CBloom2: There's a question, he may forgive him or he may not.

sweeet-as-honey: Haha, I love it in the morning. I do feel sorry for Cal as well, bless him and I'm glad you liked that. I quite enjoyed writing the scene.

Chapter Twenty One

Ava let out a cry of detest, throwing her little arms around in the air. Lily held her tightly on her lap, keeping her arms around her waist to try and stop her from struggling. Tears pricked her eyes as she tried not to let it get to her, it was awful seeing her little girl in that much distress. Ethan offered to take over because Ava was struggling quite a bit and he didn't want her to kick Lily in the stomach, Lily just shook her head though because she could sense that Ethan was getting upset. He blamed himself, she knew he did.

"Ava, princess," Lily soothed. "Come on, it won't hurt. Hold mummy's hand, yeah?" Ava sniffed and nodded, tears streaming down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away though and squeezed her mum's hand. "That's my brave girl."

"Good girl, Ava," Connie praised as she rolled up her sleeve and got the needle ready. "You are doing so well. Did you have a good birthday?"

"Yes," Ava whispered, leaning against Lily's chest.

"What was your best present?" Connie asked. "Do you remember?"

"My Princess Elsa dress from mummy and daddy," Ava said.

"Wow," Connie gasped, as she inserted the needle into Ava's arm. "Is Princess Elsa your favourite princess?" Ava nodded, keeping her eyes away from the needle. "I like her too. There you go poppet, all done now."

"Done?" Ava asked, looking to Connie as she dabbed at her arm with some cotton wool. "I didn't feel that!" She laughed.

"Yeah, you were very brave," Connie said. "What plaster would you like? I have racing stripes, ponies..."

"Ponies!" Ava squealed.

"Here you go," Connie said and stuck the plaster onto her arm. "Now, I might have a set of stickers somewhere as well. I think you deserve one for being such a big, brave girl." She opened a drawer and brought out a strip of stickers. She then stuck one on Ava's t-shirt, it read 'I was brave' and had a huge smiley face dressed up as a doctor. "So is it back to school for you then?"

"No." Ethan shook his head. "She has a day off, I um...I'm going to take her to the park for the afternoon."

"Wow. Fun day with daddy, eh?" Connie said, as Ava slid off of Lily's lap and jumped down. "You deserve it, well done."

"Did I do well, mummy?" Ava asked, holding Lily's hand.

"You did very well indeed," Lily said and kissed her on the forehead. "Mummy's very proud of you. Good girl."

"Come on then Ava," Ethan sighed and held out his hand. "Let's go to the park, yeah? We could have some ice-cream and maybe even stop for a McDonalds on the way home."

"Ethan, are you okay?" Lily whispered.

"Fine," Ethan whispered back. "It's just my fault, isn't it? If I didn't have this stupid disease, Ava would never have to get tested."

"Ethan, don't say that," Connie said sympathetically.

"It isn't your fault at all," Lily added. "These things just happen."

"Come on princess," Ethan sighed and rubbed Ava's back. "Let's get going."

Ethan and Ava seemed to be the only ones at the park. There was a couple of dog walkers but apart from that, the place seemed to be deserted. Of course it was a weekday so most people were probably at work and school. One of Ethan's favourite memories though was his dad taking him out of school for the day to do something special and fun. He wanted a day where he could do that with his daughter.

"Are you ready to get down?" Ethan asked, as he finished pushing Ava on the swings.

Ava nodded her head and allowed Ethan to pick her up and place her on the grass.

"Where to next?" Ethan asked.

"The big slide!" Ava yelled and pointed to the slide in the corner of the park. "I'll race you, daddy!"

Ethan smiled as Ava raced off towards the slide. He stumbled a bit and cursed quietly to himself. He only had one thing on his mind at that point, would Ava be diagnosed with Huntington's as well? He couldn't let that happen to his little girl.

"Come on daddy!" Ava shouted.

"I'm coming!" He yelled and picked up a fast pace. "Hey, you beat me," he chuckled once he had reached Ava. "You little monkey."

"I'm fast, right?" Ava smiled at him.

"You are," Ethan said and leant down to ruffle her hair. Just as he did so, he fell to the floor and yelled out in pain. "Fuck!" He shouted without thinking.

"Daddy!" Ava yelled, tears filling her eyes. "Daddy! Are you okay?"

"Go...Away!" He shouted, clenching his teeth together as pain shot through his body.

"Daddy, please get up," Ava sobbed and began biting on her nails. "Please. I...I don't know what to do..."

"Just...Ring mummy," he gasped, having a feeling that he'd broken his arm. "Ow!"

Ava knelt down on the grass and picked up Ethan's phone that had fallen out of his pocket. "Daddy, I don't know what to do," Ava cried. "I can't read." She began crying harder and harder.

"Come...Here..." Ethan gasped and took his phone from Ava, fumbling around with the buttons with his good hand. He found Lily's mobile number and handed it back to Ava. "Just talk to mummy."

"Mummy?" Ava asked when she heard Lily's familiar voice on the other end of the phone.

"Ava?" Lily asked. "Where's daddy?"

"Daddy's fallen over," Ava said to her. "I don't know what to do. I'm scared, mummy."

"Okay baby, where are you?" Lily asked.

"At the park," Ava said.

"Are you okay to stay there with daddy?" Lily asked. "Mummy won't be long, I will be right there."

"Yes mummy," Ava agreed.

"That's my brave girl."

When Ava was off the phone to Lily, she crawled along to Ethan and held his hand. She sniffed and let her tears fall as she kissed her dad's cheek. "Are you okay daddy?" She asked and Ethan nodded, not wanting to scare his little girl. "I love you, daddy," Ava said. "You're the best daddy in the world."