One String Attached

84.

.Riley.

As I was upstairs in James's old bedroom where Deborah had placed a cot inside for whenever we were over with the kids, Autumn was settled inside the cradle and I sat on the edge of the bed, watching over her with my pinkie connected together with hers.

This room held so many captured memories from mine and James's childhood.
So much had happened in here which I never would have thought would mean anything back when we were teenagers but it's only now that I'm beginning to see how much all those memories meant to both of us.

I remember the days we would spend up here after school or after dance rehearsals. He would sneak me in here when we first started dating before Regionals but didn't want anyone to know just yet.
The countless hours I would spend tutoring James on maths lessons when he was struggling all the way up to the sleepovers I would have here which would start innocently by having us cuddling with me laying on top of him onto the make-outs which then progressed into us having sex.

I remember the first time that happened.
No one else was home and it was after our date at Parkour Alley when we got back together.

We were both due to be turning seventeen and I remember being so nervous and anxious all the times before when we had made out but when it happened that night, it was seemingly perfect.
It started with soft kisses until it swiftly turned into something more.

Back then, I never would have thought I would experience the same feeling with anyone else but I did.
Before Bryson came into the picture everything was perfect. I had a family who loved me and James's family never judged me. But that all changed the moment I found out I was pregnant.

I told the court judge that I would never regret Bryson purely because of Aaliyah, but what I do regret is all the pain I've had to go through and even put my babies through because of him.
They shouldn't have to suffer. They shouldn't have been put in such danger.

What sort of mother allows their ex to kidnap their kids?
What sort of mother allows him to get away with it all?

I must have been growing in anxiety as Autumn soon begins to stir at the feel of my finger shaking against her own.

"Shh, baby, I'm here, it's okay," I say to her softly as she whimpers, her arms raised up by either side of her head.
I stroke my hand over the small tufts of her hair and I kiss her forehead lightly. "Everything's okay," I say gently.

Only a couple of seconds later, the door of the bedroom opens up to reveal the last person I was expecting.
He was the only member of James's family who still had a slight problem with me as far as I was aware and every time I saw him, I shuddered as a hollow hole filled with emptiness built up in my heart.

"Robert, I'm sorry, I'll be down soon. If one of the kids have touched or broken something belonging to you, I'll pay for it, I promise," I begin to ramble to my husband's father but for the first time ever, he chuckles lightly and shakes his head, stepping inside the room before closing the door behind him.

He sits himself down on the bed by my side and then smiles at me lightly.
"That's not what I'm here to talk to you about, darling. For once those kids have done nothing wrong," he laughs softly, making me look at him confusedly but he pays no attention to the cluelessness behind my eyes.

Instead, he looks down at his granddaughter and smiles.
"She's a cutie, isn't she?" he gushes, the same way Deb always does with Aaliyah and Asher.

I nod my head, biting my lip as my finger remained tangled together with Autumn's own. "So the kids have done nothing wrong? Are you sure about that?" I ask him warily, making him roll his eyes playfully as he looks back at me again.