Chapter Text
Roxy had her daughter, Rose the second year of college. The father she then married and it was the best years of her life.
James was a very wealthy man and spoiled his two girls. He had bought a mansion hidden in the woods over a waterfall for them to live in, keeping hush hush about his brain cancer.
Rose was three years old when James died.
Roxy then drank away her sorrows, tossing her writing career out the window. They never moved from the mansion and Rose was homeschooled by the best teachers she could hire, all graduates from Harvard and Yale.
But money doesn’t last by sitting still.
Getting back to her work shortly after Rose’s fourth birthday, she typed quickly which only made her publishers think she was an alcoholic dumbass. At that point, how could she say they were wrong? Frustrated, she typed several novels while sobering, publishing only one. In Wine there is Wisdom became a much loved book which many mothers bought all over America.
“Mom?” Rose walked to her overstressed mother in a leather recliner. “Are you okay?”
Roxy let out a tiny sob. “Baby girl..don't you worry bout a thing." She smiled to the small girl with tired eyes.
“is it the vacuum again?” She tilted her head like a curious kitten, crawling onto the recliner. She knew vacuum was codeword for James.
Roxy brushed her hair with her thin fingers. “I think of it all the time. Can't have too big a collection in my opinion.” Rose nodded, looking at her perfectly painted lavender nails.
“Does it make you upset?”
Roxy sighed. “Of course it does…”
“Then why think about it?”
“Some people just can’t get over the past.”
Rose furrowed her brows. “Then tell me how you feel.”
“Rose…”
“No, really! If you let it out, it helps you let go of some stuff you feel.”
“…” She let out a deep sigh. She was caught. “Okay. I think he was…he is a great man. A selfish bastard…but a great man. He was kind. He was an architect and built this house for us and made homes for the homeless. He never once lied to me. But he kept the worst sort of secret. Brain cancer. God… okay I can’t.”
“No, keep going!”
“No, baby. You need to head on up to bed.”
Rose frowned, going to the steps. “I love you, mama.”
Roxy smiled brightly at her. “I love you too, baby.”
Paying for not one but two kid’s education was a stupid idea. But it was the least she could do for Dirk and Dave. She had to type out yet another book and start to look for side jobs. Jobs were scarce in her area and the economy was a dick. She took up a greeter at her favorite restaurant nearby with the help of an old friend.
“Jane, I can’t thank you enough.”
“It’s nothing! Just smile, sit ‘em down, put out their menus, and restart. Easy!” She smiled with a glowing face.
“Janey, you’re the best. I owe you.”
“No, that’s not necessary. But if you insist, you can come over for Easter with Rose. John has been dying to meet her!”
“You got it, boss!” She giggled, turning to a family at the door.