Kenny was a bit afraid when he got up next morning dreading the mess that would meet him as he imagined the place to be trashed but luckily it wasent too bad the worst had been cleaned up and Karen Kevin and their mom were all in the kitchen looking exhausted due to lack of sleep

" Morning mom morning you guys is everything okay then ..? Asked Kenny looking around the kitchen

" What so you think ..? Now sit down and eat your breakfast also we're outta milk and won't get any till Tuesday when I get paid so you'll need to take water to wash them down " Said Carol glancing at Kenny and Kenny noticed she had a large bruise forming on the side of her face caused by Stuart no doubt he often hit Carol and even the kids

" So where's dad .? Asked Kenny noticing their dad was absent from the table

' Where do you think in bed he's too hungover and lazy to get his ass up so don't expect to see him till around noon not that I care anyway no user " Carol said as Kenny sighed sitting down and glanced at Karen and Kevin who shrugged but said nothing

It was always the same at weekends in the McCormick house hold. Stuart would get drunk on the Friday night get abusive then wouldn't surface till lunchtime the next day then would want more money so he could go out drinking and how he managed to keep his job at the scrapyard was a Miracle

Kenny sighed as he sat down and glanced at Karen as she tucked into her cornflakes before looking at their mom again who was still clearing up the mess and washing through some dishes

" So what. are the plans for today mom so you need us at home or is it okay if I hang out with Stan and Kyle ..? Asked Kenny

" Mom can we go to the mall to look at the Christmas decorations and lights I know we can't really afford to buy anything but it's free to look and the mall is always pretty at Christmas ' Said Karen as Carol sighed

" I dunno Iv got so much to do here your dad trashed the house in a drunken rage so that will take time to clean up " Carol said sighing and running her hand through her hair

" Mom sit down we can tidy up look have some breakfast too leave the cleaning to us Karen Keven and I can do it you need a rest before you collapse and forget about him for once ' Kenny said

Carol sighed as she threw down her dishcloth and sat down next to Kenny and went to get some cornflakes for herself but only 3 fell out into her bowl making her mad and glare at Kevin as he seemed to have extra

" You greedy thoughtless pig you took all the cornflakes that's all we have your just like your father you don't give a fucking damn about anyone except yourself you know we have very little money for food and that's why things are limited around here " Begun Carol hitting Kevin with her spoon and was about to go off on a rant but Kenny stopped her

" Calm down calm down mom it's okay shhh hey look mom you can have my cornflakes and I can have a pop tart I'm fine " Kenny said rubbing his moms back as she suddenly started crying

" I'm sorry it's just I'm having a bad day I didn't mean to hurt you Kevin and your such a good boy Kenny I don't know what I'd do without you I'd be so lost for an 11 year old you act like an adult and I'm sorry ' Carol said sobbing as Kenny hugged her

" Its okay mom we understand " Said Kenny

" I'm a bad mom I feel oh God I really do try to be a good mom to you guys but I can't win cos of your dad I really wish I could give you the life your friends have and get you all the latest clothes gadgets and toys I feel Iv let you all down and now with Christmas here that's making things worse " Carol said

" No your. not letting us down your an awesome mom infact best mom in South Park and you always do your best we couldn't ask for a better mom and who needs all the latest clothes toys or gadgets as long as we have each other that's all that matters so don't put yourself down like that mom ' Said Kenny as Carol nodded

" Why don't you throw dad out and we could make the house pretty we don't need him and some of my friends at school don't see their dads and their fine ' Said Karen

' No Hun I can't throw him out this is his house he and Gerald Kyle's dad built it when they were kids so it belongs to him and if I left him well we'd be homeless on the streets and anyway he might calm down later we just need to leave him alone for a while and I'm sure things will be okay " Carol said making Kenny sigh a bit

It was always the same Carol making excuses for Stuart saying things would be okay and truth was it was never okay it been going on since as long as Kenny could remember even before Karen was born as Carol and Stuart fighting was one of Kenny's earliest memories

" Maybe we will go to the mall we can try and get some cornflakes out the dollar store as they sell some groceries but were outta milk till Tuesday but I'm afraid you guys can't get anything today I don't have money to spare for treats ' Carol said

" It's okay mom we won't mind and as I said it costs nothing to look and we can always wave to Santa ' Said Karen

' Yeah that's true you can wave to him if you see him I'm sure he will wave back and maybe say hello if he's not busy " Carol said sadly

Carol so wanted a better life and in an ideal world she and the kids would have a nice house in town near Kenny's friends also their would be Christmas decorations up and Karen would be making her Christmas list and she'd get the kids really good presents and later they'd have a lovely meal and then watch some TV but sadly that was just a dream as their was no presents bought and as for decorations all they had was a tiny old silver Christmas that was like 10 inches big and some glittery stars that Karen had made at school and as for Christmas dinner it be pop tarts or cold soggy sandwiches that was the kind of Christmas they had last year and the one before that and by the looks of it they'd be having the same again life was very hard at this time of the year and that's why Carol dreaded it and she felt going to the mall would make things worse as the mall was full of stuff they could never afford but Karen wanted to go to have a look so she wanted to make Karen happy

" Okay we can got for the afternoon we will get some cornflakes too and see what else we can get now I don't have a lot of money so no treats mind " Carol said looking at her 3 kids

" It's okay we understand mom and we don't need any we're all fine here you get what you need Karen can look at the decorations and then we will go home and we can later tidy the mess won't take us long to sweep the floor and wipe down the surfaces ' Kenny said making Carol smile

' You will make a perfect husband some day your sweet kind and a great help ' Carol said giving Kenny's head a kiss and making him blush a bit

well that's that chappy done more to come