. Riverdale,
-When- Saturday, Aug. 26th
-Starts at 4 p.m.- Ends at 8 p.m.
-If you have any questions or concerns, you can reach me with the following phone number- 1236664132
"I think we can go. We should probably go get a gift for Bella, huh? Do you know what she likes?" Toni asked, and Luke jumped up and down excitedly.
"She loves Gravity Falls!" He gasped loudly. "We should get her a pig named Waddles!!!"
Toni laughed. "That sounds pretty expensive. Maybe we should get her something... more simple? Like a stuffed Waddles doll?"
"I guess. That won't be as cool though."
Toni smiled and kissed the side of the 6 year old's head. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go home," she said and they walked to Toni's car.
---
Luke knocked on the front door of the house. The door opened to reveal Veronica.
"Hi, Aunt Ronnie!" Luke said, and she smiled. "Is Dean here?"
"Hey, dude. Yeah he is. He's out back with the other kids." Veronica turned to Toni. "Hi, Tones," she said, and they walked in.
"Hey, Ronnie."
A little girl ran up all of a sudden. "Hi, Luke!" She greeted excitedly.
"Bella! Happy birthday! I got you a present!" He said, showing off the box Toni was carrying.
A red-headed woman suddenly appeared beside Veronica. She looked at Toni and smiled. "Hi, I'm Cheryl, Bella's mom."
"I'm Toni and this is Luke," Toni said, smiling down proudly at her son.
Luke looked up at Toni, asking for permission to go to the other kids and she nodded. The boy ran off with Bella to the other children.
"Where should I set this down?" Toni asked, and Cheryl smiled.
"Follow me, there's a table outside where we have all the gifts," she said, leading Toni through the house to the back door.
"You can set it down here," Cheryl said, pointing at the table.
Toni sighed in relief once she set it down. "Thank god, that was starting to hurt my arms," she said as she stretched.
Cheryl laughed. "So, Toni. Bella really seems to like Luke. He's all she talks about."
Toni nodded. "From the way Luke talks about her, they seem to be best friends."
Cheryl nodded. "Yeah."
"We should set up a play date for them soon," Toni suggested as the two watched their kids running around and laughing.
"We should. I'm assuming you already have my phone number because it was on the invitation?" Cheryl said, and Toni nodded.
"I'll call it right now so you can save mine," Toni said, and Cheryl smiled.
Toni called the number and Cheryl's phone began ringing. She then hung up and Cheryl saved the number to her phone.
"Mommy? Can I spend the night tonight? Please?" Luke asked, popping out of nowhere, Bella by his side.
"I don't know, bud. I'm sure they've got stuff to do later."
Cheryl shook her head. "No, we're not doing anything later. It'd be fine if he spent the night. I have an idea, how about you both stay? That way both Bella and I aren't lonely? Being a single mother gets kinda lonely at times, if I'm gonna be honest."
Toni raised an eyebrow. "You're not married? I find that hard to believe."
Cheryl giggled. "Why?"
"Because I'd expect a woman as beautiful and interesting as you would be taken by now," Toni pointed out, causing Cheryl to blush.
"Ewww! Mommy, stop flirting! This is an important matter!" Luke whined, and Bella nodded.
Cheryl's eyes widened and she looked down at the kids. "We're not flirting. We're having a friendly conversation."
"A little too friendly, if ya ask me," Luke mumbled, making Toni glare at him.
"Lucas Anthony Topaz, keep talking like that and you won't spend the night," she said, crossing her arms.
"Sorry, mommy," he said.
"So you guys gonna stay?" Cheryl asked, looking really hopeful.
Toni tilted her head and looked down at the kids. They both had pleading looks on their faces.
"We can stay," Toni decided. It's not like she had anyone she needed to go home to.
Cheryl smiled and the kids hugged each other than their moms.
"Thanks, mommy!" They said together.
Toni and Cheryl laughed and watched as they ran off again. "You sure? I'm sure you've got someone you have to go home to," she said, and Toni shook her head.
"I happen to be a lonely single mom as well," Toni said with a shrug.
Cheryl nodded and Veronica approached. "Aye Tones, Cher, we're at a kids' birthday party. Stop mentally undressing one another. Unless I mean... you wanna give the kids 'The Talk' right now..."
The two sighed. "It's just a friendly conversation!" They explained.
"A little too friendly, if ya ask me," Veronica said, repeating Luke's words. Luke ran over giggling and high-fived the latina girl.
"Moooooooooommmm!" Shouted Dean from the corner of the yard. He and three other children seemed to be covered in chocolate.
Veronica sighed and looked at the two. "Duty calls!" She said, and went to see what Dean wanted.
The women laughed and turned back to each other. "Veronica makes an interesting mom."
"Yes, yes she is," Toni said.
"She seems to have a strong bond with Luke."
Toni nodded. "I've been friends with Veronica since elementary school. She's my best friend. She's like another mother to Luke. And Dean is like his brother. Don't even get me started on the stuff they get into together. Luke and Dean by themselves are fine. They're calm and happy and good. But put them together and it's like a tornado hit the house. I have to admit though, they are just like me and Veronica when we were kids."
Cheryl nodded and they turned to see the kids jumping on Veronica. Literally. She was laying on the floor and there were two kids jumping on her.
The kids eventually stopped and helped Veronica up.
"I think it's time for cake, don't you?" Cheryl said.
Toni nodded and they went back inside to get the cake ready.
