An Undead Surprise

Moving In(1)

"Are you sure you'll be okay on your own?" Abby asked for the fourth time.

Devin sighed and nodded her head. "I'll be perfectly fine Abby." She said pulling her older sister in for a hug. Both sisters stood hugging each for a good solid five minuets before they pulled apart. "I promise I'll call you on Skype once I get settled in my apartment."

"Okay." Abby smiled at her then glanced down at Riley, Devin's daughter. "Come here little monster!" Riley reached her arms up to her aunt and jumped into her chest. "I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm miss you too." Riley whispered against her aunts hair. She sniffled loudly then wiped her eyes.

"Alright, you should probably get going if you don't want to hit traffic." Devin smiled and took Riley in her arms. Devin stood with Riley on the sidewalk as Abby climbed back into her car.

Abby still didn't feel right about leaving her baby sister and her four year old niece behind, but she had to let go at some point. She strapped on her seatbelt then waved goodbye as she drove away.

Devin stayed put until her sisters car vanished around the corner. She sighed and pushed her hand through her blonde hair. "You ready Ry?" She asked the bubbly little girl. She nodded her head. Devin sat her down and handed her some lightweight bags to carry. Her eyes flicked up to the apartment building, a slow smile spread across her face. "Okay. You can do this... We can do this." She whispered mostly to herself. With that she picked up the last of her boxes and made her way up to their second floor Victorville apartment with Riley close on her heels.

The outside of the building looked old and run down. A couple windows on the ground floor were boarded up and broken, the walls were covered in graffiti, and trash littered the surrounding area. To the average person it looked like a place where gang members would hide their stash or druggies might hang out at to get high, but really it was actually very nice on the inside. The apartment that Devin was renting for them had white walls, large floor to ceiling windows at the rear, and brand new hardwood floors. Their new home was rather spacious and had a large master bed and bath, along with a fully furnished living room and kitchen. The only furniture she needed was for the bedroom. Yes it was a one room apartment but it was big enough for the both of them and Riley didn't mind sharing a room with her mom.

As soon as Devin had opened the front door Riley took off exploring her new home. There were boxes stacked upon boxes spread all over the apartment. To her it was like a shiny new castle to call her own. She ran back to the bedroom to look through the boxes for her dress up clothes. She found them instantly and put on a pink leotard and black tutu, paired with a black headband and flats.

From the doorway Devin watched Riley dance around the room like a ballerina. A smile tugged at the corners of her lips as she watched her dance. It still amazed her that Riley was her daughter. She was so much like Devin in many, many ways. She had the same jawline, skin tone, and long wavy natural brown locks that Devin had been born with. Of course Riley had features that belonged to her father, but in Devin's mind she was her mini me.

"Mommy!"

"Yes baby?" She smiled down at Riley and let her drag her out to the middle of the floor.

"Dance with me!" She cried and twirled in a small circled.

This made Devin's smile deepen. She loved dancing with Riley, she always made up the most cutest dance routines she had ever seen. She picked up Riley and spun her in circles before grabbing her MP3 player and hooking it up to her laptop. The first song she put on was You Give Love A Bad Name by Bon Jovi.

"I love this song!" Riley tossed her arms into the air then began jumping on the mattress that laid in the back corner of the room. By the second chorus both Riley and her mother were jumping around and screaming the lyrics at the top of their lungs.