His Reason, Her Choice by Teona Bell Page B

when she would stop having trouble with everything being too big and too short on Denita, and too tight and too long on Nicolette.
    “Stop, arguing, both of you,” she said and moved to the dresser to open a drawer. “Where are your shirts, Nicolette? I don’t see them in here.”
    “You didn’t wash them, Mommy.”
    “What?” Panic set in. She rushed to the closet. “I told you to bring them into the kitchen.”
    “I forgot. Then you forgot. Are we having pancakes today?”
    Joy ran a hand over her face. “Are you serious? Nicolette, you should have reminded me. Damn it! You can’t wear your shirts more than once.”
    “That’s because she’s so messy,” Denita said unhelpfully. “Mommy never makes pancakes on school days, Nico. You know that.”
    “Don’t call me Nico!”
    Joy searched the dresser anyway, hoping she had overlooked a shirt. She knew she didn’t. “Maybe I can do a fast wash and dry, or a quick rinse in the sink and then dry.”
    She moved to the laundry basket. Denita passed by, eying her. “Mommy, are you going to work like that?”
    “I don’t have time for you,” Joy snapped. “You know I’m not going to work in my underwear. Get in the bathroom.”
    “Not that.” She pointed at Joy’s head. That’s when Joy recalled getting her hair wet in the shower. She reached up to find a half air-dried, nappy mess. Of course, just because she was trying to go longer between getting a touch-up and had fifteen miles of new growth, this had to happen.
    “Ugh, why today? Get in the bathroom, Denita.”
    “Yes, ma’am.” Her daughter darted out of the room, probably feeling good about herself since her work had been done, throwing Joy’s morning out of whack.
    Joy dumped all the dirty clothes on the floor, grumbling. Short, plump arms came around her neck from behind, and she sagged under the weight of her five-year-old leaning on her.
    “Mommy, are you mad at me?”
    “No.”
    “But you said a bad word, and you were talking to me.”
    Shame washed over Joy. She thrust the clothes away and reached around to pull Nicolette onto her lap. She kissed each of her cheeks and cuddled her tight. “I’m sorry, baby. That was wrong of me. I was definitely not mad at you. How can I be when you’re so cute?”
    Nicolette grinned from ear to ear, giving Joy a good view of her slightly crooked front tooth. Being so loose, it would probably come out soon. Joy had already overheard Denita telling her sister to put it under her pillow to get “cold hard cash.” Where did she even get that term? Probably from listening to Isaac.
    “I forgive you,” Nicolette informed her.
    “Thank you. Now get up so we can get out of here on time. I can’t be late again this week.”
    Denita strode in, the front of her nightgown soaked. “We’re late every day.”
    Joy narrowed her eyes at her. “Did you wash off or just splash water on your nightgown?”
    “I washed off!”
    “Let me smell your breath.”
    Denita looked highly insulted, but she left the room again. Joy found one of Nicolette’s shirts, and just as she expected, it was stained with something red in several places, probably ketchup. Denita was right. They were going to be late again.

Chapter Three
    “I s he there?” Russ asked. He always asked that question whenever he called her.
    “Why do you act like we’re up to something?” She rose to go out to the living room to check on the girls. They sat before the television watching a show she couldn’t understand anyone liking, but she had suffered through a few episodes and deemed it for them.
    “Because I don’t want to get you in trouble.”
    Joy returned to the bedroom and put him on speaker while she rubbed her feet. They hurt so bad. She hated her job, but it halfway covered her bills, so she stuck with it. If she had done like Russ had done and gone straight to college instead of getting pregnant, maybe things would be different.
    “Isaac knows we’re friends, and he