Common Decency

Chapter Ten;

Alex didn't agree with what I was doing. He thought it was reckless of me to stay over at a 'basic stranger's house' with a dependant 2 year old. I told him we don't question him when he goes out with Sofi.

My mother is celebrating. She's going out with some of her girlfriends from college. She was busy getting made up when I picked up Riley and our bags. It had been a while since I saw my mother get ready to go out. I honestly was frozen to the floor as I paced past the bathroom and an unfamiliar woman stared back.

As a girl, when judging another person I can easily pick out what make up products a person is wearing. So, even though, I could see her foundation, her mascara, her tinted eyebrows and a dash of the highlighter I bought her last Christmas, all that impacted me was the beautiful role model that was now staring at me in the reflection. The stare was laced with worry.

"Too much?" She asked me quietly, her teeth sunk into her lip. It really had been a long time since she went out to enjoy herself.

"You look perfect, Mum." I strode quickly into the bathroom and wrapped my arms arounds her, hugging her as if I were six years old. The embrace's message was simple I love you and you deserve this. No words were needed.

Without warning I felt something wrap around my leg and squeeze. Riley stood beside us, looking up at us. He was trying to get into the hug. My mother and I smiled, I picked him up and we squeezed him in until he squealed.

"Be careful!" My mother yelled after me as I struggled out to my car, a child on one arm and a bag of clothes in the other. Riley didn't really know what was going on. He was the kind of kid who went along with everything. Apart from the hair dresser. He hated the hair dresser. The minute I started the engine, he fell asleep.

I was extremely worried that arriving at the Edwards's residence –or mansion, whatever- would be extremely awkward. It wasn't.

Upon arrival, there was a post it note on the door. It basically told us the door was unlocked and to walk right in. It did state to lock the door and remove the note though, which seemed reasonable.

First thing I did was dump my bag at the foot of the stairs. Then I steadied Lee on his own two feet and held his hand.

"Honey, I'm home!" I yelled out, surprised that my voice didn't echo through the vast expanse of the house.

"Hey babe, I'm in the living room!" Roman's voice bounced back to me and I followed the sound. I had never been in his living room before.

I found him in a mess. He was surrounded by toys. Cars. Blocks. Dolls. Teddies. Riley let me go and immediately started to play, his eyes were alight with wonder and curiosity.  Roman had his back to me. He was playing with a blonde haired, blue eyed angel.

He turned around to face me, "Ren, meet Rosa."

The one year old smiled goofily and said "Eh ooooh."

"C'mon, Ren. Let's see who can build the biggest tower. Siblings versus siblings."

The rest of the day blurred by. It was mostly playing games. Rosa went down for a nap at six until seven. This allowed me to stick a movie on for Riley while Roman cooked and I tidied up the huge mess we had all made together. Apparently Lee likes kids picnic type sets. They had a giant, built-in closet for all the toys, board games and computer games. Like an all-ages entertainment centre. Pretty impressive. It took me a solid twenty minutes to tidy up. I also sniffed out the vacuum and gave the carpet a quick once over. Finding some crisp crumbs we had devoured an hour before.

I heard Rosa's baby monitor first. I went up to go get her, deciding Roman had it busy enough with whatever was happening in the kitchen. Rosa's room was adorable. Her walls were covered in light blue swirls and clouds. Her furniture was all white and there was a really fluffy rug in front of her cot. The girl was standing up, nose just peaking above the railing, blonde hair a puff around her head.

She wasn't crying anymore. She was kind of shocked I had come up to get her.

"Hey, Rosa," I said casually, trying to act like this was nothing but normal. "Did you have a good nap? I bet you're really hungry right now, huh?" She beamed at me and raised her arms up, telling me to pick her up. I smiled back and lifted her out. "Jeez you could do with a new diaper, Missy." I said as I felt the weight of it.

I was in the middle of changing her when her brother walked in.

"Okay, Rosie time to get up. Dinner is almost re-" He stopped in his tracks, in the middle of the room, and looked me up and down, as if he was assessing me.

"She woke up about five minutes ago, I was trying to help you out," I explained, as his quizzical expression continued. His face morphed from confused to understanding as he walked over to give me a hug.

"Sorry, it's just been a long day is all." His hand was remained around my waist even though the hug was over. I didn't mind.

Downstairs, I distracted Riley away from Finding Nemo and convinced him to sit at the table beside me. Roman had cooked one pot pasta for us. Apparently it was Rosa's favourite. She looked like she was definitely enjoying it.

I know this chapter is a bit of a mess, forgive me.  I do hope you guys like it though.  I'm glad to finally get to their weekend together.  What do you think of the characters so far?  Any ships? ;)  love you guys xoxo