The breath of relief that Roman let out after closing his last patient's door could've been hard enough to blow a house down. Just knowing that his shift was finally over had him ready to fall asleep on the cold tile floor that he was standing on.

When he clocked in yesterday, he was only supposed to be taking care of 14 patients since nobody had called out sick. By seven this morning that had been upped to almost 27 due to some of the Registered Nurses being called down to the Neurology floor for emergency aid.

He loved his job a lot, but days like this made him hate it. His feet were aching so badly that he was honestly surprised they could still hold his body weight up. It also felt like his back could be popped in twelve different ways by a chiropractor. Everything was just sore and hurting right now.

"East, gon' and clock out. No more overtime for you this week." A small hand gently rubbed his left shoulder, and he mustered up a fake but obviously tired smile. She should've told him that ten hours ago, hell.

His typical work weeks usually consisted of three consecutive 12 hours shift, then four days off. A surge of the influenza flu had him working six hours extra of overtime though. He hoped that would be over soon because he didn't think his body could handle it.

After telling some of his coworkers goodbye, Roman gathered his things from his desk area and packed up his overnight bag. He literally could not wait to get home and get in the bed. That wouldn't be happening anytime soon though.

Finally making it to his spot in the reserved parking garage, he hit the unlock button on the key fob to his 2019 Infinity QX55, and pulled the back door open to put his duffel bag inside.

He let out a yawn once his back came in contact with the driver's seat, realizing that he would probably need an extra boost of energy to help him stay awake for the drive back home, and for the day ahead. It was now nearing three in the morning, and he needed to be back up and out by six for the day's events.

"Shit, man." He mumbled in slight aggravation. He wished he could just sleep in this parking lot. He was too tired to do anything else.

Eventually he ended up leaving, knowing damn well he wouldn't be sleeping in anybody's parking lot-at least not tonight. He pondered on stopping to get a caffeinated drink for that upsurge of energy, like a Red Bull, but those never seemed to work for him.

What he really was craving was a nice, hot cup of coffee with some creamer and extra, extra, extra sugar. His favorite place to get one of those was Starbucks, but unfortunately for him, they were closed around this time. His second option was 7/11, but here lately their coffee had begun to taste weird-as if they weren't cleaning the machines or something.

In the midst of thinking where he'd get some coffee from, the way his eyes focused on the empty street ahead caused him to become even more drowsy. As soon as they dazed closed, he pulled over, now for certain that he had to get some coffee in his system. If he didn't, he really would be making the half hour drive home tonight.

"Hey Siri, find an open coffee place near me." His voice rasped into the speaker of his phone, watching the colorful circle at the bottom spin while trying to obey his command.

"Ok. Here are some open coffee shops near you." She spoke back at the same time that a list of Google businesses popped up on his screen. He just clicked the first one, letting Apple Maps guide him to the shop that happened to be only three miles away.

When he made it there, there was only one other car in the parking lot. Now, he wasn't easily spooked, but the view seemed straight out of a horror movie. Luckily, the shop had big neon signs that lit up the dark area, so it didn't look too scary.

There seemed to be some kind of building it was connected to, and after reading the letter as best he could with the help of the neon lights, he saw that it was a library. That was convenient-well, for people who frequented the library, he supposed. Imagine a nice book and a hot cup of coffee to keep you company. Vibes.

Chuckling to himself, Roman walked into the diner, causing the bells above him to noisily jingle while a gust of wind from outside blew a few leaves inside. The bells kind of sounded like the wind chimes his great-grandmother used to have on her porch at her old house.

"Hi! I'll be with you in just a second!" He heard a small, distant voice come from where he assumed was the back of the kitchen area. He just stood there without responding, not seeing a reason to. He wasn't in a rush, really.

A few moments later, he matched a face to the voice.

"Hey, I'm sorry. I was stocking the back for the rush. We usually get busy around five and I like to prepare early." She told him, though he had never even asked what she was doing.

"Do you know what you'd like the get or are you looking for some suggestions?" She asked, she pointed to the large signs hanging from the ceiling behind her that showed the menu.

"I just need some hot coffee. Two pumps of cream and four packets of sugar, please." He added the 'please' because he could subconsciously hear his grandmother cursing him out for not using his manners.

"Okay. Do you want a large size or is regular fine?"

"Large." He answered. When she gave him his total-which was surprisingly cheap-he swiped his card and then went to go wait at one of the booths for her to finish making his coffee.

For the price of a little less than three dollars, he figured this drink probably wouldn't do anything for him. He'd never bought a large cup of coffee for that cheap. Starbucks usually charged him close to five dollars, but that was with the extra sugar and creamer.

Since he had nothing else to do, he pulled out his phone to check some of his socials to see what was going on right now. Of course the stuff on his timeline was nothing he cared about, so he went to the camera app to check on his house.

"Here you go. I hope I didn't overdo it with the creamer. Sometimes it comes out of the pump weird and it's either too much or too little, depending on the customer's preference. Just let me know if you want me to remake it, okay?" The same girl from the front placed the cup down on his table just as the app on his phone loaded.

She talked a lot.

"Thank you." He grabbed the cup of coffee, and she nodded, turning to walk back towards the kitchen to finish her tasks of stocking, he supposed.

He wondered why she was the only person working right now-at least from what he could see. It wasn't like it was busy or anything, but it was three in the morning and she was here alone, in some dark little diner where anything could happen. That wasn't very smart of her.

Roman shook his thoughts away, taking a sip of the coffee that made his mouth feel warm. The flavorful taste caught him off guard, especially since he was previously talking shit about it in his head. It tasted so good, and insanely enough to say, it felt like the cup of coffee had given him a hug from how warm it made him feel. That's probably where the diner got it's name from.

As hot as it was, he still finished half of it within a minute or so. It was rare that coffee had a good taste, particularly the kind he drank because he liked his dark. There was no way she only added creamer and sugar in his cup. She must've added a splash of oat milk or something, maybe an expresso shot.

By the time he was done with it, his stomach growled with hunger, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything since the start of his shift yesterday. That was damn near twenty hours ago.

Figuring he had some time to spare, he got up to walk back to the front counter to order him something to eat, and another cup of coffee too. This time he'd get a small; he didn't need that much caffeine.

"Yo," He called to get the girl's attention since he didn't know her name, and she turned around with a stack of trays in her hands that went past the top of her head.

He watched her put the down on the nearest counter before wiping her hands on her clean apron, then she walked over to where he was with her eyebrows curiously furrowed.

"Did it taste bad?" She asked, confused on why he was back at the counter so quickly.

"Nah, nah, that shit was fye actually. Let me get another one, but the regular size. And, y'all c-I mean, are you cookin' right now or that don't start 'til later?" He emphasized his words since it still looked like she was the only one working.

"Why would it start later?" She rose one of her eyebrows, still confused. What restaurant only served half the menu at certain times? That made no sense.

Roman didn't really know how to respond to that, not sure if she was genuinely confused or if her mouth was just smart.

"Let me get your most ordered breakfast sandwich and an order of hash browns." He ignored her question, looking away from the menu.

He watched her press a few buttons on the register system, and when his total popped up he just swiped his card, not bothering to check the total or what she'd rung him up for.

A few minutes later, Roman was back in the booth with a styrofoam hinged lid container in front of him and a second cup of coffee. Inside was the breakfast sandwich the girl had made him and his hash browns-both still steaming since it was cooked fresh.

When he took a bite out of the sandwich, he could taste the butter that had been melted on top of the bread-which tasted like Hawaiian rolls, but better. The eggs oozed with cheese and had extra flavor from the turkey sausage patty and lightly sautéed onions that he'd asked for.

Literally heaven in a sandwich.

He knew this definitely wouldn't be his last time coming here, and he left a fifty dollar tip so that the girl working knew it too.

"Daddy!" Loud giggles filled Roman's ears as he tickled his daughter, purposely pushing his fingers underneath her armpits because that's where she was most ticklish.

"Mornin' pretty girl. It's yo' first day of school today." He swooped her out of the bed, chuckling as she continued to laugh.

Her tiny arms wrapped around his neck, and held her with one arm, carrying her towards her connected bathroom so that he could get her ready for a bubble bath.

Once she was all settled in, he left her door open so that he could hear her, and then he walked down the hall to his little sister's bedroom to wake her up for school too.

Today was his daughter Kaiya's first day of first grade, and his sister Raelle's first day of her senior year. It was currently seven in the morning, and he had to get them up and make sure they were on time today because last year both of them were late almost every single day. The amount of truancy letters he got from their school was crazy.

Kaiya and Raelle went to the same school because the charter school that was closest to them had all of the grade levels in it-from Pre-K to 12th, and somehow still ended up late. It started at 9AM, but his girls usually didn't make it until after 10 because they liked to stop for breakfast at Chic Fil A and oversleep. It wouldn't be none of that this year.

"Wake up Ray. You got school lil' girl." He flipped her light switch on, then walked over to her window to open up her gray curtains.

"Get up Raelle we ain't doin' that this year." He pulled her cover from over her head, listening to her groan in annoyance while pressing her face deeper into her pillow.

"Just ten more minutes I swear." She mumbled, sleep evident in her voice.

"Nah yo' first class start at 9:15 and you take mad long to get dressed. Get up and come on." He grabbed her by her sides, effortlessly picking her up to get her out of the bed.

"Roman don't nobody care that you this big boy. Put me down, oh my goddddd." She kicked the air as he carried her, throwing a childish tantrum that he paid no mind to.

He put her down on her feet in her bathroom, chuckling once she slammed the door in his face. Knowing her, she would probably fall asleep on the floor in there so he reminded himself to come check on her again in a few minutes.

When he went back to his daughter's room, he went straight to her closet to find her something to wear today. This was always a harder task than it should've been because he didn't really know how to dress girls. If it was up to him, Kaiya would be wearing a Nike tracksuit every day.

"Daddy I'm all done," She called from the bathroom, and a few seconds later he could hear the water swish around, letting him know that she was getting out.

"And don't find me nothing ugly, okay? 'Cause nobody wanna be dressing like you." She then stood on the side of him with her robe on, looking like someone's tiny grandmother with her hand on her hip.

"Whatever lil' girl." He chuckled, leaning over to pick her up after grabbing her an outfit.

Contrary to what he was trying to do, he ended up finding her a two piece gray Essentials set. He tried to make it girly by adding a sleeveless black puffer vest, then paired it with her matching Yeezy slides.

"How we styling this today mama? Or we leavin' it down?" He referred to the knotless braids in her head with beads at the bottom of them, standing with her in the mirror hanging on her closet door.

"I think we can leave it down today. I'll put it up at recess." She told him, fixing the charm bracelets on her right wrist.

"Aight. Go downstairs and eat baby." He kissed the side of her face, and she grabbed her iPad from off the charger before going to do as told.

Roman stayed behind to clean up the small mess they'd made in her bedroom, and when he was finished he went back to Raelle's room to see what she was doing since she hadn't came out yet.

"Come in." She called out after he had knocked, granting him permission inside. He saw that she was styling her baby hairs in her large mirror, Summer Walker playing from the speaker on her dresser.

"You look pretty fats. Ion like nunna' that though." He gestured to her cropped top that was way too little for his liking, a frown of disapproval on his face.

"It's a good thing I don't dress according to what you like. You'd have me lookin' like a nigga." She chuckled at his expression while wiping the edge control off the back of her hand.

"Y'all gon' quit hating. That's all y'all ass do." He shook his head, leaning against the doorway of her bedroom.

"Anyway. What time you get home last night? I went to sleep early." She put her bag over her shoulder, and Roman turned out her lights because she was bound to leave them all on.

"Ion remember. It was a lil' late though. Like four or five."

"Have you been to sleep?" She looked up at him as he closed her door, and he nodded his head even though he was lying.

"Good. Don't need you sleep deprived and stuff. We all know how you get." She went down the steps first, and he chuckled, following behind her.

When they went in the kitchen, Roman saw his daughter sitting at the table with a plate of food that was half empty in front of her, and her face was now sticky with syrup. Luckily she hadn't got any on her clothes from what he could see.

"Now Roman why you got her in this set after I done told you about all these sweatsuits?" His grandma Faye spoke from the opposite side of the table with a newspaper in her hand.

"It ain't like it don't match." He shrugged his shoulders, watching his little sister fix her a plate of breakfast too.

"It don't matter. I'ma start planning a week's worth of outfits for her on Sunday 'cause my baby look like a lil' boy." Raelle butted in, and he rolled his eyes. As if he didn't know that already.

"I ain't no lil' boy Ray." Kaiya sucked syrup off of her finger, then swiped more off of her plate to do it again.

"I ain't say you was, lil' girl." Raelle mushed her head at the same time that she sat down at the table, and Kaiya put a mug on her face that was identical to the one Roman always wore.

"Aht aht, don't y'all start, now. Raelle leave her alone." Faye fussed at them before the two could bicker, causing Roman to chuckle.

You would assume that with a ten year age difference, Raelle wouldn't even think to argue with a literal child, but that proved otherwise almost every day. The two of them could argue and fight like cats and dogs all day long, then be best friends right after.

Roman barely paid them any mind now.

When the girls finished eating breakfast, Roman went out to go crank his truck up in the garage so that it could be warm by the time they left the house. He made sure to let the garage up a little bit because he didn't play that carbon monoxide poisoning shit.

"My favoriteeeeee brother in the whole wideeee world," Raelle greeted him after he came back in the house, and one of his eyebrows rose to question what she wanted.

"I'm not giving you no money so don't ask." He told her before she said anything else, making her smack her lips.

"I wasn't even finna ask for no money. I was gonna ask if I can take one of the cars to s-,"

"No." He shut that down without her even finishing.

He'd gotten her a car for her 15th, 16th, and 17th birthday, and guess where all of those cars were now? Wrecked.

Even with the driving courses he made her take at the DMV, Raelle still drove reckless as hell-especially when her friends were in the car. Her current car was still in the shop being repaired by mechanics after her last run in with a light pole.

Roman hadn't made his mind up on if she'd be getting it back whenever it was ready because he no longer trusted her on the road. He for damn sure wasn't about to let her drive one of his cars; he didn't even know why she attempted to ask.

By the time they got in his truck she of course had an attitude, but he didn't care. She was too spoiled and it wasn't like he'd done anything illogical. If anything she should've been relieved he wasn't letting her drive his car because if she got into one more accident, her license would be permanently suspended.

"Daddy when school is over can Breanna come to the house with me? Mr.Wilson gon' text you to ask and make sure. That's okay?" Kaiya leaned up to talk to him once he pulled up in front of her school, holding her backpack on her shoulder.

"Yeah. If you don't stay on green all day, I ain't gon' let her. So don't show yo' ass up here, aight?" He opened up the backseat door, and she nodded her head, getting out with his help.

She wasn't necessarily 'bad' at school, but she did talk a lot with her friends while her teacher was giving a lesson, and she often got put on the red behavior chart because of her excessive talking. Her mouth was kind of smart too, but they were working on it.

"I love you." He leaned over with his lips puckered out, and Kaiya held his face with her small hands to give him a kiss.

"I love you too daddy, bye. Come on Ray Ray!" Kaiya waved for her to get out of the front seat, and Roman watched her gather her things before she got out as well.

"Have a good day Raelle. I love you." He leaned against his truck, shaking his head once she ignored him, and put her AirPods in her ear just so he knew that she was ignoring him.

He didn't know what to do with her.

Me to my daddy. Lol I gotta do better but so he don't need to piss me off