"We can't rebuild this house. It's way beyond repair, Varia."

I sighed and picked up a cabinet door. "It's not that broken, Javon. It's just dirty and missing a few parts."

Javon scoffed. "That's the biggest understatement of the year."

I frowned, planting my fists on my hips. "I left my mama all alone to suffer. The least I can do is fix up the house she grew up in. This isn't only my childhood home, but hers too."

Javon wrinkled his nose in disgust and hooped his thumbs through the belt hoops of his jeans. "Can't we leave this mess to the buyers to fix? What's the point in putting money into something that we're going to sell?"

I averted my gaze and crossed my arms over my chest. I chewed on my lower lip and I could feel Javon's eyes burning holes into the side of my face.

"We are going to sell this house, right?" He asked.

I squirmed uncomfortably under his stare and slowly shrugged one shoulder. "I've been thinking..."

"Here we go."

"What if we move here?"

"Are you kidding me? We can't move here. I have work in the city and we can't just change Drakon's school. He just started school."

"I don't mind changing schools. I like it here. And, we have a backyard to play in!" Drakon spoke up, standing in the doorway with a goofy smile on his chocolate covered lips.

I smiled. Drakon was only seven years old with a mop of black hair covering his eyes. He refused to cut it and said it was the style for boys to have long hair. His blue sparkled as the late afternoon sun hit his eyes at the right angle. He was small for his age, but he didn't let that get him down—especially when it came to girls.

Javon sighed, clearly not liking the idea of moving back to our hometown. I walked over to him and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "If you can't do it for my mama then can you do it for me?"

Javon sighed again and leaned forward until our foreheads touched. "Alright, but I won't quit my job. I'll manage somehow."

I squealed and threw my arms around his neck. He laughed and Drakon fist pumped the air. "Yay! I get to have a backyard! Quick, Dad, build me a swing set!"

-------

The minute Javon gave the ok; I crashed into the nearest Home Depot to buy everything I needed. Drakon tagged along, helping me pick which appliances needed to be fixed or be completely replaced. Javon went back to the city to let his boss know of the move and discuss about transportation.

It had been almost a week since I started rebuilding, and I never been more excited since my wedding day. I sat back against the wall, a soda can dangling from my fingertips. I breathed in deeply, looking over the work I managed to finish in five hours.

The living room was cleared out completely expect for one chair. The living room was clean for once in eleven years and I smiled lightly. I tore down the greasy wallpaper and scrubbed the floors until I was able to see my reflection. The fireplace looked slightly dirty, but at least it wasn't covered in flies and dead rats. The windows were replaced and I left them open to let the fresh air invade the house.

I titled my head to the side when my eyes landed back on the chair. As I was clearing everything out, I spotted the big red chair underneath a pile of empty beer boxes. I pulled it out towards the center and cleaned it until it looked like new.

I smiled at the red chair and I could almost see my step papa sitting there, his head back as he sang along to AC/DC's Back in Black. I chuckled softly as I remembered my mama would slap the back of his head and demand he put Donna Summers. My mama always listened to disco whereas my step papa preferred rock.

I pushed myself off the wall and hooked my phone to Javon's speakers he left behind and played my favorite playlist I stored on YouTube. Smells like Teen Spirit by Nirvana started playing and I went back to work, pretending the broom was the microphone as I started working the hallways.

I guess I took after my step papa.

-------

"Hey, hey, hey! That's my chicken wing. I called dibs." I protested through a mouthful of food.

Drakon dropped the chicken wing and reached over for my water bottle. "So, mom, when am I going back to school?"

I frowned. Right, school. I totally forgot my own kid had school. I cleared my throat, wiping my hands with a napkin. "Monday. I'll ask your dad to take you back home and I'll ask Miranda to pick you up and drop you off at his work." I replied, hopping the babysitter, Miranda, would agree.

Drakon groaned. "I hate Miranda. She's so boring and old." He grumbled.

"Forty-two is not old." I pointed out.

Drakon didn't say anything and stuffed his mouth with food. I looked back at the television where Rose pulled her hand free from Jake and kissed it. I swallowed my food down and changed the channel. I settled on SpongeBob and Drakon made a face.

"I don't like the old episodes, mom. Can we change it?"

"What do you mean? The oldies are always the golden ones."

"Mom, no one says that anymore."

"No?"

"No."

"So then what do you say?"

"I don't know, but we don't say that."

I chuckled and ruffled his hair. My phone started ringing from the nightstand where I left it to charge. I stood up and picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Hey, how are things going?" Javon greeted, cars honking in the background.

"Things are coming along perfectly. I managed to clean out the first floor and some parts of the basement," I chirped happily, "At the rate things are going, I should be finished in... three more weeks."

"Sounds good. Listen, I found a cleaning crew who would be willing to help you. They'll be there tomorrow morning."

"Ah, thank you! I don't know if I can stand picking up more rat guts from the rugs." I sighed in relief, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Thanks, honey. I can always count on you to ruin my appetite."

I laughed. "So, what are we going to do with Drakon? He already missed a week of school."

I heard Javon sigh. "Right, school... Um, well, what's your plan?"

"I was thinking of having Miranda take and pick him up from school. She could leave him at your office and you watch over him." I said, rubbing my sore thigh.

"I can't have him here. Remember when he put tacks on every lounge chair?"

I burst out laughing and quickly sobered when Javon cleared his throat to remind me that incident was not a laughing matter. "Y-Yeah, that was terrible. You should have just given him your tablet. You know how he acts out when he's bored."

"For the hundredth time, my tablet was dying." Javon said through gritted teeth.

I raised my one free hand. "Well, excuse me. You should have just given it to him. 'Sides it suits them old, wrinkly witches." I added.

"What was that?"

"Oh! It looks like my food just got here! I'll call back later. Love you, bye!" I rushed to say, hanging up before he could respond.

I stood up, putting my phone to charge. I sat back down with Drakon and sighed.

"Just FYI, I also hate those old witches." Drakon said, leaning forward.

I frowned. "What does FYI mean?"

Drakon groaned, hitting his head on the table.

-------

"Where would you like this to go, Mrs. Weinstein?"

I paused from scrubbing the floor and looked up. A six foot muscular man with a mop of blonde hair and dull brown eyes stood before me carrying a wet box of what looked like to be toys.

I leaned back and grabbed the railing behind to help me stand up. "First, it's Varia," I started, making the man raise an eyebrow, "I don't like it when people call me Mrs. Weinstein. It makes me feel old and I kept my maiden name anyway. Second, you can leave it upstairs. Thanks, hon."

The man nodded and excused himself. I exhaled loudly, blowing a strand of hair away.

True to Javon's word, the cleaning crew arrived early—much earlier than I had expected. We had already cleared everything from the basement and we were just left with cleaning it.

I stretched my legs out and grabbed the bucket of water. I slowly climbed up the stairs and pushed open the backdoor. I spilled the mucky brown water over a puddle of mud and rolled up my sleeves. I scrunched up my nose and tucked my hair behind my ears.

I was about to head back when the bushes ruffled. I paused, looking over my shoulder. The wind blew my hair crazily and the dead leaves did a twirl in the air and then headed deeper in the woods. I frowned and took out a couple of Hershey Kisses from my pocket. I walked over to the lawn chair and left them on the seat.

I smiled a small smile towards the bushes. "I don't know if you like chocolate, but, um, there it is if you want any."

I didn't get a respond back and bushes were still. I turned around and headed back to the house, getting clean water and then returning to work.

Drakon was talking with one of the young female workers. I smiled as she laughed over something he said and ruffled his hair. It was an hour later when we decided to call it a day.

"Thanks so much for helping." I thanked the old lady who was in charge of the cleaning crew.

She waved her hand in front of her face as she closed the trunk of her car. "It was nothing, sweetheart. We'll be back the same time tomorrow."

I nodded and thanked her again. She smiled and climbed inside her car. She drove off with the cleaning truck falling close behind her. The man, who spoke to me earlier, gave me a two finger salute and the young worker waved goodbye to Drakon.

We waved until they disappeared behind the trees and Drakon stuffed his hand in his pockets. "I think she likes me, mom."

I raised an eyebrow. "You mean like a cute little brother, sure. She likes you."

Drakon smiled and followed me to the house. We started to throw out the garbage and I grabbed the bucket to dump the water outside. I paused in the doorway and titled my head to the side.

The chocolate kisses were gone.