Raising Riven

Declan

Petrichor laced the air, mingling with the crisp breeze. Declan′s eyes scanned the footpath as he pushed the stroller along, in search of gorgeous, blond hair and a set of headphones. He′d been waiting to see those tender blue eyes since the night before.

For the most part, Riven was hassle-free. On this particular walk, however, the baby was restless. Declan cooed to this son, kneeling before the stroller to plant a kiss on the child′s forehead. Riven refused to relent. He kicked and cried amidst the blankets, rosy cheeks as red as the shrubs that surrounded them.

In this state, only Hayden could calm him. Maybe it was the unending kisses he offered, or that he mixed honey into Riven′s milk if Declan wasn′t watching. Nonetheless, Declan felt harassed. Not by his baby, but by joggers, cyclists and couples that shot him looks as they passed, as though Declan′s presence tarnished their smoothie-drinking, bone-bending morning routines.

″Sorry!″ he called out, apologetic, to a runner whose means of avoiding the stroller was by swerving in an exaggerated arc. He sighed, eyelids drooping as he stood. ″You gotta help me out here, so－″

He lost his balance, feeling a shove from behind. He gripped the sides of the stroller, concerned only for his baby, regaining his footing as he craned his neck to meet the jogger he′d bumped into. ″I′m so sorry,″ she started; then, blinking her eyes, she met Declan′s and chuckled.

″Ha, what are the odds?″

″Just the girl I was looking out for.″ Declan smiled, pecking Sierra′s cheek. She pocketed her AirPods, clutching a stitch in her side. She tugged off her scrunchie, ditching her ponytail to let her dark curls fall across her shoulders.

″Right on time,″ she said, catching her breath as she checked her Fitbit. ″Just finished my last lap.″

″Let′s go grab some coffee,″ Declan ventured. At this, Riven burst into yet another fit of tears, crying fussily for the fifth time that morning. Declan knelt before the stroller, speckling the little infant′s face with kisses and smoothing out the gorgeous, golden curls that had grown out over the past few days.

″Oh, I don′t drink coffee,″ Sierra muttered, ″but there′s a smoothie store around the block. Hey, don′t I get one?″ she added, tilting her head to bare her left cheek as Declan kissed the tip of Riven′s little nose.

″Um, sure,″ said Declan, nodding agreement. ″Smoothies it is.″

″I′ll race you there.″ Sierra reeled him in for a brief kiss, setting the stroller off-balance before sprinting off at what Declan could only consider lightspeed. He steadied the stroller, smudging the organic lipstick on his chin in a poor attempt to remove it, watching her disappear around the nearest block of buildings.

He faced the footpath just in time to glimpse the back of another jogger. Unlike the rest, this one instantly caught his eye. Light, ruffled hair left unruly as headphones sat upon his head, toned arms exposed past his sleeveless top.

Declan bit his lip, fighting to peel his eyes off the jogger′s slender waist and all below it that seemed to taunt him. He hadn′t stopped, Declan realised. Why hadn′t he stopped? He couldn′t ponder the burning question for long, forced to redirect his focus to the stroller as Riven cried out once more.

Declan felt a weight tugging at his chest as they left the park. It wasn′t until he pushed the stroller up the line to where Sierra stood, already having ordered their smoothies, that he realised. Accepting his wheatgrass and cucumber smoothie, it took all of Declan′s willpower to muster a smile as he faced his girlfriend.

He never got to see those beautiful blue eyes.