❝ Just walk away Renee,

you won't see me follow you back home❞

- The Left Banke, Walk Away Renee.

"Aw, River's so sweet, honey, look what he got me," Karly said as came out of the kitchen, fondly sniffing the bouquet of daisies I'd gotten to her.

Renée's dad chuckled and gave me a smile, "Thanks for making my wife happy." Everyone chuckled, and then, he proceeded to give me a handshake, "Nice to meet you, River. I'm Ryan."

I nodded, a smile on my face, "It's nice to meet you too, Ryan," I looked around the living room, "It's a beautiful house."

"Ah, thank you. It's all love and pride in here, so feel at home," he said to me.

I nodded again, "Actually, I'm amazed by the striking resemblance between you and Renée."

He chuckled, "I'm amazed by it, too." He took a seat on one of the couches in the living room and gestured for me to do the same. "But then, it makes it very evident that she's my daughter, and I like that."

"Yeah... she's quite a great person," I smiled at the thought of Renée.

"I'm glad you think so," Ryan nodded, leaning in the couch and resting his hands behind his head. "Interesting fact, when her mom called to tell me she was pregnant with her, I was listening to Walk Away Renée."

"The Left Banke?" I grinned.

"There's no way you know The Left Banke," Ryan sat up.

"Retro music is one of my things. The Left Banke is amazing," I smirked a little. "And I'm just saying, but She May Call You Up Tonight is their best song."

"Okay, that's where I'll disagree with you. Have you ever heard Pretty Ballerina? Now, that is their best song."

"I mean, I've listened to pretty much all songs by The Left Banke, including Pretty Ballerina. You can't compare the guitar chords in She May Call You Up Tonight with that."

Ryan chuckled, "You're making this hard for me."

"It's just facts," I shrugged, a smile on my face.

We soon heard Renée say in a loud voice from the kitchen, "Tanner! I was gonna eat that!"

I chuckled to myself when I heard Karly call, "Okay, that's it! Ryan, come get your kids out of this kitchen!"

"Nah, keep this kids! I'm having an interesting conversation with River!"

I chuckled again as Ryan looked back to me, "I'm actually impressed that you listen to The Left Banke. I always thought kids of nowadays would rather listen to Drake West."

I stifled a laugh, "Who?"

"Drake West," he said again. "The rapper."

This time, I couldn't stifle my laughter, "You mean Drake and Kanye West?"

He looked confused, "Are they two different rappers?"

My laughter reduced to chuckles as I nodded, "Yes, they are. You just merged their names."

Realizing this, Ryan burst into laughter, causing me to laugh again.

"You get the point, don't you?" He finally asked.

"I do," I nodded. "I love to listen to retro music when I work sometimes."

"Yes, my wife told me you're into art."

"That's true. I'm into anything art and photography," I replied.

"That's really interesting. Think you can do a photo shoot for me and Renée's mom?"

I smiled, "I don't mind. It's just that I don't have my camera with me."

"Another day is fine," he shrugged.

"That's cool, then," I nodded. "I think it'll be great."

"Yeah, a great way to show Tanner I'm actually photogenic," he chuckled to himself. "But, tell me, do you ever have days where you think you should be in school?"

"Yeah, I can't lie, I do. Because I know that education is important, but at the end of the day, I'm happy where I am. I can't imagine being in class learning Calculus when I know that I like art and that's what I would want to do."

Ryan nodded, "Interesting. Were you self-taught or did you previously learn somewhere else?"

"I mean, I did some kind of artwork before first grade one, but everyone did. I like to think I was self-taught, because my dad and mom are into things that have to do with designing, and I saw him draw buildings and things like that. I liked it, but my dad isn't always around so I kinda had to learn myself."

"That's really good. What do your parents do?"

"Uh, my dad's a construction designer, and my mom's an interior designer."

"Nice," he nodded. "Really nice."

"Karly mentioned once that you have an artistic hand."

"Yes, that's true. I like to doodle meaningful things, but you know, as a lawyer, there isn't exactly so much time for that. Ever since law school," he chuckled.

I felt bad for leaving River alone with dad, but at the same time, I didn't think dad would be giving him a hard time.

"I promise your dad isn't giving River a hard time, baby," mom rubbed my arm and kissed my forehead.

"How did you know that's what I was thinking?" I asked, surprised.

"You were biting on your lower lip and looking lost in thought, I figured that maybe that's what you were thinking— Tanner, if you eat one more roll, I will personally make sure you don't get anything to eat tonight." Mom scolded mildly.

Tanner hugged her from behind, "It's not my fault that you're such a good cook."

Mom had a small smile on her face as she ruffled his hair, "Well, thank you, but don't you think you're due for a haircut, honey?"

"I told him that last week. He's out here trying to look like Timothée Chalamet," I chuckled.

"Very funny," Tanner replied dryly.

"I know," I smiled.

"Renée, please go get the gentlemen in the living room move to the dining table. Dinner's ready. Tanner will help carry the food to the table," she looked at my older brother who was now gulping on some water.

"Okay," I nodded.

I walked to the living room and my heart warmed when I saw dad and River laughing. River turned to look at me and his smile widened.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but dinner's ready and mom needs you guys to move to the table," I informed them.

"You know, I didn't realize how hungry I was until you said that," he said, getting up from the couch and walking to the table.

I chuckled and looked at River, "How's it going?"

"Pretty great. Your dad's awesome."

I smiled in content.

*

Salad bowls. Wraps and rolls. Mashed potatoes. Bacon spaghetti. Mixed and seasoned vegetables. Baked turkey.

My stomach quivered.

"This looks really exquisite, mom," Tanner commented, and River seconded by nodding.

"I deserve some credit, too. I helped with the bacon spaghetti and the seasoned vegetables."

"Nice one, dad," Tanner said, giving a thumbs up, and we all chuckled.

After saying grace, we dug into the bowls of food, taking what we were sure we could finish.

"Hey, Tanner, where's Kendall?" Dad looked at him, and I did as well, watching him swallow what he was chewing before announcing, "We broke up."

"Well, it was about time," mom replied.

"Wow, mom," Tanner said, amused.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm just being honest."

"Things change," Tanner spooned some food into his mouth.

"For the better, I'm sure. It really didn't look like she was going to stick around, anyway." Dad said and mom nodded emphatically.

Dad was saying something to Tanner when River's phone vibrated. He took out his phone from his pocket and swiped to decline the call, but not before I caught a glimpse of the caller.

Chloe.

*