At The Ballet- 

Though I was eight or nine
I hated her

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Matt's P.O.V

"Lucas, what are you doing here?" I asked. He wasn't supposed to be here. I didn't want him here. He cheated on Maya and that's not okay. Not that it mattered at the moment because Gunner was gonna be here in about ten minutes.

"Well, Matt, if you must know what I'm doing here, this is also my home. I pay the bills for this place. Also, I came because b-dad is gonna be here soon. And we have to make it seem like nothing changed. If he finds out that your mom and I were separated he could fight to get you guys back." 

"Lucas not tonight. We'll cancel the dinner." Maya introduced the option. She stood up and fixed her dress. She sent Riley out the house, motioning to her to give her five minutes.

"You can't. "B-dad" is on his way. Also, Mason knows about Gunner and he's excited to meet him. He wants to know who Gunner is and why he' relevant to his life," I rebuttal. 

"Fine. We'll do the dinner tonight. But, we say nothing about Lucas and his extracurricular activities. Deal?" Maya looked at both of us. I nodded in agreement and so did Lucas.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

That was probably Aunt Riley wanting to be let back in. "I got it. It's probably Riley. Riley, you can come in." Maya said before calling Ciara-Ruby and Mason down from their rooms. They came down and stood next to Lucas. Because he's been gone for about 12 hours, approximately.

The door opened and it wasn't Riley. It was Gunner. He was dressed very nicely and he brought a surprise with him. "I don't know who Riley is, but that isn't me." He joked and laughed at it himself.

"Mommy!!" Mason yelled and ran to her. He hugged her for so long it felt like an eternity. I hadn't seen her since forever. I wanted to go to her but didn't. "Mommy this is my new home. I missed you, mommy."

"Mom, what? I thought you were in jail?" I asked in disbelief. I wanted to go more into the topic but, Maya put her hand up before she could speak. I was about to cry.

"Matt, honey, go to the bathroom. Take a second and then come back. We'll talk about this when the kids are asleep." I nodded my head and went down the hall. This couldn't have been happening. Why was she here and not in jail? And if she was out of jail, then for how long? 

I went into the bathroom and splashed my face a couple of times with water. I needed stability. With Lucas cheating, me trying to come up with the courage to call Maya my mom, my biodad wanting to see me and Mason, and now my mom magically getting out of jail. I couldn't do this. I can't do this. I walked out of the bathroom and joined everyone around the table. "So, mom, how has it been going?" I asked her leading with a soft question, so I can transition into the harder ones.

"Well, sweetie, it's going well. I had to take a rehab session in while I was incarcerated. And now I'm about three years clean." I saw her smile the whole time that she said that. She was looking for some sort of appraisement, approval even from Maya and Lucas. I knew that that wasn't right. Because she went to jail when I was about nine, going on ten and Mason was about two. She had to be at least almost five years sober.  Not three. Something really isn't right here. "Maya, Lucas, I wanted to thank you for adopting my kids for me. Thank you so much for giving them a home they so rightfully deserve. You guys are really good people." She was putting on a show. Something my mom did a lot when I was younger. 

"Liar. You're lying." I blurted. I meant to think it, not say it. But, since it came out, no shame in them knowing how I really feel. It wasn't supposed to be this way. I'm not understanding this. "Aren't you supposed to be five years sober. Unless you had decided to use some stuff in jail, which I doubt."

"Matt! Now, isn't the time," mom shot back really quickly. "I'm so sorry about that Bianca. He hasn't been feeling that well." She glared at me.

"It's alright. I can understand the amount of anger that he has. I feel total remorse for what I have done to him and Mason," She started to look at me. "Look, Matty, I really am sorry. I shouldn't have left you guys the way I did. I'm sorry. I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am."

"Well, for starters, you can start by being honest with me," I replied back to her with an attitude. "I'm not sure why you're lying and you know that you are." She looked at me blankly. All I could think is that this is crazy. My mom is officially back. She's out of jail, do I want to go back with her. Not that I was given the option, but I have always loved my mom, but also hated her for what she has done for me. "If you excuse me, I'm going to head up to my room." I got up from the table walked up the stairs to my room in the attic.

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Riley's P.O.V

"I am going to go check on him," Bianca stood up, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

"No, I think that's fine. I'll go. I have a wonderful relationship with Matt. And frankly Bianca, no offense, you are the last person he wants to be seeing right now," I get up from the table and rush out the room. I can't imagine how hard this is for him. I really want to but, I can't. I reach his room and knock on his door. "Hey, Matt, can I come in?" 

I wait a couple of minutes and he opens the door. "Aunt Riley, please help," his eyes were red, he was crying. He wiped his eyes and sat down on one of the beds in his room. 

"Okay, hun, I'm here. Do you have a bay window?" He looked at me confused, I would have to speak to Maya about this. "Doesn't matter. Tell me what's going on. How are you feeling?"

"I'm hurt. Why would she do this? Why would my dad think it's okay to come back to me and bring her with him? It's not fair. It's not fair the way that they are treating me." He was hurt. " She has no right. And if she thinks if she's just gonna come back here and put on a show to get me back, she's wrong."

"Hey, hey hey. That is not going to happen. No one is going to take you away from your mom or your dad." He looked at me because I used those words. "Mom and Dad", like it was a bad word. "Sorry, no one is going to take you away from Maya and Lucas."

"About that, I want to call Maya my mom, but I don't know how to. I've been trying to call them my family but, it's hard. And I was ready to call Lucas my dad but ever since he revealed that he was cheating, my walls went back up." He was pacing the room, "And since my mom just came back, it's like which one is my mom."

"You don't know right now. And that's fine. All you have to do is speak to Maya, tell her how you feel about the whole thing. Or speak to your biological mom, tell her how you found a family and that you think her showing up prematurely is not what you expected and that if she could give you some space." I told him and I stood up and grabbed his shoulders. "Listen this is only as stressful as you make it out to be. Everything is going to turn out just fine. I promise," I gave him a quick, warm hug and proceeded to the door. 

"Aunt Riley?" I turned around to face him, "did you ever have to deal with anything like this? Like, did you ever have anyone that was going through first hand? I mean, do you know how this feels?"

"Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones that were never given to the foster care system. But, I feel your pain and I can't say I know exactly what you are going through, but I know how pain feels, sadly it's one of the things in life that is inevitable. And secondly, you are the only that I know that is going through this," I turned around and opened the door and froze in my spot to say one final thing. "You know, Mason seems to be taking this without a care in the world. He may not know what is happening, but he does know that there are people that love him to death. And with that he is fine. Because even if Bianca leaves, he's still okay because he has Maya. You could learn a few things from Mason. Your brother may be just a kid, but he is also your teacher."

"And what do you mean by that?"

"I mean, one person you always cared for is your brother, you spent the majority of your childhood looking after your brother, and he has seen you go through pain and suffering and he hasn't said anything because he's staying strong for you as you are staying strong for him, talk to him. He may be a six-year-old kid, but he knows what you are dealing with. He knows what to tell you to make you better. People always love to ignore the child but, sometimes children are wiser than the adult. Just talk to your brother. But, if you think you can solve this on your own don't. But, I have one question for you, whenever you had a problem, who was the first person you always went to?" I went on and on but when I asked him the question he looked up at me as if it was some sort of revelation.

"Mason, I always went to Mason. But, he was always too young to understand anything." He said sitting down on his bed.

"That may be so, but no matter what he's going through the same thing you are. He may not say anything to anybody but he's going through it. And the thing about children is that they're always so simple. They always have this need to simplify everything, nothing is ever too hard for a child because life is simple to them. Mason will give you the most obvious answer, and why was it obvious...." I stopped and waited for him to answer.

"Because the obvious answer is always the simplest one." He said standing up.

"Exactly, look Matt, things are going to be fine," I said opening the door and leaving the room. Whatever he took from that is what he took. 

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A/N: Thank you guys so much for the support. This chapter is a long one. Longer than what I usually write. Hope you like this one, and having Riley's point of view. I liked this chapter. I also liked adding Matt and Mason's mom very early so, this way they, more like Matt can figure out who his real family is. I hope you liked it. Make sure to Vote/Comment/ Follow and I will see you guys in the next chapter.