Between Us.

| Two. |

"Ari, baby. Wake up." Rikki cooed, patting Arika's butt softly as she herself rolled out of the queen sized bed. The little girl stirred in her sleep a bit, before finally taking a cute little stretch and pulling open her eyelids. Rikki smiled at her child, sticking out her tongue playfully as she scooped Arika in her arms and began pecking her chubby little cheeks.

"Good morning, Ari. Ready for a long day?" Rikki asked, Arika squirming around as she stuck her chubby fingers into her mouth.

"Hungry?" Rikki questioned her again, watching closely as Ari bopped her head up and down.

"Eat, eat!" Arika finally shouted, pulling on the ends of Rikki's hair as Rikki pulled the locks out of the little girl's tight grip.

"Okay, okay. We eat eat." She laughed, carrying her daughter into the kitchen and placing her into her high chair by the table. She turned around after making sure Arika was secured, grabbing a bowl and pouring some Honey Nut Cheerios in dry like Arika liked.

She observed her daughter intently as she stuck her entire hand in and shoved handfuls into her cute little mouth. She smiled. Her little girl was of rich caramel color, proving that even if Rikki didn't know who was her father, she was still of bi-racial race. A mane of wild curls sat on the top of her small head, with a pair of beautiful dark gray eyes to get lost in and the chubbiest cheeks in the world. Just beautiful.

She caught herself giggling at Arika's messy way of eating, before taking a seat across from her, scrolling through her cell phone and snapping a few pictures of the little girl as they completed their first task for the day. Once finishing eating, Rikki carried Arika back into the bedroom, dressing the little girl into a cute pair of baby jeans, some sandals, and brushing her hair back with a matching headband to her outfit. (She already knew Miss Tonya bathed her last night). She looked at her outfit again and shrugged. It was definitely still hot in San Diego, October or not.

After Arika was done for the day, Rikki sat her on the bed playing with a few toys as she climbed in the shower and got herself dressed into a sundress and flip flops. She had braids currently so for makeup, Rikki applied a soft coat of foundation and concealer so she could still look natural. Then packed Arika's diaper bag and made their way out the house.

It was Wednesday, and instead of dropping her daughter off across the hall, Rikki decided to take her daughter out with her as she went searching for a day job. They also had a appointment at a local daycare center, for Arika to attend during the daytime hours. She made her way to the local bus stop, holding Arika tightly in her arms as she hopped on, paid the man and found a seat in the front.

After what happened with Jamie, it was almost like Rikki's life had turned upside down. Because now, she had a child to care for, she couldn't find a 9-5 job and she had to get by with public transportation since her car was already almost halfway gone when the wedding renewal happened. Jamie said she would have Luis take a look, but unfortunately, we never made it there.

Babies were expensive though, so Rikki made a choice. The bus eventually pulled itself to a stop, as Rikki climbed off and made her way inside of 'San Deigo DayCare Center/Preschool' which was located downtown, not to far from where the middle school where she used to work at was. She pulled open the door, adjusting Arika in her arms as she walked to the main office and stood at the counter patiently.

The woman on the other side finally looked up, a small smile on her face. "Hello, how can I help you?"

"I'm Rikki Santana and this is my daughter Arika. I called a few weeks ago for a appointment to enroll my daughter here?" Rikki said sweetly, allowing Arika to play with her hair like she always did.