common sense • rini/jolivia one shots

it's for the best (2)

Nini grinned as she felt the bed shift next to her, tiny hands gripping her face. she pretended to be asleep as her daughter spoke to her.

"mommy! get up! it's time to play!"

she rolled over and took her little girl into her arms. the child let out a squeal and a series of adorable laughs as Nini tickled her belly.

"good morning my sweet girl, how about some breakfast before we play huh? i heard your Lolas downstairs in the kitchen, go head down i'll be there in a minute."

the little girl bounced out of the room and Nini took a deep breath, laying flat on her back. she sighed looking around the room. it looked nothing like it did when she moved back home three years ago. her once pink walls were now a light gray, her pink bed set now replaced with a light blue one to accent the pieces in her room. it hurt too much when it was the same as it was when she was a teenager, it reminded her of the past. a past she tried desperately to forget.

the past three years had flown by for Nini. after her daughter Audrey was born, Nini suffered from a horrible case of Postpartum Depression just after bringing the baby home. she loved her daughter but every time she looked at her, she was reminded of everything she lost with Ricky. she resented her daughter for a while. that was until Audrey got really sick, she got Fifth Disease and almost died. she spent a few days in the pediatric ICU, her rash and fever were too horrible to go away on their own. Nini realized what a horrible mother she had been, ignoring her own daughter for the first 3 months of her life.

as soon as Audrey recovered, Nini became attached at the hip to that little girl. she lived for her daughter, she spent every waking hour trying to provide for her. she had gone back to school, getting a teaching degree in English Education so she could have a stable job to provide for Audrey. she was now teaching at East High, something she never thought she'd say.

her daughter was her whole life. everything she did, she did it for her babygirl. she had decided against giving her Ricky's last name. instead, she named her Audrey Malou Salazar-Roberts. she wanted to protect her daughter. Ricky had begun to pick up popularity after Audrey was born so she didn't want to risk naming her after him and having it come out that he had a daughter with his runaway ex girlfriend.

Nini had picked up her act. she was a teacher, a mother, and she had recently begun dating again. it was hard since the only real relationship she'd had in the past three years was her daughter. she hadn't been serious with anybody since Ricky. she compared everybody to him. until she met Daniel.

Daniel Pearson was a successful financial analyst at a big finance company in SLC. they'd met randomly one day at the grocery store. she couldn't reach the cereal box and he got it down for her, they'd been together since. they were going on their 7th month of dating yet Nini still felt like she couldn't commit. she was scared. the last time she got this close to somebody, she ended up pregnant and heartbroken. she hadn't even really let Audrey spend time with Daniel, always making sure her moms took her out when he came over and he never stayed the night.

she made her way down the stairs to see her daughter sitting on her knees on a chair at the dining room table, a stack of her favorite chocolate chip pancakes in front of her. things like that used to be hard for Nini to see. everything Audrey did reminded her of Ricky, her favorite foods, her voice, her curly hair, her attitude, everything.

but standing in the doorway looking at her daughter, she was looking at her true love of her life.

~~

Ricky had been busy in the past three years. he'd released two albums and gone on one world tour and was currently ending his spring North America tour, making stops all around the country.