The Aftermath

Chapter 62

Riley's POV

I watched Addison eat her cereal the next morning. She seemed so happy, like not a thing was wrong on the world.

"What are we doing today?" She asks. I shrug in response.

It might be selfish to say, but there were times that I wished that I didn't have Addison. I loved my daughter to death, but I missed the times when I didn't have double the responsibility. And then there was the fact that if I went anywhere that had an entry fee, I had to pay for both mine and hers. But if I kept her home, I had to pay for a babysitter. It was just hard sometimes.

"Why do you work on weekends now?" She asks.

"Because of my job." I reply.

"I liked it when you stayed home with me all weekend." She sighs.

"Yeah, I did too." I respond.

I looked through my kitchen window which looked almost directly into James's house. I knew I should apologize to him. I shouldn't have freaked out at him last night. But then again, he shouldn't have done the things he had done in high school.

"Um, I'll be right Bach. Just stay here." I instruct Addison.

"Where are you going?" She asks.

"Just to go talk to James for a minute." I reply, running out the door. I jog across the lawn to James's house and knock on door until he answers. He stands there in his pyjama pants pants, but no shirt. I keep my eyes on his face.

"I wanted to apologize for last night." I say quickly.

"Oh, you're apologizing for once. It's usually me being the one who had to apologize." He chuckled.

"I'm serious." I mutter, rolling my eyes.

"Alright, I accept your apology." He finally says.

"Thank you." I sigh.

"But can we just promise to not fight anymore? Please? Like if one of us says something the other doesn't like, they just let it go?" He asks.

"Yeah, sure." I reply with a smile.

"Good. Because I hate seeing you upset." He says, setting his hands on my shoulders.

"Well, it was good having this talk. But I really need to get going back over to Addison." I say, brushing his hands away.

"How about you and Addison come over for supper tonight? My family is coming over too." He offers.

"Um, yeah sure. It sounds like fun." I reply.

"Yeah, it will be. And a word of advice. Mute everything my mother says. What she says is either, garbage, lies or pointless. So completely block her out." He tells me. I laugh at his statement, finding it funny how much fun he gets out of making fun of his mom.

"I'll keep that in mind." I reply.