It was Friday evening already, and my date with Ryker was tomorrow. I was already freaking out but Sam had been trying her best to make me calm down. I wondered where Ryker would take me. A restaurant? A club house? The mountains? Or maybe an amusement park? To be honest, I didn't want to go to any of the places I had mentioned for my first date. I had always wanted my first date to be memorable and special like the ones in movies.I had not seen him during the week but we text most times. He always had a way of making me smile when I saw his texts. "Sam, do you think I should get my hair done? I could take a break from work tomorrow." I said to Sam as I stared at myself in the mirror."No, Shea! You don't have to take any break. You are only going on a date, not to the hospital to deliver a baby. Why would you need a break?" Sam said as she stared at me."But I think I need to get my hair done.""All you need is just a little washing and no messy bun." "I do wash my hair and messy

Brooks didn’t come to work today, so I had to do all the work in the kitchen. It wasn’t really tiring but I still got a little help from Lucy. Then I decided to ask her about her date with Dylan."He gave me flowers." Lucy said, as she placed the cakes I had baked on display."Aww, that's so cute." I said as I smiled at her."Yeah, Dylan is so sweet. There was a carnival at the amusement park, so Dylan took me there and we had a lot of fun." Lucy explained while I nodded as she talked."Did he go on the roller coaster?" I asked her. I knew how much Dylan hated it, but for Lucy I was sure he would ride it."Yeah, he did, but then he threw up after the ride so we had to leave." Lucy answered as we went back to the kitchen to grab more cakes.I laughed. I knew he would ride it. He always went out of his comfort zone for the people he liked."So..." I gave Lucy a look."So, what?" "Do you like him?" I asked her, the question had been on my mind since we started talking about their date.

I walked towards my mom’s room with Ryker behind me. I told him that he could wait in the car but he insisted on following me. He sat on the bench in front of the room and told me that he would wait for me. A dark heavy weight settled on my chest as I opened the door and saw my mom on the hospital bed, she was alone in the room, I guess dad had gone out to get something. Mom was sleeping peacefully on the bed, she looked pale and a lot of tubes were connected to her body. The sight of her like that made my heart ache. Tears rolled down my face as I stepped closer to her. Her hair was even shorter now and it was in the form of a buzz cut. My lips quivered and I sniffed in as I gently held her hand in mine and rubbed it tenderly. I sat on the bed and watched her while I cried quietly, not wanting to wake her from her peaceful sleep.“Mom, I’m here. Please get better for your baby girl.” I said and let out a quiet sob. “I don’t want to lose you mom. I don’t want to…” I continued to cry

**FLASHBACK**“Please let me go to the party, Ryker. I promise I won’t be late and also Kim will be with me throughout.” Sophia pleaded as she pouted her lips and tugged her brother’s jacket.“Alright, alright.” Ryker eventually gave in. Her puppy eyes and pouted lips always had an effect on him, he couldn’t help but give in to whatever she asked.“Yes!! Thank you, Ryker. You are the best brother ever. I just need one tiny favor from you.” Sophia said as she kept staring at her brother with puppy eyes.Ryker sighed, “what else do you want? I gave you some allowance this morning.”“No, it’s not money this time. Can you not tell Doris and our parents about the party I’m going to?” Sophia said quietly as she looked around the house to see if anyone was coming.“Why?”“Dad is going to kill me if he finds out, he almost cut off my allowance the last time I sneaked out of the house through my window and you know how Doris can be, she’s got this strict big sister vibe going on around her. Yo

The next morning, we went to greet my mom one more time before heading back to school. The memory of our make out session was still fresh in my mind and Ryker didn’t make it easy to forget. His hand was on my thigh the whole time he drove. The smile on my face didn’t fade away until we reached my hostel.“Umm- thank you for taking me to see my mom.” I said to him as I got out of the car, he did the same too.“Anything for you, Grumps. I hope she gets better soon.” He said as he brought out a small box that he took from the safe in his car earlier. I wondered what was inside.“This is for you.” He extended the box towards me. I smiled as I took it from him.“Open it.”I opened the box and saw a silver bracelet with a butterfly pendant in the middle. It was beautiful. I looked at it closely and saw that the pendant has my name on it. My jaw slackened as I stared at the beauty I was holding.“Oh my gosh! Ryker, this is- this is so beautiful. It even has my name on it.” I gushed excitedly