Berlin was staring at the toddler, hard. He was staring with cold, dark eyes. He looked from the baby to Ava and then to Sergio. Ava didn't want him to figure out like this and she definitely didn't want it to be this soon. Sergio took the little boy from Ava, patting his back gently. It was getting late in the day, so they'd have to put him to sleep soon. Usually, he had a set bedtime and this heist had already shifted their routine up a bit too much.
"Who's this?" Berlin asked, trying to be gentle with his wording. His mind went to it being Ava and Sergio's, especially with the way Sergio was handling the boy. He seemed so comfortable with him.
"My son." Ava spoke, her eyes shifting to Sergio for a moment. She finally looked back at Berlin. He was biting his tongue, trying not to speak until he calmed himself down. He was about to snap. His mind was playing games with him. The same way his mind played with him when he saw them outside that night. He let his pride get the best of him and he lost out of two years with his child because of it.
"I'm going to go lay him down." Sergio said. He knew they'd need to talk about this, and it wasn't the best to do it right in front of the boy. Sergio wanted them to have the privacy that they deserved, even if he did long to hear what was being said. He knew it really just wasn't his business.
"Thank you." Ava leaned forward, pecking the boy's cheek. Sergio and Berlin both watched her as she did this, but they were thinking completely different things. Sergio, for one, kept remembering her kissing him, and Berlin was thinking only the worst things possible. His mind always ran to the worst-case sceneries. "Goodnight, baby." She offered her son a smile, running her fingers through his hair quickly. She pulled off of him as Sergio pulled away. She watched him as he walked off with him towards her bedroom. It was right across from Sergio's room purposely.
"Your son?" Berlin questioned it as soon as Sergio was in the other room.
"Yeah." Ava nodded her head and finally forced herself to look at him. The whole time, she prayed and prayed that he was alive and now here he was, standing right in front of her. He looked the same, talked the same. He was the same person, but she wasn't. She wasn't because of him. Because she had to go through losing him. "Maybe we should talk about this outside. Or somewhere, private." Her eyes averted around the hallway that they were in. Anyone could hear them and oddly, the home went quiet. It was almost as if they were trying to listen. Berlin furrowed his eyebrows. He was worried now, clearly. He didn't know why it had to be said privately.
"How old is he?" He questioned. Ava stared at him, quiet for a bit too long. "How old is he?" He repeated the question, but this time he let his anger show.
"He's about to turn two." She answered him. She knitted her fingers together, trying to distract herself the best she could. She couldn't focus only on this conversation. It was already giving her a headache. Berlin was now even more confused. He wasn't expecting her answer.
"Is he my son?" Berlin asked the question. Ava stared at him for a moment in silence. She let out a sigh and nodded her head. She hated that she had to tell him like this. Just days before, she was planning on searching for more information on Berlin. She just needed to know if he was alive. Well, she got her answer. But it wasn't what she was expecting. She didn't expect to find him relaxing with his friend while she cared for their child.
"Yes." She replied. Berlin took a deep breath, his eyes widening a little. He covered his face with his shaky hands, trying his best to calm himself down. Ava just stared at him. She was trying to let him handle it however he needed to.
"Can I meet him?" He asked when his hands were dropped back down to his sides. Ava shook her head.
"It's a little late. Morning would work better." She fumbled with her words. She wasn't ready to explain it to the boy. It was selfish, she knew that.
"I'm meeting him." He rephrased it. He stepped over to the bedroom Ava was staying in and opened the door. The Professor was walking towards the door. He just got Andres to sleep.
"He's asleep." The Professor said. His eyes went to Ava for a moment and then he let himself look at his brother. He felt guilty, even if he wasn't the one to initiate the kiss between the two of them. He felt guilty that he kissed back, knowing how much Ava really did mean to Andres. Berlin looked at the little boy who was asleep in the pack n play. He just wanted to see him. He missed out on so much with Rafael. He wanted to do things differently this time.
"I'll meet him in the morning." Berlin said, giving in. He sighed, backing off a little. He stepped over to Ava. She was almost unrecognizable, and it wasn't just the change of hair color. It was her stance, her posture, her voice. She was carrying herself better. She seemed stronger. Berlin never saw her like this before.
"I'm going to get to bed." Ava spoke up. She stepped around Berlin and the Professor. They both stared at her a bit too hard, their minds on similar pages. "Goodnight." Ava offered both of them a smile, but grabbed the edge of the door, waiting for them to walk out before she shut it.
It was early, really early. Ava was outside, sitting on the front porch. She was staring up, watching as the sun rose. Nobody else in the house was awake. It was just time that she needed, alone. She thought about taking Andres and running now, but her heart wouldn't let her do that to the Professor or to Tokyo. Rio was being tortured and this was really his only hope to getting saved. It was an impulsive and less planned out heist, therefore, a lot more dangerous. She'd be leaving Andres with someone who'd take care of him and if she didn't come back, it was already planned out. She was planning for her death, just in case. She didn't want to leave her boy with no one.
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Denver spoke from behind her, stepping onto the porch and lighting a cigarette.
Ava turned to look at him, a smile creeping up on her lips. She had gotten close to Denver back in the Mint, but she hadn't saw him afterwards. He looked the same, sounded the same, but there was something different about him. He seemed more grown up. He acted like a man now. "Yeah," Ava reach a hand out, "can I get one of those?" She gestured towards the cigarette pack and Denver furrowed his eyebrows.
"Smoking now?" He smirked, pulling the cigarette out from the pack. He lit it with the one in his mouth. "The Professor stressed you out that bad?" Ava nodded, a grin on her lips. She thanked him when he handed it over. She hit it a few times. It wasn't as good as she needed it to be, but the stress did ease just a bit.
"What're you doing up so early?" Ava tried to conversate.
"Cincinnati. He thinks it's morning as soon as he hears a bird." He laughed a little and this caused Ava to laugh. His laugh was so contagious. Ava stood up from the stairs, watching when she saw Berlin walking towards the front door. He stepped out onto the porch with the other two of them. His eyes went straight to the cigarette in Ava's hands. Everyone seemed to be waking, but it was still very early. "That's him now." Denver said, hearing his little boy whining from the inside of the house. Denver put out the cigarette and then hurried into the house. He was using it as an excuse to leave the two of them alone. They needed to talk this out before they all went into that building.
"It was my heist, my idea. You know that?" Berlin tried to think of something to say so he just mentioned the heist. Ava nodded her head slowly. She already knew that. Sergio had mentioned it awhile before they even knew they were going to do it. She knew he jumped on the idea as soon as Tokyo mentioned Rio being captured.
"Look," Ava looked at him straight in the face. She was being completely serious now, "I want you to meet him. I want him to know his father, but don't expect anything to happen again between the two of us. That was over as soon as you decided to go see your lover," she gestured to the house, thinking of Palermo, "before coming to see me."
"I found you." Berlin protested. He wasn't trying to argue this early in the morning. He only went on the porch to try and talk to her. He wanted to make this up to her. He just didn't know how. "I found you -"
"You found me and I was dancing with your brother." Ava finished his sentence for him, cutting him off. "I was dancing with him. I wasn't fucking him." She snapped. "You left because you were scared that you'd have to live up to everything you said inside of the Mint. That's it."
"That's not it." He sighed, shaking his head. "You're telling me," he started, "you spent two years with him and not a single thing happened between you two?" he just didn't believe that, especially with the way he saw Ava look at Sergio. He could see desperation in her eyes.
"No." Ava answered after a second of silence. "Nothing." She lied to him. Nothing had happened in the last two years, but something did in fact happened. They kissed but that was yesterday. Berlin sighed, shaking his head. He let his mind get the best of him sometimes.
"I'm sorry, " he started. He reach out to grab her arm. She knew she shouldn't but she let him. He took her hand finally as he stepped closer to her. "I thought I'd be dead within the year. I thought you were better off without me." His sickness should've killed him but it didn't. He wasn't dead yet.
"I wasn't." Ava relaxed at his touch. She wanted to give into him, but her mind kept racing back to kissing Sergio. She'd have a guilty conscious for that until it came out into the open. Ava and Berlin's eyes met and for a moment, she gave him what he wanted. In that moment, she'd have given in to him completely.
"Classes are starting." The Professor's voice was heard and both Berlin and Ava's head snapped to look over at him in the doorway. Sergio's eyes shifted to their hands and Ava immediately pulled away from Berlin. She almost felt like she was being caught cheating on her partner.
Berlin gave Ava a look before he walked inside the house. He knew he still had her. She still loved him. He could read her like a book, but he also knew that something was different. She seemed to be pulling away from him for some reason.
"I'm -" Ava began but the Professor raised a hand, stopping her before she started.
"You don't owe an explanation." He tried to offer her a smile but hers was extremely forced.
"Right." Ava agreed with him. She stepped around him. He watched her as she walked by. Two years passed and he hadn't thought once about her like that. He never looked at her with longing eyes, never admired her as more than just Berlin's woman. He never once wanted anything more than a friendship with her. He thought that she was in the same boat but now he was questioning her feelings as well as his own. Was it feelings? Or was all of it just pent-up frustration that they really just wanted to take out in bed together?