Moved In

Chapter 5 : Hike

Chapter 5

Later...   

Riker POV

When dad got back, I gave him a glare. 

"What's with the attitude?" Dad asked, handing me a bag of takeout food.

"I texted Rydel. You went somewhere with her brothers and left me here alone!" I said, crossing my arms.

"Yes, I did."

"Well why didn't you take me? I thought you said you wanted me to bond with them all."

"I do. But I decided to take them to a hockey game so I could get to know them and they could get to know me."

"Well then when am I going to get to know them?"

"While we're on vacation. You know, you didn't seem to have much interest in bonding with them until right now."

"You left me out! That was mean!"

"I'm sorry. But you didn't seem to want to hang out with them. Don't worry. We're all doing something together tomorrow."

"Fine... Can we talk about something else now?"

"Ok. What did you want to talk about?"

"I called mom."

"Riker-"

"Stop! Just let me say what I want to say before you stop me."

He sighed and crossed his arms, sitting down on his bed.

"I called mom. I just wanted to talk to her. And see her. So she's still in Florida, and I was wondering if I could visit her. She said that it was ok with her if you said it was ok."

"Riker... We're on vacation right now with Stormie's family. We can revisit this conversation after we get home. But for right now, I just want you to focus on the vacation and getting to know Stormie's family, ok?"

"Fine. But will you consider letting me go to Florida to visit her?"

"We'll talk about it later, Riker."

"Fine..."

I opened up the bag of food he gave me and started eating my dinner.

The next day...

Riker POV

So today's family bonding activity thing was a hike. Since we're in Colorado in the mountains, I guess they figured a hike would be a fun thing. And like... I guess it is, but Rydel's brothers have mostly just been complaining the entire time. Ryland is tired of walking. Rocky wants to know when we're going to get to the top. Ross thinks it's too hot out.

I'm trying to be on my best behavior and not get too annoyed because I'm hoping if I behave, when this is all over with, dad will let me go visit mom so I can talk to her. If I complain a lot like Rydel's brothers, he's definitely going to say no. 

After like an hour and a half of walking, we finally made it to the top of the mountain. Stormie had brought a picnic lunch for all of us, so we all sat on the ground in a circle and she handed out sandwiches. 

"Why are we on vacation together exactly?" Ross asked.

"Well we thought it would be nice for you kids to get to know each other a little better since me and Mark are getting to know each other more," Stormie said.

"Are you guys going to get married?" Ryland asked.

"It's a possibility. We just thought it would be good to spend some more time together," Stormie said.

I sighed. I don't want them to get married. I want my real mom back. Not some random lady with her random whiny kids. I like being an only child.

I don't even really understand why dad wants to date Stormie. Like why doesn't he want to date mom? I don't really know the whole story of why him and mom even got divorced, but every time I bring it up, dad doesn't want to talk about it. I don't know what to do. I don't want him to keep dating Stormie, but if I complain about it, dad won't let me see mom.

I need to get mom and dad back together. So maybe if I behave myself during this stupid vacation, dad will let me go visit mom. And maybe I can convince him to come with me to visit her. And then they can fall in love again and get married.

That's my plan. I think I can do it.