Chapter Text
“Well, what do you think?”
“It’s cute.”
“Just cute?”
“It’s.. nice.”
“Aiden-“
“Mom, I dunno what you want me to say. It’s great, it’s wonderful, the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Aiden sighed. Ryan tugged his knit scarf playfully.
“Boy,” Ryan smiled. “You are such a hater.”
“Look, if I was a grown-up and a guy got this for me, I’d say yes,” Aiden shrugged. “Happy?”
“If that’s the best I’m gonna get from you, then yeah,” Ryan said. They looked up as the sales lady came back.
“Is it everything you wanted?” She asked, smiling at the pair.
“It’s lovely, Sam. Thank you so much,” Ryan said, handing the ring back to the woman. Sam fit the ring snugly into the box and closed it.
“I’ll wrap this for you and you’ll be good to go!”
Ryan looked at her son and gave him a small smile. “I’d really like your blessing,” she said, taking his hand. “I know that you’re still a bit wary about Angie after we took that break last year. But things are different now. I forgave her, and I would really love it if you could too.”
Aiden sighed. “Fine, mom. You don’t have to beg,” he said, returning the smile. “I’ll try. If you really love her, I guess I can make it work.” Ryan grinned and kissed the top of the teenager’s head. Aiden groaned and pushed her away playfully. “Come on mom, not the waves!”
Ryan thanked Sam once more before heading out of the store with Aiden and her little blue bag. It was a chilly winter night, and she was eager to get back to their warm apartment on the other side of town.
“So I was thinking we could-“ Ryan nearly fell over as a woman came rushing out of the store behind them and crashed into her. The woman continued into the street, still not paying attention. “Hey!” Ryan covered Aiden’s face and turned away as a car cruising down the street barely had time to stop. When she turned back, the woman was sprawled in the middle of the street.
Ryan rushed over, pulling out her phone and dialing 911. “Oh my god, are you all right?” She dropped her bag and put the call on speaker.
“911 what’s your emergency?”
“Hello, a woman was just hit by a car, please send help!” Ryan’s eyes scanned the woman’s body, searching for injuries. “Jesus, are you ok?” The woman groaned in response. “I’ll take that as a no.”
Ryan stayed with the woman until the paramedics arrived, instructing Aiden to stay on the sidewalk and out of harm’s way. She then grabbed her bag and joined her son in front of the store, watching as the woman was loaded into the ambulance.
“Talk about bad luck,” Ryan muttered.
“Uh, bad luck? That woman basically ran into the car! We should ask the driver if they’re all right,” Aiden scoffed. “Besides, she ran into you and didn’t even say sorry. Maybe if she had stopped to apologize for a minute, she wouldn’t have gotten hit by the car.”
“Aiden, no. That’s not what we do,” Ryan frowned, turning the collar up on her long black coat and taking his hand as they began to walk back to the car. “I’m gonna drop you off at home and go to the hospital. I just wanna make sure she’s gonna be okay.”
“Why do I have to go home?” Aiden asked. “I don’t have any plans tonight.”
“You’re 14, of course you don’t have any plans tonight,” Ryan said, rolling her eyes. “Fine. It’s early, I guess you can tag along. You weren’t gonna do anything but film TikToks all night, anyway.”
“Mom, I know you can’t stand that I have more followers than you, but you’re really gonna have to get over it.”