It All Started With A Baby

3

When Blake arrived home at the end of her week on Friday, she walked through the door and hung her keys up as normal. Then she turned the stove on and set a kettle over the burner to boil water for iced tea.

"Where have you been all week?" Her mother asked. She came from upstairs and looked liked she'd just woken up from a nap.

"I told you I got a job," Blake answered. She knew some of her responses seemed to be full of attitude, but she no longer cared. Her mother didn't care, so why should she.

"Oh," was all her mother responded with. "I just needed you to do something for me earlier and you weren't here." Blake didn't respond.

"Are you going to be gone most of the day then?"

Blake nodded her head. "Are you getting paid well?"

Blake grit her teeth and tried to remain calm. The only time her mother took an interest in her life was either because she wanted Blake to do something for her or to give her money.

"I suppose," Blake answered. It wasn't great money, which made sense. Caiden wasn't a business owner. He was paying her out of his own pocket. They'd discussed the amount she would be paid earlier and they were both fine with it. She didn't mind much about the money though, she was just happy to be away from her house.

"How much?"

"It's not any of your business, mother," Blake said.

"It's not? You live in my house, Blake. I'm the one that pays for your meals and your phone bill. Me. I'm the one that does everything for you, and this is how you treat me?"

Blake turned to stare at Diane but didn't respond.

"Answer me!"

"I said it's none of your business! If we are going to call each other out here then how about you own up to the fact that I am the only reason you are still able to pay to live here! I'm the reason you have a job and can support yourself! I'm the one who does everything for you without a single ounce of appreciation! What about all I do for you, mother?" Blake yelled.

Her mother seemed shocked by Blake's response. Blake was shocked, too. Years worth of pent-up resentment all exploded within seconds.

"I didn't know that's how you felt," Diane said.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that your 17-year-old daughter was struggling as well," Blake said, referring to when her father first died and her mother became a shell of herself.

Diane dropped her gaze and no longer met her daughter's stare. She wrapped her arms around herself and headed back up the stairs.

Blake took the now boiling water off the stove and poured it into a pitcher with sugar, ice, and tea packets. After that, she grabbed her keys and left the house. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she didn't want to be at her house.

She pulled off to the side of the road when her phone started ringing. She looked down when she parked, seeing it was Caiden calling. She couldn't help the flutter of excitement in her stomach as his name flashed across the screen.

"Hello?" She answered.

"Blake. Hi. I wanted to invite you over for dinner tomorrow," he stated.

"Why's that?" She asked, her heart racing. Her experience was guys was extremely limited. As in some weird kid named Austin used to flirt with her in high school. That is the extent of it. So she wasn't sure if this was a normal thing for guys to do or not. Did he like her, is this why he'd asked her to dinner twice within a week?