"I don't want to move!" Ava Messer yelled at both of her parents just before taking off outside racing away tears streaming down her face.
"Well dat went well." Danny said sighing as he leaned against the counter in the kitchen.
"Yeah." Lindsay said rubbing her forehead wishing she knew how to make Ava feel better about the move.
"Linds, we don't have to do dis." Danny said walking over and wrapping his arms around her middle pulling her into his arms. She looked up at him and cupped his strong jaw shocked that even after 13 years of marriage she loved him, maybe even more than when they first got together. They'd only been married for 5 years when Danny had been offered a job in Montana as the lab director. At the time it was a good move for them, they had Ava who was just turning 5 and twins on the way and her grandparents had died leaving them a fantastic house and both of them wanted to raise their kids in a safer place. The move had gone well and Lindsay had been afraid that Danny would hate being out of New York but he'd fallen in love with her home and the kids seemed to love having the freedom of running outside and playing in the grass. They'd gotten a call from Mac a few weeks before asking them to come back, asking Danny to take over as lab director and Lindsay saw in his eyes that he was excited and wanted to do it.
"I want to." She said finally. "I love New York and I want this job for you, you've worked so hard and you deserve it." She said resting her face against his chest. They'd been putting off telling the kids knowing leaving Montana would be hard and they'd bought a house right next to Don Flack and Jennifer Angel who although they never married had been together about the same time as Danny and Lindsay and had a 12 year old son named Jason. "She'll get over being mad at us." Lindsay said and Danny nodded rubbing her back.
"You're thinking awful hard." He whispered enjoying standing there in the silence with her in his arms.
"Just thinking." She whispered smiling. "I'm nervous, not about leaving but I'm a little worried about the kids, about being safe." She said sighing. "I think it's going to be good for them to see how life is in the city don't get me wrong but here they have some freedom, they can play outside without me having to worry." She said and he nodded.
"If it don't work out we can come back." Danny said rubbing her back.
"I know." She said nodding.
"Mommy?" Lilly their 6 year old daughter said walking in her dark blonde hair pulled back into a tight braid and her big blue eyes wide with fear. "Aaron said we was movin." She said and Lindsay smiled and squatted down beside her.
"We are moving." Lindsay said smiling at her hoping she was putting off confident vibes. "Daddy got a new job and we're going back to New York." Lindsay said and Lilly nodded. "You remember last year when we went and you said it was pretty?"
"Yeah I liked it." She said nodding. "Can I take my toys?" She asked frowning her head tilted to the side and Lindsay chuckled watching her, smiling that she looked so much like her dad sometimes.
"Of course, we're taking our stuff." Lindsay said smiling as Aaron walked in his short hair messy and dirt on his cheek.
"Daddy can we take my horse?" He asked and Danny laughed.
"No son, we can't take da horse but Granpa is gonna watch out for Tyson and we'll come back and visit." He said messing Aaron's hair up.
"Darn it." He said making a face. "Montana I'm gonna go talk to Av." Danny said and Lindsay nodded moving the kids into the bathroom to wash up for supper. They made trips to New York at least once a year most times twice and Ava seemed in awe of everything, she even once said she wanted to live there he was just praying she could adjust. She was a tom girl through and through and the child of theirs that was probably most like Lindsay. She was sweet and tough and so beautiful that sometimes he got teary just looking at her. She was tall for her age and thin and had dark blonde hair that went down to the middle of her back and she was the spitting image of Lindsay without the dark hair and brown eyes. All of their kids had gotten his dirty blonde hair and blue eyes but Ava had Lindsay's face, she had the same smooth pale skin and glowing smile and he sometimes wondered if that's why he might have favored her a bit. She was his firstborn but she'd always been a daddy's girl and he loved it, prayed that they'd always have that bond. She was close to Lindsay but 9 times out of 10 if she was hurting or upset she wanted him and he loved that since their other 2 kids were more prone to seek Lindsay out. "Hey." He whispered walking over to sit by Ava at the pond behind their house.
"Hi." She said swiping at the tears that fell down her pretty cheeks. "Daddy I wanna stay here."
"I know ya do bug." He said rubbing her back wanting to say that they would just stay, he hated seeing her cry or hurt. "I thought ya loved New York bug."
"I do, I mean I like to visit but." She stopped and looked up at him. "I won't have any friends."
"Baby ya'll make friends and what about Jason, ya always play together when we go visit." He said tucking her long hair behind her ear shocked that she didn't have it back in a pony tail.
"I'm country daddy, I like to ride horses and help poppy feed the cows." She said sighing dramatically. "What am I gonna do in New York?"
"Well ya momma's a country girl too, she loved living in New York." Danny said softly. "I know it's different baby but I want ya to love it like I do. I want ya to love it like your mom loves Montana, it's my home bug." He said smiling as he looked out at the water. "It's crazy and exciting and I love it here but I miss it Ava, I miss my friends and my family." He said shaking his head. "I have worked hard and dis job is a great opportunity for me, it's my dream job."
"I know." She said smiling weakly. "Aunt Stella said we could go shopping." She said sighing knowing that even if she was mad they were still going to move.
"I think we should think of dis move as an adventure." He said and she nodded. "It's exciting and scary but I wouldn't move our family across the country if I didn't think it would be good for us." He said and she leaned against him. "I think it's important to see the world Av, to see how other people live so that you know what you want out of life. Maybe you'll hate it, maybe you won't but it's important dat ya not afraid of change. I was terrified to move here, I tried to pretend to ya mom like I wasn't but I was so scared and when we got here I couldn't sleep for about a week." He said shaking his head. "It was way to quiet but one day I got up and sat on the porch and I was awed by the beauty, I came to love it, not more than New York but different."
"I don't want to love New York better." Ava said sadly.
"Baby ya don't gotta choose, it's like ya brother and sister, ya can love both of them." He whispered kissing her head.
"Yeah that's true." Ava said nodding. "I promise to give it a try." She said and he smiled and hugged her.
"Dat's my girl." He said relief pouring through him. "I love you bug."
"I love you daddy." She whispered hugging him tight still afraid but feeling better about the move.