One String Attached

14.

.Riley.

"I don't want to wear that, Mummy!" Aaliyah yells, having her own tantrum as we stood in her room. I was trying to choose an outfit for her since we would be heading to Deborah's in just a moment.

Both the kids had eaten and James had just headed out to get petrol for the car. But since he wasn't here, it meant Aaliyah had no fear at all and decided to be her ultimate bratty self with me, making me roll my eyes at her.
"It's too hot to wear that," she pouts, grabbing the jeans I was holding for her before throwing them on the floor.
"Aaliyah!" I shout at her sternly.

I'd had enough of her antics throughout the week, I did not need more of it.
Maisy had picked Violet up an hour ago and ever since her best friend left, Liyah's been a wreck. It's always like that when she and Vi are torn away from each other. They're so inseparable that when they do separate, it causes tantrum upon tantrum, and it only drives me up the wall.

"What do you want to wear then?" I ask her, huffing slightly as I remained sat on her bedroom floor on my knees, completely aggravated. If James was here right now, she'd no doubt listen to him and do everything he asks of her. It's only when he's not around that she decides it's her time to shine.
She smiles at me before running over to her wardrobe and then pulling out a birthday top and jeans shorts, then showing me it. It was the same top Michelle had brought the girl for her birthday, reading the words 'Sweet, Six and Sassy'. Those were a few words to describe the little munch.

"Aaliyah, it's February, baby. It's cold," I tell her. Just then, I feel two hands place on my back lightly, causing me to turn my head around before I find Asher stood there, smiling and giggling.
"I'm ready, Mummy," he tells me, making me smile before pulling him down onto my lap and brushing my fingers through his hair, kissing the top of his head.
"Good boy, Ashy," I tell him, making him laugh softly before I raise my head up to look at my daughter who was stood there with her arms crossed.

"It's not fair," she whines, throwing the clothes she was holding back onto the floor. "You like Asher more than me, Mummy! You never tell him off," she cries.
"Liyah, sweetheart. Just get changed for me, okay," I tell her but she shakes her head and then goes running out of the room, making me sigh as I watch her pace away from me on her own two little feet.

"Why's LiLi crying?" Asher asks me, playing with the hands which I had harnessed around his stomach. I shake my head, kissing his cheek before standing up again and then picking him up to hold on my side.
"Don't worry, bubba. She's okay," I say to him.

He smiles and nods before I leave Aaliyah's room and walk into the living room where James enters the house at the same time. As soon as his eyes land on mine, he smiles, about to say something but before he can, I cut him off.
"Please talk to that daughter of ours," I tell him, causing him to raise an eyebrow in my direction.
"Why? What's up this time?"

"She had a clothes tantrum. I told her it was too cold to wear jeans shorts but she wouldn't listen and started saying that I never tell Asher off, it's always her," I recount. He sighs and drops the keys down on the side before passing me, kissing my forehead softly and then ruffling his son's hair.
"I'll go and talk to her, alright," he tells me and I nod my head.
"I'll start loading the car then," I tell him, and he nods.

"Are we going now?" Asher questions, linking his palm with mine and shaking my head to amuse him. I chuckle, looking down at his little frame and nodding my head. "Is Sauble coming too?"
"Sauble's staying with Auntie Piper," I tell him, causing him to tilt his head to the side in confusion.
"PiPi not going to Nana's with us?" he asks, so I shake my head, laughing softly. It was adorable when he tried to form sentences. He may be a little behind but he was the cutest.

"No, it's just us going," I say to him, kissing his temple before letting him down onto the floor so he could run over to Sauble's basket, where he begins to stroke the cat's fur and say his goodbyes.
That was definitely something I wasn't expecting. He hated Sauble only a couple of days ago . . .

.James.

"It's Daddy, princess. Can I come in?" I question through the door after knocking on the nursery door. We didn't have any babies, obviously, but we'd always decided to keep the nursery there in case of any sleepovers so there would be more room for them to sleep and who knows . . . maybe Ri and I will decide to have more children at some point, then we won't have to keep on renovating.
Aaliyah makes no sudden sounds or movements, causing me to sigh before I open the door up for myself, where I find her slumped on a beanbag in the corner, her arms crossed over her chest as she sulked, tears all across her face.
Maybe there was something else bothering her.

I close the door behind me and then make my way over towards her before sitting myself down on the edge of the bed, to which she then chooses to stand up and make her way over to me before hauling herself up onto the bed to then cuddle up to me, wrapping her arms tight around my body. I sigh and kiss the top of her head, rubbing her back softly.

"What's wrong, sweet-pea?" I ask her. She sniffles, her nose continuing to run as her cries become more and more audible. "Is this really over Mummy not letting you wear those clothes?" I ask her, but she shakes her head.
"It's not that," she whimpers.
"Then what is it?" I ask her, but she falls silent once again. I sigh, continuing my soft movements over her back as her cries don't seem to come to a halt. "You can tell me anything."

"Violet told me not to tell anyone," she whispers.
"Well you can tell me. I won't tell anyone, I promise," I whisper to her. She bites her lip in the same way Riley tends to before she raises her head to look up at me and then she shakes her head, her eyes red and filled with tears.

"Are you my real dad?" she asks, causing me to blink multiple times.
"What? Of course I am. I'll always be your dad, love," I tell her but she doesn't seem to believe me. Instead, she looks at me sceptically and shakes her head again.
"Violet told me you're not my real dad. She said that my real dad didn't want me," she says, bringing my brain to a halt. I didn't know what to think or how to feel right now, other than stumped and at a loss for words.

"She was right," she cries, taking in the look on my face before she unwraps her arms from around me and stands up, beginning to run away from me.
"Aaliyah," I call after her but she doesn't respond or look back, making my heart skip a beat for the first time in forever.

Was my biggest fear coming true?