Part 7: Because I Can't
"You don't have to do this Gordon.' Ava said the next afternoon standing in the doorway of the guest bedroom in his apartment. "I am totally fine at the skate shop." "I want to do this Ava. I want us to try and be a family."
"I don't know Dad." She started looking at him, "I don't want to move in and then boom you change your mind."
"I am not going to do that. I want us to be a family." He was surprised about how easy she called him dad.
"Does this have anything to do with Charlie?"
Gordon was silent for several minutes, he knew part of him. A very small part, wished that Ava had been a boy. It would be easier to raise a boy, they were more upfront about things compared to holding them in like girls did. "No Ava, it's not. Being around you and the team the last couple of days made me think. We need to be a family."
Ava sighed and chewed on the inside of her lips, she knew that he was right, Connie and Guy had commented that she should give her father a change and she knew they were right. But she was scared and scared that she was going to get hurt again.
But what was the point of living in fear. Being friends with the team was starting to show her that.
"Okay we will give it a try."
"Are you serious?" Ava asked raising her eyebrow at her father several days later, he had gathered the team along with Fulton Reed in front of the entrance of the Mall of America. "I am very serious Ava." Gordon grinned holding out her roller blades to her.
"Won't we like get arrested or something?" She questioned again while Connie and Tammy stood on either side of her nodding their heads. "Or is that more your speed." Her teammates coughed and went silent looking between father and daughter waiting for Gordon to start yelling.
"Hans just had to tell you why I had to do the community service?" "Yep." Ava giggled, her smile bright. "I am going to have a talk with him about telling you things that you don't need to know." Ava laughed, "And it was Jan that told me not Hans." Gordon rolled his eyes and turned to Fulton who was looking more and more anxious.
"I am surprised that he didn't yell." Tammy muttered, her father would have and she would have yelled back and it would have been bad. "We don't have a stereotypical relationship. This is actually the most I have seen him since I was like 4." Ava returned sitting down on the curb to pull her skates on, "We are trying, I am moved in with him."
"That's all you can do." Connie agreed, "But I am glad you two are here now so I am not the only girl that is around." "You are kind of stuck with me now Cons." Ava muttered, she still felt a little uncomfortable around Tammy but she would get use to her like she did with everyone else.
Tightening her skates she stood up and glided over to Fulton, "You sure you want to do this? We are kind of crazy." 'Yeah, I am sure." He muttered looking down at her, his mouth wanting to twitch and form a smile. Something that he rarely did. He didn't want to be seen as weak or happy.
That was something that had been beat into his head since he could remember and he didn't want to start now. Especially with a new friend, he didn't want to scare her off.
"I can't believe we are doing this." Averman said to Ava as Gordon and his driver pulled open the doors to the mall. "I can. It's my dad, he likes to do things for shock and awe and this is definitely shocking." She returned before patting his shoulder, "Relax Averman, this is going to be fun."
The redhead boy frowned, he was starting not to like when she said that. She said to him the day before and he ended up with cartons of milk being spilled on him.
It was like all of a sudden she had a devious side. And he blamed them for it.
