Page 11 of Surprise Mother Pucker

“You know, the café on campus is always looking for staff. I'm sure there are also special scholarships for single mothers. Tomorrow, we can go to the student center and look up if there are any that you can get.”

“Okay…”

“And whatever you want to do, I’ll be around to help. You know that Auntie Beth will be demanding cute baby snuggles regularly. If that means I have to change a diaper or two, then oh well, I guess I’ll muddle through.” She giggled.

Beth was being practical and thinking with logic. I liked that. I was so emotional that making a plan and sticking to it was the best possible thing I could do.

Because my life plan had just gone flying out the window.

Chapter 5

Kennedy - 12 months later

“Come on, baby girl,” I cooed as I rocked Charlotte in my arms. She was grinning up at me, completely unconcerned that she was keeping me wide awake.

“Your mama has a paper she needs to work on,” I reminded her, even though she didn’t understand a word I said. She just stared up at me with those wide, baby-blue eyes. “Do you remember, we had a conversation about this? You are going to be a good girl and go to bed on time and actually sleep through half the night.”

I couldn't help but smile as I spoke to her. As far as babies went, my daughter was pretty amazing.

Going through pregnancy while studying and giving birth alone had been challenging, to say the least, but it had been well worth it.

I had worked any part-time job I could while studying, up until my sixth month of pregnancy, and then I'd managed to move out of the dorms and into a small apartment near campus for myself and Charlotte. Unfortunately, there were no babies allowed in the dorms.

Before, I had been driven, determined to reach my goals, but now there was something stronger propelling me forward to get through my master’s degree and start a good career.

My daughter.

She had a head of dark curls and the widest baby-blue eyes I had ever seen. Even as a newborn, her face had been so damn expressive, and as she aged, it had only become more emotive.

I had given birth alone. Beth had wanted to be there to support me, but she was having her own life drama that demanded her attention. Still, even when she’d been hundreds of miles away, dealing with her ass of a family, Beth was on video calls with me as I labored. Luckily, I’d had an amazing team of nurses who took me under their wing and stuck with me from the moment I was admitted until Char was born.

Now I was less than a year away from completing my master’s and being able to go out into the workforce. I was under no illusions that it was going to be easy. While I was still studying, I received subsidized day care for Charlotte, but eventually, I would have to pay the full fees, which were astronomical.

Still, despite all the sleepless nights, the struggle, and the screaming, I would do it all again.

Just don’t ask me that at four a.m., when Charlotte’s decided to scream for six hours straight, not letting me sleep a wink—my answer may be a little different then.

I was bustling around my apartment, cleaning up, while Char sat on a blanket in the living room, toys scattered around her. She was happily chewing the leg of a large stuffed dinosaur. She was at an age where she was starting to interact with everything…and had developed a strong desire to stick everything she came across into her mouth.

The place needed to be in some order before the sitter came. There was a pile of homework that needed doing, andunfortunately, I couldn’t do it from home. I needed to go to the library for books that weren’t allowed to be borrowed. So, I had pulled together a little spare cash and Lola, a sweet girl from one of my psychology classes, had offered to babysit for the evening.

She had been part of my class project the year prior, and she had met Charlotte when she was just a tiny baby and adored her.

I couldn't remember the last time I’d gone out in the evening. It was probably the night I conceived Charlotte. Since the moment the pregnancy test came back positive, my whole life had altered drastically. Sure, I hadn't been much of a partier beforehand, but becoming a mother solidified that.

Instead of living it up and partying, as was the college way, I was going to bed early and singing nursery rhymes.

“Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” infected my dreams, thanks to how often I sang it.

Charlotte was absentmindedly chewing one of her toys, and it was so adorable that I couldn't resist pulling up my phone to snap a photo, then sending it to Beth. Our friendship hadn't changed, despite me becoming a mother. She still came over regularly and insisted that she was Charlotte's favorite auntie, even though she was her only auntie.

We didn't see each other anywhere near as much as we had prior to me having a baby, but it was still a good relationship. She had even babysat a few times, but I wasn't going to ask her to watch Charlotte on a Friday night. Beth had much better things to be doing, even though I hadn’t seen her go out in a while, either. Her family was a mess. Her mother had passed when she was fourteen, and her alpha father and brothers insisted she come home every holiday and break because they couldn’t cope without her.

Isn't she just the cutest little munchkin?Beth texted me, followed by several heart eye emojis.She needs to FaceTime with Auntie Beth soon.

Maybe tomorrow. I'm leaving her with a sitter tonight because I've got to go study.

Study? Are you serious? Kennedy, a babysitter is useful, especially on a Friday night for when you want to go out, explore, meet new guys, maybe go on a date with a cute alpha… but studying?

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