Mason's POV
Riley. One name and it could make the world spin around faster than anything I'd ever experienced, and it was undoubtedly one of my weaknesses. I could feel my nerves tingle ever so slightly like the brush against the softness of her hands at the mention of her, something that I've grown accustomed to holding for some time now.
The door beside me swung open and my head snapped to the side to see Sawyer coming in with a beanie covered in snowflakes on his head. His lips were pulled into a half smile and he grinned at me. "Seems like you're ready as ever, brother."
I bit my lip and stared down at my hands with uncertainty boiling in me. "I don't know why I'm worried. I should be confident because we've talked about this, but I don't know. I feel like I've screwed up way too many times for this."
"Hey, Mason," Sawyer said as he snapped a finger in front of my face to catch my attention. "Snap out of it. You won't be disappointed, and neither will she. Trust me."
Trying to turn the subject away from me, I forced a smile and gestured to the packet in his hands. "So, Taylor's having a girl, huh?"
Immediately, all traces of his worry for me disappeared as he embarked on a session of babbling as he spoke about his soon-to-be second daughter, one of which was coming three years after his first, Lillian Freeman, also known as my niece. It was insane when he first found out, because Taylor had announced her pregnancy at a Christmas dinner four years ago and everyone couldn't help but scream because the Freemans were having their first ever kid of all the boys.
"What are you naming her?" I asked curiously.
Sawyer paused in his words and his eyebrows immediately knitted into a frown. "I haven't thought about that. We'd just found out about her gender yesterday, so it's a little too early to be choosing baby names."
I shrugged and took another nervous breath as the gravity of the situation hit me. My eyes strayed to the clock and caught the minute hand reaching 12 closer than ever, and when that thought came to mind, I stood up and started pacing around.
"I can't do this," I whispered to myself. "No way. I'm not fucking doing this."
"Mason!" Sawyer whisper-yelled as he grabbed hold of my arms and shook me while I was in place. "Pull yourself together, you moron. Your love of your life is waiting outside, probably arriving on this doorstep in minutes and you're being a damned pussy right now. Man the hell up, and get the hell out here."
Concern filled his eyes and I shut it for a minute, trying to understand my emotions and get a hold of myself, as I was told to. Slowly, I felt my heartbeat calm down and a minute later, my fingers stopped twitching in excitement.
Ding.
Sawyer pushed me towards the door while he pretended to walk to the kitchen looking for a drink and I held onto the small box in my hand tighter. The doorbell rang again and I straightened my tie as I walked up to the door with a smile and pulled the door wide open.
Somehow, seeing Riley always never seemed to stop taking my breath away. It was like being electrocuted again and again, but every single time, I was rejuvenated and resuscitated into a new life that gave me fresher air.
The way her dark her curled at the bottom as it neared her shoulders and the purple beanie that stuck to her head flattened her beautiful hair on her head took my breath away no matter how simple it was. A dark coat enveloped her body, shielding her from the winter cold and from the trembling of her hands despite having gloves on, I could already tell that the weather was much lower than usual.
Her back was facing me while she stared at her car out front and I continued to stare at her back, not wanting interrupt the moment that was happening without a single word spoken. Seconds counted down and I could feel Sawyer's eyes burn a hole in my back but I paid him no heed.
I felt my lips curling at the sides as I continued stared at her without a word.
As though she felt my eyes staring at her back, she turned back to face me.
And when she finally noticed me staring at her, she smiled back.
"Hey, you."
.
.
.
Okay, so I got a little bored and decided to post a little something. I know that the original author of RTOTOG has somewhat gone missing, along with her work, so I thought why not write another small chapter to dedicate it to her in case she ever comes back?
This is an extremely short chapter, I know, but it was meant to be so. I would've written it longer but I quite like unpredictable endings.
Anyway, what do you think Mason was nervous about? If you read carefully, I mentioned a small detail that would probably give you a clue to what he's nervous about :)
And also, what would you guys name Sawyer's second daughter? Give me your thoughts :-)
Sorry I couldn't include all the characters in because it's been a while since I'd read the book, so I don't remember all the names of the Freeman boys :(
I know this is not my best writing because it's literally 2am right now but thanks a lot for reading :)