Lucy's POV
The road seemed to stretch on forever as I glanced in my rear view mirror to find Michelle, my daughter, fast asleep in her car seat. Her blonde hair lay plastered to her face as sticky, candy residue and dirt speckled the skin around her mouth. A sippy cup lay abandoned in her lap as her favorite stuffed bunny sat on the edge or her seat, threatening to fall. A light pink dress poked out from Michelle's My Little Pony hoodie and her twinkle toes tennis shoes sparkled in the glow of her light up necklace. Her father would one day regret not being here.
Four years ago, I was in a serious relationship with a playboy named Loke Leo. I truly thought he'd be with me forever, so I gave him my virginity. Nine months later, I had a baby girl in my arms while Loke held another woman miles away from my hospital room. I've since raised Michelle Maggie Heartfilia on my own. I sighed as I shook Loke and his stupidity from my mind as my gas light came on.
Glancing around, I found a small gas station just up the road so I pulled in to fill my tank. Michelle woke up as I opened my door, so I helped her out. She's probably hungry and needs to use the restroom, I thought as we made our way to the store's door.
"Mommy," Michelle's voice made me smile. "I'm hungry."
Told ya so. "Okay, baby. Let's see if we can find you something inside. Do you need to use the potty, too?"
"Yea." She laughed.
We entered the store and Michelle bolted from my side to a corner of the store that held chips and nuts. She loved salty foods. I laughed and chased after her. The small three year old was standing, frozen, staring at a corner of the store.
"Michelle? Baby, what're you looking at?" I asked, walking up to see what she was looking at.
"Mommy, why are they hiding food in their pockets?" She asked sweetly.
Two boys were sitting in the corner, out of sight from the cameras, stuffing small food items into their pockets. The older one was about twenty four years of age and so thin she could count his ribs, his pink hair spiked randomly from his scalp. He wore faded old clothes, ripped and frayed from years of use, dirt caked onto them, and his shoes had holes in them. The younger one was maybe five with bright blue hair in the same style. He was just as dirty and skinny as the one he sat by.
"Baby, I think they're homeless." I sighed. "Let's help them."
"Okay, mommy!" She giggled as we made our way up to the boys.
As a Heartfilia, I was born into the world with a silver spoon in my hand. My family owned a multi billion dollar company and two multi million dollar franchises. I could buy a private island without my father even noticing. So I decided to help the starving boys in front of me.
"Hello," I said walking up to the boys.
"Sup?" The pink headed man said with a huge grin.
"Hi!" The little boy said jumping up and throwing his arms into the air.
"My name is Lucy, this is my daughter, Michelle." I smiled as Michelle ran around me to greet the little boy. "If you'd like, I'd be happy to buy dinner for you and this little one. It's a bit cold out though so you should probably grab his jacket."
The man's smile fell and he looked down. "I can't. Happy doesn't have a jacket."
"What's your name? And it's okay. We'll run to the car and I'll crank up the heat. Before dinner, we can stop and get him one." I smiled warmly.
"Wow, Luce you must be rich!"
"Luce?" I asked turning a bit pink. "What?"
"Well Luce, are you sure you wanna take us out to eat? We're homeless, thieves, and tend to be violent and disruptive."
"I'm sure. Come on, you can be our bad boys for the evening. I need to stop by Walmart before we eat though so I can get Happy a car seat and a jacket." I laughed lifting Michelle into my arms and nodding for the boys to follow me.
As I paid for my gas, I turned to smile at the boys and asked them to place the food from their pockets onto the counter so I could pay for it as well.
"By the way," I laughed, "you still owe me a name and I want your story as well."