A/N:Heya folks~ So, due to reviews and PMs and general interest, I have decided to actually finish this fic. It had been untouched for a few years, which I never intended. I was having some trouble writing chapter 2, and just with the general plot. So, I've changed some things around, and am finally ready to hop back on this Carpe Diem train! If this is your first time reading this fic, then you may know me from My Little Roza (or not, idk) and hope you can come to like this fic too~ (If you are worried about my disappearing again on this fic, well, I won't lie. It can happen, cause anything can happen. But I like what I've done with the story, and am looking forward to the future.)

"You got your shoes on?"

"Yup."

"Lunchbox?"

"Yup."

"Crayons and notebook?"

"In baggy."

Rose looked down at her little boy. "Alright. I think we're all set."

"Wait mommy."

"Yes sweetie?"

"Shoes?" he asked innocently.

"Putting them on now," Rose said as she strapped on her heels.

"Juicebox and ham?"

She held up a water bottle and her lunch bag.

"Crayon?"

"I've got my pens and papers in my bag," Rose answered with a chuckle, shaking her briefcase.

"Keys?"

…well, crap.

"Wait here sweetie." Rose ran back to her room to look for her keys, which should have been on the nightstand. She glanced at what was there, the clock, reading the time.

…well, double crap.

Running like a bat outta hell, she basically turned the small apartment upside down looking for them. She so did not have time for this. She was definitely going to be late for work.

"Mommy," the boy called from the entranceway.

"Just a sec, sweetie." Maybe she left them in the dining room?

"Mommy, mommy," he kept calling.

"Royce, honey, mommy really needs to find her keys or we can't-"

The boy shook a pair of keys in his tiny hands, holding them out to his mother.

"Where did you find them?" Royce pointed at the coffee table in the living room.

Well.

"Okay hun, we gotta run now, or we're going to be late." She grabbed her son's hand and they left the apartment, locking the door behind them.

"Run, run? Like Speedy Gonzy?"

"Yup, as fast as Speedy Gonzales," Rose said smiling. Royce smiled too, and they both quickly ran down the block and to the bus stop, Rose praying to god that the 7:46 bus was still there, despite it hitting 47.

They arrived at ten minutes to 8, and by some miracle, the bus was still there. Rose took out her bus pass and picked Royce up, rushing onto the vehicle.

"Running a 'lil late Hathaway," the driver said lighthearted as she scanned herself in.

"I know. And good morning George," Rose replied politely to the familiar driver.

"Mornings. And how's little 'ol Royce doin' today?"

"Ok," he responded, giving a thumbs up. The driver laughed and closed the doors behind them.

"Thanks for waiting George," Rose said. She knew he should have pulled out long before Rose and Royce had arrived, but had waited for the familiar passengers to arrive.

"No problem there, Hathaway. You know I love you on that there mornin' show. Your voice is always so lovely to listen to while I'm drivin' folks around."

"Thank you very much." Rose smiled at her apparent fan as well.

"Well, let me get this hunk a petal to the metal. Don' want you to be late or nothin."

Before Rose could thank the driver again, the bus jerked forward, and Rose stumbled back to take a seat. Once they were sitting, Royce pulled on his mother's sleeve.

"Yes Royce?"

"Window," he said, pointing at the glass. Oh right, he did like sitting near the window.

She chuckled and stood so he could slide over to the window seat. She sat down next to him, and they were comfortably on their way, with the occasional 'look mommy' and 'did you see that?' from Royce pointing at something outside. Their stop came up and Rose took Royce in her arms again and left the bus, bidding farewell to George who responded 'have a great day there now'. It was nice to know there were still kind people in the world. She put Royce down and they quickly walked to the entrance of the daycare, where one of the teachers were greeting the children and parents.

"Okay sweetie, mommy will see you later today." Rose bent down to give her son kisses, who happily accepted them.

"Ok," he answered. But he didn't let go of his mother. The teacher laughed to herself at the usual morning antics of Rose and Royce trying to separate at the entrance.

After getting his arms from around her neck, Rose walked him over to the teacher, who took his other hand.

"Good morning Royce. Don't want to let go of mommy I see."

"No," he said, making her laugh again.

"Well, mommy's gotta run, or she'll be late for work," Rose said, now attempting to extricate her son's hand from her own.

"Cutting it a little close, Ms. Hathaway," she said to Rose. Everyone was noticing that today.

"Yeah, but I'll make it," she reassured. Finally free from her son's surprisingly strong grip. She gave him one more peck on the head before taking off.

"Speedy mommy!" her son called after her, making her smile. She had the cutest son in the world, she didn't care what any other mother said.

To make it, she had to take another bus, and pray she didn't hit traffic. That prayer went unanswered as she restlessly sat on the immobile contraption. There had been an accident. Great. Because this is just what she needed. She rang for the next stop, and once the bus painfully pulled into the stop, she jetted out the doors and ran down the street. It would be faster on foot by this point.

…

"Think she's going to make it?" one of the men said as he adjusted the settings on the camera.

"Ten bucks says she will," said a boyish looking man with red hair that could not be tamed, dressed in a nice navy blue suit.

"Ha! You're on, Ashford," he replied. The red-head smirked and went to take his seat on the couches in the set-up living room, surrounded by lights, cameras, boom mikes, seats filled with a waiting audience, and everything that was needed for the show to begin.

Just before the clock could hit 8:30, there was a commotion in the hallway outside. Smirking, the red-head already knew who it was.

Rose came jogging in, saying hello to everyone as she jumped onto set and gracefully took a seat next to her partner.

"Rose."

"Mason."

They laughed for a moment, not even knowing why, and composed themselves as they went on standby.

"What'd I miss?" Rose asked as the assistant hooked the small microphone onto her collar.

"Well, Fred over there owes me ten dollars," Mason said smiling. There was also an assistant near him, patting a little make-up on his face so the lights wouldn't drown him out. "Careful you don't cover up my freckles. My fans loves them."

"Yes, it's his only redeeming quality," Rose muttered, but he heard her and glared, making her laugh.

"Please honey. You're just jealous 'cause I got all the recessive genes. Curly red hair? Blue eyes? You know you want a piece of this, baby."

"I'm sure I do," she responded sarcastically. But there was a little truth in the statement. She did kind of want a brighter eye color. Hers were just barely passable as brown (not that dark brown that looks black, but a little lighter). But Mason could keep that untamable curly red mop to himself. The stylist had a field day trying to comb it back or down, or just not "up and everywhere" but to no avail. Mason had chortled up a lung after the staff broke their fifth brush.

"Going on in sixty!" called Director Shiroma. He liked coming down to see the show himself instead of letting the camera men deal with it. He was really nice.

Mason and Rose got into places and sat up, ready to get this show on the road.

The cameraman started the countdown. "5…4…3…2…"

Action.

"Good morning, good morning! You're here with Mason Ashford,"

"And Rose Hathaway,"

"To another wonderful morning of,"

"Living It Up!" they said in unison. The crowd in the studio cheered for the opening of the NBS morning show.

"It seems our lovely Rose was running a little late today, no?" Mason said, turning to Rose who waved it off.

"Nothing I couldn't handle. And as you can see, I'm here and on time. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if I popped up in the middle of the show? Assuming I don't trip on all the studio wires on the way in." The crowd laughed and Mason chuckled.

"What did you tell me, you ran into traffic?"

"Indeed I did. I swear, if there was one superpower I could have, it would definitely be the power to control road congestion."

"Control? Why not the power to eliminate it?" The crowd laughed even more this time.

"Well, there are some times when traffic is needed."

"Oh? Care to tell in what circumstance in which anyone would need traffic?"

"I will, when there aren't a thousand people watching me." These two were making the crowd breathless. "But in the meantime, let's get back to the show, huh?"

They went on to do their regular thing, bringing up local stores, current news, and tips on how to 'live it up'.

"You know what our motto is," Mason said, pointing out to the crowd, who loudly and enthusiastically cheered 'CARPE DIEM!' at the top of their lungs.

"And don't ever forget to seize the day," Rose said winking at the crowd who started to clap and cheer already. "Thank you, you've all been wonderful today. This has been Rose Hathaway,"

"And the amazing Mason Ashford,"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Thanks for tuning in to Living it Up!"

"Aaand we're off!" the cameraman yelled. Mason and Rose high-fived and turned off their mikes. Security guards came in to escort the public audience out and make sure they didn't get beyond the cut-off area to bombard the two.

"Omigod, Mason, I love you!" called someone from the crowd. Mason looked over his shoulder and called back a thanks with a wink, making nearly every girl swoon.

"I just don't get it," Rose said as they entered the back. It looked like a normal office building once you left the studio. "Why are people so gaga over you?"

"Probably the same reason that people have a sock at home with your name on it. Because we're completely irresistible," he responded, waggling his eyebrows.

"Ew. I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that. Now I have to go and rub Purell on my brain, thank you."

"You're very welcome, baby. Thanks for tuning in to another addition of 'Mason's Great Wisdom'!" he cheered while going into his set room. She pretended to barf before he closed his door.

Going into her own room, Rose pulled the pins out of her hair and shook it out. The tight way the stylist put them in always made her head hurt. She'd have to pin it herself before leaving from now on. The show was the easier part of the day, albeit nerve wrecking.

For the rest of her shift, she went to speak with the cameramen and director, with the planners and Mason, discussing tomorrow's show. Then back to the director to confirm, then research. Lunch was somewhere in there, and her and Mason usually ate together with the staff in the cafeteria on the lower level. Mason always ordered take-out (which was so unhealthy in Rose's opinion, which she had voiced to him on many occasions). Rose always brought food from home, usually left-overs. She did not have the kind of money to be eating out every day. Daycare bills were no joke. Neither was taking care of a 3-year-old boy.

They were let out at 4pm, and Rose rushed to the bus to go and pick up her son. The daycare was paid by the hour, so the sooner she arrived, the better her wallet would be. Arriving at fifteen after, she went inside to the inner playroom where her son was coloring in his book. He was the only one at a small table while the other kids were on the big play rug messing with blocks and dolls.

"Royce, your mommy is here," called the teacher to the little boy.

Royce looked up from his book to see his mother in the doorway. Dropping the vermillion crayon in his hand, he ran over to his mother, hugging her legs tight.

"I missed you too, sweetie." She bent down and hugged her baby to her chest. "How was your day?" He didn't answer, only looked over at the abandoned table with his stuff. "Okay, why don't you go pack up, and we can go home?" He nodded vigorously and went to get his things. She straightened back up smoothing her hands over her skirt.

"Ms. Hathaway, could I have a quick word?" she said softly.

"Of course. What's the problem?" Rose turned to her, serious.

"Well, first off, love your show, really, I adore you and Mason Ashford."

"Thank you," Rose said politely. But could the woman get on with what she wanted to say? If it was about her son, then she needed to know now.

"It's about Royce…"

Oh no.

"What happened? Did he do something? Did something happen to him? Is he alright?" Rose bombarded her with questions.

"Yes, yes, your son is fine, Ms. Hathaway. I'm just concerned because he doesn't…talk very much."

Rose sighed in relief. "Oh. Well, Royce never was much of a talker." When he needed to, he did.

"Yes, but, by 'doesn't talk much', I mean, 'doesn't talk at all'. I've barely ever heard him say anything, and the few times I did, it's when he's standing beside you. Once you leave, he shuts himself in. He doesn't even interact with the other children."

Rose looks at her weird. "Well, he is a little bit independent. He likes to do things on his own."

"I understand that. It was just a concern. I think it may be better for him to play with the other kids from time to time so he can learn how to interact and cooperate."

"Has he been causing a problem?" Rose asked suddenly.

"Oh no, not at all."

"Then I think he'll be fine." The teacher looked taken aback, but nodded her head nonetheless. Royce had come up to Rose then with his bag on his back. "Ready to go Royce?" He nodded his head. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow then Ms. Heather."

"Yes, see you tomorrow Ms. Hathaway, Royce."

"…bye-bye," Royce said, waving at the teacher. She waved back, smiling.

Rose thinks to herself as they're waiting at the bus stop. Why did that teacher think that something was wrong with her baby boy? Granted, he was very shy around strangers, but she was sure that when he grew a little more, he would be able to open up to others.

"Mommy?"

"Yes sweetie?" She turned to her son.

"We, we watched puppy Clifford today," he said smiling. How could anyone think there was something wrong with this little angel?

"Oh wow! Did you like it?"

"Like the song. Two puppy, four puppy, five puppy, six," he sang, off-key, but totally adorable. Rose giggled and sang along with him until the bus came.

When they got home, Rose made a lasagna while Royce read through his picture books. Once done, they ate dinner, watched some TV (children's shows of course), gave Royce a bath, and then went to bed; to start their routine again in the morning.

Thanks for reading folks~ (just so you know, chapter 2 is already written. I just wanted to finish writing chapter 3 as well before I posted it. So look forward to some updates soon!)

Chriss-Meister~