Two in a Million | Auslly

Twenty Four: Clients & Costumes

"No." Ally laughed.

"Tell me how you really feel." She took a painful step forward, dragging Ava with her. "How was she, mom? Did she behave?"

"Like an angel," Penny replied, "That daughter of yours is sure cute. Reminds me a lot of you when you were young."

"Yeah, I've heard that once or twice," Ally said with a laugh. She looked down at the two-year-old, who was still clinging to her leg. "Ava, you can let go now. We're not going anywhere."

Ava said nothing, wrapping her arms tighter. Ally sighed. "How am I going to take a shower with a little leech on my leg?"

"I not a leech, mommy," Ava said, craning her neck to look up at her mom.

"Right now, you are, yeah," Ally replied. "Austin, can you get her off, please?" He reached down and grabbed his daughter by the legs, but her arms stayed wrapped tight. Austin pulled a little harder, eventually making her release her grip and tumbling backwards onto the floor.

"Ow." Austin winced, rubbing his head with one hand and grabbing Ava's leg with the other as Ally made a break for the upper level (as fast as she could, anyway—right now that was sort of a half-run half-hobble). He dragged her backwards across the wooden floor and into his lap. "Let's leave mommy alone for a little bit, okay?" Ava stuck out her lower lip.

"Where mommy go?"

"She went upstairs to take a shower," Austin said. "Why don't you go back to your chair and I'll get you the apples that grandma cut up for you, okay?"

"Otay."

"Okay." Ava jumped up and went back over to her chair while Austin hoisted himself up off the floor. Penny had grabbed Alex out of his car seat and was bouncing him while pacing slowly.

"So how has Ally been doing?" Penny asked. "I know she said that she was fine, but I could tell that she was still hurting."

Austin bit into an apple slice, shaking his head. "It was all kind of a blur, really. When we got there, they said he was breech, and not ten minutes later she was in the operating room for the C-section. I mean, it just all happened so fast, and the medicine was making it hard for her to breathe, and then when they pulled him out, they took him to the NICU right away..." Austin's voice trailed off, staring at the apple in his hand before shaking his head again. "Yeah. It was a mess."

"Well, I couldn't be prouder of you guys," Penny replied. "It wasn't an ideal situation, but you rolled with it and handled the whole thing like rock stars."

"I'm just glad he's okay," Austin said. "There were so many babies in there, fighting for their lives. Our situation wasn't even that... hard compared to those families." He shook his head. "I won't be surprised if we're done having kids after this, though. That really took a toll on her."

"After going through all that, I would be too," Penny replied with a chuckle. "But honestly, you've got all you ever need right here, with Ava and Alex, your two businesses, each other..." Austin grinned. "You know, Austin, I never got to properly thank you for being there when she had the panic attack at the wedding," she said, "I noticed a big difference in how she acted after you came to comfort her. And then now, with the C-section and everything..."

"It's okay, Penny," he replied, waving a hand. "I'm her husband. The one at the wedding didn't make me want to marry her any less. It's my job to take care of her, and I've always taken that seriously, even back in high school when we were just friends." He grinned, looking down at the kids. "It's the least I could do after all she's done for me."

A few minutes later Ally came back downstairs. "I'm not gonna lie, that was probably the best shower I've ever taken," she mused as she came through the kitchen, ruffling Ava's hair and pecking Austin on the cheek. "Do you mind if I grab a nap real quick, babe? I maybe got two hours of sleep last night, tops. I'm exhausted."