Small Advantages (Tanner)

[jocelyn]

ANA

"Anastasia Marie Penaranda get back here" the voice of the twenty one year old called out across the street, her three year old just crossed it without her mother and that was a very big no no. Sighing a little she ran her hand through her hair groaning, yes Jocelyn really needed a break from her daughter sometimes but she hardly ever got one. Since her fiancé Xavier died she worked and took care of Ana with the help of her twin sister Jolie. It was a very hard life to live but she wouldn't change it for anything in the world because she adored her little girl and would die without her, she was all she had left of Xavier and she knew if anything ever happened to her he wouldn't be able to even function.

She still remembered the day Xavier died to; it started out as a drive home and ended with her fiancé dead even before he made it to the hospital. Jocelyn and Ana very lucky to have survived, and she remembered that every day of her life. "Ana Marie, you are going to get yourself hurt" Ana called as she ran across the street after her child.

They were on their way to the park, and Ana ran across the street with Jocelyn's hand, almost giving the women a downright heart attack. "I swear this child will be the death of me" she muttered under her breath huffing outwards. Sometimes she really wished raising a child was easier but she knew it wasn't going to be and she knew she had Jolie to help here out, even though Jolie acted much like a kid herself and used her niece to her advantage.

Jocelyn had a problem acting saying no to the small girl and Jolie knew this, which was just how she got Jocelyn to say yes to two kittens. She said that they were clearly purely in the interest of Ana, but to Jocelyn it was clearly in the interest of her dear sister Jolie. When the kittens came home, Jocelyn found herself fall in love with them though and grew to like them as much as her daughter and sister. Maybe kittens weren't a bad idea, she walked into Ana's room a lot of the time to see them asleep with her in her bed and of course she took pictures of that being the photography nut she is.

"Ana what you did was dangerous, I hope you know that" she told her daughter taking her hand as Ana stared at her with her brown eyes. "I'm sorry mommy, me just wanted to get to the park sooner" Ana tried to apologize. Another sigh escaped Jocelyn's lips as she nodded her head, "I know I know but Ana you need to be careful because a car could have easily hit you and you don't want that now do you Miss. Ana" Jocelyn looked around the park.

"No mommy" Ana said nodding her head. Ana on the other hand was looking around at all the people in the park right now, spotting someone she hurried over to the stranger. A male and waved, "hi I'm Ana" she said in a very cute voice before pointing at her mommy who was hurrying over. "That's my mommy, isn't she pretty" Jocelyn blinked slightly shaking her head.

"Ana what did I say about talking about strangers" Jocelyn said with a sigh, "I'm so sorry about her" she added not even looking at the person standing nearby. She should know better but can be very friendly sometimes, she likes just meeting people and I suppose this was just the case" she sighed again.

[tanner]

tanner was never one to go to the park. however, today was different. after sitting inside of his house all day, he was going crazy and needed some fresh air. everything that morning had been ticking him off. the crazy neighbor who was mowing his lawn at seven in the morning, his faucet that wouldn't stop leaking, and his other neighbor playing loud music which in his opinion, was crap. tanner usually liked to listen to music, he couldn't sing, but it was a nice thing to listen to for relaxation. however, there wasn't much relaxing going when you were listening to tons of people rap about getting into girls pants. to tanner, that was repulsive. and it didn't help that tanner had a major school assignment due soon, and he needed to get it done. college was really stressful. tanner was going to college to become a doctor, and so far the class was really hard. but that's what he got for wanting to help people.

taking a small breath, tanner got in his car and headed to the park. usually he would walk, but he wanted to get away from his house as fast as possible. driving to the park, he looked at the places around him. he was pretty glad that he lived in a really nice neighborhood, where most people got along with each other. and then there were the creepy people who tanner didn't even want to get to know. it wasn't like tanner knew many people though, since he had just moved here. tanner was a pretty shy boy when it came to meeting new people, he wasn't like his best friend ethan who could strike up a conversation with just about anyone. tanner stayed back and usually let the other people do the talking. anything that required him to start a conversation made him ansy and nervous.

after pulling into the park, tanner got out of his car and started walking towards a bench. the cold breeze felt good against his skin. another problem with his house was that he didn't have air conditioner yet, but it was on his to do list. after almost getting to a bench, a little girl ran up to tanner, pointed to her mommy and called her pretty. tanner couldn't help but stifle a laugh. "she is pretty." he said. when the mother walked over to him, she looked stressed. "it's no big deal," he said, running his fingers through his red hair.

[jocelyn]

Jocelyn didn’t go to college, she just never really found the time to raising a three year old. It wasn’t easy, even with the help of her sister and on top of that she had work. Lately it seemed that she hardly had any time to herself and in a way she didn’t, her life consisted of sleeping, eating, watching Ana, and work. There wasn’t any time in there for herself and she knew she really needed it though, or she would literally go mad. She was only human anyways, and Ana could be quite a handful sometimes and taking care of her sometimes wasn’t easy even with the extra help.

Ever since Xavier died Jocelyn wasn’t herself either, she use to be so fun loving and energetic. Now she was a lot more serious and not as fun as she use to be, and she needed to change that for her own sake or else she would become her parents, something she did not want to be. Running her fingers through her hair she sighed, Ana was looking at the guy and her mommy. “See mommy he thinks you’re pretty to, my mommy’s name is Jocewyn. She’s very stwessed out because I stwess her out, least auntie Jolie says so” Ana told the stranger looking up at him with her big brown eyes, you had to admit though.

She was very cute in doing to, “Ana you aren’t supposed to be telling everyone these things. He’s probably very busy and has no time to talk to a three year and her mother” Jocelyn sighed the stressed out look clear on her face. Her nails were painted very sloppily, her daughters doing and it looked as if she hardly slept. Having a daughter who woke up to jump on her bed at night made it hard to sleep, “sorry mommy. You just need fwiends and me make you some” Ana grinned, typical Ana, trying to make friends with strangers.

[tanner]

tanner only had time to go out on occasion, and this was by choice. tanner could have gone out more if it wasn't for the fact that he wanted to get as high as grades as possible. if tanner had the choice of going out and partying with friends, or staying home and studying, he would choose studying. he really needed to get out more. but to tanner, getting bad grades in college would be horrifying for him. if you wanted to be a doctor, you needed good grades. no one wanted a doctor that got horrible grades in high school. at least not people who wanted to be healthy and get better. the thought of becoming a doctor occured to tanner one day when his friend broke his arm, and tanner was there to help him until a ride came and took them to the hospital. ever since then, he was hooked onto helping people.

tanner ran his fingers through his ginger hair, inhaling a deep breath. it had been awhile since his body was out in the fresh air, spending a good day at the park. and he was sure that he missed this, but school and such came before enjoying yourself. it was the way tanner was brought up, and the way that he was always going to be. there was no way changing he was. when it came to work, he was dedicated. tanner wanted to excel in life, and not be held back because he felt like having fun was more important.

tanner laughed a bit at the mother and daughter. "i'm tanner." he smiled slightly, looking down at the little girl who was showing off her mother. the woman, named jocelyn looked like she needed some sleep, and her nails looked like they had been done by her daughter. in some ways, tanner thought it was cute, it showed that she was a good mother, and she was willing to put her daughter before herself, which he believed all mothers should do.

[jocelyn]

Jocelyn had no time for college right now, for the last three years her life consisted of working and taking care of Ana. If she ever had hopes of going to college, they would surely have to wait and besides Jocelyn always wanted to be a photographer and ever since she was a little girl she loved taking pictures and even now she had dozens of photos of her little girl and her family. It was the only thing that was hers, ever since she had Ana she didn’t do things she use to and even more so after Xavier died. It was just so hard to when you had a daughter to raise, even with the help of Jolie and when she did go out Ana was with her most of the time.

There was no more going out with friends or doing things alone, no instead she had trips to the park and watched movies all day. She wouldn’t change her life for anything though, she loved her daughter and she wouldn’t be able to live without her. Of course she missed Xavier every day of her life, but she knew if it was Ana instead she and Xavier would slowly drift apart. Ana was always Xavier’s world, he told her that the day she was born and even a few days before he died. Running her fingers through her hair she looked at Tanner, Ana was looking up at him with a smile. She was always smiling, “it’s a pleasure to meet you Tanner.

As you can tell I’m Jocelyn and this of course I my daughter Ana who is very hyper today, I need to learn to yell at my sister more about letting Ana pick out what she wants to eat for breakfast. It never ends well” Jocelyn sighed yawning a little bit, she was exhausted running around all day. It was good exercise but still very tiring and she wished she got a break in there somewhere, but Ana would hardly ever allow that. Looking down at her nails she shook her head, the funniest part was they were all different colors to.

[tanner]

tanner never really babysat, mostly because he was so busy with college, but that did not mean that he didn't like kids. he did like kids but when he was so busy, it was hard for him to find a kid to spend time with. when he had free time he hung out with ethan and his daughter jill, but that was about as much experience as it got when it came to little kids. if tanner had time he could see himself babysitting more, since it was always nice to have something to do and to make extra money. most of his time was spent in home with books sprawled out across the floor.

"ahh, i see. well breakfast is the most important meal of the day, so make it a good one." he said, before mentally cursing himself. his doctor insticts were already kicking in, and he needed to shut up. "sorry about that. i'm going to college to be a doctor, and i never shut up about health sometimes," he shook his head slightly. "so how old is she," he asked, trying to change the pace of the conversation.

[jocelyn]

Before Jocelyn had Ana, she was a fun loving person who had big hopes of being a photographer when she got older due to her love of taking photos. After she had her daughter; that all changed and taking care of Ana was her main priority and for the time being college or anything of the sort was not an option. It was easier for her when Xavier was around, since Ana had her father and Xavier was able to help take care of her but now with him no longer around it wasn’t as easy and Jocelyn wondered if she would ever be able to go to college.

“Oh no that’s alright” Jocelyn laughed a little bit when he apologized and said he was studying in college to be a doctor, “As a single mother I put my daughter first and her health is always very important. Hearing you’re becoming a doctor, well that only means you care about people which is good. I’m not one for people who don’t like kids, I love my baby girl” Jocelyn picked Ana up into her arms kissing her head. “Oh three, she just turned three a few months ago” she nodded. “I’m just glad to be out of the terrible two’s, it was a horrible time” she laughed. Ana enjoyed getting herself into a lot of trouble back then, something that was really not needed.