Third Person:
~Riya around 6 years old~
"DAD! Come on, we're going to be LATE!", little Riya yelled from the door trying to make her father hurry. "I wanna see bubba's play!". Her brothers had a big game today and she wanted to be the first one there to cheer them on.
"I'm coming, I'm coming, slow down their game doesn't start for the next two hours.", Atlas explained while walking downstairs towards his little girl.
"So?", she challenged with her arms crossed, "I wanna be the fwirst one there to scream.". Every game Riya would be the loudest one in the stands, cheering for her brothers.
"What are you going to do for the next two hours? It'll get very boring.", Atlas asked the little girl with an amused smirk.
"No I won't. I'll be good and sit on the bench and wait for them to come out.", she reasoned with determination in her eyes. Atlas couldn't say 'no' to his one and only little girl but he knew she was going to get bored fast, what kid wouldn't.
He sighed and told his wife they're leaving early for the game, at first she didn't know why but thought Riya had something to do about it. Grabbing the keys and heading towards the car, Riya was beaming with excitement, she loved cheering for her brothers and going to their games even if it meant crowds and smelling teenagers. On the way towards the game Atlas would sometimes look in the rearview mirror and see the little girl with a big smile on her face, swinging her legs. It made him smile and happy to see his daughter care so much for the boys. As he pulled into the parking lot he heard a clicking sound followed by a car door open from behind him, turning he saw his little girl unbuckled and getting out of the car.
"Hurry up!", she said while closing the door and walking towards the building.
Atlas laughed and got out of the car as his wife did the same, he ran ahead of her and tried catching up with his little girl. There weren't many cars there besides the employees of the school and a school bus for the other team playing. Usually people aren't allowed to go into the stands until a certain time but they always made an exception for Riya. It wasn't her first time coming early to one of her brother's games and would fight with the employees so she could be the first in the stands, no one could say 'no' to the little girl so they eventually let her go in first as long as she stayed in the stands.
They've always been early for a game, like thirty minutes, but never two hours. Walking inside the school she went straight to her usual spot whenever she came for a game, it was the perfect place to see the whole game without anyone too tall to block her way. As they took their seats Atlas watched little Riya swing her legs at the edge while looking around the gym. For those two hours Riya did what she promised, she sat there not making a sound and waited patiently for the game to start. Sometimes Atlas would try to start a conversation but soon gave up after hearing only one word answers.
The seats beside them and from across started to fill and soon the players started jogging onto the court. Once she saw her brothers she stood up and started cheering, many beside her would look at her with awe, cheering for her brothers while some looked annoyed with her constant cheering. Before they got onto the court her brothers looked her way, three of them waved at her, one of them blew a kiss, two smiled at her, and another made a heart with his hands. As the game began the brothers would occasionally look her way throughout, while she loudly cheered for them.
As soon as the game was over Riya ran out the gym towards her brothers to congratulate them on another win. She went towards a group of teenage girls surrounding the team, mainly her brothers, but once they saw her running figure getting closer to them they moved away from the group and towards her. One of them picked her up looking at her disgusted face, all scrunched up from the smell coming off from the boy while she tried to catch her breath.
"All you guys stink.", she told them, which made them smirk and start tickling her. Everyone could hear her giggles and smiled at their sibling interaction while the group of girls were looking at her with annoyance. Soon Atlas came towards them with an amused smile and took the little girl away to catch her breath.
"You boys did great. Let's go and celebrate, I'm getting hungry after sitting there for three hours."
"Three hours?", they all said at once which made the little girl giggle.
"Yea, little tamia over wanted to come here two hours before the game." (chipmunk)
They all looked at her with a big smile and one of them grabbed her out of Atlas's arms, kissing her cheeks. As everyone started walking out towards the cars to get something to eat, light conversation and laughter could be heard from the group. Riya was so happy in the moment she hoped it would always stay like this and never change, but sadly life is never so nice.
~Two years later, when Riya was around 8 years old~
Atlas and his wife, Elizabeth, were finally going through a long awaited divorce. Unfortunately Elizabeth got custody of the kids, Riya and Odin, but even if Atlas did he wouldn't have taken the two.
"You can always call or text me and hopefully soon you can come visit me.", Atlas said while soothing Riya, the three of them were in front of the house hugging each other before he had to go. Elizabeth was inside glaring out the window at them with a tear stained face, turning towards the liquor cabinet and grabbing a random bottle.
"Pwease don't go dada.", Riya whispered while holding Atlas tightly. "I'll be a good girl and buba will be a good boy. Don't leave us."
He hated seeing his little girl cry and didn't want to leave his kids. Lightly grabbing Odin by the arm and pulling him into the hug, he knew it would be a long time before he could contact his kids. Yet he didn't know that he and his son would be having a reunion but without little Riya.
Odin could tell something was off and knew his father didn't mean those words, he knew his father got into something other than an affair and it put his and Riya's lives in danger. "Dad.", Atlas pulled away and looked at his son, "Take care and we'll see you soon.". With such little words Atlas could see the recognition of the situation in his son's eyes, nodding his head he started getting up to leave the house. Riya grabbed onto his pants and started to beg him to stay but Odin grabbed her and held her back, Atlas gave them a kiss on the head before turning around and walking towards the car. You could see a lone tear falling from his face as he walked away from his kids. Starting the car the only noise that could be heard was Riya's protests and cries for him to stay, in the rear-view mirror he could see her tiny figure running towards him and a few tears running down Odin's face.
The kids never blamed their father for leaving their mother but they did blame him for leaving them with her. She wasn't very much of a mother and missed her teenage years when Atlas and her would play around. When the two turned sixteen they found out Elizabeth was pregnant with Odin so Atlas married her after a few years to keep his son. Elizabeth had an obsession with Atlas and only cared about him and her but as soon as Riya and Odin entered the picture all his attention went to them. In the afternoon you could hear the yelling of the married couple, Elizabeth always complaining about not getting any attention and Atlas telling her their kids are important.
"Bubbles come on, let's go visit the boys and get something to eat.", Odin walked towards the crying Riya on the ground and picked her up. They started walking towards their second home to visit a group of boys that always felt like family. As they got further from the house Riya stopped crying and found comfort in her brothers arms, not knowing she wouldn't feel the same warmth for a long time.