Char & Diago

Char never expected she would be the breadwinner. Many moons ago she'd listened to her mother tell her what to look for in a man. It was nothing like Diago.

It was his Aunt who begged her to move out on her own with him. His Aunt didn't have room for him with all her little ones and she was afraid it might become another dreadful chapter in his life. Evidently, his Uncle was much crueler than Char ever imagined. And she didn't really know the truth until she realized what all Diago had been through.

Of course, she couldn't help but feel a certain happiness when she was around him. It was definitely a connection she couldn't forget. Still, she didn't know if they would ever make it in the real world with a bed from Good Will and some furniture they found on the street corner.

Her mother was newly married and didn't have time for her. She told her right away she should move in with someone. Her mother didn't seem to care who it was, but it helped they had met serving food at an assisted living place.

That lasted about a year or so. It wasn't like they moved in right away together. Diago always paid his share of the rent, but it was true. He'd never had a really good life. He'd grown up on the Reservation, but his parents were not anything like Char's. Well, she never knew her father, and that didn't really bother her until her mother had given her the harsh reality that she better find someone before it was too, late because her mom wasn't going to be around forever.

Diago's father was in prison. He didn't talk about him much. Instead, Diago liked old dogs, kittens and chatting with old geezers who liked to play checkers with him at the assisted living place. He still worked weekends there, while she finally got a chance to use her degree in business. Although, she was beginning to feel the retail world wasn't any better than her days with her mother.

And as much as she loved Diago's company, she knew he was fragile too. And she knew it was best to remember their good times, not the moody times when he wanted to be left alone.