My Neighbour

forty three

Riley

Dad seemed to fit in like a glove, that was no surprise. We may pride ourselves in not being that social but give him a shot in the dark and he'll shine
"Hey you" He said as I joined him in the garden the following afternoon
James and I got in pretty late so everyone was in bed
"Hey" I smiled sitting next to him
"How was last night?" he asked and I looked at him 
"It was amazing, we went to this cliff top where we could see the entire town" I explained making dad chuckle
"So right up your alley then Riles" He chuckled, I smiled and nodded
"Did you want to go out and do something? That's if you don't have any plans with James?" Dad asked, I smiled and nodded
"I would love that" I smiled 

I headed upstairs to get ready only to see James still asleep in bed
"You're wasting your dayyyy" I sung making him open his eyes before whining
"Your lose" I said chuckling as I walked over to the wardrobe to grab my shoes
James smiled leaning up against his arms
"Where are you running off to?" He asked and I looked at him before going over to sit with him on the bed
"Dad wants to go and do something together" I said making James smile leaning closer to me
"That sounds fun Ri" he smiled leaning up to kiss me 
"I won't be out long" I reassured him, he rolled his eyes
"You can be out as long as your want Riley, just have a good day with him" he chuckled kissing me again 

--

We pulled up into a little market in the centre of this town. Neither of us had any idea on what we could do considering we are walking through this town blindly
"Do you know what this reminds me of?" Dad asked as I finished paying for something at one of the stalls
"What's that?" I asked making him smile
"You, when you were maybe 2 or 3. I took you to a christmas market in the attempt to meet Santa but that didn't go well at all" he laughed making me roll my eyes
"Do I want to know?" I asked looking through another stall
"You were scared of the man, you wouldn't go near him and if I held you and stepped near him then you would scream bloody murder until you were safe distance away"He laughed making me laugh a little

"I mean, you were trying to put me on a random strangers lap, I'm not exactly going to be happy about it am I" I laughed making him roll his eyes
"That was the day you went ice skating for the first time" He smiled
"You caught on to how to do it really quickly, a lot quicker then I ever could" he chuckled making me roll my eyes
"I'm a fast learner, what can I say?" I said making him smile

We continued walking and buying things until we came across a small coffee shop, it reminded me a lot of the ones back home but at the same time it couldn't be more different
"Riley, I think we need to talk about something" Dad said instantly make my heart skip a beat and not in a good way

"What now?" I asked and he sighed before finishing his sip of coffee
"You know that your mother and I are getting a divorce" he said and I nodded making him sigh
"Your mother isn't making it as easy as it should be" he said and I looked at him a little confused
"She's painting me out to be a bad father, she's taking me to court to get custody of you that's why she showed up yesterday. She didn't like I hadn't told her you were going away until you were gone" he said

"How on earth is she painting you in a bad light? You've been there when she hasn't you went to every school event, every parents evening. You were always there. I can count on one hard how many time she was there" I said to him and he sighed knowing
"I know that Riles, but she is getting her way. If she wins this battle then that means you have to move with her and would only be able to see me on her terms" he said breaking my heart
"she can't do that!" I yelled alerting a few people around us
"She's trying to" Dad said and I shook my head
"Is there anything I can do stop it?" I asked and he shrugged

"I didn't want to get you involved in it but there is a hearing next week. If you want the judge is prepared to let you speak. Give your opinion" He offered and before he could even finish what he was saying, I was nodding
"I'll do it. I don't care what it takes, I'm not going with that woman" I replied making Dad offer me a warm smile
It took a lot for him to come to me about this, this was his little cry for help that he wouldn't ever admit he needed