Losing My Mind

Chapter 25

The whole day she spent with them took her mind away from everything that had happened this morning. The busy day on the rides and eating the exquisite food that made her stomach ache a little and trying on merchandise that she wished she had when she was a kid.

Ryleigh found it easy to interact with Rory's daughter despite not having children or a younger sibling. Layla liked her and trusted her to draw with Ryleigh and take her to the bathroom.

Rory imagined himself spending the rest of his life with them, eventually becoming a family. It may not be blood to some, but it is perfect to him. So, as Ryleigh and Layla walked ahead of him holding hands, he snapped a photo and eagerly shared it on social media with the caption, "My 2 favourite people in the world & I wouldn't trade it."

They returned home, and Layla brought her dolls to play with and turned on the kids' television as background noise.

'Can we get Maccy D, please?' She begged Rory.

'We'll have to go out and get it.'

'I'll go.' Ryleigh said. 'You stay here.' He smiles at her gesture.

'Chicken nuggets, please!' Layla tells her.

Ryleigh collected the order and arrived back in to see them on the sofa, asleep and cuddling.

To not disturb them, she places the food down on the kitchen counter and takes a quick photo. She did it to provoke a positive response and increase the number of likes he'll receive on social media, and as well, it's time people notice what a great father Rory is.

When he wasn't around for the first two years, there was a lot of negativity about him, but now that he's here, he's making things right for her, and Layla sees nothing but happiness and love from him. But, Ryleigh wonders if he didn't have his daughter, would he still be the reckless person he was years ago?

'Dad?' She hears Layla stirring and turns around.

'He's asleep. Shall we go into the dining room and play some games?' Layla nods and takes her hand.

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Rory woke up looking around for his daughter and, for a second, panicked. He checks his phone to see messages from Ryleigh informing him where they are. Then, his heartbeat returned to normal, and he went into the dining room.

He peeps around the corner and sees she's teaching Layla how to plat on Ryleigh's golden hair while Layla tells her about pre-school and how much she is enjoying it.

He glances at them, and the more Ryleigh spends time with the things he loves, the more he craves her to be in his life. But, before they can move forward, he needs to ask Ryleigh about her relationship.

Rory comes in, and they look at him.

'Look, Dad, I'm making plats.' Layla said this while holding a plat strand of Ryleigh's hair in her hand.

'That's really good.'

'Picked it up really quickly. Quite gifted like her dad.' Ryleigh comments as she observes how quickly he picks up new things; that's how he taught himself the piano. 'Oh, there is a favourite song she likes to have on repeat.'

She takes out her phone and plays one of his songs from a few weeks back. Layla begins to sing and dance along with it, putting on a show in her little world.

He watches her for a bit, and Ryleigh looks at Layla as she's smiling. The freedom he has now to be with Layla puts him into an overwhelming state as he tries to hold back his tears, and Ryleigh notices.

'Hey, what's wrong? Is it something that I've done?'

'No, these are happy tears.' He wipes them off his face. 'It makes me happy that she loves what I do, and I've missed her so much.'

'Well, she has a cool dad.' She says, comforting him and rubbing his arm. He gets goosebumps from her touch, and he takes her hand and clasps it with his. Ryleigh watches as their hands are connected, starting to get an adrenaline rush. Then, he tucks her hair behind her ear and moves towards her cheek with his other hand.

'I'm hungry.' Layla calls out, and Ryleigh breaks eye contact and releases from his hand.

'Well, it's a good thing I brought you chicken nuggets then. Come on.'

They always had the opportunity to move things forward, but she didn't want to betray Russell, and he didn't want her to be painted as a bad person. But the thought was constantly there when they peered into one other's eyes.

Layla is placed on the kitchen island, and Ryleigh leans next to her, watching Rory warm up their food.

'Daddy. Is Ryleigh your girlfriend?'

They both blush.

'We're just good friends, and that is what's important.' Ryleigh reassures her. Her words made his heart sink a little, but it was the right thing to say.

'Aw, could you be his girlfriend?'

'It doesn't work like that, Ly.' Rory explains to her, still blushing.

'I wish you were because I think you're really nice.'

'Aw, that's lovely of you.' Ryleigh says and gets redder in the cheeks.

They looked at each other quickly, believing it would stop, but it didn't; it made them glow even more.

'I think it's lovely to have a boyfriend.' Layla says to Ryleigh. 'I've got one!'

'Hey, I think you and me need to have a chat, don't we?' He kids with her, and Ryleigh chuckles.

Layla is picked up by the nanny later that evening and stays with them for the night because she cannot be in the house. Some returned, while others stayed in the hotel with their other half for the night. As everyone was catching up, Ryleigh attempted to call Russell again, but it went to voice mail because it was nighttime in the UK.

'Hey, I'm not sure if you got my message or not, but I really need to talk to you. I know you were supposed to come here as a surprise, but I also know why you didn't turn up, so could you please give me a reason to explain? We need to know where we stand. Bye.'

She assumes he's ignoring her, which causes her to lose sight of where they go from here. She needs to know before anything happens with Rory, or she will spiral out of control with no intentions of stopping.