run of the mill.

18th

It was cold. Beyonce did not remember it being this cold in her house when she was living there. She supposed it was because she had spent to such time in Florida where it was always hot. It was August but she was still freezing for some reason. Beyonce rolled over onto her back and opened her eyes against the light flushing through the window into her room. She gave her tummy a little rub since it was the cause of her waking up. She rubbed her side where she assumed the baby had kicked her. She always got a big burst of light in her room because it faced the sunrise. It was nice on some mornings, like when she didn't have anything to do. But on other mornings when she'd just left the man she loved, it was horrible. 

There was a knock at the door and Beyonce croaked a meek come in. 

Shelby stepped inside with two cups of hot something and Beyonce smiled. "Good morning," Shelby said as she sat the mugs down and helped Beyonce sit up. She kissed her sisters cheek lovingly. "I brought you cocoa."

Beyonce took the mug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Beyonce picked up the mug and took a sip. Before she could even swallow the sweet confection, she was kicked. "Oh," she said putting a hand on the side of her stomach where she'd been assaulted. "Good morning to you too."

Shelby grinned. "She's awake?" Beyonce nodded and took her sisters hand, putting it to her stomach and waiting a beat. Not even a second later, she was kicked in the stomach again and her sister felt the bump. "Wow," she said in appreciation of the miracle of reproduction. "That's crazy."

"I know," Beyonce said sipping the cocoa again. They didn't say anything for a minute or two and then Shelby asked her if she slept well. Beyonce shrugged and mumbled it was cold over her cup. For some reason it had been really awkward in her household. Maybe it was because she'd dropped out of school to follow a guy across the country and then got pregnant. Then she left him and even though he was a millionaire she didn't take anything but a few things to wear.

Beyonce felt as low as she could possibly have gotten when she showed up on her father's steps asking for a place to stay. It was like a damn movie. It was raining, she was wet, pregnant, crying, and empty handed with the exception of a small personal things. But her dad didn't turn her away. He had an 'I knew it' air about him as he stepped aside and let her in the foyer. And he didn't hug her until she nearly fell to her knees with sobs. 

She apologized to him. Beyonce remembered him holding her in his arms and listening to her whine about how stupid she had been or how wrong she had been about everything. She said that he was right and Shawn wasn't worth shit just like he'd presumed. She said that she had made a terrible mistake in trusting him. In trusting anybody. 

Robert didn't say anything.

And he hadn't said anything to her in the two days she'd been here. But then neither one of them said anything to each other. Beyonce rarely left her room and Robert rarely left his office. She'd gotten her stubborn nature from her father so it was no surprise that neither of them were talking. The apple never falls far from the tree. 

But as Beyonce showered in the bathroom she shared with her sister, she realized that maybe she had. Maybe she would be the apple that rolled down the hill away from the tree and became something different. Beyonce dressed herself in a long patterned maxi dress opted for going barefoot as she opened her bedroom door and stepped out. Her hair was wet from the shower but she didn't bother doing anything with it. She'd simply put it in one of those 'I'll deal with it later' buns. 

She walked down the stairs carefully and headed to the back of the house where the sunroom had been turned into her father's study... well half of the sunroom anyway. There was still some area devoted to taking in the sun and beautiful weather.