Vidalia searched the cupboards with increasing desperation. Empty…empty…and, whaddya know, empty. She slammed the cupboard shut with more force than necessary. Great.
"Muh!"
"Hang on, Sour Cream; I'm looking." The fridge was her last hope….aha! A bruised banana and a not-quite-empty carton of milk sat inside. Jackpot. She whisked them out as if afraid they'd disappear if she hesitated.
"Muuuh!" Sour Cream smacked his hands on his high chair. For the uncannily-calm baby, this was the equivalent of a temper tantrum. Hopefully the food would calm him down, even if it wasn't much of a meal.
"Here we go, sweetie—a banana for Mommy and for you, a nice warm glass of—" Vidalia's nose wrinkled as she opened the milk carton. "…rancid milk. Ugh." She tossed the carton in the trash with a sigh. "Guess you're getting the banana."
Sour Cream happily gulped down spoonfuls of mushed banana while Vidalia tried to ignore her own hunger pangs. Just two more days until payday…two more days and then everything will be fine. Her stomach rumbled disbelievingly. She sighed, feeding Sour Cream another helping of the banana—the last bit of food in the house until she could afford to go shopping.
Her mother has warned her that this could happen. She'd told Vidalia horror stories of single mothers left destitute on the street, digging through garbage to find any edible scraps for them and their babies. Being a mom wasn't easy; being a single mom, with no support whatsoever from the father, was next to impossible. "Just give the baby up," her mother had said. "It'll be better for everyone in the long run."
Maybe her mom had been right. But Vidalia had never been good at taking advice. Even before her baby bump had started showing, she'd made her decision. This was her baby. She would be the one to raise it—even if she had to do it alone.
She didn't regret that decision. She'd known to some extent what she was signing up for. But that didn't make it any easier to deal with the challenges—like finding a way to keep her kid from starving before her paycheck came in.
Maybe Mom could—No. She was not going to go crawling to her mom. She wasn't calling Marty, either; even if that deadbeat was willing to give her anything—which he wasn't—the last thing she wanted to do was beg for money. She'd said she could raise this kid all on her own and goshdarnit, she would! Somehow.
The doorbell chiming pulled her from her thoughts. She left Sour Cream to lick the banana remnants out of the bowl while she got the door—not that she couldn't guess who it was. Her hunch proved correct as she found two squat, long-haired figures on her porch.
"Hey, V!" Amethyst shouted.
"Sup, Vidalia?" Greg gave his usual finger-gun greeting—one-handed this time because he was carrying a grocery sack in the other.
"Greg, Amethyst…" Vidalia sighed inwardly. As fun as these two were to hang out with, they both ate like horses and generally expected free food whenever they came over. Well, they'd be disappointed this time. "What brings you here?"
"We rented a movie and thought you and Sour Cream might like to watch it with us."
"We brought pizza!" Amethyst hoisted a pair of steaming cardboard boxes. Vidalia's stomach snarled as it detected the pepperoni-cheesy goodness wafting from them. She took back her previous thought—these two were angels, bringing manna from heaven.
"Pizza's always welcome. Come on," she ushered them in, trying not to look too eager. "You get the movie started, I'll get Sour Cream."
"Hey, Vidalia? I brought you this, too—I hope it's okay." Greg handed her his grocery sack, looking sheepish. Probably wanted her to do his laundry again—that guy needed to learn to use a washing machine. She looked in the sack, expecting to find soiled T-shirts and cut-off jeans. She was mildly confused to find a box of cereal instead. And more—boxed macaroni, cans of soup, a thing of milk, even a few jars of baby food.
"It's for—you know, everything." Greg scratched his mane of hair self-consciously. "For all the times you've fed me and washed my clothes and let me bum around your house. Now that I have a job, I figured I should start paying you back."
Vidalia stared at the food, a tell-tale stinging prickling her eyes. Was she crying? Why was she crying? She blinked the tears away before they could form. "Greg, you didn't have to do this…"
"I kinda did. It was the grown-up thing to do...and what a friend would do." Greg gave her an awkward grin.
"Enough adult stuff!" Amethyst interrupted. "I'm bored and hungry, and the pizza's getting cold!"
Vidalia swallowed past the lump in her throat. She sped toward the kitchen, covertly wiping away a tear before it could be seen. "You guys go ahead and get started. I'll put these away real quick."
"You need help?"
"No; I've got it." She turned back, a soft smile on her lips. "Thanks, Greg. Really."
"It's the least I could do." Greg scooped up Sour Cream from his high chair and carried him into the living room. Vidalia heard him arguing with Amethyst about whether she could eat the pizza boxes now or if she had to wait until they'd eaten the actual pizza. Sour Cream threw in an occasional "muh." She smiled more broadly as she stocked the cupboard and fridge with the new provisions. It wasn't much, but it'd get them through until payday.
Maybe she was wrong. She didn't have to do this on her own after all.
This is dedicated to all the single parents out there-moms AND dads. Raising a kid by yourself takes a lot of strength, courage, and patience, and you deserve the utmost respect for it. *salutes* May everything work out in your favor.