Suddenly, Daddy smiled as he stood up, picking me up with him. I couldn't help but laugh as he spun me around in a strong hug.

"Riley." he said. He looked over to his brother and sister-in-law, smiling the biggest smile I have ever seen on anyone. I looked down at Jeff and seen tears in his eyes, which I thought was kinda funny. I kicked myself from my father's arms and ran up to my best friend, grabbing his hand and dragging him closer to my Daddy.

"Daddy, this is my best friend Jeff." I said. Dad looked down at Jeff, who looked nervous all of a sudden.

"Nice to meet you Jeff." Daddy said, holding out his hand. Jeff put his own hand up, but then put it back down, and put it back up again before taking my father's much larger hand.

"Nice to m-meet you sir." Jeff said.

"Call me Mark." Daddy replied with a smile and a wink. Jeff relaxed slightly. Daddy winked at me then turned to go talk to my uncle.

"You looked more nervous than me." I said to Jeff with a giggle.

"I think I was." he admitted. I laughed and touched his arm with my hand.

"You're it!" I shouted, running away from him. He stared at me before smiling and chasing me.

"You can never get away from me." he said as he ran. I laughed and ran harder. Sure enough a couple minutes later I felt his hand on my back, tagging me back.

"Riley, Jeff, come on let's go inside." Aunt Marylyn called.

"You know you're still it." Jeff said, running toward the house. I laughed and chased him, catching up to him and tagging him back.

"No tag backs!" I said.

"That's no fair!" Jeff whined as a laugh came from in front of us. We looked up to see my father watching us, a sparkle in his eyes.

"So, spring break?" he asked, referring to school. Jeff and I both shook our heads yes.

"Daddy, Uncle Paul said you were a wrestler. What's that?" I asked him, anxious to hear what that was. Jeff seemed interested as well, though he tried to make it seem like he wasn't.

"A wrestler?" he asked, looking up at his brother. "Well, that is a person who fights other people." he said. He laughed at the look that must have been on mine and Jeff's faces. "I'll have to show you two for you to really understand it." he said.

"No thanks. Sounds dangerous." Jeff said.

"Since when did that stop you?" I asked. He stuck his tongue out at me before jumping up and running toward the back hallway. Toward my bedroom.

"Jeff!" I shouted, running to catch up with him.

"No running in the house!" Aunt Marylyn called. Jeff and I both slowed down. He got to my bedroom door first, but I was able to slip past him and get into the room before he could. He slammed the door shut and turned the light on.

"No slamming the door either!" Uncle Paul's voice called. Jeff and I both laughed as I sat down on my bed. Jeff sat on the chair by my desk.

"So what do you think of my daddy?" I asked Jeff, watching him grab a marker from my crayon box and start to draw on a sheet of paper.

"Looks like you." he said. "Seems nice too."

"Yeah." I said, looking out my window into the woods behind the house.

"Riley, I heard my dad and your uncle talking about him a couple days ago. Your uncle said your dad lived in Texas." Jeff said suddenly, putting the marker down on the desk.

"Texas?" I asked, trying to remember the map mine and Jeff's teacher showed us. Texas was the biggest one connected to the other states. That was far away from here.

"I was just thinking, what if you dad wanted you to move in with him?" Jeff said. I didn't think about that.

"I don't know." I said. "If I move with him, then I lose you, Matt and Mr. Hardy. If I do move though, I'll finally have my daddy."

"I know." Jeff said. "That's why I wanted to talk about it. I don't want to lose my best friend, but I want you to be happy."

"I know." I said, looking down at the floor. "This sucks."

"You can say that again." Jeff said, standing up from the chair to sit on the bed beside me. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders in a little hug. "Here, I just drew this so you won't forget about me if you do have to move." he said, handing me the paper. It was a huge purple and pink heart. On the side of the heart it said "Jeff and Riley together forever." Tears filled my eyes as I took the paper and hugged him fiercely. I stared at the heart for a long time, thinking about what would happen if I did lose my best friend. What would happen to me. What would happen to him. So many questions, and only time could give me answers.

The next day I didn't want to see my father. No matter how much I wanted to see him before, I really didn't want to now because I was scared that he would ask me to move with him. Jeff left right after we talked about it, leaving me to think about everything. I really didn't want to leave here, but I wanted to be with my father just as much.

I was sitting in my room, thinking things over more when someone knocked on my door. Before I could respond Aunt Marylyn walked in.

"Riley, honey way are you in here. Your dad's out here wondering about you." she said, sitting next to me on the bed.

"I'm sorry Aunt Mary." was all I could say. She stood up to walk back out to the living room or kitchen when I suddenly looked up.

"Aunt Mary, can I ask you something?" I said when she reached my door. She turned and sat back down.

"Of coarse you can sweetie. What's wrong?" She asked gently, her arm going around my shoulders.

"Jeff told me he heard his dad and Uncle Paul talking about Daddy. He said that they said he lived in Texas."

"Yes he does." Aunt Marylyn said. "That's where your Uncle is from too."

"Will Daddy have me move in with him?" I asked her. She looked shocked by my question, but smiled.

"No Riley. Your Dad, your Uncle and I all talked about it before and we decided it would be best if you stayed here. You have your friends here and your father's on the road a lot with his job, so he won't be able to be with you as much as he needs to be. So no, you're staying here as long as you want."

"What about daddy?" I asked. "Will I still see him?"

"I'll be around." a voice said from my door. I looked up and seen it was Daddy. "I'll be around so much you'll get tired of seeing me. I have 9 years to make up for, so I better get started on that hadn't I?"

"I know it's not you're fault." I said. "Mommy didn't tell you about me."

"She couldn't tell me about you." Daddy said. "She didn't know how to get a hold of me to tell me about you." Daddy sat down on my other side. "You're aunt's right though. I will be on the move a lot, so it really is better that you stay here. You tell Jeff he has nothing to worry about."

"Can I go see him?" I asked Aunt Marylyn.

"While Mark is here that's for him to decide." she replied. I looked up at my Dad, who nodded. I jumped up and kissed him on the cheek then ran from the room. I ran all the way down to Jeff's house. Running up the front steps, I seen the door open and Mr. Hardy was walking out of the house.

"Hello Mr. Hardy." I said. He looked down and smiled when he saw it was me.

"Well, good morning Ms. Mitchell." he said, bowing slightly. I laughed and gave him a hug.

"Where's Jeff?" I asked him.

"Somewhere around here." Mr. Hardy answered. I nodded and knew exactly where Jeff was. Our favorite tree. I thanked him and turned and ran straight for the tree. There he was close to the very top. I started climbing up, my foot slipping once from my shoe being a little wet from the ground

. I was about a foot away from him when he noticed me.

"Hey Jeff!" I called. "I got some good news!"

"You moving in with your dad?" he asked, so sadly I couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Nope." I answered. "I just asked Aunt Marylyn and she said her, Daddy, and Uncle Paul talked about it. She said they thought it would be better for me to stay here."

"Really?" he asked, looking hopeful. When I nodded he climbed down to where I was standing on a branch.

"So you're staying?" He asked again. I nodded, smiling at the happy look on his face.

"YAY!" he yelled. "I keep my friend!" I laughed as the tree branch began shaking. Suddenly I heard a crack.

"Jeff, stop bouncing. I think the branch is going to break." I said, scared. Jeff stopped jumping at once. He looked at the branch at the same time I did and sure enough, there was a tiny crack in the bark from Jeff jumping on it.

"Let's get down." Jeff said. I nodded and started climbing down. The minute we were on the ground, Jeff gave me an extra hard hug.

"Daddy said he's going to be around here a lot." I said. "He said he had 9 years to make up for."

"Well, what's he going to do?" Jeff asked, sitting down on the ground with his back against the tree.

"I don't know." I said, sitting next to him. "He just said he needed to make up for the time. Maybe he'll let you come along as well!" I said excitedly.

"I don't know. That's your time with your father Riley, I'll just be getting in the way." Jeff said, pulling a piece of grass from the ground.

"No you won't. He knows you're my best friend." I tired saying.

"I'll be in the way Ri, you have fun with your Dad. Get to know him better."

"I wish you would go to, even if it's just a few times." I said, pulling my knees up to my chest and hugging them.

"I will." Jeff said. "I promise, every once in a while. But most of it has to be just you and him."

"Ok." I said.