You, Me, and Riley

chapter 10

Hayden and I are just finishing dinner when are phones go off. "Seriously Riley." I say rolling my eyes with a laugh as I pull out my phone. "Better call her just in case." But I frown as it rings a few times and then goes to voicemail.

"What's wrong?" Hayden said as she turns around from the sink.

"It went to voicemail." I said calling one more time. I grab my keys and motion to Hayden when I hear her inbox message for the 2nd time. "Let's go" I said.

Hayden continued to call Riley's phone on the way to her apartment and still got her voicemail. The whole way there I kept telling myself there's no way she transitioned again, it was probably an accidental button press. Hayden and I ran up the stairs and unlocked Riley's door to see her phone and two dinner plates on the table.

"Who did she eat with?" I asked as we rushed into the apartment.

"I'm guessing Leo." She said with a smile as she pointed to the stack of books on the chair in front of the second plate.

"That's adorable." I cooed as I ran into the apartment. Hayden looked into the bathroom as I peeked into the bedroom to see Riley stretched out on the ground with coloring supplies and a stuffed bunny spread out around her. "Riley." I said softly so I didn't scare her. She looked up at me with a big smile. "I found her Hayden."

"Hi Dana!" She said as her pacifier fell out of her mouth."I cower." She said sitting up on her knee's and waving her picture back and forth.

"I see that bug." I said as Hayden walked into the room. When Riley saw Hayden her eyes got big before she grabbed Leo and ran and hid in the closet. Hayden and I looked at each other in confusion before Hayden followed her.

"Riley sweaty." Hayden said as she sat down in front of the closet. "What are you doing in there."

"I sowwy Hayden." She said so quiet we almost didn't hear it. "I dit'nt mean to oo it. I ne'er do it again, I prowmise."

"What?" Hayden whispered under her breath to me as I sat down next to her. "Riley can you come out for us? Dana and I want to talk to you but we can't talk if your all the way in there silly goose."

Slowly we watched Riley crawl out of the closet, but she still stayed just out of her reach. "Honey, Hayden and I still don't know whats wrong." I said softly.

We watched her bring Leo to her mouth and whisper something in his ear. "Eo says I shoud just pretend that I ditn't ie and then I no get in troub'o, but I no ike that. I say bad Eo." She shook her finger at her bunny and furrowed her eyebrows together. If I wasn't so confused I would have found it adorable. "Hayden ask me to ook at what a caregiver is but I ready know. I ied cause I dit'nt know what oo say." She started to cry. "I sowwy."

"Hey now." Hayden said reaching out to Riley. "There's no reason to cry and there's definitely no reason to hide." She rocked her back and forth on her lap until her cry's turned into sniffles. "First of all you're not in trouble. This might not be the best conversation to have with little Riley but it is up to you to decide how much you want to tell us about what you know about all of this."

"reawy." She said looking up at us.

"Really bug." I said brushing her hair behind her ear. "Our relationship is new. We must build that trust with each other. We don't expect you to trust us over night, that's why this trip will be so great. It will give us all a chance to get to know each other and figure out what we want out of this relationship."

"Otay." She said nuzzling her head into Hayden's chest. "So I no in troub'o?"

"No sweaty." She said with a laugh setting her back on the ground and standing up. "Why don't you and Leo keep coloring while Dana and I clean up dinner okay?" Riley distractedly nodded as she went back to her coloring and Hayden and I walked out to the kitchen.

"Well that kinda sucked." Hayden said as she carried the dishes to the sink. "She actually looked scared of me for a second."

"Hayden she adores you." I said with a snort. "I'm the one who found her and you are by far her favorite." She rolled her eyes at me but didn't deny it. "She was scared in general not scared of you. Even though she knows what a caregiver is she's never had one."

"I know I know, but you didn't walk in the room and see her run and hide in the closet." She said as she finished cleaning the kitchen. "Ok her apartment is clean enough to leave for a couple of weeks I say we grab her and head out. I hit the pharmacy on the way home today and got enough meds to get us through the trip so we are good on that front. All we need is Riley and Leo."

"Alright let's go." I said carrying a giggling Riley over my shoulder wrapped like a burrito in fluffy blanket.