Chapter XXXV

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C H A P T E R
T H I R T Y   F I V E
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Rileys POV

I GASP WHEN Emily announces her pregnancy. "Em! Oh my God!" I exclaim, hugging my sister tightly. "How long?"

"I'm 10 weeks in." Emily tells me. She's smiling uncontrollably and so am I, I can't help it, I'm just so happy for her.

"Oh my god, congrats! I'm so excited." I exclaim, jumping slightly. After a while of excitement, I go to find James, and after pushing through the crowd, I spot him. I get there just in time to hear Hazel; "Daddy, what's Emily expecting?"

James laughs. "A baby, sweetie. That's what people say when they're going to have a baby."

"Oh."

I kiss James's cheek and coo at Lydia, then expressing my excitement once again to James, who finds it adorable and smiles widely.

Then Lydia gets restless, and Hazel starts yawning frequently, rubbing her eyes and snuggling up to James. "We should go home," I say to James.

He shakes his head. "You stay here," he insists. "I'll take the kids home and you can get a ride from West. It is your sisters engagement party."

I smile. "Okay, thanks."

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James's POV

I get the girls into the car, and hop in myself. Hazel is surprisingly quiet, you know, for Hazel, so I enjoy the peaceful car ride. It's a once in a lifetime thing.

Hazel mumbles something and asks me to put on the radio. I shuffle all the songs on my USB. I let out a laugh when I hear the song that comes on. Lost and Found by that unnamed band I was in — did we ever get a name? — and Hazel looks confused. "What song is this, Daddy?" She asks.

"A song from a band Daddy was in years ago," I tell her smiling. "I was the drummer."

"Did you quit?" She asks.

"Yeah." I sigh. "Well, I didn't want to, but then you came to live with me and I wanted to spend time with you."

"So it was my fault?" She says quietly.

"No, of course not! It was my decision, sweetheart."

"Is the band still together?" She asks. To be honest, I have no idea. I'll have to text them. Maybe they are, and they replaced me long ago, but I think if they did I would of heard by now.

"I don't know," I tell her as we pull up outside the apartment block. She jumps out of the car and I lift Lydia out of the car, and we make our way upstairs to the fourth floor.

When we get in I put Lydia to bed immediately and then find Hazel asleep on the sofa. I grin, and hating the idea of waking her, I gently lift her up and carry her to her room, changing her into her pyjamas. She barely even stirs.

I kiss her on the forehead slightly before I leave, and then I go into the living room and collapse on the sofa.

Riley comes in a little later, and by the way she acts she's a little drunk but I don't really care. She's celebrating.

She grins and, very wobbly on her heels, walks over to me, sitting down. "Heyyyyy," she says.

"Hey, Riley," I laugh. Sober Riley can be hard to deal with — but Drunk Riley? Fucking hilarious.

"Have I ever told you..." she drawls, running her hand across my chest. "That you're so sexy."

I hold back a laugh. "I think so, Ri." I say. "Come on, let's get you some water."

After a while she's a little more sober and we go to bed. As I'm falling asleep, I hear her mumbling a "I love you," before she nods off. I grin from ear to ear.

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"Daddy!" I hear hazel shout when she runs into the house. She sounds so excited. She drops her school bag on the ground when she walks in. "I made the team! I'm in the baseball team!"

"Aw, well done, sweetheart!" I say smiling, as she jumps at me and hugs me. I know that this is all Hazel ever wanted, like, ever, especially when the boys on the team told her she wasn't allowed to play baseball.

"My first game is Saturday," she tells me. "Are you coming?"

"Well, I'll have to check my schedule..." I tease. "Of course I'm going, are you kidding? I'll be there on Friday!" She giggles.

"I'm not that good," she says.

"I think you are," I say. "Hungry?"

She nods. I hand her a plate with a grilled cheese sandwich on it, and she sits down, digging in immediately.

Riley walks in with Lydia, and she sighs in an exhausted fashion, handing me the crying baby. I nurse her and rock her for a while so she calms down. I kind of wish my girls would stay young forever... but that won't happen. They're growing up already.

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Hope you's enjoyed this :3
Skipping forward a few years next chapter x
- emma x

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