One Day at a Time - (Season One)

Chapter One: The Ruiz Siblings

The sun burning her eyelids as it peaked through the blinds was what woke her up. Martina groaned, rubbing her eyes and turning away from the offensive light. It was too late anyway... she blinked her grey eyes open, silently cursing herself for forgetting to shut the blinds the night before.

Sighing she gingerly sat up and stretched, her back popped delightfully before she began rolling her neck. A peek at the silent alarm clock on her messy nightstand let her know that it was ten minutes to seven and that she needed to start prepping breakfast. Martina rolled off her bed and blindly searched for her slippers with her feet while she grabbed her blue robe and pulled it on. A quick peek into Lukas' bedroom as she made her way into the small kitchen let her know that her brother was still sleeping peacefully.

Her brother was somewhat of a picky eater, but he never said 'no' to the sweet creamy oatmeal Martina had perfected over the years. She quickly got all of the supplies out and began making their breakfast out of muscle memory as her tired mind wandered. Martina could hear her brother's alarm go off and Lukas' disgruntled groans as he stumbled out of bed and shut it off. The familiar complaints painted a smile across her face. It made the late nights and the seemingly never-ending work shifts completely worth it. Last night she'd been stocking the shelves at Walmart for five hours, Martina had finally gotten home at three-thirty in the morning.

Her shift at the library would start twenty minutes after dropping Lukas off at the elementary school and end half an hour before she needed to go pick him back up. She'd spend those precious free hours tending to Lukas and completing the chores around the house before putting her brother to bed and making her way back to the Walmart to stock shelves at night. That is except for Tuesdays and Thursdays which were movie days, where she worked at the local theater from four to six in the afternoons as a movie projectionist before taking Lukas home and helping him finish up his homework and prep him for bed. Movie days were Lukas' favorite of all her workdays since she was able to get her brother into the theater to watch movies for free.

Lukas stumbled into the kitchen and plopped down in his chair just as Martina started pouring the oatmeal into bowls. Her brother gave her a sleepy grin as he started to spoon it into his mouth. Martina had finally sat down when she noticed how messy her brother's bedhead was, a small snort escaped from her throat which only earned her a curious look from the six-year-old.

"What?" he questioned, looking a lot more awake now than he had a few minutes ago.

Martina shook her head, "Nothing, come on Lukas, let's hurry up. We gotta get you dressed for school okay."

"Hmm, 'kay. Today's movie day right?" Lukas asked as wiggled in his seat excitedly.

"Yup." Martina confirmed, "But if Ms. Caroline tells me you had a bad day, you can't watch any movies during my shift and instead you'll have to sit in the projection room with me."

"I'll be good! Promise!" Lukas crowed as he scrapped the last of his oatmeal off his bowl before scampering into his room to change. "Marty! Can I wear whatever I want?"

Martina sighed good-naturedly, picking up their now empty bowls and depositing them in the sink before heading to Lukas' room. It took her thirty minutes to get Lukas ready for school, ten minutes to shower and dress herself, and another five to make Lukas his grilled cheese sandwich for lunch. By the time they were in front of the elementary school, it was seven-fifty so Lukas had some time to play with his friends in their classroom. Martina shot his teacher a smile as she made her way out of the classroom before starting a light jog to get to the library on time.

She smiled at Ms. Williams, a fellow librarian, on her way in before going into the backroom to clock in. The first three hours of her day were somewhat normal, fewer and fewer patrons had been coming into the library during the past two weeks. Ms. Williams had pulled her to the side and told her that a new strain of the flu was going around and that was the reason why there had been fewer faces visiting the library. Martina was only happy that the fewer patrons around meant more time for her to relax at her desk. Especially after the long shift she'd pulled last night.

It wasn't going to last forever. Martina would have to quit the stocking job next month, her body wouldn't be able to handle the strain much longer... she would probably start pulling more shifts at the movie theater on the weekend to compensate, which wasn't too bad since it wasn't as physically demanding. Still, Martina would miss the pay that came from her job shelving items at the Walmart. She'd been able to put together a very nice nest egg, which would be very necessary for the coming months, especially when she'd either get too big to work or on maternity leave. It wasn't going to be easy juggling an infant, her kid brother, and working but Martina wasn't going to give up so easily.

The baby would be born late August or early September and Nana Peyton, the old childless woman who lived in the apartment next door, had excitedly promised to help Martina with babysitting when the time came. Lukas already knew about the new addition that would be joining their household, and her little brother was pretty thrilled about it. Though, he wasn't really understanding that he would be the baby's uncle, not brother. Oh well, she wasn't going to burst that particular bubble just yet. She had an OB/GYN appointment at one, her first real appointment if she didn't count the one where they confirmed that she was actually pregnant.

At nineteen.

Her papi would have been so disappointed in her.

Then again, he would have been so disappointed with many things that had gone down in her life since he'd died. Martina had to drop out of high school in her junior year when mama had the most debilitating mental breakdown she'd ever had before. Lukas was almost three years old when that happened and someone needed to take care of him while their mother rocked herself back and forth on the floor in a corner of the room.

Martina had started working just to feed herself and Lukas, while her mother turned to drugs once more to escape from her painful reality. It wasn't like Martina didn't understand. They'd both lost so much when the accident happened. She'd lost her father and her fraternal twin brother Marcos. Her mother had lost her beloved husband and her son.

But, unlike her mother, Martina grieved their absence before picking herself up and moving forward. It was honestly a relief when her mother overdosed a year ago and died. She hadn't been Martina's mother in years and only an additional hurdle she had to deal with during her day.  It had been a bit difficult to get the complete custody of Lukas, but it was easier after she proved to CPS that Martina could provide for her brother. After all, she'd been doing it since she was sixteen.

A persistent buzz brought her out of her thoughts and back to her desk. Thankfully the familiar vibration of her phone wasn't disturbing any patrons since there was no one in her section. 

"Hello?"