Rose’s pov Why was Mommy not here? Grandma said she was coming too. I was scared to ask, but we had been in the car for very long. I needed to pee, but Grandpa looked angry every time I saw his face in the mirror. “I need to pee,” I whispered to River. “We need to pee,” River said. My sister always helps me. “Not yet, girls," Grandma said. I started wiggling in my seat. Grandma didn’t like it when I made a mess. “We weally need to pee,” River said again. “Just wait!” Grandpa yelled, and it started to get wet and warm in my underwear. O, no….. Tears were coming to my eyes. I miss mommy. Grandpa and Grandma will yell when they see I’ve peed in my pants. “I peed a little,” I whispered to River. River looked at me, “it’s okay, wose. Mommy will come soon.” I shook my head. Mommy and Grandma had yelled at each other. They were angry at each other, and we had moved to another house. They weren’t friends anymore. River stuck her hand out, and I did the same, holding each other ha

Ripley’s pov It’s been almost a week since I brought my girls home. Cas offered to hang around, and while I was thankful for his help, I wanted to be alone with my girls for now. He said I could take as long off from work as I needed and offered paid leave. When I joked if that was available for all employees, he was silent for a bit and then said it should be. I wasn’t sure what he was planning to do, but I didn’t have the energy in me to ask. It seemed all the stress from the kidnapping was catching up to me because I felt exhausted. Not just because I barely slept. But because part of me was still on high alert. I wasn’t sure if I would be able to leave them with someone else again. After we lost my dad, I didn’t realize how his sudden death had affected me. Not until I became very concerned every time Oliver would be late. It was even worse after Rose and River were born. Constant worry about them. I checked if they were breathing several times at night. When Oliver suddenl

Ripley’s pov It was clear I made a mistake by coming here. Cas did not seem happy to see us at all. Or maybe just me, because he was being really nice to my girls. When he pointed to the cameras, I assumed he was embarrassed that I was here. In all the time I had known Cas, I had never felt like he was embarrassed to be seen with me. Even if at times I felt out of place, he didn’t seem to care. His attention had always been solely on me, but now his eyes kept shifting to the cameras and the guests. He seemed agitated and it was because of me.There were a lot more guests than Edward had made me believe there would be. He had lied to me.I would have declined, knowing the magnitude of this party. This was going to be a lot for the girls and for me. Maybe I was projecting my discomfort onto Cas. Because I had never felt like I belonged anywhere less than I do right now. Whenever I was at a party and felt awkward, I always used my girls to coward behind. I focused on them or left ear

Ripley’s pov Great. Now I went from feeling out of place and having everyone stare at me because I didn’t belong at their stupid fancy charity party to everyone looking at me because I was seriously overdressed for an indoor playground. Thankfully, I always put shorts and a tank top underneath the girls’ dresses. I learned the hard way when River decided to ditch her underwear and hang upside down on a monkey bar during a party and exposed her entire butt to everyone there. Now they always have cotton shorts underneath. I wear them myself too sometimes, because it keeps my legs from rubbing against each other. There are probably maybe six people in the world who have that stupid thigh gap, but I am not one of them. My legs touch when I walk. The moms staring at me were an improvement over the rich people, though. They just thought I was crazy for coming here in full face of makeup and dressed up. But what else could I do? Go home and cry? Admit in front of my girls that Cas’ par

Ripley’s pov Staring at Cas with my girls while the sun was shining on my face was a nice break from reality. And my reality stucks right now. Every day, there was another story about me on the news. There were people following me, calling me, asking me for interviews, and some family members that I hadn’t talked to in years were suddenly reaching out. Today had been a way to give myself and the girls a break from everything, yet somehow I ran into the person responsible for it all. No. I told myself. It wasn’t Cas. There were plenty of things I could be angry at Cas about, but this situation I was in now was not one of them. He had no part in this media circus I was in. And he had helped me find the girls, which I would be grateful for as long as I lived. I kept my distance from the three of them. Seeing Cas and Kennedy on TV had been hard enough. He was getting married, and I was not a part of his life. He had proven that when he had not reached out once after that horrible p