Mid-December
Riley and Austin met when they were in kindergarten. They bonded over their lack of parents. The year before, Riley's mother gave up her parental rights and she moved in with Grams. Two years before, Austin's mother died and his father became distant.
At six, the kids didn't want to make one another a present. Only, Grams didn't want to waste her money and Austin's family couldn't afford their own presents, let alone friends. So the kids decided to steal one another Christmas presents. It became somewhat of a tradition, one they had honored ever since.
Peyton checks her watch. "Okay, you two; I'm going to take Sawyer to get some tops. You guys meet us at the food court by three" she informed the duo who smirk.
Sawyer pouts, how come she can't be with the big kids? "I wanna stay with them, Momma" the six year old whined stamping her foot for effect.
"Sorry, Bean, you need some more clothes" Peyton gently ruffles her daughter's blonde curls. "We'll meet Riley and Austin at the food court in two hours. Do you have enough money, Aust?" the mother asked.
"I think so" Austin checks the leather wallet, Andy bought him. Lucas objected, at first, but Andy insisted on buying him something.
Peyton smiles nervously, she knows she's being protective, but leaving these two alone doesn't sit well with her. "Don't worry, Aunt Peyton, we'll be okay" Riley assured her aunt who smiles down at her.
"If someone other than someone who works in the stores tries to talk to you; shout for the mall cops" Peyton advised seriously, as a teen she was kidnapped by psycho Derek and he looked harmless.
Austin snorted, "cause they're so helpful."
"Hey now, mall cops are just as important as regular cops" Peyton chided pressing her lips together tightly to keep from smiling.
"Okay" Austin rolls his eyes; he can tell his foster mom is getting ready to give him a lecture.
"Be safe, I love you" Peyton ruffles his hair and takes Sawyer's hand in hers; she leads the sulking child away. For some reason, Austin doesn't tell her he loves her back. He doesn't know why, but he just doesn't.
Riley raises an eyebrow at her best friend. "You didn't say it back" she said giving him her famous look, one he's been seeing a lot more now.
"You don't say it to, Brooke or Julian" Austin countered knowingly, Riley's eyes narrow, she hates it when he does that.
"You know for that, I might get you a crap present" Riley retorted as Austin shrugs his shoulders and smirks with absolute delight; it's time's like these he's glad he has Riley for a friend.
"Momma's gonna take you home soon" the woman whispered fondly, watching Riley right now makes her wonder when she should bring her baby girl home. Obviously, her daughter needs to be with her. The poor little darling must miss her terribly.
Her close friend squints watching Ms. Grace talk to herself. "Are you sure this is what you want? Once you decide to do this, there's no turning back" she asked worriedly, the more she thinks about it, the more this plan stinks.
"Yes" she sounds so sure of herself, like she's had this planned for years before-hand.
"If you say so, Ms. Grace."
"Please, call me Mary; we've been friends long enough" Mary said smirking. "You're reuniting a family, you should be pleased with yourself."
"I'm not" she answered softly.
"Natalie, I'm Riley's actual mother; it's right for her to be with me" Mary groaned, rubbing her chin at an outfit. "What do you think of this? Woul Riley wear this?" Natalie shrugs, obviously not, it's too frilly for her taste.
"What about the Bakers?" Natalie asked; she thought once she placed Riley with the Bakers, Mary would learn to back off and let her daughter be happy.
Mary answered frowning, "There are plently of children at The Home, I'm sure they can find another child."
Natalie nods sadly, she doesn't want to do this. It doesn't feel right. "I don't think I can do this, Mary. It just...it doesn't sit well with me" the social worker shakes her head, clearly uncomfortable with this.
Mary plasters on a fake smile and turns to the woman, before her. "Well, it's not like you have much of a choice, unless you want those dark secrets of yours to come out; like what really happened to Henry Teague and my mother" Mary answered turning and taking another picture of Riley.
"That was your idea, not mine" Natalie shakes her head, she doesn't want to do this anymore. She'd rather rot in jail than plan Riley's kidnapping.
"Hmm, but you were the one who killed them, weren't you?" Mary countered smiling as she searches for more clothes.
Natalie blinks wishing she hadn't killed Ryan or Jackie; Ryan did care for his son. He made a point to visit almost every month, the last time Austin saw his father, he was drunk during a visit. Natalie cringes, knowing that's how Austin sees his father now; the drunken man who hasn't bothered to care.
Brooke has been extremely busy with preparing for Christmas which is just two weeks away. Julian had to go to New York for a few days to talk to actors' lawyers about the up-coming season of One Tree Hill.
The boys have been fussy without Daddy and Rye isn't used to not having Julian around. The nine year old has been acting out more at school so much so that Brooke's had to come in to talk with her teacher. That's why when Peyton offered to take the kids to the mall, she handed Riley fifty bucks and sent the child on her merry way.
Mille smiles softly as Brooke attempts to soothe Davis, who's in the middle of having quite the tantrum. "Dave, sweetie, let's be a big boy and go upstairs. It's time for you to have a rest" Brooke encouraged, to make matters worse the babysitter's sister called last night saying Lucy had appendicitis.
"Momma, Momma" Jude shouted stamping his foot.
"What's the matter, baby?" the mother asked, she defidently did not get enough sleep last night.
Jude produces a blue book he wants her to read. "Story, Momma. Story" he said seeing his Momma attempt to take Dave upstairs.
Davis manages to get loose and run away from Brooke. Millie catches the little boy and lifts him into her arms. "You're so silly" Millie laughed tickling her 'nephew' who laughs with delight.
Brooke takes Davis from Millie who smiles somberly. Feeling left out and disappointed, Jude tosses his book downstairs and stomps his foot in defiance. "Jude Thomas Baker" Brooke chided causing the little boy's lower lip to wobble.
"Story, Momma. I want story" Jude explained shakily. Davis looks over at his brother guiltily; he hadn't meant to steal all the attention.
Brooke runs a hand through her hair, she doesn't know if she can do this anymore. "Brooke, I can watch the boys for awhile" Millie offered causing the tired mom to chew on her lower lip. "Don't worry; I won't get them addicted to laxatives while you're gone."
"Are you sure, Mill?" Brooke asked reaching for her coat.
Millie nods as she takes Davis out of Brooke's arms. "Positive, this will be great practice. I'll call Marvin right now" Millie said taking out her cell and texting Mouth.
Jude frowns; he isn't quite sure what's going on. Where's Momma going? Can he go with her? Brooke sees her son's confusion and goes over to him. "Jude, baby, Momma's going out; Aunt Millie will read you and Davis your story, okay?" Jude looks like he's going to bawl his eyes out. "Momma will be home when you wake up" she promised giving her son a kiss goodbye.
Brooke goes back downstairs and does the same with Davis who takes it surprisingly well. This could be due to the fact that Dave's exhausted from acting out all morning and needs a rest.
As she shuts the door, Brooke hears she presumes Jude shout, "Story Aunt Mills!" The mother smiles to herself as she gets in her car and decides to spend the day with Hales.
Austin turns to his best friend. "You ready, Rye?" he doesn't know if he wants to steal yet another item. He's already stolen about fifty bucks from his parents who don't suspect a thing.
"Uh-huh" Riley nods excitedly, after Thanksgiving; Peyton, Lucas, Sawyer, and Austin decided to rent Karen's old house.
Karen, Andy, and Lily are still planning to leave. Only, they don't quite know when. Lily doesn't want to leave without her cousins. She likes having child companions her age. So, Karen and Andy haven't left due to their hilarious fear of Lily's reaction.
"Meet you at that store" Austin promised as he ventures into the Deluxe Mall at Tree Hill. He knows exactly what he wants to steal for Riley; he saw it yesterday when he was buying clothes with Lucas.
Austin looks around for any stalkers, before he stuffs the journal into his backpack. Rye might like writing down her thoughts or memories. Like ones of her Grams, so she doesn't forget them. Austin doesn't remember his mother very well. He wishes someone gave him a present to help him remember.
He closes his eyes as he thinks about his family. Coop used to tell him stories of how life was before Mum died. He used to say it was normal, well normal enough. They even lived in a house. Imagine that. After Mum died, Coop got sad whenever he looked at Austin. Pops did too.
Riley hasn't been sure on what she wants to get Austin. Usually, she gets him a present he could use to prank someone. Lately, she's been thinking about actually getting him something useful. He's been talking about his family more. A scrapbook would be perfect; Riley looks around for one that will fit in her backpack.
She finds a dark blue one with maybe fifty pages. The engraving on the cover says Life Is One Big Adventure; Live It. Riley reads that phrase again and smiles. This is perfect.
The nine year old discreetly unzips her backpack and starts to put the scrapbook in, but a meaty man takes her arm in his. "Woah, there missy; what do you think you're doing" a mall cop demanded taking her backpack out of her grasp.
"Hey that's mine! You can't just take my crap like that" Riley shouted kneeing him in the balls.
Outside the store, Austin groans; he and Riley have only ever gotten caught once and the guy only let him off the hook cause he knew about his home life. He glances up at the ceiling; Honestly, Rye, do you ever think?
Jamie reluctantly helps his mother with the customers. This isn't fair, he's a little fresh and it lands him working on a Saturday. "Can I play with Andre, now?" Jamie asked as he finishes drying the dirty dishes.
Haley raises an eyebrow. "Finish with your stack of dishes and then you can" the mother ordered, Jamie groans, but knows better than to object.
Brooke enters the café and quickly gives her godson a kiss on the head. "What are you doing here on a Saturday, Jimmy-Jam?" Brooke asked ruffling his dark blonde hair.
"Momma's making me work. I think it's a form of child abuse" Jamie pouted wanting to have someone on his side.
"Child abuse? Sweetie, this is not child abuse. Maybe it goes against child labor laws, but it could be worse" Haley countered winking playfully at Brooke.
"How?" Jamie asked over-dramatically. Brooke presses her lips together to keep from smile; yeah he's defidently Nathan's kid, dram and all.
"You get lunch" Haley kisses the top of his head. Jamie rolls his eyes at his 'hilarious' mother, but lets her.
Jamie continues scrubbing, knowing this will only bring him closer to his goal of playing with his friends for the rest of the day instead of working without pay. "So, what brings you here?" Haley asked her best friend.
"Millie offered to watch the boys with Mouth for practice" Brooke smiles at the last two words.
Haley can't keep the grin from forming on her face. "That should be interesting. When's Julian coming back?" she asked worriedly, Christmas is nearing and this is Riley's first one with since her grandmother passed away.
"He hopes tonight, if not then defidently tomorrow; stupid lawyers, why can't they talk about a new season later?" Brooke complained, she really misses cuddling with her husband.
"Whenever Nathan goes away for business, I take Jamie and Lydia to fun places like amusement parks" Haley offered wincing at the memory as to when her husband got kidnapped. "If you want, you all can come to our house."
"Thanks Hales" Brooke smiles at her caring friend and blinks at the vibration of her cell; its Peyton. "Hey, P. Sawyer, already sick of watching the kids, I can…she did what? I'll be there soon" Brooke shoves her phone into her purse.
"What'd Riley do, now?" Haley asked, she can tell by Brooke's pissed of tone that she's mad as hell.
Brooke snapped, "She stole a scrapbook and assaulted a mall cop!"
Jamie glances over at his mother and aunt with interest appearing in his eyes. Riley has to have the most guts he's ever seen and she could be the stupidest as well. He tries very hard not to laugh at the last bit. Only, Riley would assault a mall cop; she's crazy, but beautiful.
"Good luck" Haley called watching her friend depart from the café, laughing softly to herself. She looks over at her diligently working son who almost always behaves. "Jamie, you've done enough work for today. Go out and play with your friends."
"Thanks, Momma. I'm sorry I mouthed off" Jamie called over his shoulder as he tosses her his rag and dashes out the door.
Brooke enters the mall looking seriously pissed. Peyton remembers that look; as a teen it was mostly directed at Rachel Gatina. Peyton looks down at Riley who groans as her mother approaches; poor girl, doesn't even know how much trouble she's in.
"Ma'am, is this your daughter?" the cop, Mason Phillips asked, but he can tell from Riley's vexed demeanor that this is defidently her mom.
"Yeah" Riley smiles slightly at that; she might be in trouble, but being called Brooke's kid feels cool. "She stole a scrapbook, why?" Brooke asked a look of mild confusion flashing through her eyes.
Mason shrugged. "Ask your daughter, ma'am" her guess is as good as his, when he asked Riley; she gave him a snarky answer.
"Why'd you take it, Riley?" Brooke sits down beside her daughter and makes sure they have eye contact with one another.
"I was only checking to see if mall cops take their job seriously, turns out they take it too seriously" whenever Riley feels uncomfortable or nervous, she has to say a crude remark.
The cop frowns at the nine year olds sarcasm. "Ma'am, this is a very serious offence; stealing and assaulting a cop is illegal" he addressed Brooke who glowers down at her daughter.
"Riley knows that and she's very sorry" Brooke nudges her daughter somewhat warningly.
"Real sorry" Riley added sarcastically, Austin snorts earning a waning look from his mother.
Peyton suddenly realizes something. "Hey bud, how did Riley happen to steal without you being there?" she asked folding her arms over her chest with anger flashing in her eyes.
Austin gulps, nervously. "We sort of split up" he answered knowing the truth will come out sooner or later.
"You split up? Do you realize how dangerous and stupid that was; I left you two alone, so you'd be actually be together without me having to worry as much" Peyton snapped while Austin shrugs, he's never heard his mom sound like this.
"What's the big deal? Nothing happened" Austin said as Sawyer's mouth drops, her brother should shut up. He's already in huge trouble.
"But, something could have happened Austin Keith. Come on, we're going home" she practically drags her children out of there as Riley shoots Austin an apologetic smile.
Brooke runs a hand through her hair. This has been a long day and it's only two thirty. "What happens now?" she asked rubbing her eyes, tiredly.
"Ma'am, you're going to need to pay for the scrapbook" Mason informed her, he can tell she's tired and most likely annoyed. He squints trying to remember if he's seen her before, maybe she has another kid, but she looks a little young to have a kid older than this one here.
Brooke nods looking and feeling exhausted. "Here" she pinches the bridge of her nose and hands him the money. "Is my daughter free to go?" Brooke asked taking Riley's hand in hers.
"Yes, as long as she apologizes for assaulting me and promises not to steal again."
"Riley" Brooke said forcing herself to smile at the serious mall cop.
"I promise I won't steal again. The assault wasn't my fault, you took my stuff; it was self-defense" Riley giggled rolling her eyes, earning a warning look from her mother.
"Watch yourself, Riley. I mean it" this quiets Riley enough to wince and think about her impending punishment; why did she have to mouth off? "My daughter would like to apologize too, wouldn't you Riley?" Brooke gives Riley a look daring her to disagree.
"No way, he took my bag and looked through it. What if I didn't steal anything? He'd be looking through my bag for nothing" Riley asked huffing angrily.
The cop shakes his head at the youngster; kids these days have no concept of respect. "Riley, I'm this close losing my temper and I don't think you want to see what that looks like. Apologize, right now, young lady" Brooke warned clearly at her breaking point.
Riley chews on her lower lip knowing she doesn't want to find out what Brooke looks like when she's lost her temper. Brooke's already scary enough as it is, okay, maybe she should just shut up. "I'm sorry" she forces herself to sound like she means it.
"Can we go?" the cop nods. "Come on Riley Grace, we're going to have a little talk at home" the mother ordered as Riley's groans realizing just how much trouble she's in.
The child follows her mother to their car. "How mad are you?" Riley asked curiously, Brooke doesn't look mad; in fact she looks kind of like she wants a nap.
"Pissed, but you can't tell cause I'm so tired" Brooke leads her daughter over to their car.
Riley gets into the passenger side and buckles her seat belt. "Brooke, I'm sorry" she apologized hoping she won't get in any trouble.
"You're only sorry you got caught. You're in trouble, this time. We'll talk about it more at home" Brooke sighed as she squeezes the steering wheel.
Jamie wishes he could tell Andre what was going on. But, Andre would either tell his Momma or join in and there's already too many people in on this escapade. It sucks cause Andre's his best friend and if he doesn't tell him, it's like he doesn't trust him enough.
Andre frowns at his best friend. "You okay, Dude?" he asked tossing Jamie the basketball.
"Yeah, fine" Jamie murmured, his thoughts are elsewhere; with Riley mostly, she's just, she's so crazy and it drives him crazy thinking about her.
"You don't look fine" Andre observed giving his friend a smile. "Are you and Madison fighting?" now he gets it, Jamie told him about the kiss with Riley.
"Yeah" Jamie sighed knowingly. "She thinks I like Riley."
Andre shakes his head. "But, you do" he stated as Lily saunters onto the court wearing her famous smirk. It's a good thing too cause Jamie doesn't know if he could answer that without lying.
Jamie raises his eyebrows at Lily, he thought she was grounded. Wait, Momma said she was grounded this morning for stealing or something. "What are you doing here, Lily?" the dark blonde asked as Lily smiles cheekily at him.
"I wanted to play" Lily was actually disappointed when Andy saw her taking money out of Momma's purse.
"Aren't you grounded?" the dark blonde asked wondering for a moment if he heard his Momma right.
"Yeah, what's your point?" Lily nods taking the ball from Andre and dribbling down the court. Andre quickly follows, intrigued by her gall; he wonders when the Tree Hill girls become so ballsy?
"That's so cool. My Momma would catch me" Andre gushed he likes Lily, she's bubbly and fun to be around, so is Riley, but Lily's different; she has more confidence. Andre likes that.
Really, though, Lily doesn't feel ballsy. In fact, she's not. She only left cause her parents kept talking about how Tree Hill isn't their home. Well, Mom was saying this more or less. Dad didn't say much, he's worried about her, Lily hadn't meant to get caught. All she wanted was to have a little fun, anyway, she'll probably get caught. Dad's always tons easier on her than Momma. All the women in her family are, like Peyton and Haley. Austin and Jamie seem deathly afraid of their mothers and Lily is too. Only, this is the first time she's ever done something bad without assistance.
Jamie smiles, "she didn't when we were four" the boy reminded his best friend; the two share a smile at the distant memory.
"But, she did later" Andre laughed; these days, he can feel himself starting to forget Q. He was only four when his brother died, but it hurts to forget his hero.
"Yeah" Jamie mumbled and opens his hands for Lily to toss him the ball; she does and the game begins.
Riley starts to retreat upstairs, but Brooke shakes her head. "We're not through talking. Couch" Riley doesn't move a muscle, Brooke sounds too scary. "Now, Riley Grace" her mother warned.
For a moment, Riley doesn't want to pass Brooke; she's nervous about getting a smack. Then she remembers, she is nine years old, it's not like she's some little kid. All the same, Riley dashes past her mother and takes a seat on the couch. This sucks, Julian's the easy one and he won't be home till later.
"Hi Millie" Riley mumbled as she passes Millie who glances at Marvin looking unsure as to what just happened.
"Hi Riley, it's nice to see you again" Millie smiles softly at the little trouble-maker who looks like she's doing her best to avoid eye contact. "Brooke, the boys are still asleep." Millie's hoping this will cause Brooke to avoid yelling.
"We should go, this is a mother-daughter moment and we'd have to intrude on that" Mouth added causing Millie to roll her eyes at him.
Riley suddenly realizes, maybe if she has witnesses then Brooke won't kill her. "Wait, don't you wanna stay and see how I am?" the nine year old pleaded causing Mouth to grin slightly.
"Sorry, kid, but your mom scares me when she's this mad" Mouth joked earning a glare from Brooke, he looks down.
Millie chuckles at her boyfriend. "We have to go check on that thing we're supposed to check on" Millie informed Brooke who tries very hard not to roll her eyes.
Brooke waits until they shut the door behind them to turn to her daughter with a glare. "Why?" she demanded sternly, hands firmly placed on her hips.
"Its tradition" Riley answered meekly.
Brooke frowns, she hadn't expected that answer. She thought, Riley would try and make up some excuse about it being all for fun or something silly like that. "What?" Brooke asked closing her eyes.
"Every year, Aust and I steal each other presents" Riley explained her tone soft with nervousness.
"Why?" Brooke rubs her brow; confused.
"Cause we never had money to get each other presents and this way is funner."
"You know, Peyton and I used to steal each other presents too; birthday presents" the mother explained causing Riley to smile. "It was at a store where, Peyton's dad knew the owner. We did it every year until we were maybe sixteen."
"Why?" the curly headed child asked, but she has a feeling she already knows the answer.
"Cause we liked getting away with stuff and it was fun" she explained wistfully; Brooke might complain about her childhood, but when she remembers those moments, it was alright. "Okay, fine. I get why you did it, I just don't like that you did."
Riley can't help, but grin. "So I'm off the hook?" she asked with a hopeful look flashing through her big blue eyes.
"Yep, but this is your last get out of jail free card, sweetie. If this ever happens again; you'll be in big, no not big. Huge trouble" Brooke warned; not quite sure what 'huge trouble' is, but it sounds like a decent enough threat.
"M'kay" Riley nods, seriously.
"Good, go do your homework" Brooke smiles and gently ruffles her daughter's brown hair.
The nine year old starts to skip away, but stops suddenly and turns to smile cheekily at her foster mother. "Brooke, next time, I promise I won't get caught" she replied cheekily.
Brooke raises an amused eyebrow and said, "You know, most kids in your position wouldn't say that. They'd be kissing up to me like it's nobody business."
"I'm not most kids" Riley said grinning, showing off her adorable dimples.
"Yeah, I know" Brooke teased ruffling her dark mop. "Julian's gonna be home tonight and next week, we'll have Christmas."
Riley suddenly wishes she could use the money she stole to buy everyone a present. "Brooke" she said feeling apprehensive.
"Huh" Brooke checks her cell, trying to decide when she should wake up the boys.
"I don't have enough money to get you all presents" Riley used to steal Grams presents' and Grams never asked where she got them. It was actually kind of perfect.
"That's okay, you can make us something" Brooke reasoned shrugging with a smile, she's always wanted a home-made present. Haley and Peyton get them and Brooke's kind of envious of that.
Riley nods and starts upstairs to start her homework. She checks her pocket for the money Brooke gave her to shop. Only, Brooke didn't ask for it back and Riley's not about to hand it over. Since, Lily got caught stealing, they've all been trying to steal a little more for her.
Austin doesn't want to see Cooper. It's not like Coop's showed a remote interest in him since he left. Why the hell would he want to see him now? After all these years, why does he care now?
Lucas knocks on his door. "So the rumors are true?" the foster parents asked with a smirk.
"Riley only took it for me" Austin whispered his tone weak and full of remorse; Lucas thinks its cause they separated, but it's not cause of that. It's not it at all.
"Peyton wasn't mad that it was for you. She mad that you guys separated cause you two were safer in pairs" Lucas remembers being nine and thinking he could fend for himself. Keith was there for him, he helped him become the man he is today.
Austin glances at his foster father and feels sorry. He shouldn't be stealing off Lucas or Peyton. They've been so nice to him and he's taking their money. They should just forget about him and send him back where he came from.
"You should send me back" Austin realized that'd be the best thing for everyone, if he just left. Rye, Jamie, and Lil wouldn't get caught up in his stupid plans and they'd be okay.
"What?" Lucas sounds stunned, where is this coming from? Wasn't it just yesterday that Austin wanted to paint his room brown?
"I get in a lot of trouble" the boy reasoned sadly. He wants to add that Coop might take him away.
"So? Austin, you're part of the family now. Once you're in, there's really no way out" Lucas nudges him and gently ruffles his long hair, Peyton's right; he does need a hair cut. "Come on, let's get some ice-cream" he encouraged leading his son out of the room.
Lily didn't get caught sneaking back in; by the time she got home, her parents were still talking. They hadn't even noticed she left. Mom and Dad want to leave, they want to go to Europe. "What's wrong with staying here?" Lily wondered folding her arms over her chest, defiantly.
"You're getting in trouble" Karen answered giving her daughter a look.
"Mom, I've always got in trouble. Tree Hill's no different than any other place" Lily answered disrespectfully, her eyes narrow at her mother; she doesn't think where she lives matters.
Andy sits down beside his daughter on the bed. "Don't talk to your Mum like that, love" he ordered, his tone full of warmth and kindness.
"Dad, this isn't fair. I like it here" Lily said, hoping her father will agree. He used to say he loved Tree Hill too, only that was when they didn't actually live here.
"Sorry, love, but your Mum and I make the decisions and we decide when we go" Andy smiles patiently at his little girl, she looks so much like Karen.
"Can't I stay here with Peyton and Lucas?" the nine year old asked hopefully. Besides being annoying and bossy, Luke and Peyton are great.
Karen glances at her daughter, stunned and annoyed. "Lily, we're a family" she stated frowning sadly at Lily, she thought Lily wouldn't mind leaving.
"But, our family is here" Lily complained softly.
"We're done discussing this, start packing Lily Roe. At the end of March we're leaving" Karen stated firmly as she leaves the room wishing things could be different.
"This sucks."
Andy tuckes Lily's hair behind her ear. "I know you're going to miss your friends, but you'll make new mates. We'll have a good time, just the three of us" he promised kissing the top of his daughter's head and ducking out of the room.
The nine year old suddenly wishes she had a brother or sister. At least, when Austin, Riley, or Jamie gets in trouble; they still have someone to relate to. Then again, Riley and Jamie have babies, but at least they're someone. Riley and Austin are closer too, this sucks, she's like all alone.
Sometimes, Lily feels like she doesn't have anyone. It's just her against the world and it really sucks feeling that. The only reason, Lily wants to go with Austin on this adventure is to get closer to them; Riley and Austin. Those two have a secret language; Lily's attempting to learn it, but it seems useless. She doesn't belong anywhere.