Erica's Move Home

Chapter 2

"Welcome back baby. I told you that boy was no good for you. That's what you get for moving in with someone before marriage. Living in sin." Her mother greeted her with a hug. "It's good to have you home though. It was getting lonely in this house."

Erica hated how judgmental her mother was but she did feel bad. Although her parents did fight a lot when her father was alive, it must have been hard for her mother living alone in that house.

"Why don't you go unpack in your old room. I made your bed and I should have dinner ready in an hour or so."

Erica made her way upstairs to her room to find it had been redecorated slightly. Her walls were still painted pink and she had the same furniture, but the bed sheets and comforter was now Disney princess themed. The whole room was in fact. There was posters, decals and trinkets all over the room devoted to her mother's Disney obsession. Erica liked Disney too, but it was clear she wouldn't be bringing any boys back to this room. She unpack for about an hour until her mother called her down for dinner.

Her mother had made beef and rice and a had a plate made for her waiting at the table. Erica went to sit down before her mother interrupted her.

"Ah ah ah, we wash our hands before we eat, don't we?"

Erica rolled her eyes and washed her hands and began eating. Her mother then began saying, "Erica, I know you're an adult now, but as long as you're living under my roof you'll have to adhere to my rules. I want you to be prepared for that. I expect as you are an adult, you can maturely listen to what I expect. Of course, like before I expect you to ask permission before leaving the house and to let me know where you're going. Weekdays lights out by 9, weekends you can stay up til 10. And while I'm not asking you to pay rent, you'll have a few chores I expect you to do when you're leaving here. Sound good?"

Erica nodded. She was so mentally exhausted from today she'd agree to just about anything. And that was all exactly what she'd expect from her mother. Being 26 with a bed time sucked, but she was a morning person anyway so she'd probably be going to sleep around that time anyway. And the week day rule was annoying since she was a teach on summer break and didn't have school again for 9 weeks.

After finishing dinner and washing the dishes, her mother asked Erica if she'd like to watch a movie before bed. That sounded good to get her mind off the break up and she agreed.

"Why don't you go get ready for bed, then we can watch." Her mother told her.

While annoying to be treated so young, it would be nice to get into some comfy clothes, Erica thought. She had been sleeping with a t-shirt and no pants with her boyfriend so she'd have to go back to wearing pajamas unfortunately. Erica grabbed her old flannel pjs and went to pull the pants up but they got stuck at her thighs. "Wow my ex was right, I really have gained weight." She thought. She searched her closet for something that would fit and found an old pink nightgown from when she was younger. While she wouldn't have to pull it up her thighs, it was awfully childish. She smelt popcorn and decided just to put it on and headed back downstairs.

Her mother decided on monsters inc after commenting that Erica's nightgown made her look like 'boo' from the movie. She ate the popcorn and drank a bottle of Coca Cola. After finishing one bottle, she went to grab another. She knew this wouldn't help her weight issue, but she just got broken up with and felt it was okay. As she sat back down with the coke, her mother commented "are you sure you should be drinking that this late? I don't want to be changing any wet bedsheets." Erica just rolled her eyes. She hadn't wet the bed in like 10 years, not even while drunk. 2 bottles of coke would be fine, she thought. After the movie, her mother announced it was time for bed and Erica went to her room. She cried herself to sleep thinking about her ex.