"Thanks for brunch guys." Trish said as she and Dez helped Austin and Ally clear the table.
"It's the least we could do." Ally said. "You guys have been so helpful the past few months, we really appreciate it."
"And we're really gonna miss you when you're in LA." Austin added.
"We're gonna miss you guys too." Dez said. "But not as much as we're gonna miss this little angel." Dez cooed at Ava, taking her out of her high chair. "You guys are still holding firm on keeping her? You're sure you don't want us to take her?"
"We're sure." Ally said dryly.
"Seriously?" Trish said. "C'mon, we'll bring her back by Christmas."
"I think we'd prefer to keep our own child." Austin said.
"Are you sure?" Dez asked. "Because she still flies for free."
"That's a great point." Trish said, pointing to Dez.
"You guys are not taking our daughter with you!" Ally said, taking Ava from Dez.
"Have your own kid if you want one so bad!" Austin said.
"Whoa, okay, slow down, we aren't that desperate yet." Dez said.
"Yeah, unlike you guys, we want to enjoy our early twenties without having to worry about being parents yet." Trish said.
"We're totally okay with just being the cool godparents who live in LA and make huge movies who Ava will eventually wanna come live with." Dez said.
"Exactly!" Trish said, high fiving Dez.
"Aw, crap, we've gotta go!" Dez said, grabbing Trish's shoulder. "Our flight leaves in just over an hour."
Austin helped Trish and Dez carry their bags out to the car in the driveway, Ally still holding Ava.
After all the bags were loaded in the car, the four friends turned to look at each other.
"Well..." Trish said. "I guess this is goodbye."
Austin hugged Trish and Dez before taking Ava from Ally so she could hug their two friends.
Ally hugged Dez then Trish, the two women about to burst into tears.
"Have a safe flight." Ally told them. "Call us as soon as you land."
Trish nodded before pulling Ally into another hug, breaking apart after several long moments but still keeping an arm around each other.
Dez kissed Ava's head and rubbed her back with his hand, telling her that he was gonna miss her more than Ally, but not as much as Austin.
Austin laughed at his words before doing his signature handshake with his best friend.
"What up!" Ava said in synchronization with her father and uncle.
Both boys froze, Ally and Trish's jaws dropped.
"Did she really just..." Austin said, shocked.
Dez reached out and high fived Ava, followed by a fist bump.
"What up!" Ava said again, smiling widely at her uncle.
"She did it!" Dez said excitedly.
"I can't believe that's her first word!" Austin said excitedly. "I thought it would be something like Mozambique or babylonions or something else Ally would say."
"Austin, for the millionth time, it's not-" Ally started to correct him. "Ya know what, nevermind."
"Ava, can you say it again for daddy?" Austin cooed, doing the handshake with his daughter.
"What up!" Ava giggled, very entertained by how excited her parents and godparents were.
"Good job, baby!" Austin said excitedly, kissing her head and hugging her close to him.
"Okay, Dez, we really have to go." Trish said. "Our flight leaves in under an hour."
After finale hugs and kisses, Trish and Dez were in the car and driving off.
"Wave bye bye, Ava!" Austin said, holding out her hand.
Ava reached out both her hands and waved goodbye to her godparents.
...
"Is it working?"
"Yes, I can see and hear you now!"
"Awesome!"
"So what's going on in LA, buddy?" Austin asked.
"A lot, actually!" Dez said. "Trish is still at the studio getting a costume fitting, but once she gets back we're gonna go over the final draft of the script before we start shooting tomorrow!"
"That's so cool!" Austin said.
"I know right?!" Dez said. "So what's going on back there? Anything new?"
"Well, Ally and I have started working on some new songs so that's exciting." Austin said. "We haven't been writing much at all since Ava was born so it's nice to finally get back to it."
"Oh, how's Ava?" Dez asked.
"She's as perfect as ever." Austin said. "She's taking a nap right now, Ally's up there with her. OH, and she learned how to blow kisses and it's like her new favorite thing. It's SO cute! Here, I'll show you a video-"
"Austin, you sent me that video like four times." Dez laughed.
"Did I?" Austin asked.
"Yep." Dez said.
"Oh..." Austin said.
"Ya know, I didn't think any other girl would ever come along that would have you as wrapped around her finger as Ally has you." Dez said. "But I stand corrected."
"Yeah, yeah." Austin smiled.
The boys went into a series of random conversations about anything and everything.
"Oh, look who is awake!" Austin said as Ally entered the room with messy haired Ava.
"Oh, look Ava, it's your Uncle Dez!" Ally said as she sat down next to Austin, Ava on her lap.
"Hi Ava!" Dez waved through the computer, causing Ava to smile widely.
"Dez!" Ava said, grabbing towards the computer, wanting to hug her favorite uncle.
"Did she just say my name?" Dez said excitedly.
"Ava, who's that?" Austin asked, pointing to Dez.
"Dez!" Ava said again.
"She did!" Austin said happily. "Good job, sweetie!"
"Well... Since all three of you are here, I guess now it's best time as any to tell you..." Dez said.
"Tell us what?" Austin asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.
"Carrie and I are getting married!" Dez said.
"What?" Ally said. "Oh my gosh, Dez, that's amazing!"
"Congratulations buddy!" Austin said.
"Thanks guys!" Dez said. "Anyway, we were wondering if maybe Ava could be our flower girl!"
"Of course!" Ally said.
"Did you hear that, Ava?" Austin said, poking Ava's belly. "You're gonna be in Uncle Dez and Auntie Carrie's wedding!"
"And Austin..." Dez said. "Will you be my best man?"
"Of course I will, buddy!" Austin said excitedly. "I'll be the bestest best man ever!"
"Awesome!" Dez said. "Oh, I'm sorry guys, I gotta go! One of my producers is calling me."
"Okay!" Austin said. "Ava, blow kisses to Uncle Dez!"
Ava blew a kiss at the computer and waved at her uncle.
"Bye guys!" Dez waved back happily, before the screen went blank.
Ava turned up to look at Austin, a confused expression on her face.
"Dez?" she said, cocking her head to the side.
"Uncle Dez had to go bye bye." Austin told her.
Ava nodded, understanding Austin's words.
"I love how she can understand what we're saying now!" Austin said excitedly.
"I know!" Ally replied just as excitedly. "She can actually comprehend things!"
"And she knows her own name too!" Austin said. "Isn't that right, Ava?"
Ava turned at the mention of her name, smiling up at her parents.
"Yes, that's our smart girl!" Austin cooed.
...
"Hey Austin, check this out!" Ally called out from the living room. "They're doing a whole special for the anniversary of steal your heart!"
"I can't believe it's been this long." Austin said. "I mean, it feels like just yesterday I was writing all my confusing feelings about you down in a napkin and now we're married and have the most perfect child ever." Austin smiled at Ava, who was playing with her toys on the floor.
Ava giggled as Austin booped her nose and tickled her belly.
Ally laughed at the two before turning the volume up on the TV while Austin returned to the kitchen to finish making dinner.
"We all knew Austin Moon as the adorable heartthrob who could do anything but write songs, which is where his songwriter and best friend, Ally Dawson, came into play." the reporter on the TV said. "From day one we all saw a special connection between these two, and they eventually ended up dating for a short period of time before they broke up due to what they said was work complications.
"Just a few months later, when we were all still mourning the loss of Auslly, Austin Moon released a new song, the first song he ever wrote on his own, which was obviously about a girl.
"There was a lot of speculation happening, Austin wasn't exactly an amateur when it came to dating; he had quite a few past suitors who the song could've been about.
"It wasn't until a court trial to prove that he really wrote the song that we learned he had in fact written the song about the one girl he had yet to get over, Ally Dawson.
"And now almost a decade down the line, Austin and Ally are happily married, and as we all know, they are the biggest duo in music. They also now have a daughter named Ava."
Ava looked up at the mention of her name, focusing her eyes on the screen.
"And now, to commemorate the 9 year anniversary, here is Austin Moon's 'Steal Your Heart'." the reporter said as she introduced the song.
"Dada!" Ava said excitedly when she saw Austin (from 9 years earlier) appear on the screen.
There was a clatter in the kitchen as Austin hurried into the living room.
"What did she just say?" Austin panted.
Ava looked up at Austin and smiled widely.
"Dada!" she said again, reaching up her arms to indicate that she wanted him to pick her up.
"Yeah..." Austin said softly a she picked her up, tears in his eyes. "That's me. I'm your dada."
...
Ally groaned as she sat in the Miami traffic, the sun close to setting, the cars barely moving a mile an hour.
She was almost home! She had just two more exits before she got off the express way; but what would normally take her like 5 minutes to drive, now looked like it would take her at least a half an hour to drive.
She sighed before picking up her phone and pressing Austin's contact.
"Hey babe! Are you close to being home?" Austin said when he picked up the phone.
"Define close." Ally replied. "I mean, in distance I'm super close, but the traffic between here and there is insane."
"Aw, that sucks." Austin said. "I was hoping you'd be home soon."
"What's wrong?" Ally asked.
"Nothing!" Austin said. "Ava's just being really fussy and nothing I do will cheer her up."
"Dada!" she heard Ava scream through the phone.
"I'm right here, baby!" Austin attempted to sooth her. "It's okay!"
Ava's screams just increased and got louder.
"I'll let you go." Ally said. "I'll be home as soon as I can." and then she hung up the phone.
Ally sighed again as she placed her phone back in the cupholder.
She had to admit that hearing that Ava was being fussy with Austin did make her feel a bit happy, as bad as it sounds.
Austin had just had a special bond with Ava since day one. Ava had always been more drawn to him than to her, and it kind of hurt Ally. She was her mother! She gave birth to her! Yet all Ava said was "dada" or "Dez" or "what up", she was literally a mini Austin.
But then she remembered what actual mini Austin was like, and how he eventually fell in love with her, which soothed her anxieties about her daughter never feeling close to her.
Her relationship that she had with her own mother was not what she wanted for herself and her own daughter.
Shaking her head to clear her thoughts as the traffic thinned out, Ally finally got off at her exit.
She pulled down the street and into their driveway, opening the garage door and parking the car.
"I'm home!" Ally called out loudly as she entered the kitchen through the garage.
"Hey!" Austin called out from the couch.
Ally walked up behind the couch to see Austin bouncing Ava up and down on his lap in attempt to calm her fussing.
"Mama!" Ava cried, reaching up at Ally when she saw her appear.
Ally froze, stunned.
"You wanna go to mama?" Austin smiled, handing Ava over to Ally.
Ava's cries immediately stopped once she was in Ally's arms, resting her head in the crock of her neck.
"Mama." Ava mumbled contently, drifting off to sleep.
"Yeah." Ally said softly as she rocked Ava back and forth, her eyes welling up. "I'm your mama."
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