Rock Speedy, Brody and I are standing on the field we will play on in about a month. It’s hard to believe our summer has already come and gone and now we are in college. River decided she was going to go to the same college as the rest of us. She got accepted to one of the top schools and she turned it down to go to school with me and her friend. She had one condition: she wanted to stay in the dorms like normal students. “How does it feel to be on this field finally?” Speedy asks “Bro, it feels so fucking good.” I told him. “This has been my dream since I was a little boy and now I’m finally here. My dad and I worked on this for so long before he passed away.” “He would be fucking proud of you, brother,” Brody tells me. I smile at him and shake off the feeling of doubt. “Well, boys, I for one am hungry.” Speedy tells us.” That boy is always hungry. “Let’s go see what the campus offers.” I tell them besides, I’m ready to go see my girl and her dorm room. We head off to the campus g
River “Are you okay, River?” Sydney asks me when she comes in from her class and finds me sitting at our desk just looking out the window. “No.” I respond because I’m not. I don’t know what to do about Jim. “Talk to me, what’s going on?” Sydney asks me with concern in her voice. “My dad wants me to come to the prison and talk to him. I don’t know what to do about that. I really don’t want to, but then again, I feel like I owe him at least that much.” “The fuck you do, River. What does Rock say about this?” “He told me he would go with whatever I wanted to do.” I told her. “That man tried to kill you. River, you are not going to that prison and seeing him, he can suck a dick.” Sydney says angrily, and I can’t help but laugh at her. I love when she becomes momma hen. Sydney rolls her eyes at me. “Okay, I know you don’t do parties but there is a bonfire going on down by the river tonight because it’s getting cooler outside, so we are going and yes before you ask Rock and the footb
Rock It's our first game of the season and I'm in the locker room putting on my uniform on Saturday night. The coach comes in and tells me I'll be playing in the game tonight. “Where’s Alex?” One of the starters asks, and he informs us that Alex got arrested for a DUI. Fucking idiot. This is his last year in college. This is when he either goes pro or does something different with his career and from what I know about Alex, he was banking ongoing pro. Whatever more play time for me and if I can prove to the coaches I'm worth the starter’s position, I could kick Alex out, anyway. “Alright brother, are you ready to get out there and show them assholes who Rock Martinez is?” Speedy asks me. “Yes, I am. Let’s do the damn thing.” I tell my buddy and we get ready to run out on the field. Once out there, I look around the field real fast and for some reason it looks so much bigger out there than our highschool field was. “Are you ready, rookie?” One of the seniors asks me as he’s running
River It has been a few months since we started school, and I have noticed that Rock and I are facing challenges in our relationship because of his commitment to football and our ongoing project. These factors are making it difficult for us to spend quality time together. It’s Friday night, and we are supposed to go catch a movie, but I feel like Rock is acting a little weird lately. He’s been canceling our dates and studying together. I’m sure I am just overthinking this. I mean, he is my first boyfriend ever. “Hey, River, are you and Rock still going to the movies tonight?” Sydney asks me. “We are supposed to.” I told her. She gives me a look. “What Sydney, just spit it out.” I snapped at her. She just throws her hands up. “I didn’t say a word, River.” I walk back to my room to get my phone. When I pick it up I find yet another, I am sorry but I can’t make it tonight message from Rock. So I walk back to our living quarters. “Syd, would you like to go to the movies with me tonight
Rock “Hey Rock, will you meet me in the library after school? I have a few things I have to talk to you about on our paper.” Page, my English partner and the captain of the cheer squad, tells me. “Yea, I’ll be there I tell her and turn around to talk to Speedy again and he is giving me one of his looks. “What bro?” I ask him. “What are you doing, Rock?” He asked me. “What are you talking about, Speedy?” I ask my buddy because I really don’t know what he’s talking about. Page and I have been partners on all of our projects the last couple months and we have always met in the library every time we need to work on one. “What ever man, just don’t be typical Rock and fuck it up with River over another girl.” Speedy tells me, then walks toward our class. “Didn’t plan on it, asshole.” I holler at his back. River and Sydney come walking around the corner about then. River looks tired and I don’t know what’s been going on with us lately, but we are not spending as much time with each other
River “Thank you for coming with me to see Jim.” I’m telling Sydney as we are walking into the police station where they are holding Jim for the kidnapping of me. “I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” Sydney tells me, then takes my free hand and squeezes it. We walked up to the clerk’s desk to let her know we were there to see Jim Darby. She looks up at us with a smile on her face. “Yes, Jim has been telling us you were coming to visit with him.” She tells us and Sydney and I just look at each other. This lady is acting like it’s no big deal that Jim is in jail for the kidnapping and attempted murder of his own child. Leave it to my father to make friends with everyone here. That’s what Jim does. He manipulates everyone into thinking he is a good guy, but I’ve always known he was a monster. “Right this way, Ms. River.” The clerk tells me and we follow her down a narrow hall. Then she walks us into another room that has rows of glass and chairs. We find a chair that’s empty and walk over to
Rock “Where’s River? I tried to get her at the dorm before I came here, but she or Sydney didn’t answer the phone are the door, and she’s not here.” I ask my mom as I’m walking into the kitchen. “She is sick. Sydney says she just started throwing up about an hour again and couldn’t keep anything down, so she was going to take her to the aftercare clinic on campus. And I’m going to send you home with some soup to take back to her. Are you two talking yet?” Mom is asking, giving me her best stank eye. “No, mom, she won’t talk to me. She won’t even look at me right now. So, I’m moving on.” I tell her and she just rolls her eyes at me. Whatever, my mom doesn’t get how frustrating this is with River. I’m tired of her acting like I’ve committed a crime. I get it. I kissed another girl, but fuck, River was distancing herself from me, anyway. I know that’s not an excuse for kissing another girl, but damn. “You are going to lose her for good, then what Rock?” Mom is scolding me when Rivers
River “River, I’m home, sis,” Sydney says from the other side of my door. I’ve been hiding out in my dorm room as much as I can lately. I need to talk to my mom and Gab before Thanksgiving this weekend, but I don’t know how to approach them with this and I don’t want them to be disappointed in me. I walk out to the front room and drop down onto the sofa. “Soon, I need to have a conversation with mom and Gab.” I tell Syd. “Do you want to call them to meet us at the pizza place today?” Syd asks me. I think for a minute, and honestly, that would be the best thing. That way there is no chance of running into Rock. He is home for the Thanksgiving break where I stayed at the dorm. “Yea, that’s a good idea.” I tell her, then pick my phone up and call my mom. After our phone call, we made plans to meet at the pizza place in an hour, around 5. Realizing the limited time, I quickly get off the sofa, rush to take a shower, and grab a pair of slacks and a blouse to wear. By the time Sydney
“Ha-pi-bird-day, ha-pi-bird-day to Liam. Ha-pi-bird-day to me.” Liam is singing the birthday song along with us. It’s so hard to believe my little tiny baby is 2 today. It’s been a good two years. Rock and I are in our third year of college and Rock got an offer to the NFL. He will be a Chicago Bears come September. I, on the other hand, will stay in college and moving on to my elective. I have decided I want to be a therapist. If I could help at least one person who has gone through the hell I have been through will make it all worth it. “It’s Wiams bird-day, isn’t it, ma-ma?” “It is Liam’s birthday. How old is Liam going to be?” I ask my little guy. “Wiam be 2. Ma-ma be 5,” Liam tells me, then giggles. “Who told you that?” I ask, laughing at him. “Da-da.” Liam tells me, pointing at Rock. I look over at Rock, and he laughs. “Who’s ready for cake?” Rock asks Liam. “Nice save.” I tell him and we cut Liam his cake, then I cut everyone their slice
Rock We are walking around the streets of Mexico trying to find Liam. I’m about to lose my shit when we spot a woman holding a baby sitting at a fruit stand. We run over to the woman and River tells the woman to turn the baby around so we can see the baby’s face. The woman does as we ask, and River cries out in joy. She snatches Liam up in her arms and checks him over, making sure he doesn’t have any wounds on him. Jim is a really stupid fucking bad guy. This is his second kidnapping and demanding of things and the second time the fuck wad was arrested. I grab River and Liam up in my arms and hold them as tight as I can without hurting them. “Let’s go home, baby.” The officer that came with us escorts us back to the police station where they have Jim held. We are told since he was caught here in Mexico with Liam that he will await trial here and more than likely service his sentence out here. Hopefully, t
River We are sitting in our home a couple hours later waiting for someone to tell us if they have found our little boy or not. I knew my father was a psycho and he would do anything to hurt my mother and me, but I never thought he would hurt my child. His grandchild. But I should have known he would do just about anything to hurt me, right? “River, honey, would you like a glass of tea or a cup of hot chocolate?” Mom comes into the living room from the kitchen and asks me. “Cup of hot chocolate would be great.” Mom smiles at me, then heads back into the kitchen to get my hot chocolate. Rock is pacing a hole in the floor and it’s just making me even more nervous. “Rock! Sit down, please.” I ask him, so he does. Then grabs my hand and squeezes it. “I’m sorry Riv.” He tells me. “What is there for you to be sorry about Rock?” I ask him. “Everything River. The way I treated you when
Rock “Hey mom, can you come over to the house and meet with the alarm system company? They will be there around 11 this morning.” I call and ask my mom as we are getting ourselves ready to head to school. Jim broke into our house, so I called the alarm company to install an alarm. They offered to install new door systems for free since we're first-time customers. I also bought a ring camera to monitor our front door. I get off the phone with my mom and help River get Liam into his car seat holder in the back seat of our new family car. “Are you ready for your first day back to school?” I ask Riv. “No, I don’t want to leave Liam with strangers.” She tells me. “Well, baby, at least it’s at the same place we are going to be at and we can check on him at lunchtime and in between classes, if you like.” I told her. River nods her head at me, then gets into the car and we head to the col
River Rock, Liam, and I are finally getting out of the hospital today. Mom went and got me a car. She says it's safer for the baby than getting another Jeep, and when Liam gets older we can ride around in Rock's jeep. I didn't argue with her. So that's what we are taking our baby home in today. Rock and I haven't really talked about where we are going to stay so for now I'm going to stay with my mom and Gab, because I cannot stay in the dorms with a baby and Rock has a shit ton of guys living with him so his apartment is out. We make it to our neighborhood but instead of parking at our house, Rock parks at his old family home. "Rock, what are you doing? I don't want to walk with Liam from here to moms." Rock just smiles at me. "Riv trust me baby, you're going to like this." Rock helps me out of the car then grabs Liam's car seat and heads toward the house we are parked in front of so they must be throwing a welcome home party and wanted t
Rock It’s been a few months since our Christmas break and River told me she would marry me. River quickly informed our moms that the wedding would have to wait until after Liam was born. I don’t blame her because she is getting pretty big. She’s in her last two months of the little guys arriving. I’m trying really hard to keep this brave face on for her, but truth I’m fucking scared to death of what’s coming. We are so young and I’m so afraid we are going to fuck something up. I know we have our mom’s support and my mom gave me our little house myself and my sibling grew up in and the boys and I have been going on the weekends and fixing it up. I want to surprise River with it when the baby is born. But I still can’t keep from thinking, is this the right move for us right now? River and I are heading to her last ultrasound before the baby is born, so we get to see the little guy one last time. Then the next time will be for real life. We get into the doctor’s office and have to wait
River It’s our two week Christmas holiday from school, so Rock and I are at mom and Gabs house these two weeks and Rock is being super sweet and tentative to me. The first day he bought me donuts and hot chocolate, the second day he bought me a thing of fruit and the list goes on of things he has done for me. It’s the day before Christmas Eve and Rock has talked me into going and seeing a movie and then getting a bite to eat. “So what movie are we going to watch?” I ask him, but he is being tight-lipped. But I’m going to assume either the movie is in some fancy theater or he is taking me to a fancy restaurant, but why do either? Ugh, men are so confusing. I really don’t even know why I’m mad at him anymore. He has been so sweet and tentative with me the last month and a half. He finally got to feel Liam Alex Martinaze kick for the first time last night. He was so stoked he kicked to him saying his name. Come to find out, the name I picked out was the name Rock wrote. So that should
Rock River has been home from the hospital for a couple weeks now. Mom keeps me updated on her progress daily. She also told me what the baby was going to be and the idea River came up with about us putting a name in a hat and her picking the best name out of the bunch. River is supposed to come home today and start back to school on Monday. So I’m sitting in her dorm room waiting on her and Sydney to get back. Surprisingly, Sydney let me into their room. She’s not my biggest fan. I’m sitting in Rivers’ room when I hear the front door open and close. “Rock, a little help, please.” I hear Sydney yell. What the hell. I walk out of the bedroom. “What’s up?” I ask Sydney and see right away what’s going on. River and her crutches are a little too much for Sydney. “I told you I have it.” River snaps. “River!” Sydney snaps back. I can’t help but laugh at them. “You can leave now, Rock.” River tells me and I just give her the stank eye. “You’re not pushing me away so easily this time, R
River “He doesn’t want the baby.” I yell at mom and Gab, so mad at Rock. I really didn’t mean to rat him out like that, but I’m fed up with his hot and cold crap. I’m having a baby. If he doesn’t want to be a part of this baby’s life, that’s fine, but that does not give him the right to tell me who I can and who I can’t tell about this child. I jump into my jeep and get the heck out of there before he can come and demand crap from me again. I’m halfway home when my phone rings. It’s Sydney so I answer it. “Hello.” I answer. “Hey how is your Sunday going?” She asks me. “Well, I’m on my way home because, as always, Rock has to be an ass about everything.” I told her. “What do you mean he’s an ass?” Sydney asks me. “Well, I guess his mom said something to him about the baby or something I’m not really sure. But he dragged me to my room demanding to know who all I told and was mad that I told anyone before him. So I got kinda mad and stormed out of my room and downstairs and right be