The Ghost Of You

Chapter Twenty Two

James

"Oh she is a sweetheart" Dad smiled as we sat in the back garden, we were all on the grass with Sienna as she played between the two of us. 
Piper ran inside to answer her phone and Mum was upstairs with Riley.
"Sienna, I think you have someone wrapped around your little finger already" I said making Sienna look over at me as I wriggled my little finger
Sienna started to giggle before falling onto her bum just to wriggle her finger 

"I'm sorry that we didn't believe you when you first told us Riley wasn't really gone. Imagine if we had all helped you look in that first year" Dad said while Sienna crawled to him sitting in his lap
"Hey, nobody is to blame with that. Paul had us all fooled" I said making Dad nod

"What did you do to him when I left?" I asked 
"I told him he had to leave town, he had to get out before I changed my mind. He won't be back, I'll make sure of it" He said as Sienna closed her hand around his thumb making Dad smile

"How does it feel to be a grandpa?" I asked making Dad roll his eyes. Growing up he hated whenever Piper and I would tease him on his age, now with him being a grandpa we have brand new ammo
"how does it feel to be a father" He asked me making me smile at Sienna
"Fucking amazing" I smiled making Dad chuckle
"nu uh. Bad word" Sienna said poking me while staying on Dad's lap

Sienna's entire speech is coming along very well, she's a quiet baby but give her something to talk about and she will

"How about we keep that a secret Sienna?" I offered but she giggled shaking her head
"Mama!" Sienna said clapping her hands making both Dad and I turn to see Piper, Riley and Mum walking out of the house towards us
Sienna was soon to jump ship from Dad stumbling towards Riley who met her with open arms
"hey sweetheart" She smiled stroking her hair out of her face
"Dada bad word" Sienna said instantly dropping me in on.. But that isn't what caught my attention

Harrison has called me Dad from the moment he found out who I was, but Sienna hadn't not because she didn't want to but I don't think she understood it all
Now here she was saying with upmost confidence 

"James" Riley said narrowing her eyes at me
"I didn't mean it" I siad
"Obviously" Piper said playing with Sienna as she sat on Riley's hip
"Tee tee?" Sienna asked drawing her attention back to Riley who giggled before putting Sienna back on the floor
"Go ahead" She said making all of us look at the pair confused
"Tee tee? What is tee tee?" I asked not liking the smirk on Riley's lips right now

I watched Sienna curiously as she got closer to me, she looked up at me smiling widely
"Bad word dada" She said making me nod at her until she got closer
Sienna was stood directly next me staying still for a moment looking around at all of us
"Tee tee mama?" Sienna asked again 
"Tee tee Sienna" Riley said confidently 

Before I could ask again what was going on, Sienna leapt forward. Her little fingers jabbing at the side of my rib cage and covering my belly frantically causing me to laugh
"Okay okay" I said picking Sienna up throwing her in the air earning giggles from her 

"Tee tee is tickling. Sienna started doing that when I would say a bad word or when Harrison would have a tantrum" Riley said before silencing herself at the sound of Harrison's name making me sigh

"Mama sad?" Sienna asked looking at me
"Mama's okay sweetheart" Riley said as the three of them came to sit with us. The moment Riley took a seat next to me, Sienna got out of my grasps heading over to Riley
"She's a confident little lady" Dad chuckled
"She isn't usually. She's always been rather quiet and doesn't socialise much" Riley said smiling at Sienna as she played with the bracelet on Riley's wrist

"She's liking all the attention then, she's getting out of her shell" Piper smiled
"Just like you did when you first started coming over here" Mum smiled looking directly at Riley 

--

Later that night, everyone had started to head to bed. We all decided once again to stay here, I think the dramatics of the day meant we needed to be around people more then we realised
There was only so many rooms which meant Riley and I would be sharing like old times. We hadn't the entire time that I had been at hers, she didn't want to confused Sienna and Harrison but I think that's long out of the question now 

Right now what I want is to be close to Riley and that is what she needs whether she wants to accept it or not..

I walked into my room after taken a well needed shower to see Riley stood looking over Sienna's travel cot. Sienna had been asleep for hours at this point but Riley wasn't given a single chance for her to be out of her sight with nobody else around

"Ri" I whispered making her jump slightly before looking up to see me there looking directly at her 
"hey" She whispered moving away from Sienna slightly to sit by the window next to her cot 
"Do you think he's safe?" She whispered as I crossed the room to sit next to her
"I think that he is as safe as he can be considering" I said making her nod

"I feel like I've failed, I was supposed to protect them both. nothing was supposed to happen to either of them and-" Riley rambled before I took her hands into mine

"You haven't failed Riley. This while situation has not been your fault, I promise" I said 
"We're going to get Harrison back and then we can start our life properly as a family" I explained making Riley bow her head
"I think that when Harrison comes back I need to leave again.. With the kids James" She whispered making me look at her confused 

"Riley no" I said but my objection meant little when she was in this frame of mind
"It'll be for the best. You can get on with your life, you can play out the plan your Uncle had out for you all of these years and I'll keep the kids safe. I promise James, I promise I'll keep them safe this time" She pleaded 

I wasn't saying she wasn't going to be able to keep them safe. I knew she would be, but she doesn't need to. I'm here, both of our families are here

"Riley look at me" I said making her stop mid panic to turn to look at me
"I told you when I first found you, your home is with us. Back here and I meant it" I said softly
"You aren't going anywhere and if you are then you are not going alone" I said making Riley's brown eyes tear up slightly 
"You aren't alone anymore Riley, you can stop trying to run. You're safe" I whispered leaning into her slightly 

Riley look at me like she wanted to object but she knew I was right. She knew that she was safe here, she always has been 
I'm pretty sure if Riley had shown up at any point over the 5 years she would have been welcomed back with open arms, she would have been protected instantly 

"I can't do this to you James, I can't put all of this onto you" She whispered back placing our foreheads together
"I'm letting you Riley" I said watching as her eyes travelled back to me 

"Let me help you, let me protect you" I whispered searching her eyes for the answer I wanted, the only one that mattered 

She gave in, Riley's shoulder's slumped down and her breathing became heavy before she closed her eyes for a second. She was finally giving in 

"Ri" I whispered making her look up at me, her brown eyes looking defeated, looking tired like she hadn't slept in years
"I've got you" I said leaning down pressing my lips against her gently, the moment they made contact Riley's arms came up around my neck as she leant deeper into the kiss 

The longest over due kiss of the century..