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I wake up this morning to someone shaking me. I had no intentions of getting up, at all.
Last night, I got in at about 1:45 in the morning. I need all the sleep I could possibly get.
But this person shaking me would not stop.
I slowly opened my eyes and saw my beautiful daughter, Zoie, on my back, shaking me awake.
"Mommy, mommy wake up." She said in a small, cheery voice.
Groaning, I turned over and pulled Zoie to my side. I looked at my alarm clock and it read 7:30 a.m.
"Mmm baby...why are you up so early?" My voice was deep and shaky, mainly how it always is when I wake up in the morning.
I heard Zoie giggle.
"Mommy, it's the first day of school."
My eyes shot wide open when she said that. I totally forgot about the first day of school. I mean, I had gotten Zoie and Janelle their school clothes and school supplies a month ago, but lately, I've been working double shifts to pay the bills and that's the only thing that's been on my mind.
I sat up in the bed and faced Zoie.
"Zo Zo, can you do me a favor sweetheart?"
She nodded.
"Can you go wake up your aunt?"
She smiled. "Sure mommy."
I smiled. "Okay honey, and when you do that, you can go ahead downstairs...I'll be down soon to cook breakfast."
When Zoie left, I went into the bathroom to take a shower. And once Ihopped out, I got dressed quickly, did my hair, and makeup, and I headed downstairs.
I went into the kitchen and saw Zoie and Janelle seated at the table.
I sighed.
"Janelle." She turned to face me. "Why don't you have your uniform on?"
She shrugged and smirked.
"I feel more comfortable in jeans and a t-shirt."
"We talked about this before, Janelle. You're going to a new school, therefore, you must follow the policy and wear the uniform."
"Well, I don't wanna wear it." She said in a nonchalant tone of voice.
I furrowed my eyebrows.
"Did you not just hear me? You don't have a choice." I paused. "Now, you're gonna go up those stairs, put on that uniform, come back down, eat breakfast, and start your day with no drama. Got it?"
She huffed and got up from the table. She glared at me before she took off up the stairs.
I exhaled deeply. I don't know when our relationship took a turn for the worse. When Janelle and I were little, we were extremely close. But when our parents died, I feel like Janelle started resenting me. The reason being? I'm not really sure. Maybe it's because I took care of her, and she didn't want me to.
"Mommy?"
My daughter's voice interrupted me from my thoughts.
I looked at her.
"Yes sweetie?"
"I'm hungry. Can you fix breakfast, now?"
Smiling weakly, I nodded.
