Darcy Pierce was a normal girl, living in the big city. She wanted to have a quiet life, and the only way for her to do that was to leave and move to a small town in Texas. Darcy knew her parents wouldn't be happy, nor would her brothers, sisters, a...
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Getting up early enough to greet Jeremy and Ava in the morning was going to be something Darcy needed to get use to. She wasn't use to waking up at six in the morning, but she told Jeremy she would help him out with Ava. She had a feeling he was asking her to do this to prove a point, so she was going to use this as an opportunity to prove Jeremy wrong with his assumptions about her.
Ava seemed to be happy with the new arrangement, especially since Darcy had packed the little girl an amazing lunch for school. Darcy had gone to the store the night Jeremy had left, and bought several things to make Ava's stay as calm as possible. She had spent almost three hundred dollars on the girl, but she definitely wasn't going to tell Jeremy that.
She had gotten the girl a lunch box specifically for her house; one that wouldn't go to Jeremy's and get her into anymore trouble. She also bought quite a bit of snacks, drinks, and food for Ava to bring for lunch every day, as well as snacks for when she got out of school. The woman also picked up some more child-friendly meals, meaning less foods that the child may not have eaten before.
Jeremy had seemed hesitant to leave his daughter, but he had to do it. Ava had ran straight into Darcy's house and to her puppies, as if she had lived there for years, and Darcy didn't seem to mind. Jeremy felt a little unnerved at the sight, but he couldn't scold his daughter for being happy and feeling welcomed and comfortable.
Jeremy had practically given Darcy a list of things he wanted from her when it came to Ava. He also provided her with a list of things the girl liked and disliked, as well as complete directions to her school—as if Darcy would need them in such a small town. Besides, if Darcy needed directions, she could always use her GPS, but Jeremy felt like he needed to give her the directions himself.
When Ava was at school, Darcy was able to complete some of her orders, as well as get things done around her house. At exactly thirty minutes past two, she packed her puppies in her SUV and drove to Ava's school to wait in the car rider line for her. Jeremy had given her a card that went on her rear view mirror that had Ava's name on it. She had to have the card on her mirror when picking up Ava, so the teacher outside could see it, and call for Ava to come out to Darcy's vehicle.
Jeremy had called the school earlier to put Darcy's name down for Ava's pickup list. He wasn't sure how long their arrangement would last, and the moment something happened he would take her off, but for now she was put down to be able to pickup Ava up, as well as an emergency contact incase Jeremy didn't answer or couldn't get to the school.
When Ava climbed into the backseat and was buckled in by her teacher, Darcy drove them to her house. The puppies were excited to have Ava with them, which made Darcy happy. Ava was always so gentle and sweet with the puppies, even when they became a bit rowdy.
Anyhow, the moment they arrived at Darcy's house, Darcy went around and helped Ava out of her carseat, before bringing her inside. Darcy lead Ava to the kitchen and grabbed her a juice box and a little packet of animal crackers. Ava loved animal crackers, so Darcy made sure to stock up on them.
"What do you want for dinner, Ava?" Darcy asked, and Ava grinned.
"Hotdogs!" Ava exclaimed, causing Darcy to laugh.
"I can do that." Darcy replied, nodding slightly.
Darcy started dinner at five, and by five thirty there were hotdogs and macaroni and cheese sitting on the table. Darcy fixed Ava a sippy cup of sweet tea, before she called the little girl to the table. Ava ate one hotdog and some macaroni and cheese. Darcy ate two, as well as some macaroni. The left over hotdog was cut up and equally split between the puppies. Darcy saved the left over macaroni and cheese for later, just incase she or Ava wanted more.
At seven, Jeremy arrived to pick up Ava, but by that time, Ava was already tired, and didn't really have time to hang out with her father. She spent about an hour with him, and that was mostly the ride home, bath time, and story time before bed. Jeremy felt bad that he wasn't able to spend much time with his little girl, but he knew this arrangement was for the best; for now at least.
When he realized in the first day just how much he missed Ava, he decided that he would need to sit down with Darcy and go over a more flexible schedule, or an easier way for them both to be able to help Ava and each other. He wanted time with his daughter, but he needed Darcy's help watching over her when he was busy. The arrangement wasn't going to be easy, but he had to do what was best for Ava.
Darcy had been exhausted the first night, and she had laid down by nine o'clock. She knew the next few days were going to be exhausting as she learned to deal with her new schedule, but she knew her body would get use to it. Eventually, she would be able to handle the early wakeup time and long hours.
Ava was a great little girl. She was always so well behaved, and she never seemed to act up. Even when she was around other kids, she was always so kind and listened well. Darcy hoped she would never change. She hoped that life wouldn't change the little girl, but she was worried that with her watching over Ava instead of Jeremy, the little girl may change because she missed her father...
