Hello you beautiful people! I will warn you now so I don't get any more hate about writing what I want to write on here - this is my own story with aspects from This Lullaby. If you only want to read fanficts then I suggest you exit this now! If you are a daring lovely reader that will give me a chance then thank you so much for reading! Please comment/suggest/review/etc! This is also published on FictionPress ~lovelaney - there's my URL if you are on there too, add me! Thanks for reading lovelies!

I fall in love with movies and books with a strong heroine lead - with a romance of course. You know, those girls that don't take crap from any of the love interests and are just pretty bad-ass – it made me feel stronger.

But one thing that is common in all films or books with the leading lady is that nothing happens to her that happens to all regular women! Like honestly, when was the last time your favorite girl got her period? Hmmm, never. I envy that.

"Jo, what do you think of these?" I set my most recent read down on the cold concrete floor beside me. My mom held up a packet of flower seeds - it would be an ugly addition to our small garden, but I nodded anyway, giving her a reassuring positive smile. She turned back to the box of random things we had found in my Grandparent's garage. The sun was shining abnormally bright today, but there was a nice breeze with the garage door was open.

She needed positivity, more now than ever. We were going through her parents' things. It had only been a week since they passed away - together in their sleep. It was something I had only heard of in movies. Don't get me wrong, I felt horrible too – but I had only seen them two or three times that I remember.

We had gone through box after box after box, finding some neat things my mom hadn't seen since she was a kid. A long shadow cast over my book on my lap.

"Are my two favorite ladies hungry?" A heartwarming and familiar voice washed over my mother and me, putting smiles on both of our faces. I was surprised I didn't hear his old clunker of a truck pull up. Aaron strode into the garage juggling enough food to feed a small army. His broad shoulders blocked the sun from my eyes, but I swear his smile was so bright I still had to squint when my eyes met his face.

My mom found a rolled up blanket and spread it out across the garage floor. Aaron set down the bags in the middle of us and I smelt the mouthwatering smell of greasy burgers and fries from Serv-A-Buger, my favorite burger joint. My mom and Aaron went there nearly every day when they were my age. He tossed me my American Bacon burger. I hadn't realized how hungry I had been, it had to be getting close to 6 o'clock by now.

"How's Kendra doing?" my mom asks Aaron this every time they see each other. Kendra is his girlfriend – she doesn't hang around my mom and me. I'm more than positive she doesn't like him hanging around us since my mom isn't married. And Aaron always replies with something along the lines of, 'Oh she's fine. How's work going Nora?' or 'Great, she's great – how's school going Jo?'

But this time he didn't answer. He wiped some ketchup-mustard mix off the corner of his mouth and casually passed me a container of fries.

"We can talk about this later," my mom placed a hand on his knee and glanced towards me.

"You know," I said between bites, "I'm not twelve anymore. You can talk in front of me," I mumbled loud enough for them to hear it, and my mom looked taken aback.

"Joslyn, you don't talk to-" Aaron put up his hand, hushing my mother. He pushed his short dark hair back and stretched out his legs, sighing.

"Jo's right Nora," I nervously resituated myself on the hard ground. He looked to my face and then to my mother's.

"Kendra left last week. She went back to her parent's home in Ohio," his gaze had dropped to his hands and I suddenly wasn't very hungry. "She's definitely not coming back anytime soon." I swear I saw my mom's eyes light up for a fraction of a second. Aaron had been like a dad to me from as long as I could remember. My biological dad left before I was born, and I never cared to know who he was.

And though Aaron and my mom never dated, he treated her better than any of her other deadbeat boyfriends. He knew me better than she did sometimes – and he really was handsome for a middle-aged man. I actually wished for 6 years straight that they would end up together and have the fairytale wedding my mom deserved.

"Oh, Aaron, I'm so sorry," My mom was kneeling beside her friend with her arms wrapped around his broad neck. I took ahold of the hand that wasn't wrapped around my mom's waist and gave him a weak smile.

"Well," he sighed after a while of silence, "I say good-riddance," his face was back to the beaming Aaron I had grown to love. "Now I can spend as much time as I want with my two lovely ladies and no one can say otherwise." This made my mom laugh and hug him tighter, he just looked at me and winked.

I really did like him for my mom.

A few weeks ago I graduated from high school. It was probably the last time I would see any of my friends from grade school – all of them were going off and doing big things with their lives. I hadn't figured anything out yet. Not which school I was going to, what I wanted to do with my life… let alone how I would pay for all of it. But Aaron and my mom came to my rescue from a boring summer. I was sitting in the airport about to board my plane to St. Mary's, Georgia. I was going to stay with my mom's sister, Nancy, for the summer.

I couldn't tell if the butterflies in my stomach were from nervousness or excitement, but it was time I did something fun with my life.

"Now, being my daughter you'll be able to hold your alcohol very well – just make sure you don't start on in on the heavy stuff right away okay?" My mouth hung open hearing my mom talk to me like this – she'd raised me to know better. I was content with books and hot cocoa on weekends. I'd had one sip of beer when I was eight out of Aaron's glass (thinking it was apple juice) and nearly hit the floor gagging.

My mom started laughing at me and pulled me into a hug, "I'm going to miss you so much," she kissed the side of my face and squeezed my shoulders.

"I'll miss you too mom." Aaron then grabbed me and spun me around like I was five again, "Please take care of her," I whispered in his ear when my feet touched the ground again. I felt him nod and he ruffled my hair.

"If any of those southern boys even think about touching you – I swear to God they'll have hell to pay!" my face turned red and I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Have fun, Jo, don't do anything I wouldn't do," he winked at me and my mom slapped his shoulder. He tucked his arm around my mom's shoulders and I blew the two of them a huge dramatic kiss, and walked toward my gate.