I pulled up in the driveway of my parent's house. I guess it was my house too since I lived here still. I was a 23-year-old single mother who still lived at home with her parents. Pretty pathetic.

When I told my parents I was pregnant with Jessa, they insisted I stay with them. I didn't have any other place to go anyway and I was glad for the help. I couldn't afford to live on my own with a child and no other support.

I grabbed Jessa's bag out of the back of the car and unbuckled her from the car seat. She was still softly snoring. When she slept, she reminded me of him the most. The innocence on her face was always more prominent when she was dreaming. I had forgotten how much she really looked like him.

My Mom opened the door; I swear she had a sixth sense. She was always at the door when I had to carry Jessa in. Everyone in my family worshipped the ground this little girl walked on. She was a little beacon of light that kept my family going after everything that had happened over the last couple of years.

"How's my little sweet pea?" My Mom asked as I was walking up to the door.

"Rotten and in love with Unca Den." I said, smiling. I walked up the stairs and into the house.

"Who doesn't love Aiden?" My Mom asked me, smiling. She was sneaking in her daily Riley needs a man in her life pep talk.

"It's not like that. We are friends. You know we don't do the relationship thing well. It's like kissing my cousin." I said, rolling my eyes.

"It has to be better than that. He's Aiden." Mom smiled.

"Well, since you like him so much, how about you go date him?" I said, sticking my tongue out at her.

"That's disgusting, Riley." She scolded me.

"Exactly, keep dreaming, Mom. Never going to happen. I'm going to go put this little monster to bed." I started to climb the stairs that led to the top floor.

"Papa wants to see her. You can put her in with him." She called up to me. I looked down and nodded at my Mom. Her eyes were puffy and red; she looked like she had been crying again before we got home. It broke my heart. My Mom cried all the time now. She tried to hide it from me, but she had every right to cry. She shouldn't have to hide the pain.

A year and a half ago, my Dad was diagnosed with lung cancer. It was caught early on but had progressed quickly since then. He was bedridden now and seemed to have more bad days than good over the last few weeks. Little Jessa spent most of her days in his room with him. They would have tea parties, play with dolls, and read books together until they both fell asleep. She wasn't scared when she looked at the wires and machines he was attached to. He was her Papa and she loved him.

The doctors wanted us to call hospice in, but we chose to take care of him ourselves. He wouldn't be comfortable with strangers fussing over him "for no reason". He would tell us we were all overreacting every time we had to go to the hospital when he was having a bad day. The doctors would try to force that option down our throats. Early on, we had decided that we wanted to spend his last days together as just our little family without strangers clouding our memories with him.

My Mom fell apart at the seams when we found out. If it hadn't been for Jessa being here with her, she would have died the day he got the diagnosis. My Dad had been her whole world for years and she wasn't ready to lose him now. For the first time in my life, I had to be the adult and take care of the family. I had a new baby, sick dad, broken mom, and came out of what most people would call an abusive relationship. I had been through a lot in the last couple of years, but nothing could have prepared me for my Dad's illness. I never imagined my life would turn out like this.

I opened the door to my parent's bedroom and laid Jessa down next to my Dad. He was softly snoring but moved his arm to her as soon as she was next to him. She snuggled into him and they both continued their peaceful sleep. I adjusted my Dad's oxygen line to make sure he hadn't cut it off again in his sleep and kissed his forehead before leaving the room.

I went back down the stairs and headed into the kitchen. There was a stack of bills on the counter and I thumbed through them, looking for anything that had my name on them. I pulled the two out that I found and placed them off to the side.

"Hey Mom, Aiden will be by later. He says you owe him dinner." I picked up an apple out of the basket on the counter and bit into it. I was starving; the popcorn didn't do anything to curb my appetite. I wanted the sandwich and chocolate and peanut butter milkshake. If Jessa hadn't fallen asleep, I would have gone back to go get them.

"Oh, good." She said, smiling. "Do you think he can take a look at the bathroom sink? It's not draining right."

"Mom, Aiden is not a plumber. Get a bottle of drain cleaner." I said, biting my apple again and wiping the juice off my chin that was trying to escape.

"I don't know what kind to get." She said, embarrassed.

"One that says it removes clogs." I rolled my eyes at my goofy Mother. She was helpless. I'm surprised she didn't ask me to have him go fill her gas tank up on her car while he was here. He would do it, of course. He was a part of this family, after all.

Mom really loved Aiden like her own son and I couldn't blame her. I loved him too, but not in that way she wished I did. She always kept up the hope that we would find a way to get together after the situation with Ezra.  Even when she knew Aiden and I were not right for one another, she still pushed.

I had called Aiden two weeks after I found out I was pregnant at the hospital and told him. He was in shock since he thought there was no way I would have let it happen a second time after the first time ended so terribly. He wasn't mad at me, but he wanted to be there to help me.

Aiden started going with me to every appointment and even offered to be in the room when I had her. I thanked him for the offer, but my Mom and Dad could handle the birth. He was relieved when I told him he could sit in the waiting room and he could come in as soon as she was here. He walked into the room with a pink bunny and tears in his eyes when he saw me holding her. He stayed with me all night and held her so I could get some rest. Aiden hasn't put little Jessa down since that night.

He had always been there for the Davis girls.

The night JD and Anna got married, Aiden played my date. I was about six months along and showing in my Maid of Honor gown. Anna had originally planned Aiden and I going together but gave up on the idea when she found out I was pregnant. She thought it wasn't right for Aiden to be forced into being my date when I was pregnant with another guy's baby.

For a short time, I thought she was going to ask me not to be in the wedding. I had to go back and have my dress altered to fit my growing little girl and it still barely zipped the day of the wedding. Of course, Aiden saved the day and was the one who finally got it to zip when everyone else failed miserably.

I was self-conscious about my baby bump and saw the judging eyes staring at me as I walked down the aisle. Most people knew my story and I was the talk of the night.

"Did you hear she slept with a junkie? That baby is his and will probably be addicted to drugs when it comes out. They should just take that baby away now." One of my distant cousins, who was around my age, was telling a table full of people as I began to walk up to say hi to her.

"You know that baby will come out with brain damage. Think of how many diseases he probably gave her. She probably gave him some too. She's always been a slut. This is the second time she has been pregnant." She rattled on as I stood behind her. I turned away from the table and ran as fast as I could to go cry in the bathroom. People were really cruel.

"Forget all those assholes." Aiden told me as he wiped my tears away. "They have no idea what they are talking about. You are amazing and if they want to be like that, you don't need them."

We walked out of the bathroom together and headed back out to the tables to sit. Aiden and I were talking when the cousin came up to him, batting her eyelashes and wanting his attention. I began to tear up again, remembering the terrible things she was spreading about me. Aiden looked over and started connecting the dots.

"Come dance with me." She bent down to expose her chest to Aiden. He looked over at me and smiled. He could go dance with whoever he wanted; he was a free man.

"Sorry, I don't dance with stupid bitches." He said crinkling his nose and waving her away.

"Come on, gorgeous." He said, taking my hand in his. "Let's go make everyone jealous."

He pulled me up and I smiled as we walked past my cousin, who was grumbling something under her breath.

Aiden made me feel beautiful. He stayed by my side and danced with me all night. He held his hand on my stomach and talked to her telling her how excited everyone would be to meet her. He drank a little that night and even offered to marry me. He made a ring out of a napkin and tried to get me to wear it. I didn't deserve Aiden and he certainly deserved more than I could give him.

A little after Jessa was born, Aiden and I tried to start a relationship again. At the time, I was hormonal and crying with panic attacks at the thought of raising a child on my own. He stepped up and offered to be the man I needed. We tried really hard to make it work but quickly realized we were meant to be just friends. Nothing much ever really happened between us, a few kisses here and there, holding hands, and a relationship that looked like an elementary school romance.

We did have one really heavy petting session a few months after Jessa was born. I drank for the first time since having her one night when I was staying with him. Luckily, Jessa started crying and it ended before it really began.

Aiden and I had always been interrupted before anything ever went too far; it was part of the reason we could still be friends. Things got a little awkward after that night. We sat down and made the decision to call it off. We still teased each other from time to time about how silly it would be if we hooked up. He played a huge role in Jessa's life and I was lucky to have him in mine as a friend.

"Dad is sleeping." I informed her, taking another bite of my apple and pulling my thoughts away from Aiden. I didn't dare think about the dark-haired man I ran into on the street today. I had been down that road too many times before. I had learned my lesson when it came to Ezra Miller. Besides, he was holding some girl's hand. He clearly had moved on from me too. It's not like we would probably run into each other again. I had Jessa; she was my priority now.

"He had a long night last night. He was up and down a lot." My Mom looked at me with tired eyes. She knew we didn't have much longer until the cancer would win. There was always so much going on here and I felt guilty for letting Ezra distract me from thoughts of my Dad.

"Why don't you get some rest, Mom?" I said. "I can make dinner."

"Would you?" She said, relieved.

"Yep, what do you want on your pizza?" I grinned. She threw her dishtowel at me and laughed. I wasn't joking. I was going to order pizza. It's all Jessa wanted to eat lately anyway.

Why argue with a toddler when you didn't have to?

"Go lay down." I told her, pointing my finger towards the stairs. "I'm not going to tell you again, young lady."

"Yes, Ma'am." She yawned. "You really are good at this being bossy thing."

"Inherited it from the best." I winked. She rolled her eyes and strolled out of the room and I heard her footsteps creaking up the stairs.