“Good point.”
With that, he pulls on the shirt and takes my hand before leading me out of his room. We run into Tully in the hallway, wrapped only in a towel. She stops and smiles at me. “What are you doing here so early?” she questions. “I didn’t think you functioned at this time of day.”
“Trust me, I don’t.”
Noah butts in as though he’s about to share the juiciest gossip on earth. “She has a five year old sister sitting in our kitchen.”
“What?” she screeches. “Crap, I’ve got to meet her. I have to get dressed.”
Tully barges between us and hurries down to her room before Noah leads me out to the kitchen.
Ten minutes later, both Noah’s parents sit at the table with Aria between them, Tully sits at one end with Rivers at the other while Noah and I sit across from his parents, listening to the plan.
“Alright,” Violet says. “Listen carefully because I don’t plan on repeating myself. None of you are going to school today. Rivers and Noah, you two are going to Henley’s place and you’re going to clear out the study. Tully and Henley, you’re hitting the shops. You’re going to need a bedroom suite, some toys, a carseat, and a few sets of clothes then have them all delivered so the boys can start putting it all together. Now, I have some of Lily’s clothes from when she was younger that would fit her. She can borrow them until she has enough of her own.”
“Thank you,” I smile. “But I couldn’t take Lily’s clothes. They’re yours. They’re special.”
A grateful look crosses her face before she gets back to business. “Aria’s five, so she’ll need to be enrolled in school. I’ll need you to give your dad a call and find out which school he would prefer she attends and I’ll sort it from there.”
“School?” Aria questions, looking horrified.
“Yes, school,” Violet confirms. “Have you never been before?” Aria shakes her head. “Don’t be afraid, sweetheart. School is awesome. You’ll meet so many new friends and learn all about the world.”
Excitement lights her eyes. “Really?”
“Of course,” Violet says before looking back up at me. “Now, do you have enough money to cover it all?”
My heart shatters realizing that this is going to completely destroy my ‘Get the hell out of here’ fund, but I wouldn’t have it any other way, and as Noah so kindly let me know, I won’t be needing a ‘Get the hell out of here’ fund anymore. I have to admit, I kind of liked the idea of having all that spare cash, you know, just in case. “I think I should be able to cover it,” I tell her. “But dad left his credit card for emergencies, so I’ll be fine.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” she smiles. “But I’m just a call away if you need any help. Now, Aria here is looking a little malnourished,” she tells me, making my eyes flick back to my little sister to take her in. I start at the top and make my way down and I suck in a breath, realizing she’s right. How could I have not realized this before? “I was planning on taking her down to the clinic to get her checked over,” Violet continues before her eyes widen. “Oh, am I overstepping a line here? Would you prefer to take her yourself?”
“Oh, no, no,” I quickly ease her mind. “I feel like I’m already out of my league here. Maybe it’s better if you do it. I mean, I probably wouldn’t even understand what the doctor is trying to tell me. I…I don’t want to screw her up when I just got her.”
“Trust me, there’s not a lot you could do to screw up a kid. I raised Noah and Tully and they turned out alright.”
“Really?” Rivers grunts.
“Shut up, you,” Violet chuckles before addressing the whole table. “Is everyone clear on your jobs? Do I need to repeat anything?”
Everyone nods and with that, shit gets sorted, my mind finally eases and the terror within my soul disappears. I can do this. I have all these people by my side, making sure I’m alright and something tells me that Violet is going to be knocking on my door every night, checking that I’m cooking enough vegetables.
Chapter 11
Three days of being a temporary parent and I’m ready to throw in the towel. There’s mess, whining, tantrums, and that’s only the beginning of it. It gets worse, much, much worse. I mean, where’s the privacy? Last night she barged in on my shower and sat on the toilet pooping, smiling at me while swinging her legs back and forth. Apparently, watching me try to cover my tits and pussy while slamming my ass against the cold tiles and screaming at the shampoo sliding down into my eyes was the funniest thing she’s ever seen.
Me? I didn’t quite agree.
It was horrendous. There’s no other way to describe it.
As soon as dad gets home, he’ll be tasked with fixing the lock on the bathroom door. I seriously couldn’t cope with a repeat performance of that.
Don’t get me wrong, the little turd has grown on me like you wouldn’t believe. She’s seriously fighting Tully and Kaylah for best friend status and considers herself cooler than them because she’s the one who gets to come home with me each day.
It’s definitely an adjustment, but we’re quickly falling into our own routine, but if I have to hear the theme song for ‘SpongeBob Square Pants’ one more time, I’ll probably scream. I mean, the kid is seriously obsessed, but it makes it worth it listening to her cackle like a little witch at its ridiculousness.
“Aria?” I call out from the bathroom. “Have you brushed your teeth?”
“Yes,” she yells back.
“Are you lying again?”
There’s a slight pause and I stick my head out of the bathroom door and watch her breathe into her hand before giving it a good old sniff. “I don’t need to brush them,” she tells me. “I did it yesterday.”
Oh, good Lord. “You still have to brush them. It’s not like an every now and then kind of thing, it’s like a morning and night kind of thing.”
She appears in the bathroom doorway. “What?” she demands with a serious pout. “But I don’t want to. It tastes yucky.”
“I’ll let you feed Frog again,” I cringe, remembering how yesterday she wanted to kill the poor goldfish by feeding him the whole tub at once. Though, death by food doesn’t seem like a bad way to go.
Her little face lights as her eyes pop out of her head and before I know it, she barges me out of the way and practically shoves her toothbrush down her throat.
Half an hour and a clean living room later, we’re finally ready to get ourselves out of here.
Aria climbs up into the back of dad’s pick up truck and I wait patiently for her to buckle herself into her carseat, as you know, she insists that she’s big enough to do it herself. “Are we going to Tully’s house?” she questions as I jam the key into the old ignition and pray that it can make it through another day.
“Sure are, Squirt.”
“Is Rivers going to be there?”
I press my lips together and try not to grin at her ridiculous little crush. I don’t know what it’s all about, but for some reason, she seems to have bonded with the guy without realizing that he’s probably the most dangerous and lethal guy in Haven Falls. He probably snuck her candies under the table while she was supposed to be eating her vegetables, but if he did, she’s never going to tell me because she’s loyal as hell to him. Like I said, it’s ridiculous.
It’s funny though because Rivers has absolutely no idea what to do with the attention. He’s so awkward that watching him trying to communicate with a child where he’s visibly trying not to be scary as hell is the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. He becomes stiff as a board and his eyes start flicking around to anyone nearby begging them to help him out. Naturally, we let him suffer as Aria is good for his soul. He needs her innocence in his life. They’re the perfect match as best friends.
As we drive to Noah’s place, I can’t help but watch her in the backseat, watching out the window as the world goes by. She’s a completely different child than the timid, scared one I saw just a few days ago. It’s almost as though sh
e’s happy here, hell, I’m going to go ahead and say she feels safe here too. At least, I like to think she does.
I never knew having a sister would feel so…comforting. It’s like, no matter what, I’m never alone. I have a sister to share my world with. I spent eight months by myself until Noah came and barged his way into my life bringing his pack along with him and I’ll forever be grateful for that. Noah, Tully, and Rivers are my family, but now so is Aria and even though it’s only been a few days and she drives me crazy, I wouldn’t give that up for anything. Hell, not even if our mother came to take her back, she would have to put up one hell of a fight, and I have a feeling my father would agree with me. But…something tells me she’s not coming back and when Aria realizes this, it’s going to shatter her little heart, the same way it did to mine.
Dad did a video chat with her yesterday so when he got home, she would feel a little more comfortable with his presence, and I swear, the second dad laid his eyes on her, he simply fell in love. You could see the connection between the two and it was like long lost souls reuniting. He found his child and not even the slightest flash of doubt was in his mind that she was his. It was honestly beautiful to watch, and maybe I was a bit jealous of the kid. I mean, dad never gave me that much attention as a five year old, or maybe he did and I just don’t remember that well.
“What are we doing today?” comes her small voice from the backseat.
“I don’t know,” I tell her. “But I bet if you give the cutest little smile to Noah, he’ll let you do just about anything you want.”
She sucks in a breath loud enough to be heard a mile away. “Really?” she breathes.
“Yep,” I say, popping the ‘P’. “Just remember to say please.”
“Can we…can we go to the beach? The girl Rachel in my class said that she goes to the beach all the time.”
“I think we can arrange that,” I tell her. “We might have to stop in to get you a swimsuit first, though.”
“Can it be pink? Oh, can it have a unicorn on it?”
“I don’t know,” I laugh. “We’ll have to wait and see what they have at the store.”
We pull up at Noah’s place a few minutes later and she practically barges her way out of the truck and storms up the driveway in her rush to beg Noah to go to the beach.
By the time I reach the front door, she’s long gone.
I push my way through the door of the home that’s quickly becoming one hell of a comfort for me and the second my eyes scan the room, I find Aria standing before Noah with her hands up, waiting for him to pick her up, and naturally, he caves like a little bitch.
He’s completely fallen for her charm and she has the big guy wrapped around her little finger. Anything she wants from him, she gets. It’s the sweetest thing to watch, but not as great as watching Rivers squirm with her. Noah hasn’t admitted it, but I think she reminds him of his little sister and how they used to be. It’s kind of like he wants to share all the moments with Aria that he didn’t get to share with Lily.
In fact, the whole Cage family has taken her in as their own, just as they did to me. She’s like their missing link and fills the void Lily left behind. It’s kind of sweet while also extremely heartbreaking to watch.
God, I wish they still had their little girl. I hate that they’ve had such a devastating loss.
I close the door behind me and grin as Aria’s head falls into the nook of his neck before giving him the sweetest smile. “Can we pleaaaaaase go to the beach today?” She finishes off her request by pouting out her bottom lip as though she’s filled with complete pure innocence, but we all know better, she’s a five year old version of the she-devil.
“Beach?” Noah groans, teasing her. “But I don’t like the beach. Wouldn’t you prefer to stay in and do nothing?”
Her little face falls. “Noooo,” she whines. “Henley said if I say please you would say yes.”
“Throw me under the bus why don’t you,” I grunt, walking in and dumping the keys to dad’s truck on the entryway table only to get Noah’s cheeky as fuck smirk thrown at me from above Aria’s head.
“You’ll quickly learn, kid,” Noah grumbles, putting her down. “Henley is never right. Don’t listen to her. In fact, it’s probably best you do the exact opposite of everything she tells you.”
I suck in a breath and shoot him a sharp glare as Aria slaps a hand over her mouth, trying not to giggle at the guy. She tugs on the bottom of his shirt and indicates for him to bend down so she can whisper in his ear and I grin as her whisper is just as loud as her normal speaking tone. “I can’t. She’ll get me in trouble and make me clean my room.”
Noah’s eyes widen in mock horror as he sucks in a dramatic breath. “What? How dare she?”
She giggles again and goes to say something when Rivers walks in the room and gives her a smile. He falls down onto the couch and within the blink of an eye, she throws herself down on the couch beside Rivers, but not just beside him, like really beside him. Her whole body is pressed right into his side while he sits as stiff as a board, looking around for a way out.
Sucker.
“We’re going to the beach,” Aria cheers, filling Rivers in on the plan and Noah draws me into his warm arms.
Noah cuts his gaze to Aria. “I don’t remember agreeing to that.”
She pokes her tongue out at him, realizing that he’s just teasing her and I roll my eyes. Is this my life now? Listening to these two idiots fight and tease each other? Though, I guess that isn’t much of a change to the way life is now. Both Tully and Rivers do the same to him. Hell, even I give him shit too, though he’s certainly no stranger to giving it back just as bad. In fact, worse.
Noah chuckles and pulls away from me. “I’ll go see what’s taking Tully so long,” he calls over his shoulder as he heads for the hallway.
I sit down on the armrest of the couch and grin down at Aria, knowing she doesn’t have much patience left in her. I mean, if Tully doesn’t hurry up, she’ll be left behind, not that Rivers would accept that. He’d probably throw her over his shoulder and storm out of here like a caveman.
I hear the sound of Tully’s bedroom door being flung open before all hell breaks loose.
“AAHHHHHH,” Noah yells as Tully screeches like a banshee before her bedroom door is slammed shut.
My eyes cut to Rivers who’s suddenly sitting ramrod on the couch, ready to run down there if need be, always prepared and ready to stand against any threat that dares to look our pack in the eye.
Noah comes storming up the hall with a blank look in his eye. “Dude, what the fuck?” Rivers questions, temporarily forgetting the ‘no swearing’ rule around Aria.
Noah collapses onto the couch, looking mortified. I’m about to go to him when Tully comes tearing up the hallway. “It’s… it’s not what you think,” she demands, stepping in front of him and making his face scrunch up in disgust. “Noah…I,” her eyes flick to Aria before heading straight back to Noah. She cringes before lowering her voice to a near whisper. "I wasn’t flicking the… bean.”
“The fuck?” River grunts as Noah shakes his head, desperately trying to get whatever he saw out of his head.
Tully glances around, her face now bright red as the rest of us practically lean in, desperately wanting to hear what she’s got to say. “I…shit. Noah. I was inserting a tampon, not playing with myself.”
His eyes slice towards her before narrowing them on her. “You sure?”
“Of course, I’m fucking sure,” she grunts. “I get more than enough action to have to resort to playing with myself.”
Noah flies to his feet and within the blink of an eye, both Rivers and Noah are standing right in front of her, baring down, desperate for answers as she instantly realizes her mistake. “Who the fuck are you getting action from?” Rivers demands and Noah seems to be shaking with fury.
“I…I” Tully stutters out.
“Can we go to the beach already?” a whiny, impatient voice comes from behin
d us all, clearly seeing this conversation as a waste of time when she obviously has better things to be doing.
Tully steps away from the boys and towards Aria. “Of course, we can,” she says, looking back at the boys with her deathly scary glare. “Can’t we?”
Rivers grumbles under his breath before walking towards the front door and calling over his shoulder. “This isn’t over,” he tells her.
“It hasn’t even started,” she warns.
Oh shit.
Noah somehow manages to cool down and before I know it, the five of us are out the door and walking the ten minutes towards the beach, despite Aria’s whining because she has to walk. Though it’s not like it matters, she’s spent the whole walk sitting on top of Noah’s shoulders while Tully and Rivers have a heated argument behind us.
We stop in at the beach store and I laugh to myself as the first swimsuit I see is bright pink with a unicorn on the front. Freaking perfect.
We purchase it and I laugh to myself as Aria starts stripping down in the middle of the store, first making the boys blanch before they get all protective and start making a human barricade around her as I help her get it on as quickly as possible.
The second she’s dressed; she grabs my hand and Rivers and rushes for the beach, pulling us along as Tully’s left behind to search out where Aria threw her clothes.
We finally get our toes in the sand and Aria loses her little mind. The beach is packed with bodies but that doesn’t stop her from racing forward. Noah and Rivers pull off their shirts and hurry after her while Tully and I lay out a towel and make ourselves comfortable.
“Alright,” I tell her as the boys catch up with Aria and collect her before tossing her right into the cool water, making her scream out and start splashing to get them back. “Who the hell are you sleeping with?”
A sly grin cuts across her face as she turns as looks at me. “Nobody,” she tells me.
Unbelievable: Haven Falls (Book 2) Page 11