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Isaac ran around the apartment in circles with Ava on his shoulders, him making silly airplane noises and the three year old attempting to mimic the sounds.
Carmen didn't have to turn back to know what was happening as a small chuckle left her mouth. She busied herself with making the French toast on the stove.
This is how things had been for the last two years. Every morning, the couple would wake up, sometimes by the queued crying from their little girl in the other room. Isaac would tend to her while Carmen usually got ready for her morning classes.
Juggling school and a child was anything but easy, but the smile that she got to see on the two loves of her life's faces every morning made everything worth it.
"Hey babe?" Isaac called, stopping behind Carmen. He continued to bounce Ava on his shoulders to keep her occupied when a small whine left her little mouth.
"Yeah?" She answered, just finishing up the last of the french toast. She then began to reach for two plates and Ava's miniature one, putting half of one on hers.
"Do you think it's time to start looking for places to enroll Ava in preschool?" He asked, watching as Carmen turned around to face him. "I mean, she's pretty smart, I'm sure she's ready for it."
"Mm, maybe so." Carmen hummed, looking up to the beautiful girl on his shoulders. Her untamed, brown curly hair sat messily atop her head and her brown eyes glimmered sweetly as she reached out to give her mom a hug.
"Mommy!"
At that, Carmen took her from Isaac, resting her on her hip as she reached up to play with her hair. "So, what do we have planned for this weekend?"
"Hmph, no idea. Maybe we could ask Lydia to babysit for a while and we take some time to ourselves?" He suggests slyly, stretching out with his sweatpants hung low on his hips. He smirked when he caught Carmen looking at his happy trail, but she reached out and pulled his pants up further, giving him a stern glare.
"As much as I'd love that, we don't need another Ava running around."
"..Or I could spend the day with my two beautiful girls." He suckered up, hugging both of them tightly. "That's fine, too."
She chuckled at his sudden change, grabbing Ava's small plate and carrying her into the living room. She set her down on the couch and ran back into the kitchen for a second, grabbing the syrup and some utensils.
Ava somehow managed to reach across to the table, grabbing the remote to turn on the T.V. It was defaultly on Nickelodeon, specifically Spongebob, and the girl had no problem with that. She sat back on the couch and watched the screen intently.
"You ready to hear that for the next 5 years of your life?" She askes Isaac, referring to Spongebob's infectious laugh echoing through the apartment.
"Please," He rolled his eyes as he fixed his own plate with his back turned to her. "It's been how many years, and I'm still not over Spongebob myself."
Carmen laughed and looked over to Ava's head just sticking out from the edge of the couch.
"Avy!" She called her nickname, getting a glass from a cupboard. "Orange juice or milk?"
Instead of receiving an answer, Spongebob's laugh plays again. Thinking she had just ignored her, she asked again.
"Ava, orange juice or milk."
The girl didn't move an inch as she remained focus on the screen. Carmen sighed deeply and decided on milk, quickly pouring her a glass and leaving the carton out for Isaac.
"Ava, mommy's talking to you, honey." Carmen spoke, balancing the milk, utensils, and syrup in her hands as she ran back into the living room. She was just about to set the things on the coffee table when she looked up for a second to make sure Ava was okay.
All of the contents fell from Carmen's arms and her mouth widened to scream upon seeing her daughter's eyes shift from their regular dark brown to a cold, unforgiving amber.
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