Chapter 39

Riley moaned and rolled over in her bed and felt around for Nick where she had left him. Her hand felt nothing but cool sheets. Her eyes popped open curiously and scanned the room, then she bolted upright when she realized she wasn't in Nick's room. Suddenly it all came back to her and hit her like a harsh buzz...that annoying singing wasn't helping either. Wait...? Who was singing at five in the morning?

Riley realized it was her phone, and by the ring tone of Sugar We're Goin Down by Fall Out Boy, Riley knew that Emma was calling her. She sighed and reached over for the pesky phone and answered it grumpily. "Hello?" Riley grumbled and tried her best to rub the sleep from her eyes.

"Riley, I need to talk."

Riley immediately opened her tired eyes, now becoming fully awake and aware that something was wrong...Emma only greeted her like that when something was wrong...and if she was the cause of it. "What did you do?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you…"

"Fucking tell me already woman, you said you needed to talk." Riley growled grumpily, she wasn't the nicest person in the mornings...

"I had sex with Porsche last night, I'm not even sure how it all happened it just happened and I don't know how to take it back and I'm not even sure if I regret it all that much and I wasn't even drunk I can tell you that right now which might actually add to how stupid I was and..." Emma said hurriedly, basically making it all one sentence and jumbled together...but Riley her loud and clear.

"Hold on, hold on one second…" Riley got up out of the bed and locked herself in the bathroom connected to her room and plugged the crack under the door with a towel. "What the fuck were you thinkin?!" Riley screamed into the phone having processed the information, and now having a suitable place for Emma's good ole' fashion Texas tongue lashin'...

"Riley I don't even know how it happened!" Emma sobbed into her phone, "It just… happened."

"Okay, okay. Just..." Riley sighed heavily and ran a frustrated hand through her long red hair. "Have you told Greg yet?" She finally asked.

There was a long pause and the sound of a sob before Emma's answer came, "No." Emma whispered into the phone.

Riley sighed again and sat down on the lid of the toilet tiredly, resting her elbows on her knees and holding her head with her free hand. "Emma, what are you going to tell him?" She inquired; all of the sudden overcome with tiredness again.

"I don't think I was planning on telling him anything." Emma spoke honestly.

"Okay so hold on one second, you break up with Porsche because she cheats on you and essentially lies to you because she didn't tell you that she cheated on you and now you're gonna do the exact same thing to Greg and expect to get away with it? What the fuck Em?!" Riley whispered heatedly into the phone, all her inhibitions for hurting her good friend's feelings having gone out the window when she learned that she had cheated. "I mean how can you possibly think that by not telling him you're doing him a favor? You're basically setting yourself up for heartbreak except this time it's gonna be your own fucking fault!"

"I wish this would all just go away." She wept helplessly.

"Well it's not going anywhere! This is reality Em! You cheated on Greg and don't tell me that you guys weren't official because who the Hell cares! He trusts you and you trust him. There's a connection and you sleeping with my cousin doesn't exactly convey to him that you're very loyal to your new found affection." Riley hissed into the phone, speaking so fast that she could barely make words.

Emma just sobbed. "I didn't mean to Ry! I swear! I gave her a ride home, she offered me a drink, I said no. Then she starts crying about your Aunt Dee Dee and the next thing I know we're both naked on the couch! It wasn't intentional at all and I didn't anticipate it!"

"Could you have stopped yourself?" Riley asked sternly, knowing damn well that Emma could have. Riley saw right through the silence on the other end, "Listen, you need to tell Greg. God willing, he's gonna be able to see that you were willing to be honest. Don't give him shitty excuses like you're trying to give me cause that's not gonna fucking work sweetheart. You have to prove to him that you can be loyal. And lemme tell you, it's gonna be hard and it's going to suck so much you won't know what to do with yourself. But if you really care about him, you'll do it because he means that much to you. Look, I have to go, but remember what I said. You fucked this up...and you've got to put it back together." She sighed again and ran a hand through her hair again before standing up. "Call me later."

"I will."

Without sending a greeting goodbye, Riley hung up the phone and sighed aggravated. She removed the sound barrier from the door and opened it to reveal her darkened room. She sighed again and realized she wouldn't be going back to sleep. Normally if she had been waken up, all she would have to do was crawl back under the covers and close her eyes before she would be out like a light, but right now she had too much weighing on her mind.

She grabbed her fluffy navy blue polyester blanket off of her bed and dragged it over to the cushioned window seat parallel to her bed. She brought her knees to her chest and draped the comfy blanket around them and sighed as she leaned her head against the wall.

The light blue from the sky was beginning to settle in and cast a white glow throughout the room. The first hints of yellow could be seen on the tops of the trees across the river butting through her backyard. Suddenly, an idea struck Riley, and she smiled and climbed off the window seat and went to her door. She crept silently down the halls, down the stairs, and out the back door. The humid morning air hit her immediately, and she pulled the hair band from the pocket of her sweat pants and pulled her hair up in a loose bun and walked out and off the cement porch, across the grass to the fire pit, passed that to the cobblestone circles leading to the small hexagon shaped deck/dock outstretched over the tiny indent in the lend above the river.

She went to the head of the dock and leaned against the wooden rail, letting her knees bend and rest on the wooden beams connecting the rail to the floor of the deck. She looked down to the water as the wind blew softly, creating ripples among the relatively still water, and causing the green moss to swirl about and settle far to the right of the river. She saw a pelican swoop down and graze the water before picking back up into the air and flying beyond the length of the thick trees on the other side of the river.

From the branches of the trees to the deck where Riley was standing was roughly 100 feet. Six feet underneath the dock Riley was standing was a small patch of grass, sloping inwards like a cave of grass and dirt, before taking a few steps out to the a 10X10 wooden dock four feet above the top of the water. Next to the dock was man made wooden stairs curving slightly to a gate, leading to the backyard and deck. The stairs and top deck/dock was lined with tiki lamps, as was the wooden deck with the hot tub next to the cement porch at the back sliding door of the house.

Riley's parents had added on the deck and hot tub while Riley was in high school, and had then added the wooden shed full of hot tube cleaning supplies and other backyard necessities the following year. Riley smiled at the memory of helping build just about every addition in her backyard.

The sun was staring to rise slowly over the tops of the trees, reflecting upon the river. The sound of the sliding door opening and closing caught Riley's attention, and she turned to see Jayden step out onto the porch, then hesitate before letting her feet touch the dew covered grass. She dashed towards the cobblestones, and had to stretch her tiny legs to reach each cobblestone without letting her tiny feet feel the grass. Her blonde spiral curls bobbed up and down as she bounded towards her 'Aunty Bryn'. She quickly jumped onto the wooden deck and smiled at Riley, showing her first missing tooth gap, her doe eyes sparkling happily at seeing her favorite Aunt.

Riley smiled and chuckled at her niece. "Hey Sweetie, whatcha doin up so early?" She asked softly, a regular tone seeming too harsh for the gentle morning.

"I saw you f'um my window and wanted to see 'da sun come up." Jayden drawled in her falsetto voice and held her arms up to her Aunt, signaling she wanted to be held. Riley bent over to pick up the little girl, small for her age and weighing barely anything. Jayden balanced herself on Riley's hip and gripped the ragged old blanket of off white, light blue, pastel pink and green, and soft yellow plaid print. Several holes could be found in the woven fabric, as well as a few pieces of random fabrics, sewn onto a few holes. The family-tradition baby blanket had been handed down to each eldest girl in the family, except when Riley's eldest Aunt had lent Riley's mother the blanket when she was sick. Hope had grown so attached to the thing that Libby didn't have the heart to take it back. So Hope had given it to Paige, then Paige has given it to her eldest girl, Jayden.

The two females watched as the sun slowly continued to rise over the trees and peek out smiling down on the Earth. Both girls smiled, and then turned to sit on the wooden benches connected to the dock to watch the river and sky. Riley smiled when she spotted something in the river. "Jay, look..." She drawled in soft instruction and pointed to the log-like animal floating in the river.

Jayden squealed in excitement then stood up quickly on the bench and held onto the rail to watch the 'gilly-gator', as the alligators were affectionately named amongst the Turners and everyone in between the family, float across the river. Riley held onto Jayden's waist, making sure the toddler didn't topple over to the land beneath them.

The sliding door open and closed again and both girls turned to see Travis escorting Jaelyn out across the grass towards them. Travis held onto his blue monkey tiredly with one hand, gripping his baby sister's with the other. The two took a while to finally reach the dock because Jaelyn was fumbling through the grass with her chubby little legs. Travis never complained or hurried her along; he waited patiently and helped his baby sister when she needed it, finally reaching the dock.

Jaelyn grinned triumphantly, the corners of her mouth and a few teeth showing around the edges of the child's pink binky. She held her arms outstretched and whined slightly, signaling that she too wanted to be held by her Aunt. Riley chuckled and picked up the baby and placed her on her knee. Jaelyn sighed happily and leaned back against Riley's voluptuous chest as she cuddled her velvet and polyester pink blanket. Travis hopped up on the bench next to Riley and swung his legs back and forth as he watched for the alligators.

"Aunty Bryn, how come I never getta see the gilly-gators?" He asked sadly and Riley laughed and patted his knee.

"You just have bad timing kid...you get that from your mama's side of the family." Riley informed him as Travis huffed.

"Up. Up." Jaelyn demanded in her angelic baby voice.

"You're already up Lyn." Riley explained while chuckling and trying to keep the squirmy baby still.

"Uuuup." She whined and tried to stand, but was having much difficulty. Riley helped her stand up and placed the baby on her own thighs and wrapped an arm around her waist so that she could keep her from falling. The sliding door opened and closed and Riley groaned.

"Please, no more kids." She pleaded and looked over to see Nick walking towards her. "Oh, no such luck." She ribbed playfully, causing Nick to smile and hold her chin with his palm before bringing her face closer to his so he could kiss her forehead.

"Good mornin' Beautiful." Nick drawled and Riley beamed at him. His and the kid's company was enough to make her temporarily forget the problem with Emma, Porsche, and Greg. He sat on the bench across the deck from hers and Jayden eyed him skeptically, then looked at her Aunt who was smiling happily at him, then back to Nick who was grinning widely back at her. Jayden nodded and sat down on the bench to slide off and cross the deck and sit next to Nick.

Nick looked down at the little girl and gave her a lopsided grin. "Hello there Lil' Lady." He greeted and patted her head. She put her hands next to her thighs and proceeded to swing her legs back and forth and smile knowingly at him. "You really like my Aunty Bryn..." Jayden pointed out and Nick looked up to see Riley with her index fingers in Jaelyn's fists as she helped balance the baby on Riley's thighs. Riley began to rub her nose against the baby's nose and tickle her neck, making the baby squirm and giggle.

Nick smiled and nodded, and then looked back down to Jayden. "Yep...yeah I do." He agreed.

"I knew it...I could tell by the way you looked at her and kissed her on 'da forehead...uh huh. I knew it."

Nick chuckled and nodded. "Yep, you are a very smart girl." Nick complimented.

"Yeah, that's what my Mama says...and my Daddy too. He's says I'm the most smartest and prettiest and funniest girl in 'da wholest world! Well, asept for Mama, She's Daddy's mostest favorite." Jayden babbled, as Nick merely smiled and nodded, as the child didn't really care if he listened or not. Nick found his eyes floating over in Riley's direction as she held Jaelyn on her hip and balanced Travis on the other hip as she gestured with her chin to the 'gilly-gators'. Jayden continued to ramble on about random things, then asking Nick if he agreed with her, to which he would always nod and make an agreeable comment.

Riley set the two kids down and Travis bolted for the backdoor, quickly followed by Jayden. Jaelyn fumbled along, not even off the deck yet. Riley and Nick watched Jaelyn shuffle along before Nick chuckled. "She's adorable."

"Oh yeah...she's a trip." Riley punned as the baby tripped herself with her own two feet. She grunted in dismay and pushed herself back up off the ground. "She's a klutz too."

"It must run in the family." Nick joked and Riley nudged his shoulder. "Does she know how to talk?"

"Yeah...she's just shy. She doesn't talk a lot."

Nick chuckled. "Unlike Jayden..."

Riley laughed. "Yeah, it's impossible to get that one to close that adorable little mouth of hers...she's cute though."

"As a bug's ear."

"And Travis is so patient and attentive towards Jaelyn."

Riley nodded. "He's got it drilled in his hand that its his job to protect his baby sister and keep her safe." Finally finished with watching her niece stumble through the wet grass with her chubby legs, Riley went over and picked her up and placed her back on her hip. She grunted in annoyance and squirmed from her Aunt's grip, then realized Nick's presence. She seemed to be inspecting him for a minute before reaching out for him.

Nick took the baby from Riley and held her as she inspected him further. She settled comfortably in his arms and turned to her Aunt with a cheeky grin. Riley pretended to be hurt.

"Ah! I'm mortally wounded!" Riley joked and Jaelyn giggled and hugged Nick. "And now my man has been stolen by a total babe!" Riley joked and Nick laughed and shook his head. Riley threw her hand over her heart and shook her heart. "I thought you'd never leave me." Riley said dramatically and Nick shrugged.

"Nah, I said we'd be together till someone new came along..." Nick joked and Riley laughed. Jaelyn looked between the adults, not understanding why they were laughing, but deciding to giggle along with them. This made Riley smirk and tickle the little baby's stomach, while pretending she was going to gobble up the baby's gut. The baby giggled and squirmed and clung to Nick's neck as if he was going to save her.

Hope and Paige watched from the kitchen window that over looked the backyard, as they sat at the table, sipping their coffee. "I'll give it a year before they're married." Paige said and Hope scoffed and shook her head.

"I think your hormones are going crazy daughter dearest, you know Bee-Bop's feelings on the matter of marriage."

"Quote 'A loss of an identity'." Tom quoted as he walked into the room, a tired baby Lyle in his arms.

"Exactly, no way is that man going to convince our stubborn little Bryn that marriage is a good thing..." I blame myself for her misconstrued idea of the subject. Hope thought sadly, silently reminiscing on her almost failed marriage. She sighed and sipped her coffee again.

"Have they even told each other they love one another yet?" Paige asked and Hope shrugged.

"How do you know they're in love?" Tom asked and both women shot him a 'duh' look.

"It's only so obvious...do you see the way he looks at her? The entire car ride over she stared out the window and he stared at her. She's always within his eyeshot, and they always seem to know when the other one is going to look up from whatever they are doing so that they can flash each other a smile...I'll tell ya, it's almost sickening." Paige replied and Tom snorted.

"Nope, that'd be the morning sickness Sweets...and don't be so bitter, it's bad for the fetus."

Hope almost chocked on her coffee while laughing and shook her head as she saw Paige give Tom a dirty glare before turning her attention back to her sister. Hope chose not to mention that she saw Tom giving Paige the exact same looks and adoring glances without the woman knowing.

Hope smiled and put her palm under her chin and continued staring out the window at her baby girl, who, despite their best efforts, wasn't such a baby girl anymore.

Ahhh! Internets suck! My internet has been down for a week and I couldn't post my chapter! -Sigh- that makes me sad. But anyway, its back up, I'll have another chapter up soon.

Leave me a review because spacecoastbabe15 just moved REALLY far away from me and left me and Maestoso here all alone! Lol, (guilt trip for Schabu!) So leave me a review!!! (hey that rhymed...)

-Futuremisscsi60