Chapter Twelve - "She Likes Strawberries."
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Avery's P.O.V

I watch River as she runs around the large backyard, running away from the girl who is chasing after her with a big grin on her face. I lean back in my chair and look around to see everyone crowded in the pool; mostly teenagers who are the kids of half the parents here.

And let me tell you, there are a lot of teenagers here.

"Having fun?" I hear someone ask behind me and I turn around to see a certain person I have been waiting to bump into.

"I can tell River is." I say to Logan as he sits down in the chair next to me. He smiles and glances over at River before looking back at me.

"I asked you though." Logan says and I roll my eyes.

"So far so good, Logan. Just tell your wife to stop glaring at me though and I will be fine." I say and look at Katie who is glancing between Logan and I with curiosity.

Logan looks over at Katie and waves me off. "I told her not to say anything to you but that's the only thing I could get out of her." Logan says and I raise my eyebrow at him.

"And what did you bribe her with? Sex? Would make sense." I say, looking back at River who is now chasing after the girl.

"You think your so funny, don't you?" Logan asks, humor clear in his tone and I flash him a smile.

"Damn straight." I reply and Logan rolls his eyes.

"For your information, I didn't bribe her with sex." Logan says and I glance at him with curiosity.

"So, what did you bribe her with?" I ask and Logan smirks.

"She wanted a dress so I bought it for her. She only gets it after the party though because then I will know that she won't start drama today." Logan says and I roll my eyes.

"Cute." I mutter and Logan raises his eyebrow.

"What?"

"You two seem so perfect. Happy families, right?" I tease and Logan rolls his eyes.

"Honestly, I would rather be with you any day but you know, I'm waiting for you to confess your love for me." Logan winks and I chuckle.

"You'll be waiting a long time for that day." I say and Logan shrugs, standing up.

"I succeeded once, I can succeed again, Avery." Logan says and I send him a thumbs up, a smile playing on my lips.

"Whatever makes you sleep at night." I say and Logan grins before walking back inside. I notice that Katie is now gone and out of my sight and I sigh in relief.

Finally.

"Mommy, I need to go to the toilet." River says, running up to me. I nod and get out of my chair, walking inside and making my way up the stairs.

I knock on the bathroom door and after a few seconds of no answer, I open the door and send River in.

"Do you need me to come in?" I ask and River shakes her head.

"I'll be fine." River says as she closes the door and I nod.

"Ill be downstairs, okay?" I call and I hear River yell out an 'okay' and I start to make my way down the stairs.

I bump into someone's back and I quickly apologize before making my way into the kitchen to get a drink. I open the fridge and pull out a bottle of water and sit on a stool, taking my phone out of my pocket.

I notice that I have four messages from my father and I open them, reading them.

Dad: Where the hell are you? Are you kidnapped? Is River with you?

Dad: If you don't reply in the next hour, I'm going to assume that you are dead in some old warehouse.

Dad: Oh never mind, Joshua told me your at a birthday party.

Dad: Stay safe and look after River, okay? Have fun.

I chuckle at the second message. He was going to assume that I was dead in some old warehouse if I didn't reply within an hour? Wow, now I know where I get my weird imagination from.

Me: I'm fine, dad. I'll be home before dinner so you don't have to worry. See you soon x

I turn my phone off and open the water bottle, taking a sip of it. I put the bottle on the table and smile when a certain black haired lady walks into the kitchen.

"Sarah." I greet and Sarah smiles at me, walking to the fridge.

"Hello Avery. Where is Logan and River?" Sarah asks and I shrug.

"I have no idea where Logan is and River is in the bathroom." I say and Sarah nods as she sits at the table.

"Oh okay. So, what's happening between you and Logan anyway? I'm hearing rumors that you two are secretly having sex..." Sarah says and I gasp, my eyes widening.

"God no. I am not doing such a thing. I mean, we aren't doing such a thing." I say and Sarah grins.

"So you two haven't even kissed?" Sarah asks and I bite my lip as I remember the other day.

"Well... we did kiss once but yeah." I say, shrugging it off. Sarah on the other hand just keeps the grin on her face.

"Do you like him?" Sarah asks and I sigh.

"I have no idea. It's like one day, I hate him and another day, I like having him around and spending the day with River and I." I say and Sarah nods.

"Thats explainable." Sarah says and I grin, crossing my arms over my chest as I stare at Sarah.

"So, what's the story of you and Jared?" I ask and Sarah smiles.

"Believe it or not, we met in an elevator." Sarah says and I chuckle.

"An elevator? Oh, such romantic place to meet someone." I say, still laughing and Sarah nods, chuckling also.

"Yeah, I know right? Anyway, it was just us two and we both realised that it was going to be quite a long elevator ride or whatever since we were both going to the top of the building so we decided to talk and during the five minutes that we were in the elevator, we talked about the basic things; name, occupation, age..." Sarah trails off and I nod, letting her continue.

"Then, the elevator stops and we find ourselves talking for the next hour about anything and everything. We exchanged numbers when a week passed, he took me out to dinner and it was so amazing. After that, we continued to go out and last week, he asked me out and ever since then, we have been dating." Sarah says and I smile.

"I'm so happy for you, Sarah." I say as I take in the story. Honestly, I am happy for Sarah. When Logan had mentioned his father's passing and the fact that Jared is the first guy Sarah started to see ever since her husband died is such a huge thing to do. You have to question if your ready or not and you have to think about if you are ready to go along with the next step; moving on.

"Thank you, Avery. I just wish Logan would be happy for me also but I guess he is too caught up in the whole protective act." Sarah explains and I nod in understanding.

"Well you are his mom. He has a reason to be worried." I say and Sarah shrugs.

"Thats true." Sarah says and I get off the stool.

"Well, I'll be back since River is taking longer than I expected in the bathroom. Hopefully she didn't lock herself in." I say and Sarah chuckles. I walk up the stairs but stop when I hear a certain cry of pain come from a room upstairs.

Is that River?

"River?" I call out as I walk down the hallway, opening all the doors. After looking through half the doors, I hear someone call out my name which makes me run down the hallway to the last room.

Logan's room.

I push the door open and stop in my tracks when I see Logan holding River in his arms. I can't help but glance down at River who is crying in pain, tears running down her face.

"What happened?" I ask, closing the door behind me. Logan looks down at River and tries to calm her down by moving a teddy bear that River had brought with her in his free hand but this only makes River cry louder.

"I have no idea. I just saw River holding her wrist in pain as she cried out 'mommy' and 'ouch' multiple times." Logan says and I take River in my arms, sitting on the bed.

"Hey, hey, what happened? Why are you crying?" I ask River, trying to calm her down but River isn't having any of it. I sigh and hand her back to Logan, kneeling down next to him as I stare down at River.

"Is it your arm?" I ask but the just makes River cry more. I run my hands down my face and let out a frustrated sigh.

"I'm getting Sarah." I say and Logan nods. As I leave, I don't miss the words that are directed to River come out of Logan's mouth.

"River, you can tell me anything so make it easier for your mom and tell me who hurt you?" Logan asks and I quickly jog down the stairs.

"Sarah?" I call as I walk into the kitchen. Sarah looks at me, her eyebrows knitted with confusion.

"Whats up? You look stressed." Sarah says and I grab her hand and pull her up the stairs.

"Thats because I am." I say before walking into Logan's room where River is still crying. It's not a loud as before so I'm guessing whatever Logan did, calmed River down a little.

"I think it's her arm." I say to Sarah and I close the door behind me as Sarah makes her way over to River and Logan.

"Hey River, you want to come with me?" Sarah asks and River stops crying almost immediately and looks at River who is holding out her arms for River. Logan hands River to Sarah and when Sarah places her on her hip and bumps her arm, River starts to cry again.

"Yep, it's definitely her arm." Logan says and I sit next to him, watching as Sarah tries to calm down River by rocking her and clicking her tongue which makes River smile through her sobs.

Honestly, I don't know how to react when I see River in so much pain. It's like her pain transfers over to me and even though I try my best to help her, it just makes the situation worse. I hate seeing River like this because she is usually the bubbly little girl I have raised.

I think Logan saw the pain on my face because as soon as I bit my lip when River started to cry again, he grabs my hand and rubbed his thumb across it reassuringly.

"Okay, now that she has calmed down a little, I think we should wait a little before asking her. We should take her downstairs and make her some food." Sarah says as River rests her head on Sarah's shoulder. I nod and look at River who is looking anywhere but her arm.

"Strawberries." River mumbles and I can't help but smile when Sarah looks at River with confusion.

"What?"

"She likes strawberries." Logan and I say at the same time which makes Sarah smile at the both of us. I roll my eyes at River who is grinning at me.

"Well I've definitely got strawberries so I'll get you some, okay?" Sarah says to River and River smiles. I stand up and so does Logan as we follow after Sarah.

"Thanks for helping her." I say to Logan and Logan flashes me a smile.

"I'm here to help." Logan says as we make our way down the stairs. Suddenly, I hear River scream again which makes the smile fly off my face.

"What happened?" I ask, standing in front of River trying to search for what made her cry again. River points to someone behind me.

"She did it!" River screams, tears running down my face and Logan and I both turn around to see the one and only standing in front of us with a small grin on her face.

Katie.

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Oh shit, whats going to happen next? I would like to thank my sister who gave me the idea to write this scene since this book needed more drama.

PLEASE vote and comment! You know the go, people!

Lofd - "Here's the thing, we started out friends. It was cool but it was all pretend. Yeah, since you've been gone."

-XmysterysmileX