Wherever The River May Run.

Mama's Boy.

Sang's POV:

By the time we made it home River had fallen asleep in the back, and boy was I greatful. I had no idea how to exolain to a four year old that the man with the potty mouth that was hugging me was his father. I had always raised River to believe he didn't need a dad, but if I told him the truth about this I knew he would want to get to know him, and to top it all off he would live him, I was sure of it.

Family is a choice.

That's what the boys had always told me, and in turn that's what I always taught my son when he asked about the rest of our family. He knew my stepmother was a bad lady, just not exactly how bad of a lady she was. He knew he had an aunt that didn't like me because her mother- my stepmother- had raised her not to, and he knew that my father had left when I was a teenager. I had always told him the truth, or as much as I could.

I had told him that family was a choice, and that we could choose people that weren't related to us to be our family. The first time I told him that he happened to ask our next door neighbor- a skateboarder guy only a few years older than me- if he would like to be his daddy. I was mortified, but after explaining what I had told my son earlier in the week he told my son he would be his "uncle".

My son was ecstatic, and went to see his "uncle" every day, they would play hide and go seek, or  watch super hero movies...They even rode skateboards together. But a few months ago our neighbor- who I found out was named Jake- had moved across the US to go to college, and my sons heart broke. Jake had bought River a skateboard so he could continue to learn, and promised to come and visit when he could, but so far we hadn't heard anything.

I unstrapped River from the car seat before picking him up and heading towards our little two bedroom mobile home, making sure to lock up the car behind me. I opened the door and stepped in, closing it after I was inside and flipped the lock before I rushed down the hall. Laying River in his bed, I took of his shoes, and covered him with a blanket before sneaking back out to the living room and kicking off my heels.

I plopped down on my couch as I looked around. I remember buying this home about a 6 months after I moved here. I worked as many shifts as I could, waitressing at the diner down the road during the day and working at a local bar at night. Saved every paycheck and any tips I could while living in a cheap hotel room, until I bout this place with cash. Paid the lot expenses in cash too. The Realtor was suprised to say the least, but sold it to me anyway and delivered it for a small fee.

It was my home. It was the place I had bought with my hard earned cash, and damn did it feel good. I was ready for River when he came. Had already set up a nursery. That was the first thing I set up. Followed by the kitchen, then the rest of the house.

My bedroom was last though, and I didn't finish it until about a year ago, but I had done it. I worked my buns off day in and day out, until I had to go back to working only at the diner during the day, and turned our house into a home while raising a child alone.

(The house)

Something had always felt off though. I knew what it was, I just refused to admit it. I'd always missed the boys. Not a day went by that I hadn't thought about them but I knew whatever place I had in their family was long gone, and I honestly didn't know how to forgive them.

I sighed, rubbing my head as I thought over what happened today, a million questions racing through my mind. Why are they here? How did they find me? Did they know about River all along? Had they even looking for us? Or was it an accident that we bumped into each other today?

My heart clenched at the thought but I really didn't know what to think. For the past four years its just been River and I, but now... I didn't know what I felt. I was still so angry with all of them. They said they would always be there for me, but they all turned their backs on me when I needed them the most.

Was I scared now that they were here? Yes, absolutely. Did I want them back in my life? Well, my head was screaming "don't you dare" but my heart...my heart was whispering "yes, you fool". I couldn't think about all that right now though, for all I know I might never see them again and thus was a chance encounter. They were probably already agreeing that they didn't want anything to do with River or myself. I growled as I shook my head before sighing.

"Too many unanswered questions." I grumbled out loud as I peeled myself off the couch and headed towards the kitchen to start dinner. I decided to make Taco Soup, River's favorite meal  and took out all the ingredients before I got to work. Twenty minutes later I had everything in the pot and simmering.

I turned the heat down a little, before walking to the table and opening my laptop. I knew River was going to want to watch a movie later, so I decided to get some of my college homework done.

It was basically jist general education classes, since I had to take a year off of school. But no matter how boring or pointless it was, it needed to be done. I refused to be another drop out teen mom who didn't try and create a better future for herself and her child. I didn't want to feel like a failure. No, I'd worked too darn hard to give up now. Most importantly, I wanted to prove to myself and everyone who ever doubted me that I could make it in life, even if it took everything I had in me to do so.

****

Two and a half hours later, River had woken up from his nap and stumbled into the kitchen with ruffled hair and a sleepy grin as he looked at the pot of soup. He helped me set the table again, then we ate and then cleaned up after ourselves. It seemed he'd forgotten about the whole Zoo problem, and I was a-okay not bringing it up EVER.

In true River fashion, he begged me to watch a movie with him before bedtime, and I decided to order one on Redbox online so I could connect it to my TV.  River quickly scurried off to go change into his pajamas, while I built our little movie fort and connected my laptop to the TV, so we could watch The Secret Life Of Pets. Soon as we were both changed into Pj's and settled in I pressed play and spent the rest of my night lost in laughter, eating snacks, and cuddling with my little mama's boy.