Oh, this really packs a punch! Single mother, still so attractive, young-looking, and deliberately happy, she gets men half her age making advances; then comes the first punch, * we talk about everything save my father; I was a child born of rape. Mama didn't tell me that.* Then the double whammy: Mama was happy with our life. We're not rich. We're not poor either. Mama got cancer. She hid it from me. Then, it wasn't the first secret i had found out, but this was taking Mama away from me. Mama was happy. Mama liked 'happy'. It had to stay that way until she was ready. You don't say if she survived the cancer, but one word choice, the consistent "was," conveys the loss. Maybe this is only a fiction, but it has the ring of authenticity. A powerful freewrite - short but packed full of meaning. Well done. (I love your mother, even if this is "only fiction".)