Met by Coincidence...Separated by Destiny...

Leaving the place where I was born...

Riley's Point of View...

I open my eyes as the morning sunlight enters my room through the gaps in between the curtains and covers my face. Today is the day when my 17-year-old daughter leaves me. I never wanted Josephine to leave me, but, with the added cost of my mother's treatment, I had no other option left. Plus I knew that it was just 11 months until Josephine leaves us for college. Sometimes you are not ready for some situations until they are being forced upon you by the unseen circumstances.

I leave my bed to start my day. I have already told my manager that I won't be picking any Sunday shifts for the week. There is no way, I will miss my daughter's departure. God, knows when I will see her again. 11 months have never seemed so long before. But, now that the day has arrived, I just wish maybe I could have got some extra days with my daughter. I know we will still facetime each other and I can see her anytime I want but traveling to a different state, considering our financial crisis, seems impossible.

I enter the bathroom and wash my face with cold water. Last night after Josephine went to bed, I came back to my bedroom and spent a couple of hours going through the photo albums. I started with the album filled with pictures of Josephine as a baby till she went to school. Going down memory lane isn't easy either, considering by the time I finished the last album, my eyes were blood red and swollen because of crying.

I brush my teeth and then take a shower, and put some makeup on my face. There is no way, I can let Josephine see me this way, sad. I have to remind myself that this is what I wanted. I walk out of my room and gently knock on my daughter's bedroom door. I don't hear anything so I knock again. Again, no response. Is Josephine still sleeping, I ask myself? She is an early riser, there is no way she would still be sleeping.

I push the bedroom door and find it unlocked. When I enter the bedroom, I find Josephine sleeping with her pillows sprawled across her bed and her face buried in her favorite teddy bear. I laugh at the memory when I got her Mr.Bing on her 11th birthday and ever since then, she got this habit where she sleeping with Mr. Bing only. Lucas even teases her from time to time for that habit but she doesn't care. That's my daughter, free and independent. She never cares what people will think about her, she always does what she loves to do.

I walk closer to her bed and without disturbing her climb on her bed. Once seated across from her, I gently move her blond hair from her face and tug them away behind her ears. I bent down and kiss her on her forehead.

"Good morning Sweety, wake up. It's 7 Am."

Hearing my voice, Josephine wakes up slightly, she opens her left eye, looks at me, and smiles. I smile back.

"Good morning mom."

"Good morning, Honey. Common up, we will be spending the next couple of hours together until it's time for you to leave with Lucas and Sydney."

I pull Josephine up from her bed and she let me drag her to the bathroom.

"I will see you downstairs, ok?"

Josephine nods as I leave her to finish her morning routine. Once I reach downstairs, I enter the kitchen and start to prepare our last breakfast together. Considering, that this will be our last breakfast until we will see each other again, I decided to cook every dish that Josephine likes. Blueberry pancake, chocolate cookies, and mac and cheese. Josephine enters the kitchen and joins me in helping to make our last meal together.

"Mom you don't have to do this.."

I wipe my tears as I serve the breakfast in the dining area. Once done, I turn to face her.

"No. I want to. Today is the last time I will be seeing you. I want everything to be perfect."

"Mom it's not the last time you and I will be seeing each other. You can always visit, I can visit, and most importantly we can face time each other whenever we want to. Please don't get emotional, otherwise, I will have to say No to Lucas and get my stuff back from Maverick City."