One String Attached

10.

.James.

The following morning, I woke up with only one thing on my mind. It was the one thing I had been thinking about all night, especially after the ridiculous amount of knocks on the front door we had received just after 4 a.m.
It was ludicrous and I knew I had to talk to someone about it, but that person just couldn't be Riley. I needed to talk to someone from an outside perspective so that I knew I was just being delusional over this whole situation.

Right now, I was stood outside the apartment Piper shared with her boyfriend, Finn. I was never too fond of the guy but I'm slowly beginning to lie him bit by bit. The only thing I care about is that Pipes is happy with him and if he's the one who brings her happiness then who am I to intrude on that?
Stood by their front door, I rap my fist over the wooden surface and remain stood there for a couple of seconds. There's some brief chatter and then I hear my younger sister's laugh at something Finn had said, before the door opens and she smiles, her eyes widening, when she sees me.

"James, what a surprise," she says, causing me to roll my eyes. She stands aside to let me in but I shake my head, noticing Finn in the background. "Is Riley here too? I want to see my little nugget and baby bear," she says with a slight pout, using the nicknames she had for both Aaliyah and Asher.
At the sound of their names, I shake my head once again, only causing her to furrow her brows.

"That's not why I came to see you, Pipes. They're back home," I tell her which makes her frown as she stares at me in confusion. "I need to talk to you about something. Could we maybe go for a walk or something?"
"Wow, this must be serious if you're actually coming to me for advice," she says.

I give her my stern look, no smile or smirk present on my face whatsoever.
Once she gets the message, she sighs and nods her head, turning behind her to face Finn before telling him she was going to spend a couple of minutes with me, away from here. He smiles at her reassuringly, nods his head and tells her he loves her, then she does the same before she faces me again.
I didn't even bother making a comment about their relationship this time. I was too distracted by my own relationship right now and it wasn't long before Piper could recognise that I just wasn't in the mood.

"Come on then, let's talk," she tells me, closing her front door behind her before walking along the hall with me to exit the flat and head outside.

. . .

It had been about twenty minutes now and I had told Piper all about the strange events these past few days. I'd told her all about Ri's random meet-up with Emily, those texts I had seen, the documents, the sneaking around, the lying and the secrets, even the strange knocking last night.
I told her all about it and she seemed to agree with me when I said something was up. It wasn't just me overthinking everything and worrying about Riley like I usually did. She was keeping something from me and it was something big. Something she was resolved to sort out herself. What she doesn't know is that by being silent, it's only going to kill her more.

I never really went to Piper for advice unless it was something big. In little situations, I would have gone to the boys. In slightly more dire occasions, I would turn to Michelle, Emily or Maisy. But in times like this, I had to go to Piper. She may be younger but she's not a kid anymore. She's an adult and would understand me since she and I have similar minds. We were both brought up the same way. Sometimes she's the only one who knows how to give me proper advice both of us could agree with and would understand.

We walked through the park side-by-side as she sipped an iced coffee she had brought from Starbucks. The girl may be grown but she still has her rituals. She can't go anywhere without buying food or drink.
As I finish talking about the events of the previous night, I look down at her to which she sighs and shakes her head.

"Do you want me to be honest here?" she asks, looking up at me as we continued to walk down through the path of the local park. I nod my head, shrugging my shoulders.
"Might as well," I mumble, causing her to exhale briefly before she continues talking again.
"You need to talk to her," she says, making me sigh, knowing she was right. "But if you don't want to then I guess I can? Clearly something's going on and you and I both know what Ri can start acting like if things go too far, too soon without anyone knowing," she tells me.

I sigh, looking down and twiddling my wedding ring around my second finger.
What's Riley hiding from me?

.Riley.

"Mummyyy," Asher and Aaliyah both whine in my ear as I stressfully paced up and down the apartment, the letter Bryson had posted into the letterbox last night in my hand.
I was beyond worried right now and I was feeling guilty for not bringing James into this but how could I?
It's like everything's happening again. I'm falling down the same darn hill I had previously climbed all over again and I only seem to keep stumbling down.

"I'm hungryy," Aaliyah groans, laying down on the sofa on her back whilst rolling around. Meanwhile, Asher was toddling around on the carpet, playing with his toys. "Where's Daddy?" she asks but I ignore her, too preoccupied by what I was reading through.

It felt like my mind was whirring right now. the first time Bryson and I had met up two weeks ago, Emily was there so it restricted him from being able to say whatever he wanted to. All he really ever did then was ask me how I was doing and act as if nothing had ever happened between us. But I knew it was an act. He didn't want to show himself up in front of my sister.
But now, reading this letter, it's making my bones twitch. He wants to meet his daughter and be a part of her life and that just makes me angry. 

He has no right to even know who she is. He's been there through none of it, he meant nothing to me. All he was to me was a stupid distraction. He was a one night stand from six, almost seven, years ago. He doesn't get to decide to just get up and choose to be in his daughter's life again when he never was in the first place.
He took advantage of the state I was in. The only string between us is Aaliyah, otherwise I would regret all of it. The only reason I don't is because I got a beautiful baby girl out of it. I don't regret Aaliyah. I never could. I just wish Bryson wasn't attached to her.

All of a sudden, Asher screams at pretty much the top of his lungs, causing me to snap my head up to find him laying on his back on the floor, Sauble right beside him as he licked my son's cheek, causing me to throw the letter down on the table before rushing over to Asher and picking him up.
"Sauble, quit it!" I yell at the cat, soothing my baby in my arms. So much was going on right now, I didn't know what to think or do. And then my husband just up and left this morning without a single word. What was the meaning of that?

"Mummy!" Aaliyah calls my name once again. "I'm hungryyy-errr!"
"Aaliyah, stop it. If you're hungry, get something out of the fridge and eat it," I moan at her, rocking Asher in my arms. I didn't mean it. I didn't mean anything I was doing or saying but everything just seemed to be getting to me and I couldn't help it.

Shaking my head as Asher continues to cry loudly, sniffling and coughing whilst Liyah groans, slumping into the sofa and sulking, beginning to cry herself, I groan to myself before grabbing my phone.
"Get your coat and shoes on," I tell them both as calmly as I possibly could. 

"Where are we going? Where's Daddy?" Aaliyah asks again. I shake my head in dismissal, excusing her questions and throwing them aside.
"Coat and shoes on. Now," I repeat.