“What is it, Auden? Do you not want to move in with me? Do you want to stay with your mom? What can I do, baby?”
“Do you think it’s too soon? What if you change your mind? What will I do then?” She asks.
“Oh Auden, I love you. I’m never going to change my mind. I’ve told you before but you’re it for me. I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I love you Auden and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Nothing will change that.”
She seems to relax at my words.
“I love you too, Ryker.”
She leans over the center console and presses a sweet kiss to my lips.
“Ok. Let’s move in together.” She says when she pulls away.
I smile back at her and kiss her once more before getting out to get her door for her. This is the start of our life together and I can’t wait for it to start.
Chapter 10
Auden
* * *
After school Ryker and I walk out to his car and he helps me in before we drive over to Todd’s house. When we pull into the driveway, I notice that my mom’s car is gone from the driveway. I don’t think much of it as Ryker pulls up outside of the front door. He puts his car in park and is about to shut it off when I stop him.
“I only have two bags. Just let me run in and grab them.”
He looks like he’s going to stop me and argue but I kiss him quickly before I throw open the car door and run up the front steps. I step inside and notice that it’s deathly quiet in here. I run up the stairs and into my bedroom before I start to grab my dirty clothes out of my hamper and shove them into my suitcases with the rest of my clothes. I go into the bathroom next to grab my toiletries. I shove them into my suitcases and zip them up before rolling them out.
As I pass my dresser, I notice a piece of paper laying there. I pause on my way out the door to see what it is. I drop my bags and pick up the paper to see it’s a note from my mom.
* * *
Auden,
* * *
Now that you’re eighteen, I think that it’s time to go our separate ways. We’ve never been that close and to be honest it will be easier for me to move around without you. You’ll finish high school in a couple of weeks and figure things out. You’ve got a good thing going with that Holden boy. It seems like you take after your mom a little bit, huh? LOL.
* * *
Take care of yourself.
* * *
Wow. I don’t even know how to feel right now. I’m hurt that she would just leave me behind like this. She just dumped me somewhere and moved on without me without a second thought. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised since, as she said, we were never really that close but still, she’s my mom.
I’m also pissed off that she would compare me to her. We are nothing alike and I’m not using Ryker for his money or what he can do for me. I love him and he loves me and we’re going to be together forever, not just a few months.
I ball the note up in my fist before shoving it into my pocket and once again picking up my bags and heading down the stairs. I walk out the front door without looking back and almost run into Ryker as he comes up the steps. He must have gotten tired of waiting for me. As soon as he sees me, he grabs the bags from me and loads them into the trunk before he opens the door for me. I slide into the car and we ride in silence to his house. I think that he must sense that something is wrong because he’s holding my hand and rubbing his thumb along my knuckles as he drives with his other hand.
He pulls into the garage and helps me from the car before grabbing my bags from the trunk and heading into the house. He carries them up the stairs and right into his bedroom and then his closet. I follow him into the room and lay down on the bed. He drops the bags in the closet before he comes back and joins me on the bed. He brushes the hair away from my face as he leans up on one elbow and looks down at me.
“You ok?” He asks.
I reach into my pocket and hand him the crumpled note. He takes it from me and reads it.
“That bitch. Auden, you are nothing like her. You are smart, caring, and so beautiful, inside and out. I love you. She’s an idiot who never realized what an incredible daughter she had and she doesn’t deserve you.”
By the end of his speech, tears are running down my face. I launch myself at him and he falls onto his back as I burrow my face in his neck. He holds me to him and lets me cry into his shoulder. Once I’m all cried out Ryker scoops me into his arms and carries me into his bathroom. He sets me down on the counter before turning to the bathtub and starting the water. He adjusts the temperature before coming back to me and helping me undress. Then he carries me over to the tub and helps me slide into the water.
The way he’s taking care of me right now makes me want to start crying all over again. No one has ever tried to take care of me or thought about what I need. No one but Ryker.
I soak in the tub for a little bit and Ryker disappears only to come back and help me up from the tub and into pajamas. Then he carries me to bed where he has a tray with some soup and bread on it. I smile gratefully up at him as he adjusts the tray over my legs.
We eat together in silence and once I’m finished, he moves the tray from my legs and comes back to tuck me in. He lays down behind me and spoons my smaller body with his. I turn in his arms and rest my head on his chest. He kisses the top of my head and we lay together, cuddling, in silence until I drift off to sleep.
This isn’t how I pictured moving in with Ryker would go. I’m drained from the long day. I’ll deal with all of this tomorrow but for right now, I just want to cuddle with Ryker and get some rest. I just want to lay with the man I love tonight.
Chapter 11
Ryker
* * *
I hold Auden in my arms as she sleeps and I promise myself that I will never leave her. I want to spend the rest of my life taking care of her and making sure she has everything she needs. Making sure that she knows that she is loved and wanted.
I can’t believe that her mother would think that Auden was anything like her. I’m glad that I never met the woman now. Who just abandons their own daughter without even saying goodbye in person? Auden is nothing like that and I know that once we have kids, she will be an amazing mother. Our kids won’t have a childhood anything like hers, or mine for that matter. They will always know how much we love them.
Thinking about our kids brings my mind to the fact that Auden could be pregnant. We’ve never used protection so the chance is pretty high that she could be carrying our child right now. I move my hand around her hip and place it on her lower stomach as I think about starting a life with her. God, I want that. I close my eyes and drift to sleep, dreaming about having kids with Auden and making her my wife.
I wake up with Auden wrapped around me. I could get used to this, I think as I lay there and listen to her even breathing. We only have a few minutes left before the alarm will go off and we have to get up for school. I stroke her hair softly and she starts to stir right as the alarm starts to ring. I hit snooze and look down at her as she blinks sleepily up at me.