Rochdale | LGBTQ+

.One.

I walked down the stairs into the kitchen, rubbing the sleep from my bleary eyes. I grabbed the wall for support since our stair railing had broken ages ago, and took careful steps down the short staircase.

"Morning sleepyhead! You were almost late for work," chirped Penny from the counter, where she was buttering pieces of steaming toast while the littles sat at the kitchen table, swinging their feet and sucking on their thumbs.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I asked, shielding my eyes from the bright light streaming in through the window over the sink. All the blinds had been shut upstairs, and it was way too light in here. "Shit that hurts."

I finished tying the strings on my green sweatpants as I walked over to the counter. Penny set two pieces of toast on each plate, an even spread of butter on each piece, and slid them across to me. I delivered them to each girl, who squealed with delight. 

Libby was six, and the second youngest. She had a mess of bright ginger curls. Me and Penny had the same mother, but Libby and Wynnie both were accidents from our alcoholic father, Greg Barker. You could tell by how different they looked from us, but we loved them like our own baby sisters, and nothing anyone said would ever change that.

Libby's curls were a pale orange, and they hung to about her shoulders. Her bangs reached just above her eyes, and could use a trim pretty soon or they'd be in them. Her eyes were gorgeous emerald green, and they took in the world around her in an optimistic kind of way. She had freckles all over, too, and I liked to try and count as many as I could whenever she sat on my lap to watch cartoons. 

Wynnie wasn't even white. Er, I guess she was... sort of white. I never knew that vitiligo was a thing until Wynnie came home. Her dark cocoa skin with patches of pale white was beautiful of course, it was just nothing like I'd ever seen before. Her hair was black and wavy, and she liked it cut in a bob because she hated hair on her neck. She always tore at it when it got too long and it was hot out. Once Wynnie popped out looking like a twist cone, I did as much research as I could on the condition. No one knew exactly what caused it- just had something to do with melanin cells dying. Why they died, nobody knew for sure. But Wynnie was the prettiest four year old I had ever seen. 

Wynnie started shoveling the toast in her mouth. She liked to break off chunks of the soggy, butter-soaked bread and shove it into her waiting mouth. Libby took her time, nibbling the crust off first and then moving on to the center of the bread. She said she liked when the butter soaked in fully, and she saved the gooey, buttery center for last because it was her favorite part. She ate the crispy crust first because it was her least favorite, but we didn't waste food in the Barker household- if you were given food, you ate the whole damn thing.

"You're wearing a tank to work?" Penny questioned, running her fingers through her hair. She immediately grimaced as she realized how buttery they were, and hurried over to the sink to wash them.

"I'm gonna grab my jacket before I leave. But they crank up the heat in there. I know I'll be sweating," I told her.

Penny shrugged. "If you say so. Thermometer said only 45 degrees this morning though, so you better wear gloves at least."

I rolled my eyes, but there was no arguing with Penny when she was in mom-mode. And she usually was on mornings like this, when she was rushing around to get everything ready and done for everyone. 

"You'll be okay watching the girls until I get home?" I asked. 

"I was meaning to talk to you about that. I was thinking we find a sitter," Penny said simply.

I blinked at her. "Pen we can't afford a babysitter. If we could, we'd both be working and bringing home money for the family as much as we could."

Penny held up her finger. "Ah-ah-ah. I think I found someone perfect."

I groaned. "Not your girlfr-"

"My girlfriend-" We said in unison. We looked at each other, then couldn't help but laugh. "What's wrong with Tia?" asked Penny, planting her hands on her hips and trying to look serious. I couldn't take her that way when she still had butter in her hair. "Tia's great, and she loves kids!"

"Does she have any experience? Have the girls ever met her before? You can't just dump them with some rand-o for hours like everything's fine."

Libby turned her head, chewing her toast. Wynnie was already done with her first piece and moving on to the second. "Eat your breakfast Lib, Pen and I are just chatting, don't worry," I reassured her. Libby nodded seriously and turned back around.

Penny drummed her fingers on the counter. "I'll be here today. It's my day off, remember? So Tia's coming over, and we can introduce the girls to her, and if they hit it off then maybe Tia can hang out with them more often so that we can both work. You know Tia's parents, their pretty damn rich. She doesn't need to work the way we do."

"Don't bring her money into this," I warned. "You know how much that upsets her."

Penny scoffed. "Since when do you know what upsets her?"

"Since her anger issues trashed your bedroom at two in the morning when you and her got into an argument and woke the girls up. Could I go back to sleep? Fuck no, because they were crying and I had to take care of them while you comforted your fucking screaming girlfriend."

"You're making her sound bat shit."

I arched my eyebrow.

Penny sighed. "Alright, alright. Maybe she isn't the best choice to watch the girls... but I'll find someone, okay? Someone trustworthy, who we don't have to worry about throwing a temper tantrum while we're gone. Trust me, okay Cory?"

I nodded. "Right." I checked the old watch around my wrist. "Shit, now I really gotta go. Bye Penny, bye Libby, bye Wynnie!" I called over my shoulder. I grabbed my coat off the hook and was out the door, ignoring Penny's cry that I hadn't eaten breakfast. I had to get to work before I was marked tardy.