I told Riley I would be there the entire time, so tells me why when we walked into the house she disappeared with her father. She didn't turn back to Tilly or I or anything. She just left
"James right?" Another voice said making me face the front to see a tall blonde walking towards us
Tilly clocked the guy straight away and instantly squirmed in my arms in the direction Riley had just left to
The one thing that Tilly shares only with Riley is her fear of strangers. Tilly hates new people and it would seem that the only person who is able to settle her and make her feel comfortable is Riley
But right now that isn't an option..
"It's okay Tee" I said kissing her cheek as she cuddled into my neck
"I'm Owen. Emily's Fiancé" He said making me nod
"Nice to meet you man, congratulations" I said making him chuckle as he shook my hand
"Who's this little lady?" He asked smiling over at Tilly who shook my head burying it closer to me
"This is Matilda but we all call her Tilly" I explained
"Not a fan of new people?" Owen asked making me shake my head
"Not even in the slightest. She would be if Ri was here but she went off with uh-" I started before being cut off
"Peter, their father?" He asked and I nodded
"They'll be a while I'm afraid. I'm surprised Riley went alone though, she would usually ask Em or I to join for backup" He said
"Let me introduce you to others. We are all out in the garden at the moment" Owen finished attempting to guide me out to the garden
But all I could do was continue to look over my shoulder hoping that I wasn't leaving Riley in some kind of situation
We had almost made our rounds around the garden when Owen was called over by Emily. I couldn't expect him to babysit me the entire time but it was nice to have someone around. But now it was just Tills and I, to say Tilly was hating this would be an understatement
"bride or groom" An unfamiliar voice said making me turn to see a blonde woman stood to the side of me picking over some of the snacks that had been placed out
"Oh uh" I started
"The bride's Sister?" I said making it sound more like a question
"Ohhh! You're Riley's boy!" She said sounding rather energetic about it
"Oh my god! She has never brought anyone home before. This is exciting" She continued before motioning some others over
"Guys, this is the guy Riley brought home with her" The perky blonde said towards everyone else
"I didn't get your name, I'm sorry" she said turning to me
"James" I said before Tilly shifted from my shoulder to cuddling into my chest, just how she does when she is about to go to sleep
"Well James, I'm Michelle. This is Giselle, Stephanie, Daniel, Caden and Kyle" She said introducing themselves
"Nice to meet you all" I said
I wasn't sure on who was Riley's friends here and who wasn't. The longer I was stood here by myself the longer I realised, Riley never talks about this place, where she came from or anything about her life before us
--
They all began to direct conversations amongst themselves and right as they turned to say something to me, Tilly's bellowing cries making most of them jump while I looked down to see Tilly kicking about only confusing me more until I looked up to see Riley walking out of the house and towards us
Tilly must have seen her before anyone else had the chance to
The closer Riley got, the stronger her kicks got until Riley was finally with us
"Riley!" Michelle said pulling her into a tight hug only causing Tilly to scream louder
"Hey Michelle" Riley said, her tone was a little damper then it was all day. I don't know what happened with her father, but it was clear something had happened
Riley took one look at Tilly and I before smiling heading the final pace finally letting Tilly fall into her arms
The moment Tilly had her arms wrapped around Riley she self soothed herself letting Riley come and stand with me pretty much ignoring the people in front of us
"Are you okay?" She asked me, I looked down at her confused
"Isn't that something I should be asking you" I chuckled wrapping an arm around her
I was surprised to feel Riley sink into my arms slightly instead of pushing them off
"I'm okay" She answered but it soundly like she was trying to convince herself more then me
"Riles" Emily's voice said as she came over to join us, Owen in tow
"Hey Em" Riley said hugging her but of course Tilly didn't like that, she instantly tried pushing Emily off making Owen chuckle
"Sorry" Riley said making Emily smile
"She's cute so she can get away with it" Emily said crouching to look at Tilly over Riley's shoulder
Had that been anyone else while I had Tilly, I'm pretty confident my daughter would have smacked them in the face but she always feels safe with Riley
Tilly laid looking over Riley's shoulder at Emily. It didn't take long for Tilly to warm up to Emily enough she wasn't hiding into Riley's neck anymore
"I'm sorry there are so many people here. They aren't meant to be here till tomorrow but apparently word got out that a few were coming tonight too so all hell broke loose and-" Emily started while Riley rolled her eyes at her sister
"Emily, you got engaged. Everyone is going to want to be" Riley laughed causing Tilly to laugh too
By this point Tilly had settled enough she was resting on Riley's hip playing with Riley's hair as she spoke
Tilly turned to look at me before giggling smiling at me before then reaching out for me to take her
"Come on then princess" I smiled taking her off of Riley
"Once everyone goes tonight, the 5 of us can sit down and talk alright?" Emily said looking at the three of us
"Sure Emily, go and mingle" Riley said before stepping back to stand next to me
She placed her hand on my arm reaching up to look at Tilly who was busy playing peekaboo with herself
"Riley, are you sure you are okay?" I asked, Riley froze for a second before looking up at me
"I will be as long as I don't have to be alone in a room with him again" She sighed before turning to see her father standing in the doorway of the garden almost glaring in our direction
"Say the word and I promise I won't leave" I said leaning down pressing a kiss on her temple before Tilly tried to copy but she hadn't quite mastered kisses just yet
YOU ARE READING
A Knock With Fate
أدب الهواةRILEY It's been 3 years since Riley moved to the big city, she left her friends and family behind. She knew the consequences of her actions but she had bigger shoes to fulfil Riley had a dream and she was going to do anything and everything she co...
