I wake up to the sound of crying

"Aye, I'm coming princess." I groan as I drag my tired body out of bed. I check the clock to see it's 4:30am, no point in trying to go back to sleep now.

"Morning my little princess." I smile as I lift my daughter out of her crib, her little toothless smile is enough to melt away any feelings of exhaustion. I make my way into the kitchen and set up her milk to warm, before turning on the coffee machine, caffeine is life now. Let the chaos begin, feed her, feed me, change her, throw on my scrubs, maybe re-tie the messy bun on my head that has sat there for the six months since my daughter was born. Then she vomits all over both of us and I start again, pack her bag, pack my bag, load her into her car seat, pile out of my apartment and to my car, then head to my moms. Don't judge me, but nothing stops Isla crying like 90's gangster rap, what used to be a guilty pleasure of mine, is now a gift from god to keep her quiet while I drive.

"Though I've grown a lot, can't keep it home a lot, Cause when I frequent the spots that I'm known to rock, You hear the bass from the truck when I'm on the block..." I rap along with Dr Dre as I pull up on my moms driveway and climb out of the car

"Morning angel." My mom smiles as she takes Isla out of her car seat

"Sorry mom I'm running late, thank you and I'll see you tonight!" I call as I dump Isla's bag and run back to my car. Turning up What's Your Fantasy I rap with Ludacris as I speed towards the hospital.

"Wow, only five minutes late, you're getting better girl!" Natalie, my best friend and colleague, says as I toss my bag under the counter at the nurses station

"Shut up, I'm not always late." I reply as she narrows her eyes at me

"Fine I'm always late." I roll my eyes as we link arms and head for handover. Being an ER nurse is what I always wanted to do, I love my job and I love helping people. But when you're rocking four hours of disturbed sleep, this job is a killer.

I barely have time to breathe before Natalie is dragging me away for a much needed break that I really don't have time for.

"Did you hear Cordelia had another baby? A girl this time." Natalie says as we sit in the cafeteria

"Damn, how many is that now?" I ask. Cordelia was a nurse when I first started here, she was amazing and everyone hated that she left, something happened to her, no one knows what, but she has a scar on her cheek, some said her boyfriend did it, because he's the president of the biker gang, and made her quit the hospital, but she was so fierce there's no way a man would control her and she always looks so happy when I see her around town. She started her own clinic, I often refer people with no insurance to her, because I know she can help them.

"Four, three boys and a girl. She looked so happy when I ran into her at the store. I'm kinda jealous, she gets a super hot biker, gorgeous little kids and that clinic, yet I'm lucky if I can get a guy to throw me a bone once in a while." Natalie groans

"Natalie! People can hear you." I whisper as I wave my hand at her

"Well maybe one time a hot biker will hear me and throw me a bone." She shrugs. She has zero filter, I love it about her because I know she won't bullshit me, but I hate it when people look at me for the crazy stuff that comes out of her mouth.

"I'm sure you'll find the man of your dreams any day now." I smirk as I pretend to be interested in the salad in front of me, I really need to get this baby weight off me, but all I want to eat is junk food.

"I wish. When are you gonna let me take you back to that biker club so I can kidnap one of them for a night?" She replies

"Umm, never. You know what happened last time we went to that club." I say pointing to her with my fork

"Yes, I got my beautiful little niece Isla! And you got to have sex with a hot biker, which I'm still jealous of." She smirks

"No, I told you, he told me he was a biker, but when I showed up at the clubhouse to tell him I was pregnant they had never heard of him, even when I did described what he looked like. He wasn't a biker, I don't know why he had to pretend, I was going to sleep with him anyway." I shrug

"Oh sweetie, but the sex was incredible and we never would've gotten perfect Isla, so it was worth it." She smiles, that is kinda true, even if it's the most embarrassing humiliating part of my life, I would never take it back for my little princess.

"But men cannot be trusted, including the bikers and should be avoided at all costs." I warn

"I only want to use them for a night, I don't need to trust them." She shrugs.

"Fuck I'm being paged, see you later bestie!" Natalie calls as she runs from the cafeteria.

Finally my shift ends and I drive back to my moms

"Hey mom, how was she today?" I ask as I begin gathering her things

"Perfect as ever." My mom smiles as she looks down at Isla sleeping in her arms, wish she was that well behaved for me. My mom helps me load her into her car seat and I make my way to the door

"Before you go." My mom says and I put Isla down, this will take a while and that thing is heavy.

"Yes mom?" I ask

"My friend Gwen was talking about her son the other day, we think you would be perfect for each other, so we set up a little date for you." She smiles and I groan

"No mom, no more fixing up, the last guy you made me have dinner with smelt my hair, I'm not even kidding, he was creepy, no mom." I reply

"But Imelda, you're an unwed mother, your options are limited and you need a man to provide for your family." I'll never forget the look on my moms face when I told her I was pregnant and didn't know who the father was, if I wasn't pregnant she would've beaten me black and blue, my mom is very religious and traditional and believes a woman should save herself for her husband, so me getting knocked up on a one night stand with a stranger was the worst thing I could've done.

"I don't have time for a man, I'm happy with just me and Isla, no more set ups, just let it go. See you tomorrow." I don't bother stopping as I grab Isla and dive in the car. I sigh as I pull out of the driveway and make my way home.