[Open] So this is it

[Stephanie]

[In this thread:]

Nicki, 17
Ahrianna, 6 months

Nicki sat at the food court with Ari in her lap, finishing up a bottle. The family came to Riverside to work on some real estate plans and she didn't feel like sitting at home so she joined them on the trip. She didn't see why Stephanie and Ehron had to bring ALL of the little kids with them, meaning they had cram into the SUV and she had to hear Cammy whining about dropping one of her ten toys every five seconds.

I'm so not gonna have that problem with Ari. One toy. Maybe.

She sighed and looked around, as the people passed, for the most part not noticing her. For a smaller town than where she was from, this was definitely a bigger mall than she had expected. She sure wasn't going to miss her old town, and she wasn't so far away that her bestie couldn't visit.

She would be starting college soon anyway, and hopefully getting a job. She'd picked up a few job applications in the mall, but she knew working, college and a baby would be a lot to handle so she wasn't so anxious in searching. She'd stopped working once she had started having a few complications in her pregnancy. At least she'd finished her course requirements ahead of her class.

After burping her, she placed Ari in her stroller and decided to check out a few more stores. Nicki loved shopping. She'd even considered becoming one of those professional shopper things. She spotted a Hot Topic and headed inside.

Immediately, she stopped at a Mocha Tube dress and without hesitation, searched for a size eight. She'd always been a size five/six, but along with baby came weight that she just couldn't get off.

Not like I try that hard anyway. It'll come off when Ari starts walking and I have to chase her everywhere.

She eyed the baby, fussing for her pacifier that had slipped out. She rolled her eyes and gently replaced the pacifier in her mouth. This was her life. She loved having her little girl, but honestly, things were beginning to get quite boring. She spent all day at the house with Ari, feeding her, changing her, taking pics of her on her phone and uploading them to FB and when she wasn't taking care of Ari she was sitting around the house in pj's watching tv. Life was beginning to just be there. With no purpose.

She shook her head and headed to the infant section and picked up a cute pink Lil Thugster Onsie and held it up to Ari.

"You like this mami?"

[❀ Melíssa]

   Troy and Nate strolled the mall, pretending to be shopping, but of course trolling for chicks. They had made it their goal to check out every girl in town at least once, which probably wouldn't be that hard, given the size of the place.
   "Oh, hey, TJ," Nate nudged his cousin as they approached Hot Topic. "Let's grab something for Chelsea, maybe cheer her up a bit."
   "Aww, you're such a nice cousin," Troy teased him. "But yeah, let's do it. Hope they have all that pin-up stuff that she likes. We could probably find something for Mom too."
   Once inside the store, Troy poked at a lot of the girls' clothes, not really sure what his sister would like. He found a lot of things he could picture his oldest sister wearing, but nothing that really suited Chelsea.
   "How about this?"
   Troy turned around to see Nate holding a red and black polka dot dress up. "I don't think it's your color. Maybe in green."
   "Asshole. But you might actually have a point. This would be better in blue for Chel. I don't think she even owns anything red."
   Grinning at Nate's response, Troy glanced around the store. "Hey," he murmured to his cousin. "Potential hottie, your four o'clock."
   Nate turned to gaze over his right shoulder. "The one with the kid?"
   "Yeah."
   "At least you know she puts out."
   "Shut up," Troy smirked, and eased his way up the aisle. "Nice outfit. She a big Eazy-E fan?"

[Stephanie]

Nicki turned to find a smaller onesie for Ari but was caught off guard by a guys voice. She looked back at him and laughed/smirked.

She looked the guy over once.

Wow, they make 'em pretty hot in this town.

Nicki: Well, its a little before her time. She's more of Eazy Elmo fan. You know, kids these days. They don't know good music.

She laughed a little at her own corniness and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear before looking for the onesie in purple.

[❀ Melíssa]

    "Eazy Elmo? I heard he got busted for trying to shoot Gangsta Grover. They stay straight ghetto down on Sesama Street," Troy joked. "Tell me, do you think this is the right look for me?" he grabbed a fuzzy leopard print scarf. "Can I pull this off?"

[Stephanie]

Nicki laughed and rolled her eyes.

Nicki: Your an idiot. *She shrugs and looks him over.* Yeah... I dunno. *laughs and pulls another scarf off the rack* Maybe this one might be a better look for you. You know, a little more down to earth. But I mean, hey, I guess if you're really into the whole fuzzy leopard thing? Not many guys I know are...but *throws her hands up* no judgement here.

[❀ Melíssa]

      Troy laughed. "You mean this don't look right?" He looked down at himself. "Well damn. I'm not even into scarves anyway. So my name's Troy. TJ, if you want," he held out his hand. "We just moved here. Trying to learn the lay of the land."

[Stephanie]

Nicki laughed along with him.

"I didn't mean to offend you, i just....am not really a fan of animal print on guys."

She placed her hand into his.

"Well hi TJ. I'm Aubrey, but my middle names Nikole, so people call me Nicki. *looks down to the baby who is sucking her paci and starting to fall asleep* And this is my daughter Ari. My fam is supposed to be moving here in about three more days, so we're in town doing some final stuff. Well...they are. I'm just kinda looking around. This mall is way bigger than expected. So how old are you?"

[❀ Melíssa]

      "Nice to meet you Nicki. And when Ari's more awake, I'll greet her too. I'm sixteen. You go to the high school here?" He was desperate to ask about Ari's father, because who wouldn't? But he'd wait. Didn't want to make that the second question out of his mouth or anything.

[Stephanie]

Nicki grinned.

Nicki: Nope. I finished up when I was pregnant with Ari, so i'm a couple months ahead of my class. Not much else to do but work when your stuck in the house. *shrugs* I am supposed to be getting a job for this semester and then applying to start school a semester early in the spring. What's the teen life like here?

[❀ Melíssa]

      Troy shrugged and gave a little laugh. "Hell if I know. It's way too quiet here, that I know for sure. Still trying to figure the place out."
      Nate came up behind Troy, placing his knee to the back of his cousin's and pushed, laughing as Troy started to crumble backwards into him. "What's up, Cousin?" he boisteroously threw his arm across Troy's shoulders. "Hey there," he said to Nicki, extending his hand. "My name's Nate."