Chapter 31

"Welcome back, Captain Ketchum." salutes a soldier.

Ash salutes him back. The recent battle resulted in a lot of lost men, and Ash was slightly injured. They had to retreat, despite the many casualties they already suffered. Ash isn't feeling too good after watching many of his men die under his lead.

He enters his tent to take a nap before writing his mother when he notices there are many envelopes on his bed. Usually, he'd get one at a time from his mom. He pans through each of them, which makes his eyes open wide at the names: Mom, Gary, Leaf, and Misty.

The man sniffles back a sob as he opens them. His mother just wishes him well and for him to come home. She says the usual things she says in all her letters while signing off that she loves him. Ash always spots the teardrops on her letters, which makes him shed some of his own. He hates how he's doing this to his mother after what she went through with his dad.

Next, he opens Leaf's envelope:

Hey Ash, I wish I could've said 'goodbye' before you left. I'm sorry for everything. I'm doing well, so I hope you are too. The other day I saw a teenager with long black hair, and he really looked like you from the back, but you're a lot bigger than you were back in high school, so I knew that wasn't you. Thank you for beating some sense into Gary. He's very involved in Ava's life and he's actually a good dad. I'll let you witness that for yourself when you come back. Remember that time we promised each other to be friends forever? Well, I'm sorry I broke that promise, but I promise you, Ash, when you come back, we will be friends. If you want. Just please come home safely, so I can properly introduce you to Ava. -Leafy

Ash smiles at Leaf's letter and more so at the picture of Leaf and Ava that's in the envelope. Although the letter seems awkward and uncertain, he can sense the sincerity in it. He'd love to be her friend again as well as spending time with little Ava. Ash then opens Gary's letter:

Ashy Boy, How are you going to beat me up and then go off to die? That's some weak shit right there. You better come back so I have a chance to redeem myself. But anyway, I want to thank you for beating some sense into me. I finally met Ava and I don't think I can ever leave her. I don't know how your dad could've left you, man. You're a good guy, so he's missing out. But trust me, Ash, I won't ever leave my daughter. You better come back and meet her! And let's ball when you come back. You, me, Leaf, and Ava. Oh, and Red if she wants to join us. Apparently she broke up with Rudy Ziggy, that famous basketball player. It was her idea to send you letters, so maybe you got a shot again. Smell ya later, Gary Motherfucking Oak

Ash laughs at the letter. It is totally something Gary would write. The soldier is glad Gary is being a father now, which makes him feel less guilty about punching Gary all those times almost a year ago. As for the basketball part, Ash isn't sure he can play anymore. He had quit because he needed Gary or Leaf, but now he doesn't have Misty. He can't play without everyone.

Misty. Ash sighs as he looks at the last unfolded letter. Gary says the letters were her idea, and she's single now? The soldier chuckles to himself. So what if she's single and wanted to write to him? He decides to just put the letter away since he's not ready for its contents, whatever they may be.

Gary's Apartment

"Happy Birthday, Ava!" the auburn haired man exclaims. The now 7 year old hugs her father tightly while Leaf snaps a picture. It has been over a year now since Gary came into Ava's life, and he really wanted to host her small birthday party. Only her family and the Kentas are there, but with Gary living in a penthouse, there's more space for everyone.

As everyone digs into the food, Gary sits next to Ava and Ethan. He has learned that the two are really good friends and they've grown up together. Leaf and Gary still barely speak, besides for the occasional texts about Ava. Leaf surprisingly sits down next to him, but he notices her keeping an eye on Ava.

"Mrs. K says Ash is okay." Gary mumbles. "He got grazed by a bullet in the arm, but he's okay."

Leaf gives a relieved nod. They only get updates from Ash every few months, and they still haven't gotten a response from his letters. It's not like they're expecting any responses, but Leaf thinks it'd be nice and reassuring.

"Ethan's my boyfriend!" Ava announces happily as the 8 year old boy blushes.

"It's a secret Ava!" He hisses.

All the adults except for Silver and Gary laugh. Gary gives a sharp look at his daughter, "You can't date until you're 30."

"That's not fair, daddy!" she pouts.

"Listen to your dad, Ava." Silver gruffly responds. Although Silver still isn't a fan of Gary, he does not approve of his young niece dating this early.

"What's wrong with my son, Silver?" Jimmy glares at the redhead.

"Guys, calm down." Marina tries to interject while holding her 2 year old daughter Crys.

Whitney sweatdrops, and Leaf sighs as she looks at the kids. "Go play in the other room, will you?" They give confused nods before they take their food into one of Gary's guest bedrooms.

"No! Silver, tell me what you think." Jimmy angrily questions the annoyed man.

"You're kid's just like you. Reckless. I don't need that in my niece's life."

"Well, I'm glad she isn't cold like you!"

Marina hands Crys to Leaf before smacking both men in the head. "You guys are damn near 30! And you argue worse than the kids!"

"Thank you, Marina!" Whitney exclaims, which earns her an annoyed look from her boyfriend.

"Whatever. All I'm saying is, any girl would be lucky to date Ethan." Jimmy says.

"Guys, they're 7 and 8. They're just being kids." Leaf sighs.

"That's how it starts, and then they really date and start popping babies before marriage." Silver replies knowingly, which makes Jimmy and Marina blush. "See. If Ethan is anything like his parents, which he is, that is his future."

Marina annoyedly glares at her friend. "Okay, Silver, the only reason it took you so long to find someone is because-"

"Wanna get out of here?" Gary whispers to Leaf. He cannot deal with all this bickering right now.

She nods before setting Crys down on the couch, "Gladly." and the two slip out to the balcony where they exhale relieved sighs. "Sorry, they can get like that." Leaf sweatdrops.

Gary chuckles nostalgically as he remembers those days. "It's okay. I get it."

"Same." She softly says.

They continue watching the cityview in silence. It's late spring now, so the weather is nicer. Eventually, Gary says, "Can I turn a room into her bedroom here?"

Leaf smiles as she puts her hands on the balcony rails beside him. "Sure. But she probably won't be sleeping over for a while."

"I know, but I just want her to have a place she can call hers here." The woman giggles, which makes Gary raise an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"I never thought I could see you as a dad." she says. "You were such an arrogant selfish playboy."

He rolls his eyes while returning his gaze to the city. "I wasn't totally selfish. I cared about you and Ash, and then Misty too."

"But then you left us." she quietly says.

He takes a deep breath as he's always known this conversation was going to happen. "Yeah. I did." When he doesn't say anything else, Leaf opens her mouth to say more, but Gary beats her to it. "It was my biggest mistake, you know? Pushing you guys away led to everything, my accident, losing you guys, and us sleeping together." He sighs sadly. "After spending all this time with Ava, I realized how much I messed up, Leaf. And I'm gonna try to fix some of my mistakes."

"That's nice, Gary." the woman says while looking back at the city. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Ava."

He chuckles. "I wouldn't have told me either, so it's okay." After a few more minutes of comfortable silence, Gary says, "Want to play basketball when Ash comes back?"

Leaf looks over at him and gives the man a warm smile. "I'd love to."

He grins back at her. "You can have Ash. I'll take Ava."

"Are you saying she's better than me?" teases the woman.

"C'mon, Greeny. We both know you're not competition." he playfully responds, but Leaf freezes. It's the first time he's ever called her by her nickname in 8 years. "Uh, are you okay, Leaf?" He worriedly waves a hand in front of her, which shakes her from her daze.

"Yeah. Let's go make sure no one has died in your living room." She blushes as she quickly heads back inside. The confused Gary doesn't know what he said to affect her like that, but he needs to go lecture his daughter about dating at a young age.

Ever since he started spending more time with her, Gary's playboy activities have ended. He wants to be someone his daughter is proud to call her dad. Plus, he feels less lonely now that she's in his life, which is the reason he was always hooking up with random women. Ava really reminds him of a young Leaf, so the man laughs a lot when he messes with her, like ruffling her hair.

Ava has his heart, and he will never disappoint her. He's already vowed to be the best father he can be. It doesn't matter if Oaks are terrible caretakers, because he is Gary first. And Gary doesn't deserve to be lonely. That's why he was given such great childhood friends that lasted until senior year of high school. But then he met Paul and Dawn in college, and now he has Ava. Gary has never felt lonely for too long in his life, so it must be a sign that he's not supposed to be alone.

When he sees Ava again, he scoops her up in his arms and kisses her cheeks. "Stop, daddy!" She giggles in his arms, but he won't stop. He's gonna show this little girl how much love he has for her.

"Nope! I'm the kissing monster!" he exclaims while continuing to kiss her face.

"Mommy! Help!" She laughs out towards the amused Leaf.

Unfortunately, Leaf walks over and says, "Hold on, Gary." which makes the man pause in confusion, but then Leaf plants kisses all over Ava's head since she doesn't want to kiss the areas Gary just did.

"Stop!" Ava giggles uncontrollably.

"Kissing monster!" Leaf bellows in a deep voice while her and Gary take turns furiously kissing the little girl.