Assassin's Creed X Reader One-shots

The Kindness of Strangers (Shay x Reader)

This was a request from the lovely hollyleaf199

Hope you enjoy!!

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You despised the diner.

It was an every day reminder of what a complete and utter failure your life had become. You despised the long, inflexible hours and obnoxiously ill-mannered customers. You despised the stale scent of hamburgers and grease permanently woven into the microscopic fibres of your clothing, But most of all, you despised the wages. That was the most insufferable part of the job. You despised how every night, you'd be forced to stagger back to a broken trailer with barely anything to show for a dreadful double shift.

But you endure.

You endure the blistered soles and shitty tips because there were three people in your life which made even the most agonising of pain bearable: Noah, Michael, and Kamryn. Your three little miracles.

The triplets had been born two months premature to a struggling college student and wannabe actor, both of whom had their own vision of a perfect future. Kevin wanted to focus on his acting career and maybe – maybe – settle down in the future and start a family once everyone had learned his name. And you? Well, as stated earlier, you were in college, hoping to one day obtain a good career with a steady income. But that never happened; earning a degree was no longer the top priority once receiving news of the pregnancy. And whilst you were thrilled at the prospect of having children, there was still a nagging voice in the back of your mind sowing the seeds of doubt – it was Kevin's voice.

Now, you won't lie, you did have doubts of your own. Neither of you were in a financially stable enough position to be even considering beginning a family, but...you were unwilling to go through with an abortion, despite Kevin threatening to drag you to the clinic himself. It was a selfish decision, but they were your children. You loved them the minute the test appeared positive.

Your own mother walked out three years after you were born, and your father, well...let us not speak of him. You swore never to be like either of them. That when you had children of your own someday, you would always be there for them, even when life itself made it difficult.

So here we are. Five years later as a single mother, working in the same diner you thought you had seen the back of when you were sixteen, struggling to pay off student loans and a never-ending array of bills, and accepting every possible shift the boss offers just so you can put food on the table. It wasn't the future you had initially imagined, but you learned long ago that life liked to screw over random people's destiny.

There was a tug on the hem of your uniform.

“Can we go home now?”

That was the sixth time tonight Noah had asked that question, and although you never liked to get angry with any of them, you couldn't help but let tonight's irritation bubble over.

“Noah, this is the last time I'm telling you: Mommy's working. Now go back to the booth and look after your sister.”

You jab a finger in the direction of a booth where Kam was seated by herself, scribbling on a placemat. She was the quietest of the three and never gave any trouble, which was a relief during times such as these. Mikey was the boisterous one but was also easily distracted – he was dancing away to the Christmas jingles of the jukebox right now, oblivious to the rest of the world. And then there was Noah...the clingy one. He was your shadow – never that far away and always seeking affection.

“But I hate it here. My shoes are sticky and it smells.”

You feel the beginning of a migraine coming on. It was Christmas Eve, which just happened to be the busiest time of the year. The kitchen was backed up with orders, children were squealing at a frequency high enough to burst eardrums, and the soused ‘gentleman’ nearby was banging on the counter demanding yet another cup of coffee; the last thing you needed was to have an argument with Noah.