Hi! I'm a big fan of all your Sing fics. I know you made a story where Johnny meets Meena's family for dinner but maybe could you make another story where both Johnny AND Ash go back to Meena's home for dinner and meet her family. And Meena's mum gets a bit emotional cause Johnny and Ash live alone with no one taking care of them and starts piling up their plates with heaps of food (cause babies need to eat) and when it's time to leave both of them are carrying a lot of leftovers
I’m using this prompt as an opportunity to practice writing in first person again (also to avoid giving Meena’s mother a name lol).
I don’t know what I would do if Meena were ever in a situation similar to her friends’. A teenage girl barely out of high school living on her own and a young boy living alone in an old car garage because his family was in jail? I can’t picture my baby girl ever being so alone in the world, the idea of her having no one makes me sick.
But that’s what Johnny and Ash have - no one. And even worse, they seem to be okay with it. They’re laughing and talking with Meena right now, excited plans about the new theatre and upcoming songs. They’re not sad or scared, they’re use to it, they see nothing wrong with their lives.
Neither one looks like they’re starving, they eat a healthy amount, but they don’t scarf down food as if they don’t remember the last time they ate.
Johnny, the sweet boy, mentions in passing that he always walks Ash home, but who walks him home? Who’s waiting there to make sure he actually makes it back? What would happen if he were hurt, attacked, by someone on the street and left there - no one would know that he wasn’t safe at home where he should be.
Maybe it’s a silly fear. Johnny is a healthy, fit boy and Mr. Moon never lets anyone stay too late. Really, he should be okay living alone, but he shouldn’t have to be. There ought to be another option for him, someone to look out for him. Someone just to welcome him home.
And Meena has told me about Ash’s rotten ex-boyfriend. Maybe he hasn’t given her any trouble yet, but what’s stopping him from coming back to the home they once shared? Where are her parents and why aren’t they involved?
I might be just as silly to worry about her. After watching Ash’s performance, I know she’s a firecracker and has no problem holding herself high. But she’s so young, just like Johnny, how is she all alone?
I have raised my daughter to be self-sufficient. Meena can cook, she can clean, she can take care of herself. I taught her how to be independent, but never I taught her how to be alone. It never occurred to me that she could be all alone one day, without me or dad only a call away.
Johnny and Ash leave far too soon for my liking and I insist on driving them both home, even if it is daylight and a safe area.
“Here, before we get loaded up,” I grab Tupperware from the kitchen and begin piling what’s left of our dinner, “take some leftovers. We won’t be able to eat all of this.”
Meena gives me a strange look - she and I both know that my father could finish all of this food in one sitting - but she doesn’t say anything. She helps me clear the food off of plates and into the plastic containers.
“Really, Mrs. Loren,” Ash shakes her head. “It’s okay, I don’t need anything.”
“Yeah, me neither. It was all good, but we can’t take anymore food from you.”
“Yes you can! I insist!” I push leftovers into both of their arms and it’s almost more food than Ash can carry on her own. They may not be starving, but I don’t know the next time they will get a decent, home cooked meal.
Ash and Johnny share a look and smile at me. “Well, thank you for the lovely dinner,” he says, “it was fantastic.”
Both of these children are stealing my heart. “It was my pleasure, you two really have to come over again. And soon.” They both nod in agreement. “Good, how about next Sunday?”
They look shocked, maybe they didn’t realize I meant so soon.
Worse, maybe they didn’t think I was serious about having them over again.
I nod. “Absolutely. We can even make this a weekly thing. Or more than weekly.”
If my daughter were to ever live her life without help, without anyone to check on her, I would want someone to step in and fill my role for her. I would want someone to look after my baby as if she was their own, to care for her and be there for her. I haven’t heard much about Johnny’s mother or Ash’s parents, but I can only assume they would want the same.
I have no trouble filling that role for either of them.
Ahhh, my first person writings never come out the way that I want them to.
I hope you still enjoyed it; thanks for reading!