2015

It had been a few days since Alex gave Riley his summer touring plan proposal and she still hadn’t given him an answer. She wasn’t lying, or just being a mom, when she told him she would really think about it. She really was thinking about it. She had even talked about it with Summer, who was beyond thrilled at the idea. Riley had just been so preoccupied planning the upcoming showcase at the gallery that she was afraid to make any other big decisions at this time. Plus, there were a few loose ends that she needed to make sure were tied up first.

Between organizing all the vendors, press and of course, buyers, Riley was really stressing this showcase. The artist had become a good friend to her and she did not want to ruin his first big break. He could have chosen any gallery in Los Angeles, or the whole world really, to do his first real showcase and he went with Riley’s. She wanted it to be perfect and the last thing she wanted to do was screw anything up.

Riley was asked to submit something of a biography for herself to be added to the pamphlet that would be passed around the night of the showcase. As much as this was a big deal for the artist, it was also a big deal for Riley as this was the first big showcase her gallery was doing. Her career was riding on it just as much as the artist.

The biography was stressing her out too. She never knew what to write about herself but definitely didn’t want someone else to do it. She mostly would want to write about Summer and how most of her inspiration for everything came from her daughter. She was once told that if she wanted to be taken seriously, she couldn’t let people know she was a young mother before they got to see her work. She hated to hear that but had to agree that on some level it was true.

Finding out you were pregnant at eighteen years old never came off as the most responsible thing.

Sighing loudly, Riley looked away from her laptop and slouched back in the chair that sat at the desk in her office in the back of the gallery. Her thoughts drifted back to almost nine years ago when she first found out she was pregnant and how she just figured her life was over. She never thought she’d get to where she already was in her life. She certainly never thought she’d be running her own gallery in LA.

2007

Riley’s hands shook slightly as she stared down at the eleven pregnancy tests that sat in a row across her bathroom counter. They each displayed varying types of positive readings. A million thoughts were running though her mind at once. It was hard for her to even comprehend what was happening and what the repercussions were going to be. She definitely couldn’t fathom how many lives would be effected.

With a shaking hand, Riley pulled her cell phone from her pocket and selected the name of the only person she could think to talk to at this time. Her Aunt Penelope.

Aunt Penelope was Riley’s mom’s sister. She was sort of the wildcard of the family – in the best way possible. Riley’s grandparents certainly hadn’t planned on having any other children after having Riley’s mom and her two uncles – so Aunt Penelope was something of an “oops baby”. She was much younger than Riley’s mom and her uncles. She was more of an older sister figure to Riley than just her aunt.

Halfway through college, Penelope realized that school wasn’t for her and she needed to take some time to “find herself.” She hopped on a plane and disappeared to Europe for a while. She kept in touch with her family back and Arizona every once in a while, except Riley. She was in touch with Riley at least once or twice a week and always sent her a postcard from the newest city she landed in.

Eventually Penelope found herself in London where she met a slightly older gentleman, who was quite a wealthy businessman. It was practically love at first sight and his money certainly had nothing to do with it. Just like that Penelope’s free spirit was sort of tamed and they were married within a year.

The family was skeptical of all this at first, but once they all had come out to London to meet him, and attend the beautiful wedding, they realized Milton was exactly what Penelope had been searching for when she set out to “find herself.”

It was rough for Riley, at only thirteen, to accept that her aunt was going to stay in London forever. She always sort of assumed that she would eventually come back to Arizona. But once she got to London for the wedding, she too realized this was where her aunt needed to be. Riley herself even fell in love with the city.

“Riley!” Aunt Penelope excitedly answered once she had connected to Riley’s phone call. “How is the most beautiful niece in the world doing?”

“Aunt Penny,” Riley said softly, trying her hardest not to cry. “Something’s happened.”

“What’s wrong, baby? Are you okay?”

Riley sniffled. “No.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked again.

Riley immediately felt bad for the frantic tone that was growing in her aunt’s voice.

“I’m pregnant.”

Aunt Penny was silent for just a second longer than Riley wanted her to be. For a second she thought that maybe the phone call had been disconnected.

“Are you sure?” was the first response she had.

Riley let out a long breath as she stared down at all the pregnancy tests. “Pretty sure, Aunt P.”

“Have you taken a test?”

“I took eleven.”

“All positive?”

“Every damn one,” Riley admitted.

Aunt Penny was silent again which just make Riley even more nervous.

“Oh, Riley, baby, please tell me you know who the father is.”

Riley had to let out a nervous laugh. “Of course I know who the father is.”

“Oh, thank God,” she muttered to herself. “Do I know who he is?”

“You better. He’s the only guy I’ve slept with,” Riley answered.

“So, your best friend who’s not your boyfriend but everyone knows that you’re both madly in love with each other.”

“Aunt Penny, please,” Riley rolled her eyes. “Yes, it’s Brian. Yes, he’s my best friend and not my boyfriend. But we’re not madly in love with each other.”

“Riley, please,” Penelope mimicked her. “You are so madly in love with him.”

“Okay,” Riley let out another loud breath. “I never thought I’d say this, but can we please get back to me being pregnant?”

“Right,” Penny said, getting back on subject. “Have you told him?”

“No!” Riley said quickly. “I literally just got the results from the last test before I freaked the hell out and called you.”

“Okay, well there are two things you need to do.”

“What’s that?” Riley asked, pretty sure she already knew the answer.

“You need to make a doctor’s appointment. And then you need to talk to Brian.”

And that’s when the tears started. Of course Riley knew that she needed to tell Brian. But she also knew that telling Brian would make this more real and that meant pretty much ruining both of their lives.

“How am I going to tell him, Aunt Penny? Having a baby right now will ruin everything! I’m supposed to leave for London in two months. Brian’s leaving for tour shortly after that. None of that can happen now. Well, he can still go on tour, I suppose. I’ll just be stuck in Arizona, pregnant and alone.”

“Hey,” Aunt Penny said loudly, “You’re never going to be alone, you hear me?”

“Thanks,” Riley mumbled.

“You still need to tell him.”

“What if he hates me?”

Aunt Penny laughed. “He can’t hate you for this Riley. You didn’t get pregnant on your own.”

“I guess… “

“Brian’s not an asshole and I can’t imagine after you guys being friends for ten years he would decide to be one now.”

“I hope not.”

“Talk to him and then make the doctor’s appointment and once you know for one-hundred-percent sure, you know you’ll have to tell your parents.”

Riley felt tears stinging her eyes again at the thought of telling her parents. They had always held her to such a high standard growing up – and not in a weird way, or in any way where they forced her to do things she didn’t want to do. Riley, on her own, was just always a good kid, who always excelled in school and for the most part, didn’t get in much trouble. She was also an only child, so she was really the only thing her parents had.

“They’re going to be so disappointed in me.”

“Don’t think like that,” Aunt Penny tried to assure her. “You’re still their kid and they’re going to be happier that you came to them instead of trying to hide it.”

“I don’t know if I can handle all this, Aunt P. It’s too much,” Riley confessed.

“Do you want me to come home?” Aunt Penny suggested. “I can get on the first flight in the morning. Milton’s away for business this week anyway; he won’t even know I’m gone.”

Riley groaned to herself. She had been so wrapped up in what was going on with her that it didn’t even dawn on her that it was after midnight in London.

“Don’t be silly. And I’m sorry. I just realized that I probably woke you up.”

Aunt Penny laughed. “Are you kidding? Didn’t you hear me say Uncle Milton is away? I was up binging on crappy romantic comedies and eating junk food in bed. No need to worry.”

“Okay, but really, you don’t need to come back here. I got myself into this mess and I am going to have to handle it like an adult.”

“Honey, I know how scared you must be and I’m not trying to downplay how huge this all is, but no good can come from you freaking out and beating yourself up over this. Shit happens and people make mistakes; yeah, this is a big mistake, but what’s done is done. Brian and your parents will understand that.”

“I get all that, Aunt P, and I’m trying my best not to freak out but I had all these plans for the future and now…” I trailed off as the tears started to pool in my eyes again.

“Honey, try and relax okay. Maybe you’ll have to put some of your plans on hold for a little while. You don’t have to give up on all that just yet. Many people have had children and still managed to move on with their lives and accomplish things.”

“I hope so.”

“I will be there with you every step of the way, whatever you need, I have your back, Riley. You know that right?” Aunt Penelope tried to encourage.

“I know,” Riley hiccuped. “And I appreciate that.”
----

After Riley had gotten off the phone with her aunt, she sent a text to Brian. She knew that he was working and then going into a rehearsal with his band, The Summer Set. She felt awful for even texting him because he was going to be exhausted but she also knew that she couldn’t wait.

Riley: Is there any chance you can stop by when you get out of rehearsal?

Brian: Of course. Are you ok?

Riley: I will be. See you later.

Brian: See ya. <3

Riley sat on the couch in the living room and tucked her legs underneath her. Picking up a very worn out copy of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" to try to read a bit to distract herself until Brian came over was definitely easier said than done. As silly as it was, Harry Potter had always been her go-to. Even though she'd read them all a dozen times already, she always found herself turning to one of the seven books when she was going through a rough time.

Thankfully, Riley’s parents had gone to a benefit for her dad’s job and would be out late so Riley didn’t have to worry about dealing with them anytime soon.

It was just after eleven o’clock when Riley received a text from Brian that he was on his way and it was just after eleven-fifteen when there was a knock at the front door signaling he had arrived.

As soon as Riley opened the door for him, Brian could tell that something was wrong. Riley led him up to her bedroom where she made him sit at the edge of her bed. She paced back and forth in front of him in silence trying to gather her thoughts.

“Riley, what is going on? You’re starting to scare me,” Brian said, reaching out for Riley’s hand.

“You should be scared,” Riley finally said, grasping Brian’s hand and pulling him up from the bed and towards her bathroom. She figured if she couldn’t find the words, she would just show him.

“Riley…” Brian said carefully as he stood with her in the bathroom.

Riley just responded by gesturing to all the pregnancy tests that were still lined up across the counter.

Brian stared at them for probably too long without saying a word. Riley moved so she was standing next to him and slipped her hand back into his.

“A-Are they all p-positive?” Brian finally asked.

Riley looked up at him through their reflections in the mirror and nodded. “All eleven of them.”

“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “But how? I thought we were being careful…”

“I-I don’t know,” Riley shrugged. “I thought so too, but I clearly something went wrong.”

“Okay,” Brian said, taking a deep breath and giving her hand a squeeze.

“Okay?” Riley repeated. “That’s all you have to say? Okay?”

Brian let out a nervous laugh. “I’m sorry, Rile. I’m not exactly sure what else I’m supposed to say.”

“Are you scared? Nervous? Mad at me?”

“Mad at you?” he repeated this time, dropping his hand from Riley’s and turning to face her.

“How on earth could I be mad at you for this? It’s not like you made it happen on your own.”

Riley swallowed hard and did everything she could not to cry. Brian was taking this a million times better than she had expected. She feared if she fell apart, she could set him off too.

“Hey,” he reached for her hand again. “You don’t have to hide how you’re feeling for my benefit,” Brian assured her as if he had been reading her thoughts.

Riley bit down on her lip as it started to quiver and tears pooled to her eyes. “I-I’m sorry,” she whispered before tears began to slowly slip down her cheeks.

“Please don’t apologize,” Brian said, reaching up and wiping her tears away. “It’s going to be okay.”

Riley shrugged him away from her and quickly walked out of the bathroom. “How can you say it’s going to be okay? I’m supposed to leave for London soon. You’re going on tour soon. It is certainly not going to be okay.”

“Hey,” Brian rested his hands on Riley’s shoulders and forced her to stand still and face him. “Listen to me. Yes, this is not the most ideal timing for something like this to happen. Yes, I am scared. But what’s done is done. Being mad at you or having a breakdown isn’t going to change anything. I will figure out what I need to about this tour and you will figure out whatever you have to about London.”

Riley nodded slowly and let her eyes fall closed in a sort of comforted way when Brian wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Have you told anyone else?” Brian asked once he released her.

“As soon as all the tests results came up, I called Aunt Penny.”

“And what did she say?” Brian asked, leading the pair of them back over to Riley’s bed, where they sat at the foot.

“Actually, almost the same thing you did. What happened, happened and now we have to deal with it. She also told me that I had to tell you right away, make a doctor’s appointment and after the doctor’s appointment, I would have to tell my parents.”

Brian nodded slowly, the size of his eyes growing a bit, “My parents too…”

Riley nodded, realizing that maybe the severity of the whole thing was finally hitting Brian.

He quickly shook his head and cleared his throat. “Okay, so the doctor. Have you made the appointment?”

“No,” Riley shook her head. “It was too late by the time I finally took all the tests. I plan to wake up early tomorrow and take care of that first thing.”

“I want to come with you,” Brian said.

“What?” Riley tilted her head to the side in question.

“Whenever you get that appointment. I’m coming with you.”

“Brian, you don’t have to do that.”

“I want to. I’m not going to let you do this by yourself. And I also want to be with you when you tell your parents. We got ourselves into this together, and we should handle all the consequences together.”

Riley looked up at him with a small smile on her face, despite the tears in her eyes again.

“Thank you,” she whispered before pulling curling her body into Brian’s with a tight hug.

Riley and Brian didn’t talk about the whole pregnancy thing much for the rest of the night. Brian had finally convinced Riley to get into her pajamas and the two of them crawled into Riley’s bed and fell asleep together watching reruns of "The OC" that Riley had owned on DVD.

Riley’s parents had come home way after she and Brian had fallen asleep. It wasn’t unusual for the pair to fall asleep together so they certainly had nothing to hide. Well, nothing aside from all those pregnancy tests, which they were sure to dispose of before they went to bed, making sure there was no chance of Riley’s parents finding them.

When Riley’s alarm went off at seven the next morning, she quickly unwrapped Brian’s arm that was tightly wrapped around her waist and jumped out of bed to lock herself in the bathroom where she called her doctor. In a surprising turn of luck, Riley was advised that they had a last minute cancellation and could squeeze Riley in at ten-fifteen that morning. She thanked the receptionist and took a quick shower.

At the appointment, Riley and Brian received the news they were more than sure they were going to get. Riley was approximately five weeks pregnant. The doctor could sense that they were certainly not ready to be parents and this was definitely not a planned pregnancy, so she provided Riley and Brian with different pamphlets of information that outlined their options.
***

2015

Riley was pulled back to reality when a knock came from the other side of her office door.

“It’s open,” Riley called, quickly putting her attention back on her laptop screen so she didn’t get caught daydreaming.

The door opened slowly and Riley was very surprised and relieved to see Alex poking his head in.

“Hey, hey,” he greeted. “Are you busy?”

“Extremely,” Riley groaned.

“Perfect,” Alex beamed, walking into her office and presenting a pizza box he’d been hiding behind his back. “I assumed you haven’t taken the time to eat anything today.”

“Oh my God,” Riley exclaimed, making grabby hands at the box. “You’re so hot.”

Alex laughed, passing her the pizza box. “I’ll just pretend that was meant for me.”

“Huh?” Riley asked, flipping the top up and quickly pulling a slice out to take a bite.

“Forget it,” Alex laughed again, leaning across her desk and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Hi babe.”

“Hi,” she smiled at him. “Thank you for the pizza.”

“Of course,” Alex nodded, taking a seat on the other side of the desk and reaching in the box for a slice himself, earning a glare from Riley. “Oh, sorry. Am I allow to have one?”

Riley giggled. “I suppose so,” she said taking another bite from her slice.

“Okay, so what has you so frazzled today?” Alex asked, leaning back in his seat. “Anything I can do to help?”

“I’m not sure there’s anything you can do, unfortunately. I am still trying to finalize a bunch of things for the showcase and everyone is pissing me off. I have to write this stupid biography thing about myself they want to include in the program, and I have no idea what to write. Plus I have regular work around here that’s starting to pile up. I have to get Summer from school soon, she has a birthday party to go to later and then I have to make sure she gets all her homework done before bed,” Riley rattled off.

Alex nodded slowly. “Okay, well, I am sure I can’t assist with any of the gallery related stuff, but I can definitely help with the Summer stuff. I can pick her up from school and bring her to the party and all that.”

“Thanks,” Riley smiled. “But it’s okay. I’ll make it work. Plus, I still have to get her friend a gift. I meant to do that over the weekend but it completely slipped my mind.”

“I don’t mind,” Alex pressed.

“Alex… Actually, wait a second. You don’t happen to have a copy of Nothing Personal on you, do you?”

Alex laughed. “I can’t say that I do.”

“Damn,” Riley sighed. “It’s one of the things I’m supposed to pick up for Summer’s friend.”

"Why would you need a copy of that album for Summer’s friend? It came out almost before they were all born.”

Riley laughed. “Every time Summer goes to a birthday party, she always gives the kid an All Time Low album.”

“Really?” Alex gasped.

“Really,” Riley nodded.

“Okay… But why is she giving an album from so long ago? We just put out Future Hearts like a month ago. Why isn’t she pushing that one?” Alex asked with a laugh.

“I’m not sure exactly how she decides but she has all the albums on some kind of rotation. She wants to make sure to spread them all out among all her friends.”

“That’s amazing.”

Riley nodded. “I’m pretty sure she’s become an unofficial member of your promo team. You might have to start paying her.”

“Seriously,” Alex chuckled. “I’ll have to talk to her. I’m sure we can strike a deal for the summer.”

Riley let out a nervous laugh and Alex quickly shook his head.

“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to come off like I was hinting at you not making a decision about this summer yet. I was just joking and-“

“Alex!” Riley interrupted him. “It’s okay; I know what you meant. But on the other hand, I haven’t given you an answer yet, and I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I know that you’ve been busy. I don’t want to force it.”

She wanted to give him an answer. She wanted to tell him they would be there. The few loose ends that she was working on tying up would more than likely fall into place. She hated leaving him hanging.

“Look,” Riley sighed. “I really want to be there and so does Summer. I’m just not totally sure we’re going to be able to swing it just yet.”

“Take your time,” Alex said, leaning over the desk and giving her another kiss. “I’ll get out of your way now. I don’t want to be any more of a distraction to you,” he said, standing from his seat.

“No!” Riley said, maybe a little too loud as she stood as well. “You really don’t have to go.”

“But you just rattled off a million things that you needed to get done in such a short span of time,” he reminded her, stepping around to her side of the desk and slipping his arms around her waist.

“But you,” she paused to wrap her arms around his neck and press a soft kiss to his lips, “are a much welcomed distraction.”

“Am I?” Alex asked, his eyebrows going up.

“You are,” she said, removing her arms from his neck and plopping back down in her chair.

“Huh…” he nodded, looking down at her slightly confused as she starting typing away at her laptop again.

Riley cleared her throat and used one hand to point at her shoulders before going back to ferociously typing.

“Got it,” Alex understood, grasping her shoulders and lightly starting to massage her tight muscles.

After a few moments, Riley’s typing became less ferocious and slowed considerably until finally she was leaning back in her seat completely, her hands falling into her lap. All her focus was on the way Alex’s hands moved from her shoulders to the back of her neck.

“You okay?” he asked, taking a break from his massaging and spinning the chair a bit so Riley was now facing him.

“I’m awesome. Why’d you stop?” she whined.

Alex laughed. “I wanted to make sure you were still with me. It seemed like you’d gone comatose for a minute there.”

Riley looked up at him with a content smile. “Not comatose, but definitely more relaxed than I’ve been all day.”

“Good to hear,” Alex smiled, leaning down to give her a quick kiss, except when he went to pull away, Riley’s arms went around his neck, pulling him back for a much longer and harder kiss.

A little while later, Riley found herself perched atop her desk. Alex stood between her legs, trailing kisses across her shoulder and up behind her ear.

“This might be a little too relaxed,” Riley mumbled into Alex’s mouth as he went in for another kiss.

“Should we stop?” he asked, his hands having made their way dangerously high under her dress to rest comfortably on top of her thighs.

Riley groaned as she craned her neck to check the door to her office, noticing Alex hadn’t locked it on his way in – not that she would have expected him to.

“We can’t,” she said as she turned around and the second she did Alex’s lips were back on hers.

“Why?”

She gestured back to the door and Alex scoffed. He ran off to turn the lock and just as quickly found himself stood between her legs again.

“How about now?” he asked, letting his hands return to where they’d rested on her thighs previously.

“We really, really, really shouldn’t,” she said, letting her actions betray her as her hands fumbled with his belt buckle.

“You’re really giving me mixed messages here, Riles,” he chuckled.

“You’re right,” she nodded, removing her hands from his belt and resting them on his chest. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Alex sighed, slowly sliding his hands out from under her dress.

Riley took another glance at the now locked door, then the clock on the opposite wall and shrugged. “Fuck it,” she mumbled, before her hands returned to Alex’s pants and she lunged herself forward to crash her lips to his.

To make the process go quicker, Alex undid his own pants, while Riley removed her underwear and stuffed them in the pocket of Alex’s jeans before she pushed them down passed his knees.

“Are you sure about this?” Alex asked, gripping Riley’s hips tightly, hiking up her dress in the process.

“Just come on,” she grunted, locking her legs around his waist to pull him closer.

Alex chuckled before covering Riley’s lips with his own to stifle any sound that came out of either of their mouths when he thrusted his hips forward.
---

“You know,” Riley started, hopping off her desk. “Pizza, a massage and sex on my desk were the only three things not on my list today but I’m glad I got them accomplished too,” she said, shooting a wink at Alex.

He smirked as he yanked his jeans back up. “I’m always here to help.”

Riley smiled as she shifted her dress back into place before walking closer to Alex and slipped her arms around his neck. “You know I really appreciate that, right?”

“I know,” he assured her, pressing a light kiss to the tip of her nose as Riley slipped her hand into his back pocket and retrieved her underwear. “Now, that’s hot,” Alex pointed out.

Riley walked back to the other side of the room to slip her underwear back on.

“Why will you let me bang you on top of your desk but then get shy about putting your underwear back on in front of me?” Alex asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Shut up,” she grumbled, mimicking his position.

“So,” he changed the subject. “I assume now you’re even more behind schedule. Would you like me to be on Summer chauffeuring duty so you can keep working?”

“Nah,” Riley shrugged. “I’ll just do the rest of what I need to do from home. But you’re more than welcome to tag along.”

“I’m there,” he said, shooting her the same lopsided grin that made her fall for him in the first place.

“Alex…”

Suddenly, it hit her like a ton of bricks. There was nowhere in the world Riley would rather spend most of her summer than on the road with Alex, her daughter and the rest of the band and their crew.

“Yeah, babe?”

“Summer and I are coming on tour,” Riley blurted out.

“What? Really? Are you serious?” Alex asked, trying to contain his excitement.

“Yes, really, Yes, I’m serious,” she said, slow starting to match his excitement.

“Hell yeah!” he cheered, rushing over to Riley on the other side of the room and scooping her up in his arms in a tight hug. “Like, really, really?”

Riley yelped as he swung her around again and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck to steady herself.

“Really, really, really,” she assured him.

“This is amazing, Riley. You are not going to regret it! We’re going to have the best summer ever!”

Riley smiled and pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth. “You better hope so.”

“I know so,” Alex said as he stopped spinning and rested his forehead against hers. “I love you."

Riley smiled again and kissed his lips this time. “I know.”
***

Notes

Dang, this is a pretty long chapter. I'm sorry it's a bit of an info dump. But at least you've learned a little bit about Riley's history so far - but don't worry, there's a lot more where that came from.

I hope you enjoyed! Be sure to like/comment/subscribe should you see fit. :)