It All Started With A Baby

1

"Blake!" Her mother, Diane, called from the kitchen. Blake sighed and stood up from her laptop at the dining room table.

"Yes, mom?" She asked when she walked into the kitchen. Her mother was standing by the kitchen sink taking her antidepressants.

"I need you to run to the store for me to pick groceries up for the week."

Blake secretly rolled her eyes but nodded. "Okay."

"Here's fifty dollars. We need milk, eggs, and bread, and get whatever else you think we will need," Diane said. She pulled the money from her pocket and slid it across the kitchen island toward Blake.

"Okay, I'll be back soon," Blake responded. She grabbed her keys from the hook by the door and slid on a pair of sunglasses before leaving the house. She unlocked the car door and slid into the driver's seat, putting the key in the ignition, and backing down the driveway.

On her short drive to the grocery store, she couldn't help but feel stressed. She'd just graduated from college a month ago and she had no potential job in sight. It was extremely stressful because she did not want to spend any more time in her mother's house. She wanted to find a job, save money, and move into her own place as quickly as possible.

After her father died of cancer five years ago, her mother hadn't been the same. Blake understood. Her father's death changed her as well, but she didn't let it stop her from living, either, like her mother had. Her mother lost her job at the hospital after her husband and Blake's father, Walter, died. She hadn't shown up to work for weeks until they finally called her and told her she was terminated. Now she worked a low paying job at the bank in town. Blake had to fight and fight with her to apply for the job until she must've realized that her child would starve if she didn't start pulling in money.

Blake loved her mother and she knew she was trying, but she couldn't stay in that environment for much longer. She didn't even get to leave the house for college, she stayed home and went to the local community college to get a degree. Blake couldn't get a loan herself at the time for school, and her mother's credit was horrible because after her father had died, she became extremely irresponsible with her money. So, she couldn't afford to go anywhere else but her community college.

It wasn't like they were broke, they weren't. Her father had a good-paying job and he had quite a lot of money saved up, including money he had hid from her mother. He hid it because he wanted to move himself and Diane to the Bahamas after Blake graduated college as a surprise. After he died, most of his savings went to Blake, but a large portion still went to Diane.

They still lived in the house they had lived in Blake's whole life. Thankfully the house was paid off so they didn't need to worry about a mortgage. Their vehicles were paid off already as well. The only bills they had to pay were insurance, utilities, and the like.

Still, though, things were tight. Blake didn't want to touch any of her savings until she absolutely needed to. She didn't have an income either, so she had to depend on her mother to support her, which wasn't ideal.

Diane wasn't a bad mother. She didn't abuse Blake or speak badly to her. She was just nonexistent. She didn't speak to Blake much or do anything to interact with her. It was like Diane was a ghost who only showed up when she wanted Blake to do something for her. This was due to the severe depression she fell into after Walter's death.

Blake truly did love and care for her mother, but her mother sucked all of the happiness out of her. Her mother never wanted to do anything, never wanted to go anywhere except the bank for a few hours a day, and then come back home to lay in bed. It killed Blake to see her mother like that, but she couldn't be around it anymore. Diane was a suffocating presence and Blake just wanted to breathe.