no strings // h.s a.u

2. no stress

In my absolute expert opinion of social media, it is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because it provides the opportunity to connect with people all over the world and spread news at a rapid fire speed, but it is also a curse because it allows ex-boyfriends to be tagged in photos that a still-recovering-from-a-breakup-ex-girlfriend really does not want or need to see.

"Jack, you absolute son of a—" I pause on the spot, MacBook resting on my knees and half a mug of coffee in one hand, the second I hear footsteps coming up behind me. "Oh! Jane, I didn't see you there."

"I know what you were going to say, tía," Jane replies, folding her arms across her chest. "You were going to say a naughty word. Mummy says we're not allowed to say naughty words."

It takes every cell in my body not to tell her that "Mummy" very much says naughty words all the time and in fact she is the one who taught me some of these naughty words in the first place, but I smack my lips together and pray that word vomit doesn't make an appearance, as it so desperately wants to . I can already imagine the lecture from Josie—the thought alone is enough to make me shudder and, quite frankly, a little scared. Instead, I shut my MacBook, though the vivid image of what I saw is imprinted in my mind, and turn around to face my niece.

"So, what did you want for your birthday again?"

Jane begins to tell me all about how she wants an iPad for her birthday, since her best friend, Bethany, received one for her birthday the month before. It seems a little ridiculous to me to just give a four-year-old an iPad for their birthday, but hey, what do I know about parenting? I am just a 29-year-old single woman who had to move in with her sister's family after yet another failed attempt at trying to be an adult.

"Ah, there you are," Josie says as she walks into my bedroom, gesturing towards her daughter . "Wondered where you had wandered off to."

"Just tellin' Mae about my new iPad." Jane grins wide, her missing tooth on the left of her two front teeth on show.

Josie sighs as soon as Jane says this. "Honey, I told you already, I don't know about that. It doesn't matter if Bethany's parents think it's okay for her to have one. Daddy and I are the ones who get to decide whether you deserve one or not."

"No!" Jane folds her arms across her chest and frowns something shocking. "If Bethany can have one, then so can I!" She stamps her foot, then runs out of my room, presumably to find someone who will listen to her pleas for an iPad.

Josie pinches the bridge of her nose. "Tell me again why I thought a second child was a good idea?" she asks, placing a hand on her seven-month-pregnant belly.

I laugh. "Beats me."

Apparently Jane didn't get much sleep the night before, the pure excitement of planning her birthday party in just over a month overwhelming her and everyone else around her, and in turn it has resulted in an overtired and grumpy child. I have been privy to these awful moods from Jane before, and if I could never be on the receiving end ever again, it would be the best thing in the entire world. As someone who has always imagined she would have children, Jane sure as hell makes me question everything I ever thought. She is a sweet child, sure, but it's when she is on the other end of the sweet scale that worries me. I don't know how Josie does it. She really is a saint.

"Better go make sure she's not getting up to any mischief elsewhere," Josie says with a sigh, but before she leaves, she turns back around and says, "Not sure if you've eaten yet, but there's a plate in the microwave for you. That's what I was coming to tell you before...Jane happened."

I feel bad that she's gone to the trouble of cooking extra so I can eat as well, especially when she has far better things to be doing. "You really didn't need to, y'know?"