R5's Little Sister

Chapter 30

Riley's POV
It's been about two weeks since Liam was arrested, and boy has it been crazy. Everyone was too anxious to stay alone, so we pulled out the air mattresses and camped out in the living room. It made things easier, but by no means easy. The girls were struggling with the loss of their parents and everyone else was trying to figure out how to parent. There were tears and arguments, but we started to fall into a rhythm.

Riker figured out the best way to calm Abby was the water, so they spent a lot of time out on the beach. Rocky discovered that Sara needed physical affection to ground her, so more often than not they were cuddled up watching a movie or reading together. Rydel and Ellington realized that Ally needed to be distracted so they kept coming up with more and more activities for her to do. Ryland and Grace had it relatively easy, Lily hadn't been with the Jacksons for long so she wasn't extremely attached. Shawn and I fell into newborn parenthood pretty naturally, it was difficult, but Maya was an easy baby- always had been. Roxane was a godsend, seeing as she had no kids of her own she helped out where she could.

Ross though, he had it the worst- by far. Bree had always been a clingy child, so losing her parents was very difficult for her. She spent a lot of the time crying or just generally fussy. It was hard on everyone, but Ross in particular. He immediately fell in love with that little girl. Every time she cried, it seemed to hurt him to. It was obvious he wanted to make it better for her, but didn't know how. He would spend hours doing different things to try to calm her, but a lot of the time she would just end up crying herself out.

A few days after the accident we took the kids to a therapist. They were a bit hesitant at first, but they agreed to it once Grace told them that she went to see one when she was younger. Even though they had only had two appointments, it was obvious it was helping.

A couple days ago the others had ended up telling our parents everything. They needed their support, especially now. Mom and dad were surprised to find their kids had taken in the girls, but were supportive. They always wanted to be grandparents. They decided to get the first flight they could out here. They were going to be arriving tomorrow.

Honestly I'm not sure how I feel about it. I haven't spoken to the two of them since before I left LA, but like it or not here they come.

The girls were excited, but trying not to show it- probably for my sake. Abby and Sara knew that I hadn't spoken to them since I left. The younger ones though were the most excited I had seen them in a while. They had never had grandparents before and I know they desperately wanted them.

Currently we were getting everyone ready for bed. (We had managed to move everyone out of the living room a few days ago.) Shawn was giving Maya her bottle, Lily was already in bed asleep, Ross and Rydel were giving Ally and Bree baths, and the rest of us were reading with Sara and Abby. Reading together was a tradition Nick and Ella had done with them, and we all decided to keep it going.

Eventually all of the younger ones were up to bed and it was just Abby and Sara left awake. They were just about to head upstairs when I stopped them.

"Yeah?" Abby asked.

"Can you two come here for a sec? I want to talk to both of you." I nodded to my siblings and they cleared out, leaving just the three of us.

"What is it Riley?" Sara asked.

"I wanted to know how you really feel about our parents coming in tomorrow. The others are excited, but you two seem to be hesitating. Want to tell me what's up?"

"Oh. Umm..." Sara mumbled looking down at her feet. "It's just- I don't"

Abby sighed. "What she's trying to say is we're worried. We know that you and them don't talk and well you had to run away for a reason. We know you. We don't want to hurt you I guess. You're ohana. Are we gonna be betraying you if we're excited to meet them?"