After everything Jay and Riley have gone through, will the war be the one thing to take away their safe place?
They thought they had it all figured out but as live goes on, they meet new obstacles and have to find new way to fight for each other.
W...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Riley pushed the cart down the aisle at the grocery store, picking everything she'd written down on her list earlier in the day. Aurora walked next to her with her small hand laced with her mother's, pointing at every item she claimed they needed. The little girl didn't even care when her mother said no, she just shrugged it off and moved onto the next treat she might want.
"Hey, honey, how are you liking the new house?" Riley asked her daughter, watching her ponytail flowing in the air as she walked and looked all around her.
Jay and Riley found a house a couple of months back and instantly fell in love with it. They wanted to buy a house for so long but they stopped even looking because the timing was just never right - especially with Jay being deployed. But then they came across a house in a neighborhood nearby so they went to visit. Safe to say that they fell in love with it right away and put in an offer. Soon after, they got the news that they got it and were able to move in.
"I love my bed!" The toddler simply answered, looking up at her mother with stars in her eyes. Riley giggled in response, remembering how excited the little girl was to get a new bedroom - mostly because it meant having new toys and new decorations.
"I'm glad, honey." She smiled at the toddler, grabbing the last few of the groceries. "All right, we're all done here. You think daddy and Nate are done, too?"
They headed to the cash registers and waited on the side for Jay and Nate. Aurora was just letting out a large sigh out of impatience as they came around an aisle with a bag of chips, candies and some beers in hand. Riley rolled her eyes at the sight, of course this was why they wanted to go out on their own. As they walked up to the girls, Jay pressed a kiss to Riley's cheek and smiled cheesily at her.
After weeks and weeks of fighting for him, the couple was finally allowed to welcome Nate into their homes. When Riley asked Jay, he agreed without even thinking twice about it and confessed that he'd been thinking about it, too. They found that ever since they started working on their grief in therapy, the idea of growing their family didn't seem like a bad idea anymore. The couple was learning to deal with their loss and to stop seeing it as a sign to stop moving forward with their lives.
And so they pitched the idea to DCFS, who weren't too keen to agree. The detectives argured, telling them that the boy couldn't be safer than he was with them. Rachel, the social worker that Riley knew, gave in a good word about them - which helped a lot. Of course, Nate's input on it helped too since he really did feel safer with the detectives. It had taken him a while to swallow the news of his father dying and he was still heavily grieving, but at least he wasn't getting into trouble anymore.
Life was good for the little family, especially Aurora who adored Nate. Mostly because he always agreed to play with her, but still. Riley was over the moon to see them get along so well and she couldn't wish for anything better. She felt full and happy.
"It's movie night, right? Had to get some snacks." Jay defended as their items were scanned by the employee.
Riley huffed, letting out a low chuckle, "Right, baby." She placed her hand on his arm, squeezing it lightly before stepping aside to grab the grocery bags. She thanked the staff, lacing her hand in Aurora's small once while Nate grabbed the rest of the bags and Jay the beer. The small family walked out of the store, heading straight to Jay's truck.
