Chapter 9

Present day

"Mommy no!! You're gonna stick to the table," Damian exclaimed as Astrid tried to wipe some epoxy off her hand. It wasn't helping that she'd accidentally glued three sharpie-colored macaronies to her palm by accident.

"It's fine really," she muttered as she stood up to wash her hands she stubbed her small toe on the end of the table. "Mother-..." Astrid quickly swallowed the curse that she wanted to utter. It wouldn't do for Damian to go repeating that at pre-K.

"Come on. Time to go,"

"But it's not dry yet," Damian said.

"You should have thought of that before you procrastinated on your art project," she replied.

"It's not even edible!" the boy proclaimed.

"It shouldn't be edible," His mother shot back. "Now go grab your backpack. Mommy needs to drop you off before going to a job interview. Do not even think of sticking it into your mouth mister," she added with a stern tone.

Damian pouted but he did hop off the chair he'd been crouching on. "Mommy don't you already have a job?"

"Yes, I do but the rent is going to go up and Mommy wants to keep living here."

"I wanna keep living here too!" the boy exclaimed. "I like Auntie Heather,"

"I like Auntie Heather too," Astrid smiled.

"Now come on munchkin," she said as she herded her son out of the door along with his macaroni painting.

The Pre-K Astrid had chosen for Damian was roughly a 30-minute drive uptown. She'd chosen one that was in the better part of the city. Sure Astrid came a long way from slumming it in the shelter but that didn't mean the apartment she rented now was posh and decked out. Last year when Damian was going to reach pre-K age she'd researched which schools in the district were the best. She honestly wanted the best for her baby boy and while she had been young when she'd given birth her own mother's words had been engraved in her mind. When it had become apparent that Thuggory had left her high and dry she'd been unceremoniously thrown out by her mother with only a small backpack and suitcase and the money she'd earned from her part-time. Her father had stood by wordlessly as her mother berated her on the porch, calling her a disgrace, a floozy, and some other slurs she'd not want to repeat in polite company. Astrid had been blamed for everything wrong in the world and so had her unborn child. Her mother had shouted that her baby would just become another leech to society before promptly shutting the door.

At a stoplight, she looked at her son who was seated in the backseat. He looked happy, watching the pedestrians walk past. She had vowed that night to do right by her kid. She'd get him the best education she could even if she had to work multiple jobs. She'd be the mother hers never was.

Upon reaching the drop-off area she parked and got out of her car to walk Damian to the front doors. "Mommy I luv you," Damian uttered as she squatted down so he could give her a peck on the cheek. It was their tradition and Astrid absolutely adored it. Damian was very tactile. He loved to snuggle with her and give her hugs. Something she noted that the kids starting school were trying to avoid because their parents 'embarrassed' them. It might become different when he becomes a teen but Astrid would always cherish these moments.

She watched Damian run into the building, greeting one of the teachers near the door as he did so. When Astrid turned to walk back to her car she caught the eye of some of the PTA moms. She groaned as one approached her.

"Mrs. Hofferson, right?" The pretentious-sounding blonde that approached her asked.

"It's Miss," she corrected.

"Huh?" the Stephord-wife-wannabe uttered. Astrid's brows twitched as she had to deal with these people for the last two years.

"Anyway," the other continued, ignoring Astrid's correction, "Some of the moms will be hosting a weekend BBQ next month. We would love it if you and your son joined. You haven't really been active in our community a lot."

"I haven't been active because you haven't added me to any of the group chats," Astrid deadpanned.

"We honestly just forgot," The other woman uttered.

"Yes, yes, you just forgot," She sighed. "Listen you Barbie wannabe, why don't you take your invitation and stuff it. My son and I won't be your token charity cases," she growled.

"How dare you?!" The other uttered.

"No, How dare you!" Astrid shot back. "You've been conveniently forgetting to invite me to events. I might not be rich like your little clique but I know how you guys operate. News flash lady, this isn't highschool anymore. You've peaked. This is it. That will forever be it. I learned my lesson the hard way. I screwed up. Yes, I know you guys talk behind my back. I'm lower class, not deaf. My boy is doing great here. He's learning and thriving. What use do you have?"

"Uhm..." The other woman stared wide-eyed but Astrid held her hand up, having none of it anymore, and said "Look I don't care what classist beef you have with me. You've been a passive-aggressive ass ever since I'd enrolled Damian. I've tolerated you for a year. A YEAR. Normally I would have punched you the first week." At this, the other blonde took a step back.

"You know, I pity you. I used to be like you in High school," she commented. "I was a jock. I looked down on others. Then real life hit me in the face when I got knocked up. You just never had the real world hit you in the face like a cinderblock." The others in the group just gaped at Astrid's comment.

"RUDE," The woman that approached her muttered.

"That might be, but I'm not the only one." Astrid shot back. "I'm just now retaliating because you are on the last tread of my patience and I think it's long overdue. Charlotte let's face it. You never liked me. In fact you disliked me from the first time we were introduced to each other. I remember your snide comments about me being a single mother. How I couldn't possibly afford this school's tuition? I've had you harp at me for over a year. Been excluded from events and have y'all talk behind my back. AT LEAST MY KID LIKES ME!"

"You better watch what you say. I can ruin you," Charlotte remarked.

"And I can shove your head up your ass," Astrid replied. "Don't test me. I'm running on decaf today. Now if you ladies excuse me I have business to go take care of. Too-da-loo!"

When Astrid got back to her car she groaned and leaned her head on her steering wheel. Thor, she hated that woman. The feeling of loathing had been mutual the day they met. Before driving she'd hit her phone's call button and put it on speaker.

"For Thor's sake Astrid. I am not helping you hide a body!" The annoyed voice came over the speaker.

"Heather, I did not kill anyone," Astrid deadpanned.

"Yet," the other muttered. "Right, today is Monday. The Stepford wives again?"

"Just You-Know-Who," she uttered before pulling into traffic again.

"Now that's an insult to Voldemort," Heather replied. "She doesn't wear that much pink but I'd call her Umbridge either way."

"You are a total nerd you know,"

"And you aren't?" Heather retorted.

"I should have never given in to your Harry Potter marathon," Astrid sighed.

"Don't worry. I'm close to murder too. Someone brought in a large pizza box for us but when I opened it, it was filled with... salad stuff." Heather's disappointment could be heard over the speaker. "But anyway, don't let your anger get to you. Those women have been trying to run you out of there for the last year, " Astrid just sighed.

"Look I'll see you tonight. We're getting a new detective today and the Chief is about to make a speech. I'll fill you in later, alright? Oh and good luck on that interview,"

Three years and nine months ago

"Ugh......" Astrid uttered as she groggily opened her eyes. She squinted as the harsh light from the ceiling blinded her. "Why do I feel like I got run over by a steamroller?" she groaned.

"Because you just delivered a 6 pounds and three ounces screaming bundle of joy?" A voice uttered to her right which made Astrid immediately turn her head. Alex was sitting on a chair near her curtained bed looking unperturbed.

"Wh-What are you doing here?!" Astrid nearly screamed but winced as the painkillers were starting to wear off.

"Don't you remember? You called me here." she deadpanned. "Though I do suppose you were high on whatever drugs the doctor gave you."

"I did not!" Astrid replied while shock marred her face.

Alex just rolled her eyes and mimicked a phone call with her hand saying "Oh sis you gotta come! I'm at Berk General. Don't you want to meet your niece or nephew?! Please Please Please with a pumpkin-spice latte on top!"

"You do a crappy job at mimicking me Alexis," Astrid shot back. "I do not sound like that,"

"Whatever that doctor gave you made you more pleasant," Alex just stated while lifting an eyebrow at her younger sister.

"Okay, I admit, deep down I want my child to at least know their aunt but why do you have to make fun of me every time we meet?! I just finished pushing out something the size of a melon!"

"Are we going to get into this now?" Alex muttered while sounding less than pleasant. "I came didn't I?"

"Yes, let's hash this out right now. You came... but why?! You know Mom and Dad disowned me, right? You guys hate me!"

"I don't hate you," Alexis stated as she crossed her legs. "I find you incredibly annoying. You were pretty entitled growing up but got over that phase... Thank God, but Thor in Loki's handbasket Astrid you made me resent you."

"How?! All I wanted was to get closer to my big sis but you kept pushing me away!" Astrid retorted.

"Don't tell me you haven't figured it out. You were little miss perfect in our parents' eyes. Their miracle child." Alex grumbled while getting angrier. "All blonde and blue-eyed. Meanwhile, I apparently take after our grandfather. You know the one that ran out on mom when she was a kid." Here Alexis made a motion to her dark hair. "The moment you came along I was put on the back burner. It didn't matter that I was in three AP classes or that I was Salutatorian. Our parents told us point blank that I had to settle for Community College or not apply at all because they only had a college fund for you set aside."

"I didn't know that!" Astrid exclaimed while wincing.

"Also you tried to blow out my candles when I was eight," Alex said.

"Hey! I apologized for that when I was older and knew better,"

"I don't blame you anymore for that. Mom was the one that made you so entitled at a young age. I'm actually glad you grew out of it. But all in all I still resent you. You had everything I wanted,"

"It wasn't that easy..." Astrid mumbled.

"What?"

"I said it wasn't that easy," she uttered a bit louder so her sister could hear. "I always wanted to be like you. To have that freedom!"

"You can't be serious right? Why the hell did you want to be like me?!" Alex asks incredulously.

"Because it's hard being perfect!" her younger sister uttered. "That's how I got here!" she gestured to the room around them.

"Do you even know how much I looked up to you?! You got to do all the cool teenage stuff." Astrid said. "You got to take whatever classes you wanted, you snuck out to parties, ate what you wanted, and had some goddamn privacy,"

"I still don't get it. You had everything,"

"Oh really?" Astrid retorted as she looked her sister dead in the eyes. "Mom and Dad picked all my extracurriculars for me. I wasn't allowed a choice. I was forbidden when I wanted to take shop class because it was 'unladylike'. I had to be skinny so mom decided that she'd monitor what I eat. You probably never noticed because you were mostly out of the house. Dad went through my phone daily and I wasn't allowed to date while you were out there sucking faces with boys."

"Do you know that I had to beg our parents to allow me to get a job?!" her voice got lower. "I got so good at hiding stuff that I had an app that hid my actual phone screen from the one our parents saw."

"I just wanted to feel something that wasn't the soul-sucking hell that house was. So I fell hard and fast for the first boy that sweet-talked me," She deadpanned. "And this is the result!" she then gestured to their current situation. "I am a single mother living from paycheck to paycheck in the bad part of town all because I wasn't my parents' good little doll. You know when I told them and mom passed out I thought for a minute that she was actually worried about me but no. The first thing she shouted when she woke up was 'What will the neighbours think?!'"

"I thought Mom and Dad loved you but that's..."

"Messed up right?" Astrid finished the sentence. "I knew from an early age that I was just their doll." she then laughed "You know what the funny part was?"

"Hmmm..." Alex voiced.

"Deep down I actually admired you for going low contact with Mom and Dad,"

"Thor, we've both been idiots haven't we," Alex muttered. "Resenting each other instead of speaking about this,"

"You asked me why I wanted you here, right," Astrid smiled slowly.

"Yeah,"

"Sis, how would you like to be a godmother?" She then asked. "I know we have our differences and may probably not always see eye to eye. But I can't think of a better person to look after by baby if something where to happen to me."

"You got your shit together and I know you'd do right by my kid,"

"Wait are you crying?" Astrid then asked.

There was a sniffle before Alex spoke up "No I'm not. I... uhm... just got something in my eye."

"You are totally crying," She teased.

"Oh shut up you," Alex grumbled. "And I accept. Someone has to spoil that gremlin of yours. What are you gonna name him anyways? The nurse was asking,"

"So you know how we used to get scared while watching The Omen?"

"For Thor's sake Astrid!" Alex groaned.