Do you regret it, mom?

You should be grateful

Wake up.

Brush your teeth.

Get dressed.

Go to work.

Eat lunch.

Work.

Go home.

Shower.

Sleep

If Kairi stuck to that schedule, then she would be able to function as a human being and keep her job.

Her alarm went off at 6AM on Monday morning.

Kairi opened her eyes, the light in the guest room blocked out by the blackout curtain.

"Wake up..." She mumbled, closing her eyes again.

She could hear the boys already getting up, footsteps padding along the floor.

Kairi sighed and forced her eyes to open again. "Get up."

She made her body move and got out of bed.

Kairi rubbed her eyes and fell into a daze as she headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth.

"That's my toothbrush!" Karma was fighting with his brother again, the two of them in the bathroom.

"No, it's not!" Gakushuu was trying to wrestle a toothbrush from him.

Kairi sighed, ignoring them as she went to the cabinet and grabbed the blue toothbrush.

"Mom, he stole my toothbrush!" Karma shouted.

She brushed her teeth, staring at the mirror; she had more bags under her eyes, wrinkles threatening to show.

"Boys!" Gakuhou's voice made her grimace.

"Gakushuu stole my toothbrush!" Karma said.

"No, I didn't!"

Kairi spat the toothpaste out and then rubbed under her eyes while the boys were fighting behind her. "Ugh..."

"Boys, that's enough." Gakuhou barged in and separated the two of them. "You're going to be late for school."

"But he stole my toothbrush," Karma complained, sounding upset as the toothbrush was snatched from him.

"No, he didn't, this is his toothbrush." Gakuhou gave a very smug-looking Gakushuu the toothbrush. "Yours is blue, remember?"

"Oh..." Karma frowned. "Well, where's my toothbrush then?"

Kairi gargled with the mouthwash and then spat it out, putting the bottle back in the cabinet next to her toothbrush—

She stopped and glanced at the blue toothbrush she was holding, and then looked at her toothbrush in the cabinet. "Oh, shit..."

"Mom! That's my toothbrush!" Karma seemed to have realised what had happened and squirmed out of his father's grip. "Ew! You used it!"

Kairi cringed, turning around. "Uh, just once!" She quickly tried rinsing it under the sink. "Look, it's still good!"

"I told you I didn't steal it," Gakushuu mumbled, clutching his toothbrush tight.

Her husband's lips thinned, sighing. "Fortunately, I purchased spares." He stepped passed her and opened the cabinet under the sink. "Boys, hurry up and finish brushing your teeth, we're already running behind schedule."

Kairi grimaced and stepped out of the way, feeling she was taking up too much space. "Sorry, baby..." She apologised, stroking Karma's hair. "I didn't mean to."