Chapter 27

"I want to play basketball!" Ava pouts to her mother. After watching Ethan's current basketball game, Ava found out there are co-ed and girl's leagues. According to Marina, the little girl has real talent for the game despite only playing for fun with Ethan every now and then. Once Ava got home, she started begging her mother to let her join a team, which Silver also encourages.

"I already said no, Ava."

"Why not?!"

"There's no one to take you to practices and games." with her and Silver working, they already have enough trouble finding a sitter. Usually, Ava would just tag along with the Kentas as they take Ethan to his extracurriculars. She can't burden her friends anymore with taking her daughter to activities.

"But Ethan's mommy says I'm good at it!"

"Ava Janet Green, you are not playing and that's final. I do not want to hear you ask about basketball anymore." The tone in her mother's voice makes the little girl stop as she runs over to cuddle with her uncle.

While Ava cries into Silver's arms, he raises an eyebrow at his cousin who just sighs and shakes her head. "Leaf-"

"Don't, Silver. This is one thing I won't give in on."

Silver mouths, "Like her dad?"

Although he doesn't actually say anything, Leaf knows what he's getting at. She glares at him while crossing her arms. "Do not question my parenting."

He just rolls his eyes and holds his sobbing niece closer. Life is so unfair for the little girl, and he feels bad for her. While it is one thing to hide Ava's father from her, it's a totally different thing to not allow her to play a harmless sport. Silver remembers playing with Leaf when they were younger. It's like she has an aversion to the sport, but he doesn't know why.

Weeks Later

"What the fuck?!" exclaims an auburn haired man with a bloody nose. Ash raises his fist back again, but Silver manages to grab his arm. Silver and Gary were leaving the company building when Ash ran up and punched the spiky haired man.

"It's your fault!" Ash screams. Fortunately for the angry man, Gary and Silver were working late, so the parking lot is pretty empty. There's no one to witness the scene, although Silver is starting to hope a security guard comes out since he can't hold back this lean but strong man.

Gary stands up angrily and balls up a fist. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

"You guys had sex!" Ash won't cry. He's already done that a few weeks ago, so he won't do it again.

"Who?" The auburn haired man is confused about what his ex-friend is talking about.

"Leaf!" at the sound of his cousin's name, Silver releases the angry man and looks between the two. Leaf is not a common name, and she did live in Pallet Town, which is where Gary Oak is from. It never crossed his mind that his cousin would sleep with this playboy.

Gary laughs as he wipes the blood from his nose. "So she finally told you, huh?"

This causes Ash to punch him again, and Gary falls back to the ground. Silver is too deep in thought to defend his colleague again. "She has a kid, Gary! A 5 year old girl with your fucking eyes!"

"That doesn't mean she's mine." spats the man still on the ground clutching his jaw. Silver is now in disbelief as he thinks about everything being said. Gary had sex with his cousin, and Ava might be Gary's?

"Her middle name is Janet!" Ash punches Gary again. Why is his old friend denying this kid when he knows what Ash had to go through as a fatherless child? It pains the raven haired man so much. As for Silver, he now knows this conversation is definitely about his cousin and niece. How many women are named Leaf who have a 5 year old daughter named Ava Janet?

"It's just a name and an eye color, Ash!" Gary manages to stand up at this point while glaring at Ash.

"You know Leaf doesn't sleep around, Gary." his dangerous tone sends shivers down Gary's back.

Normally, Gary would fight Ash, but the brunette is smarter than to fight a man who's spent years training in the army. The auburn haired man runs a hand through his hair as he closes his eyes and sighs. He was on his way home for a hookup but now he finds out he may have a daughter and probably a broken nose. What a day it has been. "She never told me shit, Ash! If I was the dad, she would've said something!"

"Because you pushed her away first! You pushed us away!"

"Sorry I'm not fucking dedicated and honorable like you, Ketchum! I needed space, but she wouldn't give me that, so she got hurt!"

"Pop!" Gary stumbles back by the weaker punch as he glares at his co-worker.

"Watch what you say, dumbass." Silver hisses. He had to pick up a broken Leaf when she showed up at his apartment all those years ago. He was there while she tried to remain strong during her pregnancy all alone. He was there as she became a single mother to raise one of the brightest little girls in the world. How dare he allow this arrogant prick to talk about his family like that?

"Since when do you care, Silver?" After this past year, Gary has never known Silver to care about anything, especially other people's problems.

Silver chuckles angrily. "You're not even worth my time, Oak." the redhead then walks off to his car, which leaves Ash and Gary alone.

Ash continues glaring at the brunette before the military man leaves too. There's no point in trying to reason with Gary. Now that Gary knows about Ava, Ash can peacefully leave for his deployment. So what if Leaf doesn't want him to know? That's very selfish of both adults to have Ava suffer. The man holds back his tears as he remembers waiting for his father as a kid. He won't let another child suffer that kind of treatment, even if it means pissing off his ex-friends. Besides, he won't even be here anymore starting this weekend.

Silver's Apartment

Leaf is surprised to hear the door slam shut. Silver never does that, especially at this time when Ava is sleeping. As she opens her bedroom door to go check on him, he's already storming down the hall to her. She can tell by his face and demeanor that he is very pissed off. It scares her a little because she hasn't ever seen him this mad.

Before she can open her mouth to speak, he says, "Gary Oak."

Of course, Leaf is shocked, but she quickly tries to put on a confused face, although she is pretty sure she's not doing a good job of it. "That famous guy, right?"

"Bullshit, Leaf! You're both from Pallet Town!"

Still feigning innocence, she responds, "Yeah. We went to school together, but that's it."

"He's Ava's father, huh?" the way Silver asks this question almost sounds like poison to him.

Leaf can't help but look away. He's never questioned her about Ava's father, so why now? "What makes you say that?"

"Some guy named Ash Ketchum said it, and Gary didn't deny sleeping with you." She looks at Silver in confusion. Ash? Since when did Silver know Ash? She figured her cousin would know Gary since the two work together, but Ash? Silver doesn't even wait for her to respond, as he says, "Ash beat up Gary shouting things about how Ava looks just like Gary! How she has Gary's mom's name!"

"It was a long time ago, Silver!" Leaf exclaims. She can't lie to her cousin anymore. He's done too much for her and her daughter, and he deserves better than this. "It was a drunken night, Gary rejected me, and then I found out I was pregnant!" Her tear-filled green eyes look at him in pain. "I never told Gary, and I never planned to."

Seeing his cousin hurting calms Silver down as he sits on her bed. He runs a hand through his hair while he says, "What do you want to do now?"

She sits next to him and wipes her eyes. "What do you mean?"

"Gary knows, and with his money, I'm sure he'll be able to find you." Silver sighs. "If you want to run, I can pay to relocate you somewhere under my name."

Leaf hugs him and weakly smiles. "I won't run again, Silver." She says after taking a deep breath. "Now that he knows, we'll see what he does. He can be a part of her life if he wants, but I doubt he will."

"I'll beat him up then."

"No." she laughs at her overprotective cousin. "Gary and I already left each other years ago. Don't force him into something he doesn't want to do."

Silver groans defeatedly. "I don't think I can work with that asshole anymore. How about I just relocate us to a different branch?"

"Thanks, Silver, but if I can survive in this city, I know you can too. Plus, we don't want to take Ava away from Ethan." Leaf tells him, which makes him nod.

Yeah, he can't make his niece suffer due to his selfish reasons. She's already suffering enough from all the adults in her life. "Okay, Leaf."