The Next Step- Nochelle and Jiley One Shots

Discovered Part 2

Author's Note:
Hi all! I thought I'd better write a part 2 after that cliffhanger...

Riley's Perspective:

"James! My dad's name is James." she said, in her little squeaky voice.

James. That didn't mean anything, did it? Lots of people were named James, it didn't have to be my James. And there was no way in hell that this was my daughter. So I was just going to forget about it.

"Alright. Would you happen to know their last names? Or last name?" I asked again, hoping to get all the information I found from her.

"No...I don't know theirs, but I know mine!" Once again, she sounded so proud of herself. "My last name is Bailey. That's B, A, I, L, E, Y."

I had all the information I needed to know. I'd never felt more scared in my life. This was my baby, I was sure of it. How else could she have my last name? James had probably forgot to change it legally, and just left it as it was..

"Riley? Can you find them?" Rosalie asked sweetly.

"I-I can." As much as I didn't want to ever see James again, she was his. He'd raised her, I hadn't. He needed her back. So I needed to do the right thing, and let her go...again.

I wasn't going to call James and talk to him, so I put his old number, hoping it was still the same, into my phone and texted, 'Hi, I actually found your daughter here, she said she knew your number so I texted you.' I hoped he didn't recognize my number, but it was James, so he probably wouldn't.

He immediately texted back, saying, 'omg thank you so much! Unfortunately, I can't pick her up right now, due to lots of stuff going on. Would you be able to take her to yours and tell me the address?'

Seriously, James? I could be a serial killer for all he knew, and he was just leaving his daughter with me? What kind of parent does that? I considered it for a few minutes while Rosalie played with my necklace.

'Sure, I'll take her. Just so you know, I'm not a serial killer.' I replied.

He said, 'of course not, then you probably wouldn't have responded. What's your address, I'll come and pick her up later.'

I was very nervous to tell him my address. It hadn't changed. It was still the same apartment that we'd lived in together. Once again, I guessed that he probably wouldn't know, and texted it.

'Oh, a person I knew used to live there.' he texted. Crap. He knew. But he didn't seem to detect anything by it.

'Cool,' was all I said back. Then I turned back to Rosalie. "Hun, your dad can't pick you up yet, so he wants me to take you back to my house. Can I?"

"Yeah." she said, standing up. I followed her. We then went to the till and payed for the items I needed, and got into the car. I put her in the back seat, doing the seatbelt as tight as I needed to because I didn't have a car seat for kids.

When I got into the front seat, she asked, "How do you know how to do all these things?"

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, you knew how to calm me down, you let me play with your necklace, you knew that I had to be put in the back seat. Usually other people don't." Her tone was observing.

"I just...knew I guess." I said quickly. Maybe it was some sort of motherly instinct. I checked back to see what she was doing now, and noticed her curled up into the seat. She was sleeping. "Goodnight." I whispered.

When I got to my apartment building, she wasn't awake and I didn't want to wake her. So I opened the side door, deciding I would get the groceries later, and picked her up gently, trying not to tousle her. I then opened my apartment door with in hand when I got to it, and set her down on the couch. Sitting down beside her, I brushed I stray strand of her hair out of her face. It brought back so many memories.

Memories of first holding her, memories of first talking to her, and smiling at her, all of it. She'd grown so much, and I'd missed it all. I didn't ever want to let her go again, but I knew I had to. It was what was best for her. And for me. There was no way I could ever be a good mom, no matter what Rosalie said.

I wanted to, though. I wanted to be a mom more than anything in the world, especially to this little girl that I'd found. She was perfect.

I wanted to stay here with her forever. Comforting her, hugging her. I knew it wasn't possible, but I wanted to. I wanted to get to know her, and I wanted to be her mom. But I couldn't. She already had one, who wasn't me. And she had James. As much of an idiot he was, she seemed to really love him.

"Riley?" Rosalie said groggily, flinching as she got up.

"I'm here, sweetie." I said. "I'm not leaving."

"Good." Then she paused and said something else. "Can you hug me, please? I'm cold."

I slowly put my arms around her, not exactly sure how to do it, but I soon found comfortable spots for my hands to go, and held her tight. It felt so comfortable, so natural.

"Hey, Rosalie? What's your mama like?" I asked. I wanted to know who was taking care of my baby.

"She's nice, but I hardly ever see her. I used to see her a lot more, but one day, she left, and didn't really come back. Daddy said she did something wrong, so she had to leave." she explained. "I sort of miss her, but she wasn't really nice. She used to say mean things to me when Daddy wasn't around."

Mean things? My heart hurt. How could anyone say mean things to someone so wonderful, so pure. I couldn't fathom it. "I'm sorry about that." I said, not knowing what else to say.

"I wish you were my mama." she said, cuddling into my chest a little more, and then falling back asleep. I was holding back tears. I wished that now too.

I rested my head on hers, and drifted off to sleep as well. It felt like minutes before I was woken up by a hand on my shoulder.

"Ri?" James said, shaking me awake. Wait, James?

"Mph," I mumbled groggily. "Hmm?"

"Riley, I really need to take her home."

"You're taking her?" I couldn't hide the pain in my tone.

"Yeah, I need to." he said.

"What a second. We need to talk. About a lot of things." I snapped, getting out of my drowsy state. I got Rosalie off of me gently, trying not to wake her up, and went into my kitchen with James following me closely.

"Okay. So talk." James said.