*Thank-you for the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated thank-you all so much!
John had a rough few days with Ava before Nicki showed up. John was having trouble knowing how to be a father and when to draw the line between discipline and letting Ava get away with her bad behavior. He had no idea that she was so challenging. Ava wanted things her way or no way at all. John was in over his head. He was filled with relief when his doorbell rang. He hurries over to the door to answer it. He sees Nicki standing there as he opens the door. "Hey, Beautiful," he says before greeting her with a kiss.
"Hey," she says with a smile. "This is a nice house."
"Thanks," he says, "come in." Nicki makes her way into the house as John shuts the door behind her. "How was your flight?"
"Wonderful," she says as she takes his hand before he takes her to the living room. "Thank-you for the first class seats."
"Not a problem," he says, "soon you can travel using my private plane whenever you want. I mean if you wish to."
"Okay," she says as they walk to the living room. "This house is so big."
"I know," he says as they enter the living room where Ava is sitting watching Sofia the First. "Ava, I want you to meet someone."
"Who, Daddy?" she asks jumping off the couch holding her unicorn. She stands looking at the woman in front of her with her brown hair pulled into a ponytail, her jeans with holes and wearing a plaid shirt. "Who is she, Daddy?" she asks eying Nicki over.
"Ava, this is my girlfriend, Nicki. Nicki, this is my daughter Ava," he says.
"Hi, Ava," says Nicki with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."
"Hi," she says shying away from her and hiding behind John.
"Nicki is going to be staying here for a couple of days," says John. "I hope you don't mind."
"Okay, Daddy," she says barely higher than a whisper.
"You don't have to be shy," says John, "Nicki is very nice." This doesn't make Ava budge. She continues to hide behind her dad as he gives Nicki a tour of the house since she has never been there before. She is in awe of the house surrounding her. She has never been inside of a house that was bigger than her 3 bedroom home in Alabama. "That's about it," he says as they are standing outside at his pool. "What do you think?"
"I don't even know what to say," she says. "I have never seen a house this big in my life."
"It's one of the perks," he says with a smile.
"And I love Ava's room. It is so beautiful. Did you design it yourself or have some help?"
"I had a lot of help," he says as they make their way back inside. "I wanted a princess room and that's what I got. She loves it."
"I'm sure she does," says Nicki as she looks at Ava who is now standing beside her dad. She is starting to warm up to Nicki but is still a little backward.
Later that night after they had gone grocery shopping and had dinner Ava wanted to play a game. "What game do you want to play?" asks John.
"Candy Land," says Ava as she is holding the game in her hands.
"Okay," says John.
"I love this game," says Nicki, "Judson and I played it a lot."
"I don't think I have ever played this game," says John.
"You never played Candy Land? What kind of childhood did you have?"
"I was more interested in raising hell and playing wrestling than actually playing games," says John. "I don't even think this was around when I was a kid."
"I'm sure it was. It was better when I was a kid. They changed the appearance since then and I liked it a lot better back then," says Nicki. "It's really not a hard game to play. All you have to do is follow the cards and move to the color or character they say."
"Okay," says John as he takes the game from Ava and places it on the coffee table. He opens the box, pulls out the gameboard, the cards and the pieces. "What color do you want to be Ava?"
"Blue," she says before her dad hands her the blue gingerbread piece. "And you can be green and Nicki yellow."
"Good plan," says John.
"Can I be red?" asks Nicki.
"No you can't," she says, "my mommy is always red."
"Okay," says Nicki as she places the yellow piece on the board.
The game was going well and they were all having fun until Ava took a turn when she was almost to King's Candy castle when she drew the card that sent her down to Plumpy at the very end of the game board. "I don't wanna go to Plumpy," she says crossing her arms.
"You have to," says Nicki. "That's what your card is telling you to do."
"I don't want to," she says sticking out her bottom lip.
"Ava, you have to," says John. "Come on, let's play fair."
"It's not fair," she says making her mean face. "I'm not!"
"Ava," says John in a warning tone. "Move your person to Plumpy."
"No, Daddy," she says knocking all the pieces off the game board. "I'm not. I don't want to play anymore," she says before knocking the game off the table.
"Ava Marie," says John. "When you play games you have to be fair. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. You don't' have to win all the time."
"Yes I do, Daddy," she says. "Mommy lets me win all the time."
"Well," says John not surprised that Nikki has Ava so spoiled that she doesn't know how to handle losing a game or playing fair in a game. "I'm not mommy and I play the game fair and so will you."
"I TOLD YOU I DON'T WANT TO PLAY!" she yells in a squeal. It rips through John's ears like a nails on a chalkboard.
"It's time for bed," says John.
"NO it's not," she says.
"It is," says John. "Let's go." He picks her up as she kicks and screams because she doesn't want to go to bed. Nicki just watches on before she picks up the game to put it away. Ava was a typical 3 year old but she wasn't sure if John realized that.
About 10 minutes later John came back downstairs. "Is she in bed?" asks Nicki.
"She's crying in bed but yes she's in bed," says John. "I'm sorry about that."
"John, she's 3 it's what she knows. You don't have to apologize."
"No, she's spoiled," he says sitting down next to Nicki on the couch. "I blame her mom for that."
"She may be a little spoiled but she is 3. 3 year olds don't know about playing fair. They want to win the game and not lose it. It's normal for a child to act like that. Even Judson had his moments when he didn't want to lose a game."
"And what did you do?"
"I explained to him that he had to follow the rules of the game. If he loses than he loses but there is always next time. I didn't argue with him. You just need to learn to pick your battles."
"But she should know that when she draws a card that tells her to go back she needs to go back."
"I know but think about when you were 3. Wouldn't you have acted the same way as she did?"
"Honestly," says John, "I would have acted that way when I was in my 20's. I always wanted to win matches and never wanted to lose. I always wanted to be in the title picture."
"So see? Everyone wants to win," says Nicki. "And so does Ava."
"I know," says John. "Do you think I'm too hard on her?"
"Well," says Nicki, "Not really. I think kids need to be disciplined. I think you did the right thing putting her to bed after she knocked the pieces off the game and then knocked the game off the table. That deserved being put to bed for."
"She has mine and her mom's temper that's for sure. We both get heated pretty quick," says John. "But still she is 3 way too young to get upset so easily."
"John," says Nicki, "3 year olds get upset easily. They believe it's all about them and what they want. It's okay."
"It wasn't okay to knock the game off the table," says John.
"I know but still," says Nicki, "and you handled it. Just don't let it ruin your night."
"I feel like I am a bad father."
"You're not a bad father. You are amazing with her. It's okay if you have to show tough love sometimes but that's all a part of loving your child. You do great with her so no you're not a bad father."
"Are you sure?"
"100%," says Nicki with a smile as she wraps her arms around his neck. "You're a great father and I couldn't be happier to have you as the father of our baby. I love you."
"I love you too," he says as he kisses her lips softly. "Thanks."
"No problem," she says. "Now show me how good of a boyfriend you can be," she says with a smile.
"No problem," he says with a smile as he picks her up and carries her up to his bedroom.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for reading.