A/N: Apologizing now for any glaring mistakes. Unbeta read. Proofed as best as I could, but I'm having some health issues lately that are messing with some of my cognition.

I saw a lot, to the point where it made me emotional, of my own mother in Cat and thus a lot of myself in Gigi. No one really gets how hard the daughters' of single mothers have it unless you are one. Hoping I did this some justice.

Disclaimer: I own nothing you can recognize.

It all started when Gigi was about five. Cat found her kindergartener banging away at the Baby Grand in their living room.

"Gigi," Cat huffed out sternly as she entered the room.

With a joyful smile and wide blue eyes Gigi replied, "Lookie mommy! Just like you!"

"No, that's not just like me, but I can show you how," the young mother smiled wryly as she sat down next to the little girl.

"You gonna teach me how?" the little girl asked full of hope and excitement.

Cat nodded, "Yes, because if I don't you're going to ruin mommy's very expensive piano, Booboo."

And just like that, Gigi began to play the piano.

Gigi was ten when she first learned about her mom's old band.

"You were in a band?!" the preteen asked excitedly as she and her mother were cleaning out their basement. They happened upon a box filled with Heathens memorabilia.

Cat shrugged, "I was… about a billion years ago."

Gigi handed her mother a worn copy of the only Heathens album ever recorded, "Is this you guys' album?"

"Yes, only one we ever did in fact," Cat replied as she slipped the vinyl disc from its sleeve.

Gigi saw a flash of upset come across her mom's face, "Why didn't you record more?"

"Because your…" she caught herself in the nick of time. "Because Johnny screwed it all up for us," she plucked an old Polaroid of her and Johnny from the box in front of them.

Gigi grinned slightly, "Did you two date?" she pointed at the picture of the two looking lustfully at each other in Cat's hand.

"Sex isn't dating, Booboo," Cat stated coldly before throwing the album and picture back into the box and tucking it away like a shameful secret.

Later that night, once her mom was fast asleep in bed, Gigi snuck down into the basement and gave that musty old box of Heathens mementos her undivided attention. That was her first introduction to the infamous Johnny Rock.

Gigi was thirteen when the truth came out.

"He's my father?! Didn't you think that was important to mention before?!" the young teenager didn't hide her anger as she and her mother were driving home from the Health Department. They'd just picked up a copy of Gigi's legal birth certificate for her middle school registration.

Cat slammed on her brakes, "Why does this matter to you so damn much?!"

"He is my father, mom. You should have told me." Gigi felt tears welling.

"Booboo, he would have never wanted you. Baby, do you have any idea how hard it is to have a child that you never planned on?" Cat pulled off the road as Gigi began to cry.

Gigi swiped the tears away, "You didn't have to have me."

"I know," Cat sighed as she reached over to wipe her daughter's cheek. "But I wanted you. Nobody made me have you. It was my choice. I wanted you in my life."

Gigi raised her eyes to look into her mother's, "You still want me?"

"What?" Cat felt anger bubbling. "What kind of question is that, Gigi? I feed you, I put a roof over your head, and I put clothes on your body… God, are you ungrateful of all I've done and sacrificed for you?"

Gigi slowly shook her head, "Good," Cat bit back. "You better not be. I gave up my career to have you. You realize that don't you? Gave up everything I had to clean up your vomit, wipe your ass, and teach you how to read. Damn. I gave up my life for you."

Gigi wouldn't admit the fact she had found her mom's journal, a whole year earlier, where she talked about contemplating aborting Gigi. It wouldn't change the fact that she was here now and that her mom, in some way, loved her.

It was then, for the first time in her entire young life, Gigi finally had a name and face for her father place card holder.

Gigi was sixteen when she found out about the money.

"You what?" the teenager asked her drunk mother one night after a candid admission.

Cat shook her head drunkenly, "I have a trust fund set aside for you. Started it when I got pregnant with you and had some decent Heathens money left over from the move."

Gigi blinked at her mother, "How much are we talking?"

"$200,000, well, by time you can have it that is," Cat answered without hesitation.

"You drive a pick-up from the seventies! My car is a nineties relic! How am I supposed to believe you've packed away two hundred grand?" Gigi quizzed intently.

Cat scoffed as she lit a cigarette, "Booboo…"

"Please stop with that ridiculous 'Booboo' shit already, mom," Gigi winced at the nickname.

Cat shrugged, "Fine, whatever. I wanted you to have more freedom, opportunity wise, than I did. So, I saved every spare dollar I could and a few I shouldn't have."

"Oh well, when I'm famous I'll buy you that Lexus you've always wanted," Gigi smiled in spite of herself.

"Over my dead, cold body you'll be famous. I want you to go to college. Be a doctor, lawyer, something meaningful," Cat raised her voice but it was blurred by the alcohol.

Gigi stood over her mother then, "Just try and stop me. Once I turn eighteen and get my money, I'm gone."

"Twenty-one!" Cat shouted as Gigi walked away.

Gigi turned to face her mother whom was stumbling to her feet, "What are you talking about, mom?"

Cat smiled like she'd won something, "You can't cash in on your trust before your twenty-first birthday, Booboo."

"You're joking?"

"No, I'm not."

It was that night when Gigi planned her "escape" and vowed to herself that nothing and no one would stop her.

It all ended when Gigi was twenty-one. With trust fund check in hand, she had developed an insatiable desire to make all her dreams come true. Nothing and no one was going to stop her.

Cat woke on the morning after her daughter's birthday to find a letter written out on sheet music resting atop her coffee maker.

Mom,

Knowing you like the back of my hand, the coffee pot will be your first stop of the day. So it was the best place to leave this.

Cat sighed heavily as she began reading her daughter's cursive hand.

Becky and I are leaving for New York today. By the time you read this, we'll be halfway there. Becky will be home in a week, I, on the other hand, will not. I'm going to find him, mom, and you cannot stop me this time. I'm free of you.

With a scoff Cat flipped on her coffee maker before resuming her reading.

You'd probably just let out a scoff or mumbled a curse and something about me being ungrateful or whatever. He's my one shot to make my dreams come true. These dreams that I've been carrying around with me for as long as I can remember and have kept quiet because of your disapproval.

I'm an adult. I have the money. I have the ambition. And I damn sure have the willpower. Unlike you and your "motherhood responsibilities" holding you back. If I had of gotten pregnant, like you swore I was going to when I was sixteen, I would not have let it stop me. I would have brought my kid with me! I'm sure dad would love to meet his daughter and grandchild!

"Oh boy," Cat groaned as her coffee finished brewing. "Just wait til you meet him…"

My point being, this is my chance. All the love, sweat, and tears you've poured into me count for something. Mom, this is my dream. This is what I want more than anything else in the world. Please don't hate me for doing this.

Cat's eyes began to well, "Aw, Booboo."

It's my time. It's my turn to take all you've given me and put it to good use. For that I am thankful to you and hope that you can be proud of me.

Love,

Gigi

"And off she goes," Cat folded the letter up and placed it into her desk drawer.

Hey, maybe Gigi would make it big and she'd get that Lexus after all.

While I wanted to end this on a sour note, I couldn't. Hope it was enjoyable.