BUSINESS MARRIAGE (COMPLETED)

105

Sometimes All I Want To Do Is Head West On Twenty In A Car I Can't Afford With A Plan I Don't Have. Just Me, My Music And The Road.

 - Baby driver

Alex hurried into the house, opening the front door with her set of keys.

"TRISTAAAAAAN!?!" she shouted, entering and exiting each room she passed "AVAAAA!?" she tried again, not getting a response.

"Lex, over here" she heard Tristan whispering and followed the voice, entering 2 more rooms before finding him in the kitchen, along with Ava asleep on the counter. "Please, dont wake her, I need the quiet" he said, nursing the drink in front of him.

"What happened?"

"I really don't know Lex, she just asked for you when she fully woke up, after you dropped us off that is, and when I told her that you had gone for a meeting, she started crying uncontrollably"

"That's... new"

"If I had to guess..." he trailed off, continuing when she raised her eyebrow "...I'd say the peanut is scared, It's common with kids that get adopted... I should know"

"Scared...? Scared of what?" she asked, puzzled

"Scared that you're going to leave her, Alex"

"But... but she goes to school, she stays with you a lot"

"Maybe because of the thing that happened with Paxton, has she talked to him since then?"

She sighed "He isn't picking my calls, I don't know what to do... Tris... did I make a mistake?"

"Only you know the answer to that mon cheri, do you think you made the wrong choice?"

"I really don't know Tristan... Let me take Ava to her room"

"You should look around first, the place is pretty big." he continued nursing his drink as she went to look around.

- -

"Momma?" Ava rubbed her tired eyes as she woke up, looking around for Alex

"Yes darling, I'm here" she stands from her seat at the table where she was going through the updated meeting plan for the next few weeks. She crawls off the bed and climbs onto Alex's lap, wrapping her two hands around her mom.

"Baby, what's wrong?" she asked, hoping she wouldn't have to push too hard before she opened up

"I missed you" she said, her voice muffled by her lips pressing into her mum's person. She carried Ava and walked towards the bed laying her down before assuming a place beside her.

"Baby, your uncle Tristan said you were crying when you woke up. That's not like you... what happened?"

"I don't know" she averted her mother's peering gaze

"Okay baby, that's fine, but I need to talk to you about something."

"..."

"Are you listening?"

"Mhm" she hummed in agreeance

"You, Ava, you're my world, my everything, you're the reason I want to be a better person, so I can be a better mum to you, for you. I want you to grow up to be big and strong and surrounded by people who love you, like your uncles and aunty, like Grandpa, like Paxton... All of us are one big happy family, and sometimes families fight, but we NEVER stop being family, okay? Family doesn't leave you, I am never going to leave you. When you get older, we are going to argue, we are going to disagree, I used to argue with my mum a lot, especially when we were in the kitchen, she had her own way of doing things, and I had my own way of doing things and we used to have a lot of fights, but she was my momma and I loved her, just like I love you, just like I will always love you. You're my baby and I'm your momma okay?"

"Yes, momma"

"You know I love you right?"

"Mhm" she hummed again

"Ah, looks like your mouth is stuck" she kneeled on the bed, encasing Ava between her knees and started tickling her, laughter and uncontrollable movements began and soon the were laying in the bed exhausted.

10 minutes after the laughing fit they were still wrapped in each other when her phone rang, flashing Paxton's name with the series of emoji's she had recently used to save it...

She shows the screen to Ava whose eyes widened in a shock-like expression before motioning for her to be quiet.

"Hi..." she said hesitantly, her voice trailing off

"Hey" he replied with an air of finality, leaving an awkward silence between them

"..."

"Yeah, I saw your call" he cleared the 'crackiness' out of his throat "How is Ava?"

"She's fine, she's here right now if you want to talk to her..'' she nodded exaggeratedly and excitedly, making Alex giggle.

"Yeah, I do" he replied, before she handed over the phone

"Hiiii Pax" she says in a sing songy voice, which Alex took as her signal to leave the room.

She set a path for the kitchen, which had already been fully stocked, courtesy of Bailey, and started working on dinner. About 5 minutes later, Ava ran into the kitchen with a smile on her face, stretching the phone to Alex, who was surprised to see that the call was still running.

"Alex?" he asked, confirming that she was listening

"Yeah... I'm here" she replied holding the phone between her ear and shoulder while she chopped the carrots, the awkwardness was gone from his voice.

"I'm sorry about how we left things... but I don't know where we stand now, what we are now" she paused her chopping "...but I dont think this is the best time to talk about it, but I dont want our problems affecting my relationship with Ava, so I will call you when I want to talk to her and I hope you will let her call me if she wants to talk to me"

"I guess that's fine..." she trails off, having a lot on her mind but not knowing what to say, but he disconnected the line, saving her from the discomfort. Ava was significantly lighter and offered to help her mum with the cooking. She wanted to say more, but her little girl was smiling again... and that's all that mattered to her.