Hopeless Honey

The Baby Blues

I wasn't sure why he hated me so much. I knew we didn't get along but I didn't know the reason. He wasn't like this with my mom. In fact he loved my mom. He bought her flowers on Mother's Day and never left without a kiss on the cheek. Sometimes I thought he loved my mom more than his own.

He was my moms favorite, she never said so, but I could tell. She raised him as a young girl, bit understanding motherhood much at all. She wasn't perfect, but she raised him the same way she raised me.

Ms.Betty wasn't much of a mother figure. She felt a lot of pressure from her husband to have kids, but when she had 7, he never helped her. When Ms.Betty had Xavier, she didn't like holding him. She would be sad whenever he cried in her arms. She would hand him to my mom and she would love him for her.

I didn't I understand when I was little, but as I got older, I learned that Ms.Betty most likely suffered from the baby blues, I know now that this was postpartum depression.

And her husband was not supportive. He was aggressive with her and blamed her for troubles in their marriage. He pressured her to have more kids in hopes that it would bring them closer together.

Ms.Betty wanted a girl, so she had sarah, but she didn't want her to be alone, so she had 5 more girls. All for my mom to look after while their parents were at work. It was hard to understand why people made their lives so complicated.

I was in the kitchen cleaning up after breakfast when I felt a pair of baby blue eyes on me. It was a cold glare filled with hurt, I made eye contact with him. Xavier looked away quickly without saying anything to me.

I went to the bathroom to change into some regular clothes for school, I was probably going to be late today, but I was used to it.

Again I felt a cold glare, this boy has serious issues. He was a completely different person around his parents and siblings. He was sweet and friendly, but when we were alone, it was like I was his enemy.

"Claire, you left your lunch box on the table!" I yelled after her. She came running back to grab it.

"Thank you honey" she hugged my legs as she ran back after the group.

Xavier drove himself, Sarah, and Alex to school.

"Good luck on your presentation today, Sarah, you're gonna do great" I said giving her a hug. I knew she was nervous, but she had no reason to be because she was the smartest girl I knew. She smiled shyly.

"Thanks for helping me finish it."

"Honey, are you coming back tonight?" Alex asked in a serious tone.

"Of course I am, it's Thursday, I wouldn't miss movie night." We high fived and with that I was out the door, not having said anything to Xavier.

I drove the truck all the way back to the south side just in time for the 8:30 bell. I grabbed my book bag out the back seat and ran to class. School was long and boring. I ate lunch with some friends and my boyfriend. He was y'all and handsome, he played soccer, and he was everything I could ask for.

"How was your morning babe?" He asked kissing me on the lips softly. He knew I helped my mom out with housekeeping and had even met some of the younger kids when he came with me to pick them up from school.

"It was the same as most" I smiled at him.

"How was your game yesterday, Mateo? I'm sorry I couldn't make it"

"No worries baby, I know you were working hard. We took an L though." He said laughing.

"It's okay, y'all got the next one." I reassured him.

We had a good relationship, he was your typical Hispanic boy, his parents owned a restaurant and he bussed tables there some nights. He offered me a waitress job there, but I turned it down. I didn't want to leave the Callahans.

During last period, I got a text message from Sarah.

It read "presentation went great! Thanks again. See you tonight." I was so happy, I felt like it had been my own assignment. I was excited to see them later.

School ended at three and I went back to my place to grab some more clothes to leave at the Callaghans. I made it there at almost four thirty.

I walked in to see my mom and Xavier coming inside with the groceries. He held majority of the heavy bags and my mom only held two.

His blonde hair was gelled back messily, he had on his fancy private school uniform. His white button down shirt was tight around his toned arms.His tie was loose and almost undone around his neck.

I walked over to the kitchen island and accidentally got caught on a grocery bag that was on the floor. I tried to find my footing but failed. As I was falling back, I felt a strong arm grab my waist. His pale arms contrasted on my brown skin. I grabbed his hand and stood upright. He pulled away quickly, not even looking at me.

"Thanks" I said, coldly, he didn't respond.

"Honey, can you two help unpack this, I have to go get Emily and Claire from ballet" my mom urged I nodded and began unpacking.

"Maria I'm going to go get the last bags from the car" he said to my mom. She smiled lovingly.

"Isn't he great?" She said when he left. "I always wanted you to end up with a boy like him." If only she knew.

"What about Mateo? He's a great guy" I responded

Xavier Walked back in and set down a few more bags, taking out more groceries.

"Mateo is nice but he focuses more on soccer than you."

I frowned, she'd only met him a handful of times.

"Whatever" I responded dryly. My mom scolded me, but left it alone.

She was overprotective of me, and never thought any of my boyfriends were good enough. I was really open with her and she was with me. She was still fairly young, beautiful, and she always spoke her mind.

When my mom left and it was just us two, it was quiet. I played some music from the kitchen radio. I sang a few lyrics and danced a bit as I put away their organic hummus. I heard Xavier chuckling

"What's so funny?" I said, snapping my head in his direction.

"Nothing" he said still laughing. His tie was off now and his shirt was unbuttoned at the first few holes.

"Then why are you staring at me?" I questioned, feeling bold.

"You wish" he replied quickly.

I ignored him and kept dancing around and putting away groceries.

"Who's Mateo?" He asked out of the blue. He had an uninterested look on his face, but his eyes said something else. He passed me a loaf of bread and I put it in the pantry.

"My boyfriend" I said happily. He had a weird look on his face.

"You have a boyfriend?" Just then, Sarah walks in.

"Who has a boyfriend?" She asks.

"Honey" he says seriously.

"Oooo, is he cute? Can I see a picture?" I giggled and pulled out my phone. I showed a picture of him in his soccer uniform. He looked super hot.

"Omg he is so cute! Does he have a brother?" Sarah said. We laughed together a chatted for a few minutes.

Xavier looked annoyed, "it's getting late, are we going to put away groceries or not?" He interrupted.