𝐴𝑢𝑟𝑜𝑟𝑎

Chapter 14 ~ Stares

Aurora

Me and Ryder are squished together on the couch as I sit in between him and Greyson. Ryder ended up staying for a little while longer only because mom begged him to and because dad was having a great time.

Laklyn is sleeping in my lap as his eyebrows crease, probably because of the noise level. I nudge Ryder in his side and he immediately looks to me.

"Can I take him up to my room to lay down? I don't think he likes the noise." Ryder hesitates to nod. I take that as my sign to stand up with the baby in my arms and head up to my room.

Once I get to my room, I lay him down in the center of my bed and hop in with him. I lay on my side as I wrap an arm around him and rub circles on his back. I noticed how much he likes those.

I take into notice that Laklyn looks just like his father. He has dark eyes, they have the same nose, and they act like each other sometimes.

I wish me and Miles could have had babies. When he broke my heart that's the first thing that came to mind. We had talked nights on end about babies, our babies that he wanted with me. He told me he would marry me, and then grow a family with me.

That dream got flushed down the toilet when he admitted to cheating and went to travel. Seeing him again was a reminder that I will never be enough for him, or better yet, anyone. I will never be enough for anyone.

I don't let the tears threatening to spill come out because if one tear slips, the rest will and I'll wake up Laklyn with my sobs.

I don't hear the tiny knock on the door but when a tall figure comes to Lakelands side of the bed and crouches down, I get myself together.

"Hey," he says in a soft whisper. He gently sits on the end of the bed, his body facing us. "Hi..." I whisper back.

"He's out huh?" I nod my head as the two of us stare at the baby in front of us. "You know, I don't think Laklyn has ever liked a person as much as he's liked you." Ryder's soft whisper snaps at him.

"What about his mother?" I find myself asking but I regret the words because Ryder freezes. He lets out a sigh and simply just says, "she's not in the picture, never was." And he ends with that, I don't push any further, instead, I give him a nod.

We fall silent as we go back to looking at Laklyn. He moves after a while and opens his big eyes, looking around my dark room. I smile at him and unwrap my arms from him.

His head moves from side to side trying to figure out where he is, I take my finger and let him wrap his entire fist around it.

He looks at me and his frown drops. He has a big smile on his face now. I lean down and give his face a gentle kiss. He babbles and tries to scoot closer to me.

At this point, Ryder is forgotten, my focus is on Laklyn. I bring his body close to me and he cuddles up to my side and plays with my shirt.

I look back up to see Ryder looking at us, something in his eyes makes me question everything. "We should probably head out now that he's awake." Ryder clears his throat. I frown at the thought of Laklyn leaving but nonetheless I get up from the bed and hand him over to his father.

Once he sees his father, he clings to his shirt as he rests on his hip. We head out of my room and they take off. I wish I didn't have to be so worrisome.

💌

"Rory?" Gianna's voice snaps me back out of my trance. I look at her and see that we are closing. I grab my bags and start to head out the door.

"Do you wanna get dinner?" Her soft voice makes me turn around. I smile and nod. Besides Greyson, Gianna is my only friend. She knows when I'm sad and needs some help bringing myself back up.

We head out in separate cars and meet up at a diner and order food. We spent the evening laughing and talking about everything. She knows about Ryder. Once she saw him and me interact at the store that one day, she begged me to tell her everything. I did.

"So he's a single dad? And his baby likes you better than him." I giggle as I nod. This goes on forever, he has endless questions making me laugh.

"He's hot though, he has the hot dad bod, tattoos, and that chisel, I just want to run my fingers through it." She exclaims and I lean over the table to playfully slap her arm. We laughed even more.

"I better get home. Greyson is waiting on me." She nods. We say our goodbyes and head our different ways.

Once I get home and open the door, I'm greeted with boxes on boxes. I scrunch my eyebrows in confusion and see Greyson come out of the guest room.

"Hey Rory!" He hugs me. "Hey, what is this?" I ask him.

"I took you up on your offer!" He exclaims. And then I remember. I told him he could move in with me before he heads to California.

I smile at him, "Well then, let's get you unpacked!"