I'll be Your Pretend Mom

by T3T0PETTENS0N

Summary:

Teto lives a boring, pathetic life as an office worker. Drowned off in a sea of nothing but beer and cigarettes and her own sadness. There's nothing exciting about her. Except the fact that she's a really stupid failure who really needs therapy.

Until Nana comes in, needing help since her too-drunk-to-function mom isn't waking up.

Notes:

if you've seen this before it's because u probably have
MY DUMBASS BROKE MY PHONE AND COILD NOT LOG BACK INTO MY OLD ACC SO HERE WE ARE
still a wip!! currently trying to figure out how long I want this to be and what the chapters will be about!!

Chapter 1: She Kinda Just Popped Out of Nowhere, in a Way

“I'm tired of seeing you drinking your life away, Teto.” Ted sighs through the phone, the scent of disappointment wavering off of it and into Teto's nostrils. “You really should take a break. I'm… Concerned for you.”

Teto couldn't stop the scoff that automatically leaves her mouth, “You're genuinely concerned for me?”

He huffs in annoyance, “Yes! I am. Really.” He says, “We haven't talked in months. It just seems like you're doing worse. I don't want to lose you.”

“For Christ's sake, Ted, I'm not fucking suicidal.” She hisses into the phone, “And I'm not gonna resort to prescription drugs like last time. Xanax isn't gonna get me again.” She snickers as she opens the fridge, “Besides, you said that if it gets to that point again, we'll both relapse. Together. Some bullshit like that.” She rummages through what made the fridge feel somewhat full.

He mumbles under his breath before speaking up, “I mean it, Teto. I'll fly back to Japan if it means that.”

Teto lets out a sigh as her hand rests on a beer can, “How's the Philippines?” She asks after a beat of silence.

It would take a bit for Ted to respond. Which made Teto envision him looking around and scolding some of their younger family members as they zoomed past him, since she could hear his grumble. “Nice.” He finally responds. “It’s… weird. How they're back to accepting us again.”

“Feels like Auntie's death is what brought us back to our family.” She admits out loud, “Sorry.” She adds quickly after.

She could hear Ted shaking his head, or she at least imagined it. “No. Don't be. I think I agree.” He says, “They're all… Not as religious as we thought.”

“Maybe I should stop by.” A smile tugs on her lips, “When I have the money.”

He chuckles, “How long is that gonna take?”

She shrugs in response before remembering they're only on call and not on FaceTime. “A few months. Maybe a year.”

Ted sighs, “You really should get a better job.”

“And start at rock bottom? Again?” She scoffs, “No. Fuck that.” She shakes her head, “I've been working here for years. I’ll get bumped up to a better paying position before I can blink!”

She hears Ted’s huff of a response, which felt like he was asking, “what's your position right now?”

She sighs as her hand finally grasps onto that beer can, “I'm a data entry clerk right now. My boss says that I'm just really good at it so I'll be stuck in it for a bit.” The can snaps open.

He lets out a sharp breath, “I swear if that's a beer can.”

“Don't worry, it's soda. Dr Pepper.” Teto replies, “I’ve been sober for, like, a week now.” She shrugs, “And I’ll keep being sober until I die!”

“Kinda like how you’ll keep being a data entry clerk.” Ted snickers.

Teto grunts out before taking a sip of her beer, “Shut your ass. I'll get a promotion. And if I get desperate for one, I'll shave and buy tight clothes and slap on an expensive push-up bra.”

He groans, “I seriously do not need to hear all of that.” He grumbles in a way that makes Teto imagine him rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I called you to catch up on everything and know how you're doing. Not to hear you're choosing to become a prostitute.”

“My bad.” She snickers, “Been a bit since I last fully…. I dunno, opened up to someone.”

“God, you are so lonely.” Ted huffs out an attempt at a laugh, “I don't even know if I should feel sad for you.”

Teto kisses her teeth at his response, “Thanks, asshat.”

“Look, you're just currently living a really sad and pathetic life. So at this point I don't even know if I can even feel any sympathy for you.” Ted admits with a sigh, “And, I'm sorry. But I feel like it's best if I tell you the truth now.”

She inhales his words through her nose and into her brain, mumbling out a small thanks before taking a longer swig of her beer. She listens to all the clattering and bickering on the other end. Zooming back into the earliest memories she had of her childhood, couch surfing their parent's friends' homes, staying at cheap motels, having the tiniest bit of time in their own apartment before everything crumbled apart and her and Ted were forced to mature and grow up before they were even halfway through elementary school.

Life sucked. It always had. She only bloomed in high school before she took a wrong turn and fucked it all up. Now she's a nobody. Working some shitty office job and earning droplets of cash to pay off her bills for her apartment that had black mold growing in it.

“Well, I gotta get going.” Ted's voice slaps her back into reality. “Sorry for being so draining.” He sighs, “Hope things get better. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Teto replies before hearing the call end.

She stares at her phone screen, blinking as she stares and reads her contacts. Ted was the only person she was ever really talking with besides Neru, who worked at the convenience store nearby, and having occasional small talk with Miku if they ever bumped into each other. Which hasn't been as of late.

Now that she really thinks about it, how long has it been since she talked with Miku? A year at most. Wait, no, scratch that. It's been three years. Actually, five? No, seven.

“Jesus fucking Christ, just do the math, Teto.” She grunts, “Dumbass fucking loser.” She pushes herself off of the counter and tosses her phone somewhere on the couch.

She walks down the hall, sliding her feet into her slippers and snatching her lighter and cigarettes. All she needed right now was to just go outside for a smoke. Clear her mind away from her conversation with Ted that really ripped off her eyelids and made her realize how much of a pathetic loser she really is.

Teto walks down the balcony, dropping her feet one-by-one down the stairs and slipping under the staircase, leaning against the wall in her usual smoking spot that kinda shielded her away from everything. She takes out a cigarette, lights it, inhales as much as she could before slowly exhaling the smoke out.

She had so much potential, so many chances to actually go out there. Make music. Sing heart and trauma out. But instead she chose to waste her life away and bury herself into her aunt's prescription drugs. Fuck herself in the ass and destroy her life.

God, she was the embodiment of pathetic. It makes her want to curl into a ball and sob herself to death just from thinking about it.

Thinking back to her high school days, she had no idea that this was who she was gonna become. She never even thought about her future going this route. She had her head so far up her ass and was too much of a little shit to even really put thought into it, to really stop herself and say; “wait, what will I become if I keep being like this?”

She really was indeed stupid. She never wanted to kick and punch herself but hug and cradle herself at the same time so badly.

All she needs is just a break. A vacation. Or just a day to relax. Something to take her mind off of everything, but that something has to be healthy, and can't be the beer and cigarette she's switching on and off to. Literally what she's doing right now.

“Can you help me wake up Mama?” A cute voice appears from nowhere, causing Teto to jolt and look towards her right.

An adorable girl appears in her view, her light caramel cheeks flushed, her deep brown hair with pink ends is a bundle of curls pulled in two pigtails with purple beads. She wore an oversized Hello Kitty hoodie keeping her warm from the growing cold, and had a bright pink tutu paired with striped yellow tights and pink rain boots.

“Shit, kid. Where'd you come from?” Teto huffs out smoke away from the girl, “What'd you say?” She furrows her brows.

“My Mama.” She points towards the bench, which is empty. “Can you wake her up?”

Oh God. This poor thing probably lost her mom ages ago and her brain resulted in making another version of her mom to help cope with the trauma. Was what Teto thought of, at least, which fucking pained her and was tearing her apart from the inside. “Hun, I don't–” She squinted her eyes, seeing a pair of legs behind the bench. “Oh.”

“She said she was just going to lay down but now she fell asleep. I wanna go home but she's not waking up.” The girl pouts at Teto, “Can you help me?”

Teto nods, dropping her cigarette and smushing it into the sidewalk as she walks over to the bench, seeing a woman passed out into the bushes behind it. “Jesus.” She grumbles as she eyes the bottle of beer in the woman's hand. “What was your Mom doing before she decided to take a nap?” She looks back at the kid.

“She brought me to the bar to be with her friends.” The girl responds.

Teto frowns, “Can't even hire a babysitter or even ask a family member to watch you?” She lets out a sigh, “She's gonna be too drunk to function.” Her eyes trail back to the woman. “How about you and her stay with me tonight?” That was a terrible decision. But it was all she could think about. Even though her apartment looks like a tornado of depression ran through it. It's still the bare minimum she could do for this kid.

The girl smiles and nods in response, “Okay!” She goes over to her mom, shaking her shoulder, “Mama, wake up! A nice lady is letting us stay with her tonight!”

Teto lets out another sigh, “Mom's really tired from being with her friends, she's not gonna wake up yet.” She grabs onto the still-somewhat-awake woman's arm, yanking her up and hooking her arm over her shoulder with a grunt. “C'mon.”

The girl trails behind Teto with a giggle, following her up the stairs and down the balcony. Standing beside Teto, who fiddles in her pocket before grabbing her keys and trying to unlock her door, but drops them in the process.

“I can do it!” The girl beams as she picks up Teto's keys and opens the door, walking down the hall and taking off her shoes before going deeper into Teto's apartment. Looking around with wide, amazed eyes.

Teto staggers into her apartment thanks to the woman, making her grumble out swear words and curse the woman out for being such a drunk ass cunt and something along the lines of that. “What's your name, kid?” She asks as she pushes the woman onto her couch.

The girl plops down on the chair beside the couch. “Nana!” She smiles, “What's yours?”

Teto loosens up her tie, “Uh, call me Teto.”

Nana tilts her head, “Are you lying?”

“Why’d I be lying about my name?” Teto furrows her brows.

She squints her eyes at Teto, “You said ‘call me’. Is that not your real name?”

Teto scoffs, “I like it better than my real name. It has a better sound to it.” She says, “Most people prefer nicknames over their real name.” She goes into the kitchen, which only separated the living and it with a counter.

“Me too!” Nana giggles, kicking her feet as she watches Teto.

She looks back at Nana as she grabs a cup from the cupboard, “What's your full name, then?”

“Nanako.” She replies, “My Mama's name is Camilla but she goes by Coco. I like Coco but I think it's funny at the same time. It sounds funny. Doesn't it sound funny? Coco, Coco, Coco, Coco, Coco!” She goes on a yap fest for what felt like ages. It was insane how she could just be in one topic and jump to a whole new one in a millisecond.

Teto huffs out as she fills the cup with water, doing the same with another one before walking back into the living room. “Jeez, you like to talk a lot, huh?” She smirks, setting down the cups on the coffee table. “One's for your Mom when she wakes up.”

Nana smiles, picking up the cup and taking a quick sip, “What were you drinking outside?” She asks.

“Uh, soda.” Teto replies, which also made her realize that she must've left her beer outside, “Shit, that was my last can.” She mumbles to no one in particular.

Nana giggles, “I can get you a new one. Mama have's me get stuff for her a lot. I like it but it gets boring after a while. And scary. And sometimes she makes me do it in the snow because she gets too sick after being with friends.”

Teto sighs as she listens to Nana, she is sweet, really. But hearing everything from her perspective was so sad. Her mom was such a waste and she didn't even know it. “She shouldn't be making you do that for a lot.”

“Do you want me to still get you more soda?” Nana tilts her head.

Teto lets out a light laugh, shaking her head, “Nah, nah. It's fine. We’ll do that tomorrow.” She says.

“Oh.” Nana pauses before smiling again, “What are we going to do?” She taps her feet together.

Teto puckers her lips as she looks around, clicking her tongue as she thinks of what to do to entertain this kid that could also tire her out. “Uh…” She shrugs, “Well, first, help me put your mom in my bed so she can be comfy.” She gives Nana a smile, who eagerly hops out of the chair and watches as Teto yanks her mom back up to her side. “My room is that room down there. Door to the left.” Teto jerks her chin, watching Nana practically skip over and open it.

“Ooh, your room is nice.” Nana hums out as Teto stumbles into her room, shoving Nana's mom into her bed. She walks around, looking at Teto's desk and seeing all the pictures by it. “Who are they?” She points at all the people.

“Friends.” Teto says as she stands beside Nana. “I haven't talked to them in a bit. They're all busy with life.

Nana hops onto Teto's office chair, grunting as she shoves the chair back into the desk to get closer to everything. “He looks like you!” She points at a picture of Ted. “Is he your brother?”

Teto nods, a smile forming on her lips, “Yeah. My twin brother. I just got off of a call with him, actually.” She says, “He's living in the Philippines right now. With family.”

Nana tilts her head again, seems like a habit of hers, a cute one. “Why aren't you with them?”

A sigh leaves Teto, “Too expensive. I don't have the money for it right now. But I'd love to.” She crosses her arms.

“That's sad.” Nana mumbles before immediately getting her attention caught, “Who's that girl? The one that looks dead?”

Teto chuckles, “That's Tei. She's a close friend of mine. She's not dead, don't worry.” She reassures, “But she's an engineer of some sort. I think one that involves more science-y stuff.” She looks at the pictures, reminiscing all the memories etched into them. “That's my ex boyfriend from high school.” She smiles as she points at a picture.

“Why do you still have a pic of that?” Nana giggles.

Teto shrugs, “Cuz, it's a really nice memory. It was a fun day. We went to a fair. Hot as hell though.”

“Him or the weather?”

An amused huff instantly leaves Teto, “Okay, kiddo, how about we watch a movie?” She looks at Nana, who had already jumped out of the chair and was in the living room. “Fucking Christ on a stick, you're fast.” Teto mutters as she walks into the living room.

She kneels in front of the TV, opening the cabinet and rummaging through all the DVDs she had. Nana sat beside her, looking at the movies and shows. “Do you have Netflix? Or Disney?” Nana asks.

Teto shakes her head, “Used to. But it got too expensive for me.” She admits, “But I like physical stuff. More nostalgic for me.” She says, “Ooh, you ever watched the Labyrinth?” She picks up the DVD, handing it over to Nana.

“What's it about?” She asks, flipping it over.

“A girl wishes her baby brother away and he actually gets taken away by goblins. So she has to go through this labyrinth in order to save him but she has a certain amount of time to do it.” Teto smiles, “It's a classic. And iconic. And it has David Bowie in it, I was in, like, junior high when it came out. Fucking– freaking changed me.”

Nana blinks, “Woah, it changed you?”

“Put me into the Bowie Fever, that's what my brother called it.” Teto snickers, “I'm obsessed with that movie. I say you should watch it. It's pretty good and funny in my opinion.” She closes the cabinet and grabs the DVD back from Nana, who's already on the couch and wrapped up in a blanket. Can she teleport? And has she been here already? It's like this is her home already. And Teto kinda likes that, but she's never going to admit that to anyone. Not even herself.

Teto puts the DVD in and starts the movie, over to the couch and sitting next to Nana while taking her tie fully off in the process. Nana would already nuzzle up to Teto by the time Sarah was already in that short argument with her stepmom.

And before Teto knew it, her favorite song was just starting up.

“What's that in between his legs?” Nana points at the screen as Magic Dance plays.

Teto gives Nana an upside-down smile, trying her hardest not to break out into a fit of laughter. “You got a few more years till you have to really focus on that, sweetheart.”

“But what is it?” She urges.

Teto sucks in some air, “Uh…” She trails off, “It’s his Bowie. I'll say that.”

Nana laughs, smiling widely, “I want a Bowie!” She beams, “Do you think if I asked the goblins to take me away, I'll get a Bowie?’

Teto snickers, shaking her head, “I already tried that. Nothing happened.”

“You tried to get a Bowie?” Nana giggles way more, “That’s silly!”

Teto blinks, “Okay, you just told me that you wanted one, but, yeah, I'm the silly one.” She scoffs, “You're way too young yet, give it some time.” She instinctively wraps an arm around Nana, “Besides, I think it wouldn't be really fun to have a Bowie.”

Nana nuzzles into Teto, “Having a Higgle looks fun.”

She gives Nana a glance, smirking, “Are you messing up his name on purpose?” She asks Nana, who giggles more in response. “Yet you aren't my daughter.” Teto sighs out.

“I can be your pretend daughter!” Nana gives Teto a smile.

“Then I'll be your pretend mom.”

A few more minutes pass, which eventually morph into an hour. The movie is around the part where Sarah ate the peach and was hallucinating the ballroom scene.

Teto felt Nana's body sink into hers, which made her look down and see Nana already asleep. “Sweet girl.” Teto mumbles, playing with one of Nana's curls.

She would have never expected for her day to come to this. From wanting to die to wanting to protect a little kid. If Teto was being honest, she likes it. Loves it, actually. It was so… Nice. So refreshing. It was making her feel so fucking good about herself as a person. Already making this girl feel so comfortable around her. Making her feel like she actually gave birth to this blessing of a child.

Just from the way Nana would talk about her mom made it so sad. She was literally so oblivious to the reality of her mom being so depressing. Teto's glad she popped up out of nowhere and asked her specifically to wake up her mom. She was able to give Nana some light into her life, preventing more trauma into her life. She knew what it was like, or at least knew what it was like in a different font.

If there was anything Teto learned from her current life, it's that if she ever has the chance to fix a kid's life, she needs to take it in a heartbeat. Nana will not be just like her Mom or Teto in any way, shape, or form. She'll blossom into her own person and not be a failure or a nobody or a waste. Never. Teto will make sure of it.

Even if she's just Nana's pretend mom.

Chapter 2: It's Normal to Feel Maternal at Times

Teto felt the sun nuzzling in front of her when she woke up from the best sleep she’s ever had in most likely years. Her arms wrap around the bundle of warmth, never wanting to let go as she buries her face into it. She lays there for what felt like hours of nothing but silence, just enjoying how warm it felt to hold the sun, and how it wasn’t surprisingly burning her clothes into her skin which would then proceed to melt into her bones and then turn her into ash.

Okay, it’s not necessary to be so graphic this early in the morning. All Teto needs to do is to just hold onto the sun, and bury her face into the head of the sun….

That was until she felt curly strands of hair cover up her mouth, causing her eyes to burst open and see the girl in her arms.

Nana.

Slowly unraveling her arms and rising out of the couch, Teto looks around for the time, seeing the dimly lit green numbers below her TV. 5:37.

Jesus fucking Christ, how long has it been since she last woke up that early all by herself? Ages, at most. The earliest she could get out of bed was around 6. She needed to, actually. Since she had to be at the office by 7:30.

But enough about her boring, depressing life that she strangles herself in. Now, she has to focus on this kid that popped up with a drunken failure of a mom. No offense. But the poor girl just has no idea what her future could pour into. No pun intended.

Teto has already made it her only goal to make sure that Nana is able to become someone, anything unlike her mom, or Teto. Because who would ever even want to be single and alone in their mid-thirties? Working their ass off in some boring office job, smoking and drinking all their sorrows and regrets away?

No one. Obviously.

If anyone, it’s probably some spoiled, rich, Daddy’s girl who never got a glimpse of a boring, bland life. Like if a white woman’s chicken got a second chance at life and grew up into a human but had to live its life like how it was seasoned. So bland, flavorless, and dry all the time. Basically Teto.

She swats at those thoughts, making them scurry out of her mind, another thing she really should work on is thinking good about herself. But there’s not really many pleasant things about her that she can build off of.

Teto looks over at her room, seeing Nana’s mom passed out in her bed. It will be a good few hours before the woman can really walk around again. Which meant that Teto will most likely have to be this chick’s caregiver for the day. Or two. Depending how she handles hangovers.

“For Nana. For Nana.” Teto sighs out, closing her eyes and rubbing her face as she walks into the bathroom.

Her reflection stares back at her, the mirror cracked thanks to one of the first breakdowns she had when she was having an existential crisis. She stares at it. Taking in her depressing features; her skin being skin and having texture thanks from her past teenage years, the bags under her deep brown eyes highlighting her future, her lazy wavy hair a faded auburn red with her bangs already her natural color. Teto runs her hands under the sink, splashing her face with cool water to wake herself up some more. The water had a weird smell to it, something she couldn’t really describe. It brought some concern to her, not much. She’ll live. Unfortunately. The taste of the water was okay, no hints of chemicals, no whiffs of a virus that would make her a brain-hungry zombie in less than a week.

Her fingers travel down her tangled hair, missing when she used to have that motivation every morning to get up early and straighten her hair, only to curl it again but in a way that was full and sorta bouncy if she was lucky. She always looked good when she had her hair styled in those drill-like ponytails. She taught herself the style. Made her feel good and confident whenever she did her hair.

Her favorite part out of her teen years was shortly after getting along with Miku. She always had a field day whenever Miku asked for her hair to be styled in the same way.

God, she fucking missed being a teenager. It's embarrassing.

Teto quickly brushes her teeth, slips into her room to grab a change of clothes; which was just sweatpants and an old Salt-N-Pepa crewneck that Neru gave her. She goes back into the bathroom and gets changed.

Nana was planted outside the door when Teto walked out, “What are we going to do today?”

“Shit!” Teto jumps, “Good morning to you too, Nana.” She huffs a laugh. “I don't know what we'll do.” She crosses her arms as she goes to the kitchen, furrowing her brows at the lack of food in the fridge and cupboard. “Uh, how about a little trip?” She glances over at Nana.

“Can we go to Goblin City!?” Nana beams.

A sigh leaves Teto. An amused one, not one out of annoyance or disappointment. “Too much work, hun.” She snickers, “We'll just stop by the convenience store. I gotta pick up some food. You can choose what you want for breakfast.”

A little ‘yay’ leaves Nana as she smiles, “Is Mama coming?”

“Eh,” Teto shrugs, glancing back at her room. “She's still really tired from… Being an adult. Doing not-so-fun stuff with her friends.” She says, going down the hall and putting on her slippers, Nana doing the exact same with her rain boots.

“Why's it not fun?” She tilts her head as she watches Teto grab her wallet and open the door, following beside her outside.

“Because it does lots of damage.” Teto replies, shoving her hand in her pocket while the other closes and locks the door. “It looks fun. But it hurts yourself and other people.”

Nana frowns at that, “Mama should stop. I don't want her hurt.”

Teto takes a deep sigh, “She should. She really should.” She nods as she walks down the balcony. “How long has your mom been doin’ this? Being with friends and smelling weird when she’s back?” She toys with the zipper of her wallet in her pocket, stepping down the stairs with Nana and placing a protective hand on her shoulder in case she slips thanks to the somewhat frozen remains from the rain.

“I dunno.” Nana shrugs in response, “I can’t remember when she wasn’t sick and with friends.” She tugs on Teto’s sleeve, silently urging to hold her hand. “But my Auntie is really nice. We have the same name! I want to be with her more than my Mama sometimes, Auntie Nana makes good food and she always has her hair in lotsa pretty styles.” She goes on and on as Teto holds her small hand. “Auntie Nana wants to do my hair like hers, but last time it really hurt. But I like all the puffy soap she uses to make my hair bouncy!” She beams, “I think Auntie Nana wants me to be like her. I want to be like Auntie Nana! I used to want to be like Mama, but now I want to have fancy new hairstyles like Auntie Nana.”

Teto snickers, “I used to style my hair a lot. Mainly in highschool.”

Nana nods, her curls bouncing, “I saw.” She looks over at Teto, her eyes scanning down the messy waves of hair, “Why don’t you do it anymore?”

“Too much work for me.” She hums, letting Nana swing her arm as they walk in short-lived silence, letting the sounds of the city start up and the leaves crunching under their feet as Teto takes a turn. The sidewalk was just as cracked as the road, so no matter what, someone’s mom’s back was gonna crack. Or was it that someone’s mom would break her spine? Doesn’t matter. Teto just slightly prayed to whatever was up there that it would be Nana’s mom.

Was that shitty? Yes, very. But it was very much deserved.

In Teto’s opinion, at least.

They walked past one of the newer weed stores, which made Teto walk a bit faster so the smell wouldn’t catch up to them. There was a line of stores and small shops to Teto’s left, some of the buildings were a bit higher than the others thanks to how wonky the land that the city was built on really is. Some parked cars besides the sidewalk to Nana’s right, a person leaning against a car and smoking a cigarette, which makes Nana dramatically cough as they go past him.

This place has hardly changed. It's still old and rundown. It was always like this ever since Teto was born. As a teen, she'd always go on rambles and always say with a dramatic flair, “I hate this godforsaken city!”

And she really did hate it. Everyone did. It was old. It was like that old family member that no one likes but is somehow still alive but looks dead. Everyone in the family is just sorta stuck with switching who will be its caregiver for the week. Some betting that one day, they’ll walk in its room and find it dead in its bed, mouth agape, eyes lifeless and stuck open, an arm dangling off of the bed as if it was attempting to crawl into hell before it passed away.

Teto would also always go on about how she’d leave the city. Go somewhere else in Japan. Like Tokyo. Miku always talked about how much life was in Tokyo and how you could feel its heart beating in the ground as you walked on it. Turns out she was just using that from a song she never had released. So Teto doesn’t know whether to believe Miku or not.

But unfortunately, as always, Teto never got to leave the city. She only ended up being stuck thanks to money being money, herself being herself.

Nana’s big, round, curious beads of eyes move to Teto’s face, “What’s your name?” She asks Teto out of the torture champer of her mind.

A scoff leaves Teto’s mouth, a bit embarrassed that Nana already forgot her name. “Teto.”

“I know that one, silly!” Nana giggles, “Your… Your real name. Yesterday you said you didn’t like your real name.” She says, “I already told you my real name.”

“Oh.” Teto laughs, “Uh, it’s Thalia.” She says.

A gasp makes its way out of Nana, whose eyes were wide and eyebrows shooting up into the sky. “Thalia? That’s pretty! Super pretty! Really, really pretty!” She beams, “Why didn’t you keep it?”

Teto scrunches her shoulders up, “My mom called me Teto, after this song she’d always sing to me as a baby.” She smiles. “My family has a bunch of nicknames for me and my brother. We were never really called by our actual names unless we were in trouble.”

“What other names do you have?” Nana inquires with another tilt of her head. She really is a machine of never ending questions.

A second laugh leaves Teto, “They’re not really appropriate for you, hun.” She says, feeling Nana now hook her finger over one of her fingers. “I mean, it’s in a different language. But I still shouldn’t tell you.” She snickers, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

Nana dramatically sighs, her shoulders sinking as she pouts and looks over to the old stores across the street, “You never tell me anything.”

“If I told you everything then I'd have to pay for your therapy.” Teto scoffs, enjoying how dramatic Nana was getting. She was clearly her pretend daughter, that's for sure.

“What's that?” Nana purses her lips as she curiously tilts her head. She was a really expressive kid, too. She is literally an exact clone of baby Teto.

Teto’s chest rises as she bites off some dry skin from her lip, “Uh, you know, that's a good question, I'm not really sure how to answer that, kid.” She gives Nana an awkward smile, “It's, uh, someone you talk to. For help.” She says.

Nana's eyes light up, her body perking up, “Ooh! My Mama should get therapy! We all can! Because I need help with my math. We are learning how to take away numbers and add them. It's easy but hard at the same time. Did you know that 5 plus 5 is 9?”

“That's 10.” Teto chuckles.

“See? It's really hard! That's why I need therapy!” She titters, “Can you come to therapy with me and Mama? I think it would be lotsa fun!” The way this kid beamed had to at least be brighter than the sun.

Another scoff leaves Teto as she shakes her head, “Therapy isn't cheap. I won't be able to afford that.” She says, “And it's not for that kind of help either. It's more for… Emotional help. When you're feeling really sad. And when you have lots of problems in your life. Not math problems.” She adds.

They turn down the sidewalk, getting closer to the more “lively” area of the city, which only had a few stores that actually looked healthy. And it was only because they were the most active stores.

“You look old.” Nana randomly chucks at Teto’s face. Metaphorically, don't worry.

Teto chokes on holding back a laugh, “Wow! Uhm, I never knew that, thanks, hun.” She looks down at Nana with a small smile.

Nana giggles, a sound that made Teto completely forget how shattering kids can really be with their honesty, “How old are you?” She asks.

“I'm 34. So I'm Super duper old.” Teto raises her eyebrows, letting Nana go back to swinging her hand. “What about you? You look like a little baby.” She coos, “Are you only a few months old?”

“I'm only 10! Not a baby!” Nana inches closer to Teto, “You're an old lady!”

“Yup. Very old.” Teto laughs, her thumb rubbing over Nana’s little knuckles. “Anyways,” She picks up the pace, wanting to get into the convenience store sooner, “Go pick out what you want for breakfast! Find the tastiest bacon for me!” She challenges as the doors ding and slide open, making Nana giggle and dart into the store. The sight makes Teto sigh and softly smile, keeping an eye on the bouncing head of curls before she quickly makes her way over to the freezers, grabbing her usual pack of beer then getting the usual necesities she always got whenever she was going through a hangover, scanning the aisles before finding Nana.

Nana was staring at some pastries, packed fruit, and yogurt. “What about these?” She picks up a bag of a few cinnamon rolls.

Teto squats down beside Nana, “Ooh, scratch what I said about bacon, cinnamon rolls sound pretty good.” She grins before looking over at everything else, “What else do you want?”

“My Mama always got me lotsa mango pieces!” Nana gasps, grabbing a pack, “And strawberry milk! Can we get that?” She stares up at Teto with those eyes that you could never ever in your life say no to.

A sigh leaves Teto, “Whatever you want, hun.”

That makes Nana perk up, “Yay!” She skips around the store before finding the freezers, jumping up to try and reach the carton of pink milk, which Teto obviously grabs like any sane, normal person would. She then jerks her head towards the register, “C'mon.”

Just as they both make their way to the counter, a familiar girl with perfectly dyed and combed teal hair in ponytails makes her grand entrance along with a girl in short, black pigtails who looked Nana’s age, and a man who looked like he needed a cigarette. But he seemed too innocent with those eyes behind his glasses, so maybe a good karaoke session either by himself or with friends would help him out. That used to help out Teto.

Teto scoffs, expanding her hands from her sides in a dramatic motion, “Where the hell have you been? I haven’t seen your ass in almost a decade!” She finds herself being stuck in Miku’s arms.

“Oh my god! I was wondering when I was going to bump into you! It’s so nice to finally see you in person!” Miku squeals, squirming Teto around before pulling away, a hard grip on her shoulders, “You look so different! Like you actually have a 9-5!”

An embarrassed smile stretches out the corners of her lips, “I’m taking that as a compliment.”

Miku beams, “It is! don't worry!” She laughs, waving a hand at Teto. “It's been ages, I couldn't stop thinking about you! I kept asking Neru how you've been!”

Teto furrows her brows, glancing over at the girl behind the counter, who was busy on her phone, the light from her screen illuminating the deep chocolate skin of her face. Teto wouldn't admit it, but she was always jealous of how perfect Neru's skin was. Maybe she needed to go on her phone more, Neru always joked about the light from the screen doing shit to her face, making her skin glow the more she was on her phone reading the world’s most useless articles.

“You talked with Miku?” Teto asks.

Neru's eyes surprisingly leave her phone, “What?” She then processes what Teto said, “Oh, yeah. Like, few times a month.” She shrugs, tossing her dreadlocks over her shoulder. “She stops by when she has time.” She then proceeds to go back to whatever was more entertaining on her phone.

Teto tuts, setting all the food and drinks on the counter. “Never fuckin told me, asshat.” She kisses her teeth, quickly glancing down and seeing Nana and the girl already yapping together.

Miku coos as she watches the two kids interact, holding her hands together near her heart, “Awh, what a cutie! What’s her name?”

“Nana.” Teto replies.

Miku hums, keeping her eyes on the two before placing a palm on her chest as she pieces a few things together, “Oh my God,” She then speaks in a quick whisper, “is she yours?”

Teto’s brows quickly go back to being furrowed, “What!? No! I- No, she's not mine. I'm just watching her.” She replies, deciding to shoot back a glance at the kid with black pigtails, then to the stressed-looking suited man who was already on a phone call while keeping an eye on Nana and the girl. She then gave Miku an expression that could be easily read as; “they're yours?”

A laugh leaves Miku, one that filled the store and could easily infect everyone else if they were listening in, but there was only them and some old lady in the back. “Not at all! Don't worry, I haven't settled in yet, I'm still a diva!” She giggles before pointing at the man, “This is Kiyoteru, he's been helping me with scheduling all my meetings and basically everything going on with work.” She smiles. “And this little angel is Yuki.” She points at the girl, “His niece.” She adds. “She wanted to meet me, so I’ve just been showing her around and buying her stuff.”

Miku then holds her hands together, tilting her head at Nana and waving at her before looking back at Teto, “So, is Momo a mom, then?” She asks.

Teto scoffs, shaking her head, “Surprisingly, no.”

“Then whose kid are you watching? You obviously didn't pick her up from the street.” Miku crosses her arms, laughing some more.

Well, shit, Miku kinda just said what happened. Of course, Teto didn't just steal Nana from the street. She'd never kidnap a child. Besides, would it be considered kidnapping if Nana was the one who popped up and asked Teto to help her mom? And she did consent to staying the night at Teto’s place. But what about Nana’s mom? She was passed out drunk, so no one has a say in what she wants. Wait, no, Teto’s just jumping to answers as usual, she’s used to forcing herself to not sniff them out on her own. Nana knew her mom needed help. She’s trying her best and is just worried for her mom. Like any kid would.

“Uh, you know what?” Teto tilts her head, “We'll talk about it later. It's complicated.” She tries to give Miku a smile as if what she said wasn't concerning in any way, shape or form.

Miku’s perfectly plucked brows knit together, “Oh?” She inches her way next to Teto by the counter, “Spill. Did you actually kidnap a kid?” She elbows her.

“Hey, don't be so harsh!” Teto snickers, rubbing her arm before taking out her wallet, followed by her credit card. She sighs, watching as Neru begins to ring everything up, this time slower than usual since she's also interested in what's currently going on in Teto’s life. “She kinda just… I dunno, came up to me last night. While I was having a smoke under the stairs.” She says. “She started saying how her mom needs help, and she wanted me to help her up.”

Miku gasps, hooking a finger over her mouth, “Did you find her mom's body?”

“Okay, you're weird for going that route.” Teto scoffs, shaking her head, “No, not entirely, I mean, at first I thought it was. But turns out her mom was just passed out drunk in the bushes.”

“Her mom’s a…” She trails off, her eyes darting over to Nana who was in the middle of an entertaining conversation with Yuki, Kiyoteru still on a phone call. “One of those chicks who just parties and ends up passing out in some weird ass place.” She finishes her sentence a bit quieter.

Neru frowns, “Damn, that sucks.” She keeps taking her time with ringing everything up, this time moving the bag of cinnamon rolls super slow.

Miku crosses her arms after adjusting the spinning rack of cheap glasses, “And she has a kid? Poor baby.” She sighs, “Y’know, she seems super duper clinged onto you already. Judging from how close she literally was to you when I walked in.” She says, looking at Teto. “And it’s only been a day since she’s known you?”

Teto nods, “Yeah. A day.” She starts a word but quickly shuts herself up, only for Miku to nod her on to continue. “She said that she can be my pretend daughter. Last night.” She says, “And I replied with some bullshit like; oh, I’ll be your pretend mom!” She mocks her own voice, “I feel like I’m taking it too seriously. I’m not even in the right mental… Whatever, to be taking care of a child.” She huffs. “I’d love to look after her. Really. But she just told me about her aunt, how she wants to be taken care of by her aunt. It’s better to do that instead of having some pathetic office worker take care of her.”

“Don’t call yourself that!” Miku scoffs, “I get your point, though. It’s better to let her aunt take care of her.” She hums, “You can always visit her.”

“Yeah, I know. But I feel like I just don’t have the time for that. I’m only off for the week since the office is having some repairs.” Teto sighs. “But… I really want to look after her. It feels gross that I’ve grown so attached to her already.”

“Who wouldn’t?” Neru scoffs, “It’s normal to feel… What’s the word? Maternal?” She squints her eyes, then shrugs as she bags up the food, putting the drinks and “hangover supplies” in separate bags. “I mean, this is a child. Her mom’s a drunk. I think what you’re doing is a good thing.” She nods her head at Teto, “You should give her mom your number, and find a way to contact her aunt, too.”

Miku nods in agreement, “Exactly!” She smiles, “It’s important that Nana still keeps in touch with you. If she never trusted you, then she wouldn’t have gone up to you in the first place.” She points, she then clicks her tongue before moving to another question, “So, I’m guessing her mom is staying at your place?”

Teto nods as she takes the bags, “Yeah. She’s probably still passed out in my bed.” She sighs, “Well, speaking of, we should probably get going.” She looks over at Nana and Yuki, who are now bothering poor Kiyoteru. “Nana, c'mon, stop bothering the guy, we gotta check up on your Mom.”

“But he was telling us about the band he was in!” Nana whines.

Yuki giggles, pointing at herself, “No, I was the one who said that! But he's too embarrassed to admit it! I hear him on the weekends with my dad. He's like a totally different person without his glasses!”

The girls’ entertaining, yet humiliating and somewhat embarrassing words for Kiyoteru, elicit an embarrassed chuckle from the man as he rubs his neck, not even bothering to hide his red face thanks to how red it is. “Hah, yeah, uhm, that's me.” He then looks at Miku, silently asking for help.

She replies by laughing, “I guess we should be going too.” She looks back at Teto, “How about you, me, and Neru all catch up some time?” She suggests, “Ooh, what if we go to Drop Dead Coffee? Wouldn't that be cute? Since that's basically where our friendship started!” She perks up at her own idea.

Teto gives her a small smile, nodding, “Yeah, yeah, I like that.” She remembers when she found out that her, Miku, and Neru were paired up for a History project. At the time, both her and Miku hated each other, but they actually got along really well because the three of them acted out the plague as their project, and they'd go to the coffee shop to write the script and brainstorm everything.

She snaps herself out of her thoughts as she hears Miku talking to Neru, “What are your thoughts on that.”

Neru was already absorbed in her phone again, “I don't really care, as long as it's one of the nights they have bands playing there.” She shrugs. “I think Saturday at 8:30 PM works, I end my shift earlier than usual.”

“Saturday night it is!” Miku smiles, “Does that work for you?” She glances back at Teto.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Teto watches as Kiyoteru lets Nana wear his glasses, who takes them off only to put them back on, stuck in a loop of doing that as if they'd actually make her like a rockstar of some sort, whatever Yuki said. “Yeah, it works.” Her attention goes back to Miku, “It's the last day I'm on my break.”

“And what a perfect way to end it!” Miku adds before spinning around to Kiyoteru and the kids, “Let's get going, I still have to show you where I filmed some of the music videos from my second album!” She says to Yuki, “Kiyoteru, you added me and the girls’ reunion to my schedule, right? I know I have that quick meeting with a few producers, but lets just hold them back for an extra hour, ‘kay?”

He nods, cleaning the lense of his glasses once Nana hands them back, “I'll make sure to give them each a call.” He gives her quick little smile, taking his phone out and already getting to said calls.

“Miku, didn't you say that I could get some candy?” Yuki goes over to Miku, who puts a hand on her chest in a somewhat dramatic facade.

“Oh, goodness me, I did, didn't I? We'll grab a few things before we get going, I completely forgot!” Miku gasps before giving Teto a quick hug, “I'll see you in a few days! Have fun watching Nana!” She waves at the girl before following Yuki into one of the aisles.

Teto sighs, letting Nana take her hand, “She literally has not changed since high school.”

Neru scoffs, glancing up to watch Miku for a moment, “Yeah, she's been going on a craze with watching American movies from the 40s-60s.”

“She's gonna talk in a transatlantic accent when we see her on Saturday.” Teto tuts, “I bet you 5 bucks she will.”

“You should probably pay up, then, she'll probably move to something else by then.” Neru laughs.

Nana tugs on Teto’s hand and takes a few steps towards the doors, basically letting her know: “okay, I'm bored now, take me back so we can eat!” which makes Teto sigh and smile, “I'll see you on Saturday, then.”

Notes:

OH YM GOD THIS TOOK WAY LONGER TO WRITE
expect very slow updates💔💔 sorry to liek the 2 ppl who rlly like this ><