You, Me, and Riley

chapter 37

Hayden

Dana and I had been whispering to each other for days after our parents had left trying to decide if we wanted to approach Riley with the adoption paperwork. I was putting away laundry in my bedroom lost in thought when Riley wandered in the room sitting next to me.

"Are you okay Mama?" she asked, setting Leo on her lap before looking at me with furrowed eyebrows.

"Of course sweetheart" I said in confusion "why do you ask?"

"You and Mom have been so serious since the grandmas and grandpas went back home. You're always whispering and stuff." she said with a shrug "I thought maybe something happened with your Dad."

"That is a very good deduction, and thank you so very much for checking up on me." I said sitting next to her and pulling her on my lap "as of right now, nothing has happened with your grandpa. My doctor friends were not able to help him."

"So what does that mean?" She asked looking up at me with big eyes.

"I don't know peanut," I said, "but we have to remember that he is very sick."

"Okay" she said with a frown "but then why are you guys acting weird."

"Mom and I have been having some grown up conversations the last couple of days" I said with a smile.

"What kind of grown up conversations?" she asked.

"Grown up conversations that we aren't ready to share with you yet." I said smiling as she huffed "but we promise we will soon."

"Fine." she said with a sigh squealing loudly as I tickled her.

"What's going on in here ya hooligans?" Dana said walking into the room with a grin.

"Riley was just asking me why we have been acting so weird lately." I said looking at her with big eyes.

"Oh" she said with a crinkled nose before changing the subject " well I just got off the phone with Mike and Sherri. Jessica and the boys want to know if Riley wants to see that new superhero movie." she said holding up the phone. "In 15 minutes."

"Seriously!" Riley said in excitement "Can I go?"

"Of course you can" I said with a laugh "go grab your coat." I smiled as Riley ran out of the room and quickly turned to Dana.

"Apparently she's more perceptive than we give her credit for." she said with a groan "we totally suck."

"I know." I said, rubbing my temple with a sigh "Did you ask Mike and Sherri if we could talk?" I asked.

"Yes" she said softly "they are totally confused, but are expecting us after we drop Riley off at the theater." she said laughing as we heard Riley yelling at us to move faster.

Once the three of us piled in the car and dropped Riley off at the theater watching her run up to the smiling threesome we quickly drove to Sherri and Mike's house and followed the confused couple into the kitchen where cups of ice tea were waiting for us.

"Let's skip the small talk" Mike said "What's going on?"

"You were always great with words," Sherri said, rolling her eyes.

"Have you guys ever thought about adoption?" I asked "Well adult adoption. With the kids. Andy, Scot, and Jessica."

"We know their names," Mike said after a second snorting after Sherri slapped his arm.

"No, we never thought about it," Sherri said, shaking her head "All three of ours were raised with at least one parent they called mom or dad. Are you guys thinking of it?"

"Possibly" Dana said with a shrug.

"Riley uses our name in day to day life" I said "and that was her choice. If we would have met her a year ago we would have adopted and made her legally our child. We mentioned that in conversation with someone recently and they brought up adult adoption and how we could still adopt her."

"Have you talked to her about this?" Mike asked.

"No" Dana said sheepishly "we have not."

"Maybe you should." He said with a shrug "It's a pretty big decision and it might help you get over whatever weirdness is going on right now."

"There is no weirdness" I said rolling my eyes with a sigh.

"There is a whole lot of weirdness." Sheri said laughing "just talk to your kid."

"What if she says no?" I asked quietly, chewing on my thumbnail.

"Yeah okay" Mike snorted "and what if the grass is pink?" he asked grunting when Sheri hit his gut "she won't say no, that girl adores you two."

"You're right," Dana said rubbing her eyes "We need to stop whispering behind her back and just talk to her."

"Talk to me about what?" Riley asked, looking at us all with big eyes.

"What are you guys doing back so soon?" Mike asked, looking at his wrist watch "The movie won't be over for another hour."

"Andy let slip that Aunt Dana and Aunt Hayden were coming over here." Jessica said with a sigh "So here we are."

"Talk to me about what?" Riley repeated "please?" she whispered.

"I think it's time we go home." I said standing up and walking towards Riley "It's about time we sat down and talked."

"Thanks for talking with us." Dana said as I led a quiet Riley out to the car and buckled her into the back seat.

The car ride home was silent and I couldn't help but laugh at myself as I realized how ridiculous we were being. As we pulled up to the house I gasped in surprise, my heart breaking when Riley's little voice came from the back seat.

"You don't want me anymore?" she quietly asked. I quickly turned around as Dana slammed on the breaks in the driveway.

"Riley no" I said jumping out of the car and opening her door "why would you think that?" I asked her, turning her so she faced me.

"I don't know" she said, wiping her eyes with a shrug "I can't think of any other reason you would be so weird. Or what could be so bad that you don't want to tell me."

"You're right bug" Dana said "there is no reason for us to be this weird, Mama and I are just being silly."

"Lets go inside and talk." I said pulling her out of her seat and leading her into the house. "To Mom's study,there is something up there we want to show you."

Once Riley was sitting on Dana's desk chair I reached into the desk drawer and grabbed the folder of documents with a deep breath before turning to Riley and looking at her with a smile.

"When your Grandma and Grandpa were here they brought something to our attention and we haven't been able to stop thinking about it." Dana said.

"Before you look at this we want you to know that this is just a conversation, you don't have to say yes or no." I said, holding out the folder "everything is up to you." I said watching as she started flipping through the documents.

"You want to adopt me?" she finally asked looking up at us with big eyes.