New Beginnings

The Town With Pep

Christmas Eve had finally arrived in Boston, and Alice was beyond grateful to be out of that grungy motel. The city always looked beautiful this time of year and she loved it, the view wasn't exactly decent enough from her old apartment balcony, but the view from the balcony of the Four Seasons hotel she was staying at? A beautiful stark contrast. She could see the entire city skyline from here and it looked perfect. She continued to enjoy the peace and atmosphere with a cigarette in her hand and a glass of champagne in the other.

Meanwhile, Betty and Polly were inside taking full advantage of the mini bar and room service available to them.

Polly lay on her bed texting a friend, glaring  around the room in uncertainty as she did. She couldn't shake the feeling that something just wasn't right about her mother recently, especially with the way she had miracullousy obtained a huge some of money, and she wasn't going to ignore it any further.

"Where do you think Mom got the money for this hotel B?" Polly asks her nonchalantly as she continued to use her phone.

Betty shrugged as she sat down on the opposite bed. "I'm not thinking about it." She carelessly stated. "The less we know the better."

Polly's brows furrowed in deep thought, the realisation suddenly hitting her. "You think she's on the game again?"

"No! She stopped all of that." Betty argued, the thought of her mother resorting to that sounding perposturous to her. "She probably just stole some rich guys credit card Pols, it's not that deep." She suggested before going to order more room service.

Betty was admittedly closer to her mother than Polly was, given that Polly was older and saw and experienced more bullshit before Betty was old enough to understand anything, so by default she had a different view of her mother, one that differed to Polly's

Betty was naive in that sense, and just wanted to think the best of her mother. Whatever she had done to be able to afford the hotel, which she already knew was shady, was beyond the the point. She clearly did it so she, Tyler and Polly would have somewhere safe to stay, and Betty couldn't knock her mother for that, so she decided to mind her business and put it in the back of her head.

"What are you girls talking about?" Alice asks as she comes back into the room.

"Polly thinks you're selling yourself again." Betty announced nonchalantly before reclining back on her bed and smirking.

Alice snapped her head around towards her eldest instantly, her eyes going wide in shock. "What?!"

Polly rolled her eyes at her mother. "Well how else could you afford this hotel room?" She inquired sassily. "It definitely involved something shady, because just last week that old prick of a landlord was bursting into our apartment and telling me and Betty to get out because you hadn't paid the rent three months."

"First of all." Alice began, pointing a fierce finger Polly's way. "Watch your mouth. Second? How I got the money is none of your damn business, or concern." Alice told her sternly.

Polly tightened her unimpressed eyes at her mother and wandered off, leaving Alice alone with Betty in the suite. She refused to argue with her mother about this seeing as it was just going to lead to a screaming match, and she'd much rather spend the little time they had at this hotel reaping its benefits.

Alice turned around towards Betty as a look of mild concern dawned her face. "What's up with her?" She wondered, gesturing towards the bathroom Polly had entered.

"What's not up with her?" Betty mumbled back. "Bitchy attitude, dresses like a slut, 1.9 gpa, want me to go on?"

"Oh leave you your sister alone." Alice chuckled before sitting down next to Betty. "Tyler asleep?"

"Yeah, finally." Betty answered in relief. "I guess he's not used to a different environment." She added, referring to tots sleeping pattern as of recently. He had trouble settling to sleep in rooms he didn't recognise.

Alice could relate. She knew all too well how difficult that was. "Hmm, I get it." She said in support, placing her arm around Betty's shoulder in comfort. "You and your sister were the same and I moved around a lot when you were babies so you could only imagine."

And she knew why that was. Nowhere ever felt like home, and nowhere ever felt safe. If she could never settle properly of course two tots weren't capable of doing the same.

"Mom?" Betty whispered, darting her innocent eyes towards Alice.

"Yeah baby?" She answered, shifting her blonde and red streaked locks out of her face.

"How did you get the money for this?"

Alice wasn't expecting this question from her little Betty, she would just choose to live in ignorant bliss when it came to her mothers financial hardships and illegal and shady behaviours, but she figured the exchange with Polly probably fuelled her curiosity, and she was growing up now, and she couldn't protect her from everything, so it was only natural that she'd start to find answers she desperately craved. It was time to be honest with her.

"Honey-" She began softly, shifting her body around and taking Betty's small hands into hers. "You're a mother now, so I guess you'll understand more than Polly, but there's going to be a tonne of things you'll do for Tyler that won't sit well with you or will be wrong, but his safety and security will be all you're thinking about in the moment you do it. Right now, the least you know, the better." She said, stroking her youngest's cheek. Betty slowly smiled back at her, not exactly thrilled over her mother's explanation, but she it did help her understand things a little more.

Their moment was interrupted by the sound of Alice's phone ringing. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked down at the caller ID. A glowing smile appeared her face when she saw who it was.

"Baby, I gotta take this quickly, give me a minute." She walked back out to the balcony and excitedly answered the call, a very important call she had been waiting for all day.

"Hello?..........Yes, this is Alice Smith.........Yes, I will take the offer.........As soon as possible, maybe even Boxing Day.........Yes, I will send over my account details.......Thank you so much."

•••

She hadn't told the girls about what she had planned. She wanted them to just enjoy Christmas and have them deal with that bridge when they came to it, so as soon as Boxing Day arrived, she had them pack up everything into the truck and they were on the move.

Given the distance between Boston and their destination, the girls spent most of the ride asleep. It wasn't until she had arrived and turned onto Elm Street, that the girls began to wake from their slumbers. She pulled up outside of the large 5 bedroom home with the bright red door and smiled, this was going to be the start of something wonderful, she had never owned property before and now she didn't have to worry about some asshole landlord kicking her out ever again.

"Mom? Where are we? What is this place?" Polly questioned as she narrowed at her eyes out of the window at the house in front of her.

"Our new home." Alice says proudly