Life Unexpected (The Urie's Daughter Series Book 4)

Fast Forward

Ryleigh
The car ride was silent. I knew they knew I was crying. Josh and Tyler took a turn pulling me into a tight hug as soon as the door opened. Jordan and my sisters were at the church. I didn't expect them to fly out for this, they didn't know Adam but they're here. I was grateful. I let each of them pull me into a hug. Waiting at the door was Alex, Frank, Mikey, Pete, Josh from YMAS, Oli and Gerard.

I hugged them each, surprised Josh, Oli, and Alex flew out to this. His parents were waiting at the front. His mom's cheeks were tear stained. I don't know that I ever officially met her, she never really knew much about Adam and I. "He loved you so much,"she whispered in my ear. That broke my heart, I felt myself tearing up again. I did this to his parents. They're mourning their son because I was too much of an ass to be in a relationship with him despite how much he claimed to love me.

"I'm so sorry,"I whispered to her before she let me go and started crying again. Her recent ex-husband wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave me an apologetic look. "Thanks for coming, Ryleigh. It means a lot to us and, probably, him, too,"his father said, nodding at me to enter. I'd never felt so fake or out of place. We found a pew and crowded onto it. I sat between Jordan and Josh. Dad sat on the other side of Josh. With tearful eyes, I leaned my head into Josh's shoulder, breathing in my brother's familiar scent of fresh laundry and cologne.

He rubbed his hand up and down my arm. I used my free hand to wrap it around him and hold tightly to the suit he was wearing. It was all I could do to sit through the service. It was painful. Each word was a reminder he was gone and left guilt upon my heart that felt like being stabbed over and over again. Emily, Sam, and Melissa sat on the pew in front of us. I caught them crying, too. I tried to be strong for all of us. As soon as it was over, we stood on the stairs outside. I hugged my friends goodbye as their parents arrived.

They were holding a dinner after the funeral. I couldn't bear to go back to that house. "Can we just go home?"I whispered. "Ry, that'd be disrespectful to his parents. It's one dinner,"Dad said with a frown. "But I'm tired and they aren't going,"I said, gesturing at the now empty roadway. They hadn't gone to the cemetery, yet. That was coming. I felt raindrops starting to fall. It matched my mood. "Maybe she's right. She is pregnant,"Ashley came to my defense. I smiled at her weakly.

Dad sighed and our group made our way to the separate cars to go to our house. I got home and slowly climbed the stairs as the others dispersed downstairs. I curled into a ball beneath my covers and stared at the wall until I fell asleep again. "Hey, you doing okay?"a British voice asked, waking me. I didn't move or reply. "Ryleigh, talk to me,"he insisted. I knew it was Josh or Oli and, as much as I loved to talk to them, I couldn't find the will to move.

It was Oli, I could tell by the tattoos as he went to move my hair out of my face. "It's gonna be okay. It will get better, I promise,"Oli said softly as he stroked my hair till I fell asleep listening to Oli hum softly.

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Three days later, I hadn't really left my bed. Mom or Dad would bring me food, I'd eat a little then sleep again. I wrote a lot, especially songs. Bailey stayed at my side. Even in the middle of the night, she followed me to the bathroom. It was New Year's Eve. I didn't know if we had our usual plans. I just stared out the window. It hadn't really stopped raining since the funeral which matched my mood. Dad came up and softly mumbled something I didn't hear. "What was that?"I asked. "We're hosting a small get together tonight. I know you might not feel up to it but you should try,"he said. I slowly got up and went to take a shower.

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We did have a gathering that was small, just our close family and friends, and we celebrated Maddie's first New Year. Now it was the end of April. I was growing bigger every day. Maddie learned more every day, she was crawling now. I got my driver's license and a car for my 18th birthday. We didn't host too big of a party and we've started setting up my baby's room next to mine.

I rubbed a hand over my pregnant belly, imagining what he or she would look like. I could feel he/she kicking. We haven't found out the gender. I've avoided posting anything to social media until I know the gender. It's hard keeping it a secret from the world especially since my normally small frame is huge.

"Ryleigh! Let's go! We're gonna be late!"Dad yelled upstairs and I heard Mom getting Maddie ready. We were dropping Maddie off with Jenna, Tyler and Debby. Josh was coming with me. We were gonna FaceTime Jordan, Ashley and Abigail when I'm in the room. We're going to another appointment and to hopefully find out the gender.

My biological dad and step mom seemed slightly disappointed in me but it gave way to excitement that they were going to be grandparents. I made my way slowly and carefully down the stairs with my small backpack. I climbed into the backseat next to Maddie and seatbelted myself in. Maddie smiled and giggled at me. She was such a happy baby. I let her grab hold of my finger as Dad started the car and we made our way to Josh's apartment.