On the Outskirts

Twenty Four

~Ryder~

"Sade, baby, you need to calm down." 

"He's late." 

"I know." I wrapped my arms around Sadie, stood in the window looking down the length of her drive and the street beyond that any second now, Jay would be driving down with Hallie after having a fun evening. I can't say I wasn't as nervous about tonight as Sadie was but me freaking out about it wasn't going to help her at all right now so I'd been forcing myself to keep it together all night. I'd tried every distraction under the sun, movies, playing guitar with her, wine, play fights. None of it had worked for either of us. "But that's gotta be a good sign right? That neither of them were watching the clock, she must have been having fun." Sadie sighed, leaning back against me. 

"I'm gonna kill him for bringing her back late. She's gonna miss her bed time and be cranky tomorrow. And yet again, who's the one dealing with the fall out of his actions? Me. That's who." I dragged my hands up and down her arms slowly. "As horrible as it sounds Ry. I want him to let her down. I want him to fuck up and I want her to not trust him so he leaves and she doesn't want to know him." 

"I know and that's understandable Sunflower. And when he does, we will both be here to clear up the mess he leaves but right now, Hallie is getting to know her dad and that's going to be so good for her. She deserves a dad in her life." 

"Yeah. Just not him." Sadie's head falls back onto my shoulder with a huff of air. "I don't get why now is when he comes stumbling back into our lives. When I've got everything lined up nicely and we're all happy and we're in a nice routine and everything's going so perfectly." 

"It's just how life works." Sadie scrunches her nose at me and stands up straight as 2 headlights appear at the bottom of the drive. "I think it might be best if I get her from the car. If Hallie has had a good night, we don't want you shouting at him to ruin it." Sadie nods her head slowly. "Remember what we said Sades. Don't let her think you've been worrying. Go sit down. I'll shout you if I need you." I head to the door when the car pulls up to a stop, stepping down onto the gravel as Hallie manages to get herself out of the car, running over to me. I can't help the smile that cracks on my face and I bend down, letting her wrap her arms around my neck as I lifted her up. 

"Sorry we're late. We had dinner and someone wanted to go to the park and there was dogs so we got caught up playing fetch." 

"There was 5 dogs Ryder! This cute little fluffy one was called Marshmallow! What a cute name." 

"That is very cute." I turned my head to Jay who's eyes were flicking between me and Hallie. "A little hyper this late on a night." 

"Sarah made-" 

"Sarah made me some trail mix." Hallie shook a Ziplock bag in my face and I grabbed it with my free hand. "I've not had trail mix before but it was really good. Made my tongue go all tingly like it was spicy." I tilted the bag, heart pounding in my chest. 

"SADIE!" 

"What?" I sat Hallie down, marching over to Jay and shoving the bag towards his face. 

"Why the fuck is there nuts in this bag?" Jay rolled his eyes at me like it was a fucking joke. One of the first things Sadie tells anyone that spends time alone with Hallie is her allergy and I know for a fact she gave him a detailed list of what to do, what she couldn't eat at the restaurant and any common snacks he just might take her. There isn't a chance in hell he didn't know. 

"There's a handful of peanut and almonds in it. It's not that serious." 

"Not that-" I took a deep breath, turning to Hallie. "Where's you bag Petal?"

"In the car. Why?" I grit my teeth, pulling the car door open from where she'd been sat and ignoring Sarah sat there with a shocked expression. I practically dumped the contents of Hallie's school bag to the floor to find her pen, in perfect time for Sadie to come out of the house and see the panic on my face. "Ryder, I don't feel good." 

"No, you won't do honey, that bag had nuts in and they make you sick, don't they?" She nods and I can see the fear in those perfect brown eyes. 

"What the hell is going-" I turn my head to Sadie. 

"He gave her trail mix with nuts in." I hold the EpiPen up for Sadie who practically dives at me. "I'll grab my keys." I stand up, ignoring Jay's demands that we're being dramatic and she can't actually be allergic to nuts because neither of them are and Sarah insisted it was hereditary. As dark as the red I'm seeing right now is, I need to get Hallie to the hospital. I'll deal with Jay when Hallie is stable.

When I come back outside, Sadie is cradling a crying Hallie in her arms and Jay is watching on in horror when he realizes it's a hell of a lot more serious than he thought it was. 

"You need to go." I grit my teeth until the words come out in an almost hiss. 

"No, I need to make sure my daught-" 

"Your daughter." I pull the back door to my truck open, putting my hand on the top of Sadie's head so she doesn't hit it as she climbs in still holding Hallie and I slam the door shut before marching across to Jay and jabbing my finger into the middle of his chest. "You don't get to call her your fucking daughter. You were more than happy to leave those two girls for fucking dead in that hospital. You were more than happy floating around your city without a fucking damn in the world whilst Sadie struggled to keep Hallie alive. I was the one who picked those girls up and gave them the life they deserve. I was the one holding Hallie during a fucking hurricane. I am the one who's here to read to her every night, to handle her meltdowns after a bad day, to fucking be the co parent Sadie deserves to have. Being a dad is more than fucking blood and I've been more of a dad to that girl in 6 months than you have been in 10 years. Get off this fucking property before I make sure you can't fucking walk for the next year." I turned around, heading back to the car and sliding in the driver's seat.  

"Ry-" I shook my head at Sadie's weak voice, turning the key in the ignition. 

"Everything's gonna be fine girls. Don't panic. We're gonna be fine."