---

Allie led him through the big house. It was in fact the first time that he was able to see it, because he had not been allowed to leave the room when he had been here before. Now it seemed that they trusted him enough, so those limits were apparently off.

The building was furnished and decorated in a simple but comfortable way, and there were lots of rooms and corridors, but they didn’t really stray too far from where they had slept. He could hear more people around in the building, so this might be some kind of headquarters. He didn’t mind whatever other people might be around, though, as he was with his mummy.

---

 
 
Ninja Girl - Part 6
 
As they approached the core of the building, they were finding more and more people around. Most of them didn't seem especially sporty, or fit, or anything. They probably were more like bureaucrats or administrative staff or something like that. There were males and females, and many were carrying papers, or folders.

Allie, his mum, was still holding his hand while leading him through the corridors. They eventually met Ari, Mel and Lisa, who were were already waiting for them.

"Ari, please, can you take Riley to the kid's lounge for a while?", asked Allie, "we're going to have quite a busy morning".

"You might even meet Kyle and Richie", added Lisa, "They will probably be there by now. We'll go and pick you all up later".

"Really?", exclaimed Ariana excited. "They are here?"

Lisa nodded. Riley looked at Ariana wondering who they might be.

"Kyle is my brother, and Richie is my cousin. You're gonna love them!", she answered, smiling at Riley. "Richie and Kyle are sometimes more like brothers though", she added, explaining to him in a soft voice that their parents had effectively somehow adopted him as their own after their parents died.

"Come on, lets go!". She hold Riley's hand and took him along.
 
 
It wasn't really that far: going along the main corridor for a while, a door to the right, another corridor, stairs down to the lower floor and a couple of turns.

"Here we are", exclaimed Ariana, as she opened the door. "The lounge!".

They entered a big room that held some couches and chairs, a big plasma TV on a wall, a couple of billiard tables and some game consoles on the other end. On one side there was also a bunch of shelves with many books, some tables and chairs, making some kind of library.

There were a dozen teenagers in the room, all of them older than Riley, who was still dumbfounded.

"They are there!", exclaimed Ariana. "Come on!", she commanded, taking his hand again, and leading him towards three boys who were playing some car racing game.

Two of the boys were playing with the machine, while the other one was just looking. One of the players was blond, slightly shorter and younger than Ariana, and had her same nose and eyes. He paused the game as soon as he heard her, went almost running and hugged her tightly.

"Sis!", he exclaimed, "Gosh! I'm so happy to see you!"

The boy who was watching the game seemed a bit older, maybe sixteen or seventeen, and was almost 6 feet tall. He came walking towards them, amused.

"Richie!", called Ariana, after greeting her brother happily, "Wow! You have grown up a lot!"

"So have you, cousin!"

Kyle, the younger of the boys, suddenly noticed Riley, he turned towards him and smiled.

"Is this Riley, sis?", he asked Ariana.

"Yup, she is", she nodded. "Rye, this scatterbrain is Kyle, my charming and lovely brother!"

He laughed. "Hey! Nice to meet you!", he told Riley.

Riley looked at Kyle timidly. He definitely was a younger male version of Ariana.

"She is shy", explained Ariana, shrugging.

"Hey! Come on! You're almost our cousin now! You can't be shy with me!", complained Kyle, grinning.

Riley giggled softly despite her intents to keep a serious face.

"Is she ticklish?", Kyle asked his sister.

"Probably", she answered. "Only one way to find out".

"Don't you dare!", was Riley's reply, not very effective.

Kyle was nice and funny, Riley had the feeling that he might eventually end up liking him as much as he did Ariana.
 
 
"Daddy!", exclaimed Ariana a while later, when she saw the grownups coming, accompanied by a man.

She run towards him and hugged him tightly. He embraced her.

Riley went to Allie and hugged her too.

"So, this is little Riley?", asked the man.

"Yes, Jake, this is her. Honey, this is Ariana and Kyle's dad, Jake"

"Cute as a button. Nice to meet you, honey!"

Even though Ariana has Allie and Lisa's eyes, her smile was definitely her father's.
 
 

"Baby, wait a second”, called Allie in a quiet voice while the others were a bit ahead. She hugged him, then looked into his eyes and then spoke to him in a soft, gentle and quiet voice. "I love you, you're my baby no matter what. You know that, right honey?”.

Riley just nodded, still looking at her in the eye, not really knowing what to say or what all that was that about.

She tenderly pulled a strand of hair out of Riley's face and added softly: "If you ever need to tell me anything, no matter what, I won't love you any less, and I will still be here for you. Okay, honey?”.

She kissed him on the forehead and hugged him again, then took his hand and added: "Come on, princess! Lets join the others!”
 
 
"How would you like to go away for some days, like on holidays?", asked Lisa while they were having lunch.

"On holidays, mum?", asked Ariana, happily surprised. Lisa nodded.

"We're waiting for final confirmation, and for some documents", clarified Allie, "but the business we've been involved in lately has moved onto others' hands for some time, and we thought that it might be a good idea to get out of the way for a while, and to and have a few weeks for ourselves. How does that sound?”

The kids shouted and exclaimed happily. As expected, they all loved the idea. Kyle and Richie high-fived each other. Ariana grabbed Riley's hand and squeezed it gently. Then the suggestions started, and the conversation quickly turned into a heated debate about where would be the best place to go, though they finally weren't able to reach a agreement.

Being almost on holidays didn't mean the grownups were finished for the day, and was certainly not excuse for the kids to neglect their duties. Kyle, Richie and Ariana were being homeschooled, and they had tasks to do. Riley was still kind of free of studies, but predictably not for too long.

Riley had never really been a good student, or even a student of any kind. While in the orphanage, the carers were happy enough with him not causing trouble and they generally left him alone, and the teachers hadn't expected much from him on the first place. That was meant to change, though. Neither Allie, his new mum, nor his cousin Ariana would allow him to be kept illiterate.
 
 
That night, after Lisa, Jake and their kids left, Riley found himself alone with Allie again.

Riley was worried. He had been thinking about Ally's words before lunch. He was sure that she knew. He didn't want to be a boy anymore, maybe he had never really been one.

He was curled up on the bed, hugging his legs, already in his nightie, when Allie came in. She came to him and kissed him on the forehead.

"Mummy", he started, avoiding looking her in the eye. "Would you still love me if I was a boy?". There it was. He had managed to say it openly at last.

Allie sat on the bed with him and hugged him tenderly.

"I'd love you just the same, baby", she said. "Are you a boy?"

Riley shook his head. "I don't think so".

"Do you want to talk about it, hun?".

He nodded, and opened his whole heart to his mum.
 
 
"Sweetie, now that's in the open, do you want to go back to being a boy?"

"No!", he exclaimed, impulsively. Regaining his composture, he softened his voice and added, "May I continue being a girl, mummy?"

"Of course you can, honey. You are my little girl!"
 
 
"Hmmm... did you already know about me?", he finally managed to ask. "I mean today, when you talked to me in the lounge".

"Yes honey. I knew this morning. I should have known earlier, our information department is very proficient, but I was too busy. It doesn't matter to me anyway, you are who you are, and I love you."

"Are you disappointed in me?"

"Not in the least. Don't ever think that. Okay, baby?". She kissed him in the forehead.

"Not even for lying?"

"Not even for that. I understand that you were afraid and that it was hard for you. You now know that you can trust me for everything, no need to lie anymore, about anything, ever. All right, honey?"

Riley nodded. "No lies anymore. Ever". He smiled happily and snuggled in Allies' arms.
 
 
"Mummy, do we have to tell everyone?"

"About what, hun?"

"About me being a boy?"

"Of course not, sweetie. You don't need to tell anyone you don't want to. It is no one's business but yours."

"You might eventually find out anyway", she added, "that keeping it secret might create a barrier of trust with those you dearly love. I'm sure that you'll eventually want at least to talk to Ariana about it. Whenever you feel that you're ready for that, just tell me, okay love?"

"I will, Mummy!"

End of Part 6