As the Chronivac whirred back to life, Stacey was taking a final drag on her cigarette, hating that she'd picked up the dirty habit back in high school trying to look 'cool.' All it had gotten her was a nicotine dependency and a persistent cough. Oh and a loser of an older boyfriend who'd knocked her up as soon as she'd graduated and then cheated on her with her best friend. She sighed and leaned back against the porch railing, contemplating whether her body should feel so exhausted when she was only 22 years old? Well, evethick n young mothers could have trouble keeping up with a rambunctious 4 year old!
She stretched, extending her hands over her head. Her perky breasts strained against her tank top as the lithe 20 year old flexed her wrists and rolled her neck, pops and creaks sounding as tension released and the single mom felt more energized than she had since Tony was born. Her face no longer showed even a hint of wrinkles, and the teenager started bouncing in place as she waited for Jeff to bring her little brother out. She'd borrowed their mom's car to pick him up, but she'd only had her license for a couple months and was supposed to drive straight home with him and get started on her homework.
Flipping her thick waves of black hair over her shoulder, she pulled out her phone to check if any of her besties had texted her. Sophomore year was going SO much better than freshman year had been. Even having to pick Tony up from his playdates and watch him in the afternoons wasn't too bad, since she sorta had a crush on Jeff and got to see him a couple times per week outside of school. Her friend Kelley had offered her a cigarette the other day and she'd been able to resist the peer pressure, thinking about how Jeff would probably find it disgusting. He was always so nice to her, and talked to her like she was cool and not just some annoying younger kid.
Stacey was getting antsy and rang the doorbell again, anxious to get home to work on her project for the middle school science fair. She was making a complete model of the solar system, with an asteroid belt and everything! If her little brother didn't hurry up, it would almost be dark by the time they biked the two blocks home! She rolled her eyes above her chubby cheeks, black pigtails bobbing and brushing her shoulders as strained to see through the wavy glass beside the front door. A blurry shape seemed to be getting closer, wrestling with something.
Suddenly the door swung open to reveal Jeff with a squirming Tony in his arms. "Put me DOWN!" her brother exclaimed.
"C'mon, Tony! Mom's waiting and you're taking FOREVER!" a horn beeped from the red car parked at the curb, and the passenger side window rolled down.
Stacey and Tony's mom Jeanette leaned over to call to the teen as he walked the twins down the front sidewalk. "Thanks for watching them both today, Jeff! You're a total lifesaver! I hope they were well behaved!"
Jeff laughed as the twins climbed into the back seat and began buckling themselves into their booster seats. "Oh you know, kids will be kids!" he didn't mention Tony's temper tantrum and didn't think anything had happened when the kid banged on his computer, so he wasn't going to mention it to their mother. Anyways, he'd always thought she was kinda hot...