You, Me, and Riley

chapter 31

Dana

"Hey, can I talk to you a second?" Hayden said walking into my small home office.

"Of course." I said "where's Riley?"

"Asleep on her playroom floor, I figured I would wake her up when dinner was ready." she said tapping the baby monitor on her hip "My parents called." she said wringing her hands together and looking at me with a frown

"They called." I repeated in surprise "Why? They haven't called in almost 2 years."

"I don't know" she said with a shrug "But they want to come out for a visit."

"They want to come out for a visit." I repeated "Why?"

"Please stop repeating me." she said with a sigh "They didn't say."

"Hayden they hate me, that you married me. I'm not so sure they're going to take Riley well." I said.

"You keep telling me things I already know." she said with a groan "maybe they will surprise us, your parents did. You were nervous to tell them and they took so well to both girls. They adore Riley, and Riley is obsessed with them."

"Your parents are a lot of things." I said with a smile pulling her into a hug "surprising is not one of them, most of the time." I added with a shrug.

"What are we going to do?" she asked "I don't want Riley's true introduction to grandparents to be my parents, they are practically icebergs."

"It's kind of last minute but maybe I can call my parents and ask them to fly up here to officially meet Riley, I know they've been dying to meet her." I said "Plus if I explain the situation I'm sure they will understand, they don't really like your parents."

"No one does" she said as I grabbed my laptop so I could face time my parents. "Why don't you call them and explain the situation while I go check on Riley." I said walking down the hall.

"Hey Baby." I said opening the door to Riley's playroom and picking her up from the floor. "When did you wake up?" I asked rubbing her back.

"ittle bit ago." she said laying her head on my shoulder.

"And you didn't come say hi to Mommy and me, that doesn't sound like the little bug I know. Are you feeling okay?" I asked

"Jus paying." she said with a yawn and a shrug as I pushed my office door open and we saw Hayden talking to my parents on the computer "Granma! Granpa!" Riley shouted wiggling out of my arms and running to the computer.

"There she is!" my dad said with a smile "How are you doing sweetpea?"

"I good granpa." she said with a cheesy grin climbing up on Hayden's

"So what's the verdict?" I asked pulling up a chair to sit next to Hayden.

"What are you doing tomorrow Riley?" My mom asked with a small smile.

"Uummm." she said tapping her chin in deep thought "Eo and I gots big pans but dey secets."

"Do you think you and Leo can put those secret plans on hold so grandpa and I can come and play?"

"You come and pay wif us?" she yelled with an excited shriek.

"We sure are sweetpea!" they said with a laugh.

"I go tell Eo!" She said running off with a laugh.

"I'm not sure she's going to go to bed tonight." Hayden said watching her run out of the room with a smile "Thank you so much for doing this." she said with a sigh. "I really don't know how to handle my parents."

"Are you kidding me, you're giving us an excuse to come visit you guys sooner." Dad said with a smile "We're not complaining!"

"You're parents will love Riley just as much as we do." my mom said with a smile "and if they don't, that is on them, not you." she said. We finished our conversation and followed the sound of Riley playing in her playroom.

"What are you doing in here bug?" I asked sitting next to her as Hayden started to walk to the kitchen.

"Why wouldn't Mom's parents like me?" she asked looking up at me with big eyes.

"What?" Hayden asked from the doorway.

"Leo and I were coming back to your office when I heard Grandma say that your Mom and Dad might not like me." she said with a shrug "Did I do something?"

"No baby." I said as Hayden walked into the room and sat next to me.

"My mom and dad aren't like grandma and grandpa or Mama and I are." Hayden said "They don't like to play or hug like we do. Grandma said that because my Mom and Dad can be a hard read sometimes, not because you did anything wrong or because they are not going to love you." She said pulling Riley onto her lap for a hug.

"I'll cook dinner tonight." I said standing up and kissing them both on the head "Even though it's your turn." I said.

"Thanks." Hayden said with a smile as she stood up and walked with Riley to the living room.

"When we see granma and granpa?" Riley asked as Hayden and I got her ready for bed that night.

"Tomorrow morning baby." Hayden said feeding her the last scoop of her medicine filled applesauce.

"Why not now?" she asked with a frown.

"Because there plane isn't here yet." I said laying her down in her bed.

"Why not?" she asked.

"That's what the ticket said" Hayden said handing her Leo.

"But why?" she asked.

"Okay baby" I said with a laugh "No more why's. Grandma and Grandpa will be here tomorrow." I said kissing her forehead. "3 times." I said once she was asleep and we made it back to our room.

"What?" Hayden asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The amount of times she wakes up tonight and asks when Grandma and Grandpa are going to be here." I said laying down and turning off the lamp next to me "3 times."

"Oh haha-" Hayden started to say before she was cut off by a small voice calling out to her through the baby monitor.

"I change my vote to 7." I said with a laugh as Hayden climbed out of bed with a groan.

Hey friends! I know this chapter was fairly serious, but I'm setting up the story line for several chapters in the future! Which (hopefully) means I'll be able to write my chapters a little faster. So please forgive me!

Also a few people have asked me a question that I am going to try to answer. First I want to apologize for not doing a better job of describing what Dana, Hayden, and Riley look like; I see them so well in my head that I completely forgot to describe them to you. A few people have asked me which characters play Dana, Hayden, and Riley, so I'm sure other people have similar questions. but here's my answer pre-answer before I actually answer!!

I've never really thought of specific people who play any of the characters I write because they are all people that I created in my head. Part of the reason I don't like putting specific people to a character is because I think the magic of reading is the imagination involved. Even though you have a text in front of you describing what the people and places look like, you are still creating a world of your own. At this point we're 30 chapters in to this book which means you have all created the characters in your heads already. So my forgetful moment created what I love most about reading and writing, the imagination! Now to the answer, this is how I envision the characters.

Dana is a tall brunette with a straight bob haircut. She has hazel eyes and high cheekbones. She has broad shoulders. 31 years old

Hayden has long wavy strawberry blond hair with brown eyes and a heart shaped face. She is a couple inches shorter than Dana. 30 years old

Riley 4 feet 11 inches 100 pounds. Long blond curly hair and blue eyes. Round face. 18 years old

On a side note please feel free to ask me any questions you want and I will do my best to answer them!