Ava’s entire body remains tense. The thoughts in her head are running wild. This is all so ridiculous. She should know better than to even think about doing anything her father tells her to do. Why is she struggling so much with it now?
“What if we’re making a mistake? Everyone always talks about how much they love their kids and how they couldn’t imagine life without them. Just look how how happy Chris and Mallory are with the twins. It might would help fix some of this shit. My father would be delighted and he would leave us alone. There would be no need for him to bother us. You have Cormac. You got the opportunity to be a dad. What if I’m being stupid by not wanting to be a mother?” She’s freaking out about this a lot more than usual and she doesn’t understand why. “I know that this is dumb, trust me, I really do know. I just can’t help these stupid thoughts in my head. Everything my father says just digs at me until I feel like I’m going to break.”
“Ava, trust me. We’ll be so much happier together without children. We’re barely functional by ourselves. We came from really messy pasts and you and I are definitely not your typical person. We can’t do what we enjoy anymore. We enjoy so many adult things, having a kid would literally frustrate us to the point of a divorce like it did to my other relationship. Our dynamic wouldn’t be able to handle it, Ava. We would fall out so many times in front of that poor child and just traumatize them. I don’t think it’s smart for us to have kids. We’re not the family type, and that’s okay. We shouldn’t— rather you shouldn’t— feel ashamed for it.” This is what their bedtime talks were for. They would talk through each other’s thoughts and just bond over it. But having a kid would interrupt even that.
Hiding her face in his neck, she sighs. She knows that he’s right but there’s still that stupid nagging part of her mind that keeps saying ‘what if’. Nothing would bring her greater joy that killing that little nuisance. Having a kid would be selfish and dumb. She sure as hell isn’t the parenting type and she knows that Cameron doesn’t want another one after what happened with his ex. A kid means no time for just them and no doing the things she likes to do. The more he talks about how bad of an idea it is the better she feels. This is just what she needed: someone to talk her out of the mess she created for herself. She slowly begins to calm back down. Everything seems much simpler now. She’s not going to bring some poor kid into the world just because her father wants her to. If it comes down to it then she’ll just have to be straight with him and tell him to fuck off.
“Okay.” Thats the only word she can say at the moment but it’s acceptance.
Cameron rubbed her back and leaned into her with a soft sigh, kissing the top of her head. He knew how rough it was for her to say no to her father. Cameron barely said no to his own father (though Lachlan was a genuinely nice guy with a nice relationship with his son), he couldn’t imagine what Ava was feeling. He laid down along the couch and propped his head up, rubbing her back still.
“Good. Okay is a good start.”
Ava takes a deep breath and slightly tilts her head up so she can look at him. At least she has him. She’d probably be a mess if he wasn’t in her life. The paitence he shows her when dealing with family drama makes her feel incredibly guilty for dumping all of this shit on him at once. No one deserves that. Least of all Cameron. She studies him for a moment longer before tucking her face back against his neck, content to just lay there.
“Thank you, Cameron.”
(Definitely a sweet moment. Yep! What to?)
(Hm idk. Maybe her father comes back for more and they’re like >:O)
(I have a feeling that would end up with a murder lol Yeah, that’s fine with me)
(Someone is just gonna snap XD)
(Yassssss snappy queeennnns)
(So much delightful drama)
(Whatever is fine with me. How long after what just happened should this be?)
(Well you said her dad’s in Russia for a week, so maybe before he leaves? About a week?)
(Yeah, a week seems about right. He’ll pop by for a random visit and all hell will break loose)
(Yaaasasssssasasasassssas let’s do it.)
(Fantastic! Who did we say was starting?)
(I’ll take that as a no lol Do you wanna start or shall I?)
(Could you, pretty please??)
(No problem!)
Ava, still half asleep and dressed in her pajamas, shuffles down the stairs to answer the door. It’s five in the morning and someone has the audacity to knock. She should still be in bed for another half an hour or so. Throwing the door open, she rubs sleepily at her eyes. “What the fuck are you doing here?” The last person she expects to see is her father and yet here he is. It’s been a week since the incident and a week since they’ve last spoken. She was happy with that arrangement. This dropping by out of nowhere is becoming a habit of his that she certainly does not appreciate. She needs time to prepare herself to deal with him. It’s hard not strangle him when he suddenly pops by. “Aren’t you going to invite me inside?” The man’s words startle her out of her thoughts. This is no going to end well.
Cameron had woken up from his sleep yet didn’t follow Ava until she started talking. Cameron turned the corner and his eyes popped open and squinted at her father, stepping forward, looking as hostile as his wife as they sided each other. If that guy tried to break in he’d have to get through Cameron, who was at least six foot four. He wasn’t gonna get anywhere.
“We will not invite you inside,” He responded sharply. “Ava asked you a question.”
Ava stares at her father, still processing the fact that he’s standing there. The fact that he’s here has her worried. After last time she didn’t think that he’d be stupid enough to show his face for awhile. Luckily, Cameron arrives and breaks the awkward silence.
“I want to talk. Not to you but to my daughter,” Malcom replies, his dislike for the other man obvious. They’ve never gotten along and he’s had no issues with expressing his feelings about his daughter’s husband.
“I’m not letting you talk to her alone.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and moved closer to her, standing over the man ominously, almost like a crow watching its prey. “Besides she would tell me anyway. Because that’s what couples do. Respect each other.” He glanced down at Ava before continuing. “And we don’t want you entering this house. You’re not welcome.”
“I don’t want to talk to you.” The words are hard to say under the intense glare she’s getting but she manages to spit them out. “Go away.” She knows that she’d be screwed the second she agreed to talk to him. Avoiding a repeat of a week ago would be wonderful. She knows that her father is only in Russia for a week so if they can get out of this talk then they’ll be home free.
The man’s eyes narrow when his request to talk is denied. “I’m not leaving until you agree to talk.” He’s much too used to getting what he wants to back down easily.
Cameron stretched out and just slammed the door in his face. He locked it again and turned away from it, walking away with Ava still in his arm. That man was going to go away whether they had to call the police or kill him. He was trespassing on their property.
