Penny woke up to the sound of her baby girl crying, she sighed, " Danielle." She groaned, "why you gotta wake me up?" she got up and walked down the hallway of her apartment into the small room of her daughters, the little one year old was crying her eyes out, Penny picked her up and bounced her for a little while, soon the baby stopped crying, looking at her mother with sleepy green eyes, "come on baby girl, I bet yo hungry." She walked into the kitchen and pulled a bottle out of the refrigerator, going to warm it up, her phone rang and she quickly put the bottle down and picked it up, "hello?"

"Hay girl!" Dijonay shouted on the other line, making Penny flinch.

"Damn Dijonay you need to turn the volume down." She said, "what's up?'

"Nothin' girl, just wonderin' if you want to go to the club tonight?"

"Nah I'm good." She said, "you know on Sunday's my family has a family dinner." She said, "Besides I have to watch Danielle."

"Girl you can get someone to watch Little Dani, and I know that family dinner happens at like, 3."

She sighed, "Dijonay I'm not goin' aiight? Maybe next time."

"That's' what you been sayin' fo who knows how long girl."

"I'll make it up to you, promise."

"Aiight, we still down fo Wednesday right?"

"Yeah, I'll see ya later." Penny said, picking up the bottle and giving it to her daughter, she walked into the living room and sat down, turning the TV on.

A knock at the door made her groan, "ain't gonna be able to relax at all today huh Dani?" she asked her daughter, standing up and walking over to the door.

"Hey Penny." Mr. Williams, her landlord, greeted, "how are you today?"

"I'm fine Mr. Williams." She said, "What can I do for you?"

"Just here to remind you that you're rents do at the end of this week." He said, "That's Sunday."

"Alright Mr. Williams, I get paid Friday, I'll get the money first thing to you on Saturday." She said.

"Alright, you have a good week Penny." He said, walking away.

"Oh wait," Penny said, making Mr. Williams look back. "The faucet's broken can you send the super?"

"Yeah, I'll send him up right away."

Penny closed the door and went back into the living room, laying Dani down on the couch; the little girl was still chugging on her bottle. Her eyes droopy, Penny smiled down at her, "you woke me up fo' food? You really are my daughter." A knock at the door made her look over, "Man that was quick." She said, standing up and walking over, she opened the door and her eyes widened, "Omar?" she asked.

"Penny?" the large man asked in confusion, he hadn't changed much since their high school days, still large and muscular, his signature jacket on, in his left hand he carried a toolbox, "I didn't know you and yo family live in this apartment now."

"Actually I'm the only one living here," she said uncomfortably, "I didn't know you worked as a super."

"Only part-time, I live in this apartment too." He said, "So uh…you need my help with the sinks?"

"Y-yeah, come on in." she said, stepping out of the way and letting him in, as he walked in, he saw little Dani lying on the couch, his eyes widened, "you got a kid Proud?"

"Uh-huh…" she said, walking past him and picking up her daughter, "this is Danielle."

"She's so small." He said softly, looking at the sleepy infant.

She smiled, "she's only a year old." She walked into her room and laid her down.

"Who's the father?" he asked.

"A deadbeat that's who." She mumbled, "come on, I'll show you where the problem is."

He followed her, 'so you and yo baby daddy ain't on good terms right now huh?"

"He didn't even stick around," Penny said, "he split as soon as I told him I was pregnant."

"That ain't right." He said, checking the faucets on the sink, the pipes rumbled, and nothing came out, "hmm…sounds like yo pipes are rusted…"

Penny groaned, "of course…more money down the drain." She muttered.

"Nah, maybe we just need ta replace a pipe, and if it's just one pipe, then I can manage, if it's the whole thing then we got a problem." He said, "lemme call down fo them to turn the water off real quick so I can take them apart."

"Aiight…you thirsty?" she asked.

"Nah, I'm good Proud." He said, calling down, "yo, its Omar…yeah…shut da water off…yeah…216…aiight, thanks." He hung up, "actually, you got a coke or somethin'?"

"Yeah," she said, opening the refrigerator, pulling out a can of cola, "so you goin' to school?" she asked, leaning against the counter,

"Nah, college ain't fo me, ya know?" he said, starting to take the pipes apart and looking into each of them.

"We thought you'd go on to be some, big shot NFL player." He said.

"Nah," he said with a small smile, "but I ain't neva even wanted ta play football, I only played fo my pops, but it ain't neva been somethin' I wanted to be."

She nodded, "I can respect that." She said, leaning against the wall.

He checked one of the last pipes before they lead out of the room, "aiight, this last one is completely rusted shut." He said, "I'll get it replaced this afternoon." He reattached all the pipes, except the last two, he picked up his can and took a drink, "what you doin' now a days Proud?"

"Just workin' at the Diner." She said, "nothin' special here."

He nodded, "well, you know if you need anythin', you can hit me and Stinky up." he said with a smile.

"That's sweet of you Omar," she said giving him a hug,

"It ain't nothin' proud, we been friends since middle school, and I ain't one to drop nobody, no matter how far apart we been."

She smiled, "aren't you sweet.' She said, pulling away, "I'm gonna go get some sleep before I have to go see my family."

"Knew you looked like you had just woken up." he said with a smirk.

She looked down and inwardly groaned at seeing her tank top and shorts, "yeah, my secondary alarm clock woke me up."

"I'm guessing you mean Danielle." He said with a smirk, "well I'll let you get some sleep, I'll be by tonight to replace that pipe aiight?'

"Yeah, see ya then Omar." She said with a smile, walking into her room, Omar walked out, closing the door quietly.

Penny drove her old Cadillac towards her childhood home; Danielle was in the back, looking around in wonder. She pulled up slowly. She got out and got her daughter, "you ready to see Grandma?" she asked.

"Bah!" she cried happily, as Penny walked to the door and opened it up, 'Mamma? Daddy?"

"Penny!" Trudy shouted happily, hugging her daughter, "it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too mama." She said, walking over to the couch and sitting down, "hey Suga Mama." She said to her grandmother, who was sitting in her usual spot and watching TV.

"How you doin' baby." Suga Mama said with a smile, "how's my grandbaby, and great-grand baby, you betta hand that lil one over."

Penny chuckled and handed Danielle over to her grandmother, who instantly started tickling the baby under her chin, making the little baby giggle.

"Where's Daddy?" Penny asked, her mother hesitated and she sighed, "never mind, lets get to making some food."

They both went into the kitchen and started making the usual Breakfast spread, "so how's work been?" Trudy asked.

"Good, got a raise the other day, now I'm at 9.75"

"That's good baby." She said with a smile, "Are you all settled in your apartment?"

"Yeah, the faucets weren't working today, but Omar's gonna fix them.

"Omar Williams? Why is he gonna fix them?"

"He's part time super at the apartment complex." She said with a shrug.

Trudy nodded and put a bowl of cooked potatoes on the table, "Bebe Cece! Come on down foods ready!"

The two twins came running down the stairs, "Awesome!" Bebe said, loading his plate up with the taters.

"Are the eggs done?" Cece asked Penny.

"Yeah, over easy just like you like them sis." She said with a chuckle, giving her a plate.

"Sweet!"

Suga Mama walked in and put Danielle into her high chair, "Omar…wasn't he that football player? The big quarterback?"

"Yeah," she said, "he lives in my apartment."

'Ooh that boy was talented, almost as much as bobby was." She said with a smile, 'what's he do now?"

"I don't know, he didn't say much, I know he ain't playin ball no mo."

"That's unfortunate, he coulda gone far." She said.

'He said he didn't want to play." She said, after this, the rest of the breakfast went off without much conversation, soon they were all back in the living room, relaxing and watching TV, Penny checked her watch, "I gotta go, it's getting' late and I gotta make sure I'm at the apartment when Omar goes to fix the pipes."

"Alright baby," Trudy said, kissing her cheek, "you take care alright?"

"Yes ma'am." She picked up Danielle, "bye Suga mama, Bebe, Cece, tell daddy I said hi." And with that she walked out.

Trudy waited for a few minutes, then said, "you can come out now.

Oscar Proud walked downstairs and sat down beside his wife.

"Oscar I just don't understand why you can't spend time with your daughter anymore."

Oscar didn't say anything, just looked at the TV.

Penny laid Danielle down to sleep, smiling at her daughter, "sweet dreams baby." She said softly, kissing her forehead, before walking out and into the living room to watch some TV before bed, before she could even sit down, there was a soft knock on the door, she sighed and walked over to it, "oh, hey Omar." She said with a smile.

"What's up Penny?" He asked, walking in with his tool box, 'I brought that replacement pipe."

"Right," she said, letting him in.

"So how's yo parents?" he asked, opening the cabinets and getting to work.

"Good, well, my mama is, I haven't seen my daddy in a while." She said, hugging her arms.

"Why's that?" he asked, "He split?"

"No, he's still with my mama, but…he just doesn't want to see me anymore I guess…" she sighed and looked down, "he wouldn't even look at me when he found out I was pregnant…ignored me for the whole nine months until Danielle was born…he hasn't even met his granddaughter…I guess he just doesn't want a daughter who messed up."

He shook his head, "that ain't right, droppin' yo daughter because she pregnant, you didn't mess up Proud," he sat up and looked at her, "yeah it was an unexpected happenin', but you know what, the way I see it, you doin' good fo yourself, these apartments ain't cheap, they pretty nice, which means you got a good job, you doin' right by yo baby, the one who messed up is yo dad, he don't understand that you still doin' what you gotta do, that you the same person you were befo yo daughter."

She smiled softly, "thanks Omar…never knew you to be so…deep."

"Nah, not bein' deep, just tellin' the truth." He said, attaching the pipe, and then sending a text to the person working to turn the water back on, he tried the faucet and clean water came out, "there ya go, all fixed." He said with a grin."

'Thanks Omar." she said, kissing his cheek.

'Wasn't nothin' proud." He said, scratching his head, his grin widening just a little, 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I got work tomorrow."

'Yeah, so do I," she said, walking him to the door, "I'll see ya around, right?"

'You know it." He gave her a hug and then started walking out; he stopped in the hallway, "hey Proud, you got Friday off?"

"Yeah, I only work Monday through Thursday, and the mornings on Saturday."

"Coo, you wanna hang out Friday? We don't gotta go no where, we could stay here, watch movies, order pizza, you know…Chill like old times."

She smiled and leaned against the doorframe, "yeah, that sounds good Omar, consider it a date."

He grinned again, "aiight Proud, guess I'll see ya then." He started walking off, a small spring in his step.

Penny closed the door, smiling to herself as she did.

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

Omar walked into his dark apartment, "man, it's a good day." He said.

'Tell me about it." Someone said from his kitchen, he quickly flipped on the lights and saw Stinky leaning against the counter with a cup of water in his hands, the young teen had hit a growth spurt before senior year, he was now at shoulder height to the massive Omar, as of right now he wasn't wearing a shirt, just a pair of shorts, showing off several tattoo's on his chest and arms.

"What up Omar?" his roommate asked with a grin, "where you been."

"Just fixin' a faucet." He said, "I thought you and Dijonay were gonna be out all night."

'Nah, we expired early ya know? She in my room right now."

He raised an eyebrow.

Stinky walked over to the couch, turning the TV on, "you got some mo' messages, this time from some recruiter from A&M in Texas."

Omar rolled his eyes and pressed the button to erase the messages on the machine.

"I don't understand why you don't just do it, get that higher education."

"I told you, I don't wanna play ball, and I gotta tell my pops to stop sending colleges my highlight tape."

Stinky nodded, "so, what you been doing today?"

"Just work, went upstairs to fix that faucet, guess who's it was."

"Who?"

"Penny proud." He said, leaning besides the window and opening it, pulling out a pack of cigarettes, "I didn't even know she lived on her own, much less in this apartment, with a kid no less ya know?"

"Yeah, Lil Dani, her daughter." Stinky said.

"You knew?"

"Man I helped her move in." he said, "guess I just forgot to mention it.

"You shoulda, we could've helped her more in the first months she was here."

"She had it under control, you forget that Penny knows what she gotta do." Stinky said.

Omar said nothing as he lit the cigarette in his mouth, "but still man."

Stinky smirked, "you just mad I didn't tell you yo boo Penny was living here."

"It ain't even like that man."

"Man I know you been feelin' on her since middle school, hell if you hadn't been such a hard head you woulda been able to see that she was feelin' you too."

"It don't matter now,' he said, "she got a kid, I doubt she gon' wanna date when she got that responsibility."

"Can't hurt to try man." Stinky said, "especially since you probably tried to ask her out already."

Omar didn't say anything, he just finished his cigarette and flicked it out of the window, "I just asked if she wanted to hang on her day off, nothin' big, just pizza and movies in her apartment."

"See, that's the kinda thing she needs right now, you know she ain't even gone out wit Dijonay since befo'? I know she busy, but even when she has days off, she makes up an excuse."

Omar walked over to his room, "guess I'm special huh?" he asked with a smile.

"Guess so, you just be careful man, she ain't some one and done."

"Don't you think I know that man?" Omar asked, "I ain't neva saw her like that, I ain't like her deadbeat baby daddy…whoever he is."

"You wanna know?" Stinky asked.

"Nah, it ain't my business, she gon' tell me when she ready." He walked into his room, and then came back out, "who is it?"

"You remember Frankie?" he asked, "Frankie white?"

"No way." He said in shock, "Frankie is the father?"

"Yeah, I remember when she told him, the dude was livid, talkin' about how she needed to get an abortion, as soon as he got the chance, he split."

Omar glared at the floor, "what a dick." He muttered, "If I see him again, I'm knockin' the shit outta him."

"Leave some fo' me man, he dissed Penny way too many times." He said, getting up, "I'll see ya in the mornin man, I gotta get some sleep."

"Same here, don't go too crazy with Dijonay, these walls are thin." Omar said, closing his door.