"Farewell dear friend, may you rest in peace"
The grey and black coffin was slowly lowered into the ground in sight of the many friends and family who had loved its owner
I shoved my hand deep in my pocket and threw into the grave a tiny picture
"Mama"
I looked down at the little blonde boy with large blue eyes and a confused face
I cradled him in my arms and cried into his shoulder
"Mama, sad" he muttered, touching a face to my wet cheek
I gave him a small smile "Daddy won’t be around anymore"
He frowned "Where he go?"
"To live with some angels"
He nodded and rested his head back onto my shoulder
I looked over at his grandmother on one side of the coffin and his grandfather on the other side and it tore my heart that they couldn't even come together for such a sad occasion as their son’s death
The little boy’s grandfather slung an arm around his young blonde fiancé as he wiped his tears and turned away as the earth around the hole was slowly pushed back into the ground, covering the casket
I walked around and stood with my sons grandmother, wrapping an arm around her shoulder as she cried
She buried her face in my neck and sobbed, draping an arm around my waist as I began to cry also
I took one final look at the casket before it was completely gone, reading the gravestone that would forever mark this sad and special spot
RIP Patrick Ronald Carter
Forever a son, forever a father, forever a friend
Forever young 1993 - 2012
I looked down at the blue eyed boy
My son, His son, our son
A boy that would never know his father
*
I pushed the last box onto the trolley and jumped down out of the truck
"Zoom!" yelled a small voice; my son appeared from the front door of the small blue house, a cape on his back his arms out like a plane
His small amount of blonde hair was tousled from the wind, his bright blue eyes sparkled and his small pink lips forming an 'O' as he continued to make the noise "Zoom, Zoom"
"Draco" I called making him stop and look over at me
"Mama" he smiled cheekily
"Grab your bag for me honey and take it in to Nanny" I said holding up his superman backpack
He raced over grabbed it from my hands and ran back inside
I laughed, shaking my head at the boy as I wheeled the little trolley to the front step of the house
“Are you alright there dear?”
I looked up at the older, brunette woman walking down the hallway; she had gorgeous hazel eyes and a sad smile on her lips
“I’m good Stella, Thank you though” I muttered placing the 2 smallest boxes inside the doorway
“Riley, Darling” She sighed stopping by my side “Please don’t put up a brave front for me, I know how this all must be for you, I really want us to be able to get along” She paused “For Drake’s sake”
I stopped and rested on one of the boxes by my side, looking up at her with a small smile “Stella-“
She raised her hand and grabbed the 2 boxes I had set down, cradling them in her hands “Let’s get you set up and then we’ll have some tea”
She wandered away and I followed her, up the stairs of the blue house and into the first door on the left, a large grey room with a double bed in place, a tall light in the corner and a wardrobe against the wall
I dropped the box into the corner of the room with the others and looked back at Stella who was tucking the corners of the duvet in neatly
“Time for some tea I think” She smiled, heading back downstairs
I looked at the room once more
Plain, Odd, New
Mine
I sighed and jogged back downstairs into the kitchen where Stella was making tea and her sister Audrey was sitting at the counter
“It’s lovely of you to take her in” Audrey muttered as Stella handed her a steaming cup
"Well Riley and Draco are the only family I have apart from you Audrey and with
Ronald leaving me for some 22 year old blonde idiot and Pat passing-" Stella sighed and smiled at me kindly, setting a second steaming cup beside Audrey "-Its nice to have them around"
I took the seat next to Audrey and sipped at the sweet, hot tea
"How are you about this Riley, are you liking London?" Audrey asked me, turning so that she was facing me as Stella leaned on the other side of the bar with her cup
"It’s nice, not as different as I thought it would be but I think different is good for Drake and I"
"Tell me, because I didn't get a chance to visit you in the hospital, is his name Drake or Draco?"
I laughed "Draco, but everyone calls him Drake"
"Why not just name him Drake?"
"I prefer Draco" I smiled "Pat did too"
She gave me a small smile and turned to Stella "Have you heard from Anne?"
Stella nodded "She rang to give her sympathy and we ended up having a long catch up" she turned to me "Harry's living down here, did you know?"
I nodded "He's in that new boy band that's taking off at the moment, I heard an interview the other day about the 5 of them moving to London"
"Anne's son?" Audrey asked
I nodded
"I didn't know he could sing"
"He can, he's very talented too"
"Harry is Drake's godfather" Stella added "Anne said that they wanted pictures, they haven't seen him since the hospital I don't think"
"I'll have to ring her, let her know how he's going"
"You should ask her to ring Harry, maybe you can take Drake around to see Uncle Hazza"
"Uncle Hazza! Uncle Hazza! Mama go see Uncle Hazza?" asked Draco, running around the 3 of us
and stopping to tug on my jeans
"Maybe Buddy, But only if you’re really good" I smiled down at him
He grinned and I tussled his hair before he zoomed off into another room
"How does he even remember Harry?" laughed Stella
"He skype called me last year for my birthday, he doesn’t remember Harry’s face only his name"
They nodded and continued to talk about Draco and me now living with Stella in her small house inthe middle of London and how life had been since Drake had been born, I slid off the bar stool with my cup firmly in my hand and turned on the TV in the next room, settling in to the small leather lounge and flicking stations
“The interview you’ve all been waiting for, Ladies and Gentlemen One Direction!”
I paused on this channel, setting down the remote and watching the screen intently 5 boys appeared from the side of the TV set that was built to look like a happy family room with a large table, one arm chair and a long lounge, all in white and light blue colors 3 were brunette, 1 was blonde and the last had black hair, they all smiled and waved before taking a seat on the lounge
“Welcome guys and for our viewers at home who don’t know who you are can you give a little introduction?” asked the interviewer woman in a black blazer and pencil skirt
“I’m Zayn” said the boy at the front with black quaffed hair and tanned skin
“I’m Liam” said the brunette boy with short curls
“I’m Niall” said the blonde boy in the middle; he had a thick Irish accent and a cheeky
“I’m Louis” smiled the brunette boy with straight, sleek, messy hair
“I’m Harry” waved the brunette curly haired boy with dimples who I knew well “And where one direction”
“Stella, Audrey” I called “Harry and the boys are on TV”
The two of them appeared from through the doorway and stood behind me watching the boys on TV
“Well isn’t that nice” Stella smiled “He has grown hasn’t he?”
“He has” agreed Audrey
The two sat down and we continued to watch the interview
“There have been a lot of photos recently of you with a Baby Lux” stated the woman
They all smiled
“Yeah, we look after her when we can, she’s the daughter of the make-up artist on X Factor and she’s just so adorable” answered Liam as a picture of Harry and Baby Lux appeared on the screen behind them
“Harry you seem to just be attached to baby’s these days, you said in an interview that you are a godfather to a little 2 years old called Draco, how did that come about?”
“His mum is an old friend of mine, she had Draco when she was about 17 so she really needed all the support she could get and our group of friends and the father’s family kind of banded around her and when she asked me to be godfather I couldn’t, well, didn’t want to say no”
“We’ve seen baby photos of the little boy, he’s a darling” added Louis smirking
“Well that’s very cute”
“Mama” mumbled Drake, coming into the living room and climbing onto my lap “tired”
I smiled at him and placed my cup on the table before picking him up and carrying him upstairs into his new room, putting him into his cot and kissing his head as his eyes started to droop
“Love you baby boy” I whispered, raising myself from leaning over the railing
“Love mama” he yawned, turning over and cuddling his little brown bear
I smiled and pulled out my phone snapping a quick photo and sending it to Harry with the message ‘Your little Godson xx’ before slipping it back into my pocket and heading down stairs to make sure I had a bottle of milk for Draco when he woke up
I grabbed the milk jug and can of formula, mixing it together in a small bottle, 3 parts milk 1 part formula, before putting it in the fridge for later
My phone buzzed in my pocket
God he’s grown, he looks like you darling, when can we catch up? – Harry x
I smiled and replied: Soon maybe, I moved to London today, Drake and I are looking for a new start after Pat and all, I saw your interview too, very cute xx
He replied almost instantly: Haha ;) I’ll call you through the week, we’ll organize something xx
I slid my phone back in my pocket and began cleaning the tea cups that Stella had piled by the sink, keeping an ear out for the small whine or scream that would mean Draco was crying or sweating in his sleep, dreaming of the fire that had killed his father and almost killed him
***
People keep getting confused at the start so I thought I'd help those who are confused.
Draco's Biological Father Patrick, died in a house fire. Riley and Pat were no longer together when he died but he is Draco's Biological Father.
Niall isn't in the book at this point.