2001- Loveland, Colorado
Lorcan is three years old. He loves the zoo and he's obsessed with tigers. It's a week after halloween. Lorcan went trick-or-treating as a tiger, and he's still wearing his costume. Roisin can't get him to take it off. It's a little frustrated, but she also finds it completely adorable.
Roisin, who's working from home today, is trying to work while Lorcan is running around in his tiger costume roaring. Making it hard for his mother to focus, but he's just a three year old little boy. He's not thinking about that. All he's thinking about is playing and having fun, and he is having fun parading around the house in his tiger costume.
Roisin doesn't let her son know or see that his antics are bothering her, but instead she looks up from her paperwork to encourage him to play quietly, never saying that his roaring is impeding her ability to concentrate.
"Hey little Tiger, if you can go play quietly and let mummy work I'll take you to the zoo tomorrow."
Tomorrow is Saturday. Roisin works the night shift on weekends. Her neighbor comes over and stays in her apartment so Lorcan isn't sleeping home alone while Roisin is at work.
"Okay Mummy." Lorcan agrees
"Thank you, baby." Roisin replies and then glances back down at her paperwork after watching her son run down the hallway to his room. She was smiling.
Roisin may only be nineteen, having had her son at sixteen, but man did she love that little boy. She has never once regretted her choice to keep her son despite the fact that she doesn't know or have any idea who his father is. Those questions would come up in the future, but for now he was just her little boy. Only hers and no one else's. She doesn't have to share custody or co-parent. She just gets to have Lorcan all to herself, even though sometimes she wishes that she had a partner, someone to share the responsibilities of parenting with.
Being a parent is hard at any age and it's especially hard as a teen, but it is so worth it when you have a happy child who is loved and who loves you in return despite any flaws that you have or any mistakes you make.
Becoming a parent, then leaving home and having to do everything alone has really made Roisin appreciate everything that Siobhan did for her growing up. Roisin only has one kid, but Siobhan raised three kids as a single mom. Three kids who weren't even biologically hers. From Roisin's perspective as a parent herself, she admired and respected the hell out of the mother who raised her, but she just couldn't go home. She needs to be on her own. To build her own life. Not just for herself, but for her son too.
Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated.
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