“Mommies, can you both come to school in the middle of the day today?” Lizzy asked while Lisha cooked breakfast and Beatrice was applying makeup in the kitchen.

“Why?” Bea asked carelessly.

“Today is Parent’s Day and they want our parents to come eat with us.”

The two parents had completely different reactions to hearing that news. Lisha immediately perked up and got excited while Beatrice put on a deep frown of uninterest.

“Can’t make it.” Beatrice said without a second thought.

“Yes you certainly can.” Lisha said with crossed arms and a glare.

“It’s during my modeling hours babe. I can’t just drop that.”

“Not even for your own daughter?” she asked, a bit angry now.

“You know it’s not about that.” Bea said with gritted teeth.

“Then you can-“

“It’s fine.” Lizzy interrupted, surprising them both. She had quite a sad tone though. “If you can’t come, it’s ok. I’ve never had parents to come to one of these, so even just mama being there is more than I’ve ever had before.”

Beatrice would be lying to say that she didn’t feel something from that comment sting her. She didn’t mind being there for the kid, but… no, nothing food related. She just couldn’t do that. Not in public and not with Lisha.

“I’m glad you understand, kid.” Beatrice said, trying to act like she was fine, but giving off an odd demeanor. She ruffled Lizzy’s hair before walking away to her room to get her purse.

“Why does mommy act so weird when she has to eat with us?” Lizzy asked. She recounted the nights when Beatrice refused to eat dinners or she harshly judged and criticized Lizzy for her eating.

“She’s… confused about food.” Lisha said sadly. “She thinks food is bad.”

“But why?” Lisha sighed and rubbed her eyes, leaning on the counter and trying to figure out how to explain this to a little kid.

“Mommy’s brain is… a bit sick. And she needs help knowing what’s good and bad for her sometimes. Food is one of those things.”

“She’s sick?” Lizzy asked. “When is she gonna get better?”

“I-I… don’t know.” Lisha said, partially heartbroken. “I’ve been asking myself that for decades.” she thought.

“Can I help her?” the girl asked. Lisha gave a sad smile and tapped the girl on the nose before returning to her cooking.

“You just keep on being adorable, got it?”

“Got it!” she said, giving a salute.

“Good, now eat up!” Lisha smiled, dumping a 5 egg omelet onto her plate that might’ve been stuffed with more than cheese, but Lizzy couldn’t tell. “You still have to be on time today for school!”

Beatrice had just finished a photoshoot and retreated into her dressing room to finally relax and not be used as a dress-up doll for advertising for a few minutes. She laid herself out on a couch, grabbed her phone from her bag, and let Fluffy slither into a comfortable position on top of her.

The first thing she noticed when turning her phone on was that she only had one message from Lisha as opposed to the usual couple dozen. Not that Beatrice necessarily minded, but it had her wondering. She checked the message.

“At the Parent’s Day lunch, babe! Ends at 1:00! Don’t do it for me. Love you babe!”

She looked at the time and saw it was 12:13. She could still make it with enough time if she wanted to. Beatrice was never good with caring about people, which is probably why she befriended a snake and married the closest thing to a demon. She really still didn’t know if she wanted to care about this girl. She groaned and closed her phone.

“What do you think, buddy?” she asked Fluffy. He blankly blinked and flickered his tongue.

“Yeah, you’re right. Lisha would want me to go.” Fluffy curled around her arm that was hanging off the couch.

“What do you think she meant by don’t do it for me though?” she asked, holding Fluffy up to her face and giving him a small hug. 

“I mean, I guess I do know what she meant but… I just don’t know.” she sighed and tumbled off the couch, laying herself on the floor. Just then, someone opened her dressing room door.

“Ms. Hawthorne-”

“Mrs. Hawthorne!” Bea corrected.

“Mrs. Hawthorne, you’ve got another photoshoot in 5 minutes.” He was about to quickly close the door when Beatrice signaled him to stay.

“Hey Jared-” Bea started.

“My name is Nick.” he corrected.

“Sure, whatever.” she said. “Listen Stephen, I need you to go tell my manager something.”

“C-can I ask why me?” he said nervously.

“Because you’re an unpaid intern.” she said with a venomous smile. “And you’ve got a lot less to lose than me.

“Mama, why do you have to look like that when we’re out of the house?” Lizzy asked Lisha while they sat and ate lunch in the school cafeteria.

“Because regular people aren’t ready for my radiance.” she answered proudly. “And the tail trips people.”

“Hehe.” laughed the little girl. She looked around and saw mothers and fathers sitting with their kids and her smile dropped just a bit. “Is mommy going to come like you said she would?”

“Just give her some time.” Lisha said. “I know she wouldn’t miss you for the world.” Lisha looked down at the food in front of her and… it was school lunch alright. Which means it was barely food. Never stopped Lisha from eating it though. “Baby, eat your food.” Lisha said.

“I wanna wait for mommy to-“

Before Lizzy could finish her sentence, the cafeteria door was thrown open by Beatrice, who was strutting through the isles. Her black heels clicked as she walked, matching the sunglasses that were placed over her eyes.

“The cool mom’s here.” Beatrice said, sitting down next to Lizzy.

“Mommy!” she said with a wide smile, hugging Beatrice.

“Yeah, yeah, good to see you too.” Bea said, returning the hug with a smile. She could see Lisha smirking, and she returned it by sticking out her forked tongue, which scared a few kids and parents.

“Mama said you would come!”

“Did she now?” Bea asked with a raised eyebrow. Lisha shrugged.

“What can I say? I know my wife.”

“Yeah, sure.” Beatrice turned to the food and instantly reeled back in disgust. “What shit do they have you eating these days?” she hissed, loud enough for the entire cafeteria to hear.

“Hey, uh, babe,” Lisha said nervously. “Maybe you should lower your-“

“I’ve seen better food fed to pigs. No wonder your body is such shit! They’re feeding you shit day in and day out!”

“Hehe… language dear…” Lisha suggested.

“We’re not having this.” Beatrice said with antipathy. “Neither you nor I are eating this kind of food today or ever.” She grabbed Lizzy’s hand and started walking towards the door.

“Where are we going?” Lizzy asked, flabbergasted.

“To get you some real food.” Beatrice growled. “No daughter of mine is eating worse than a pig.”

“Babe, she still has the rest of the school day and-”

“They don’t teach you anything worth a damn nowadays anyway.” she interrupted. “Let’s go Lizzy. I’ll get you some big girl food.”

“Big girl food!” Lizzy cheered, being carried out of the room by Beatrice’s hand while Lisha followed closely behind.

The next morning Lizzy got ready for school and came to the kitchen as usual. On the counter today was a lunch box though. It was green and patterned with little cartoon snakes; a note was on top of it too. Lizzy took it and read what it said.

“For my little viper, from your best mom. P.S. if I find out you ate that school lunch still, you’re not getting dinner.”

Inside was a hand-packed lunch made for Lizzy. There wasn’t much, but it was more than what school lunch usually provided. Her grin widened as she slung the lunch box over her shoulder. Ever since she was taken in by these funny women, her life had been nothing but positive beat after positive beat.