Jiley Oneshots

Tying the knot

"I should not be doing this," Riley said to her boyfriend as they boarded the four-seater pedal boat which had been tied to the barrier as it floated above the river. The male chuckled and kissed her cheek, rubbing her back.

"You'll be fine, babe," he told her. He was perfectly aware she was pregnant still and that she may feel a little bit more sea-sick than usual, but he knew she'd be able to cope. Especially with their four-year-old daughter, Violet, there to accompany her.

"Come on, Mommy! You're walking so slowly!" she exclaims, watching her mother climb into the boat. The older female rolls her eyes but smiles as her partner helps her into her seat before sitting beside her, their daughter in between them both.

"You alright?" James asks his girlfriend when he stretches his hand over to place on her knee with a concerned yet sweet look on his face. In response, he gets a brief nod before detaching his hand from her knee to keep a hold of his daughter, wrapping his arm around the back of her body but placing his hand on Riley's shoulder. "Okay, Vi, you ready?" he asks her. 

"Yeah!" the girl shouts in response excitedly. She had been looking forward to the boating trip ever since she'd been told about it at the start of the summer holidays. 

Riley managed to lighten up her mood, keeping one hand firmly placed over her five-month baby bump whilst the other was placed protectively on her daughter's arm. She knew it was a dumb thought, but couldn't shake the feeling of her daughter doing something stupid, like standing up in the middle of the boat and pretending she was a seagull, which would make her fall into the deep waters. Riley's always had a fear of water, after all, and being the girl's mother, it was her job to think of and worry about the worst-case scenarios.

"Okay, baby," James says to his daughter in a relaxing manner, not wanting to make her too-hyper, nor get on his girlfriend's nerves when he knew her hormones were flying all over the place at the moment. "When the lifeguard detaches that piece of string from the wooden pole, the boat will start to float and you'll feel it. That's when you need to bring your feet to the pedals and push them the way you ride your bike, okay?" he tells her. The girl nods.

"Are you and Mommy going to pedal as well?" she asks. 

"Yes, sweetie, we are," Riley says to her daughter.

"Okay." The inquisitive child keeps an eye on the lifeguard before watching and getting even more excited than before when she watches him unleash the rope that keeps the boat in tow. Then she feels the vehicle rock as it's set afloat and she looks at her dad, giggling. "It's moving!" she exclaims, making her father laugh at her sheer excitement.

James rubs his girlfriend's arm, making sure to check on her every now and again as the three began to pedal, the boat moving rather slowly as they wished to spend a longer time in the river.

"Look! There's a large seagull over there!" Violet shouts out, pointing towards where she could see it. Riley, getting worried by this, leans forward and tightens her grip on her child, making sure she doesn't stand up.

"Where, honey?" she asks, not seeing the said seagull anywhere.

"Over there! Look!" Her mother looks again, but still doesn't see anything until James continues to pedal, causing them to move in the direction Violet had been pointing towards. That's when the pair of adults chuckle at their daughter's cute innocence.

"That's a swan, darling," Riley tells her. 

"It looks like a seagull, though," Violet defends herself. She looks to her dad for defence. "Doesn't that look like a seagull, Daddy?"

"I suppose so, but it's definitely a swan, bubs," he responds, much to her dismay as she crosses her arms and pouts, sitting back in her plastic seat. "What's wrong now, sweetheart?" James asks her as he tries to suppress his gentle laughter when he hears her moan,