Agirlwithgreatpotential: I will do, we'll talk soon. I promise :)
CBloom2: Thank you. Lily will always be my favourite to write about but I'm getting more into writing about Cal and Ethan as well :)
Chapter Three
Lily had finished the report for Connie and was spending the rest of the afternoon doing housework before having to go and pick up Ava from school. She'd gone to the shopping centre for a short while, bought a few new t-shirts and treated herself for lunch so altogether it had been a pretty okay day. She was in the middle of cleaning the counters in the kitchen when the doorbell rang.
"I'm coming!" She called and dropped the cloth, before hurrying over to the door. She opened it and there stood Cal and Matilda. "Cal," she said in surprise, her eyes diverting to the small girl at his side. "Oh...Oh my god, what...What are you doing here? Are you staying? Does Ethan know you're here? Have...Have you got a place to live?"
"I've come back to Holby," Cal sighed. "Yes. Yes and yes."
"Very funny," Lily scoffed and opened the door wider. "Come inside. Who um...Who's this?" She asked, fixing her attention on the young girl.
"Matilda," Cal introduced. "I know she was only a baby when you last saw her. Matilda, this is Ethan's wife, Lily."
"It's so nice to meet you," Matilda said sweetly.
"You too, princess," Lily giggled. "She's lovely Cal, you've raised her well. Did you want a drink, sweetheart? I have some of Ava's juice cartons." She then looked up at Cal, wondering if he knew about Ava.
"Don't worry," he said. "Ethan told me. Congratulations." He glanced around the kitchen and saw toys on the floor and badly drawn pictures stuck to the refrigerator. "It looks very homely."
"It's all I've ever wanted," Lily sighed, grabbing an orange juice for Matilda. "A house in the countryside, a husband, a great job and a child. I never thought that it would come true, not in a million years. I guess some people are just made to start later in life and I happened to be one of those people." She handed the drink to Matilda and said, "here you go."
"Thank you," Matilda thanked her, having a sip from the straw.
"Why don't you go and sit in the living room, princess?" Cal suggested. "I'm sure Lily won't mind if you put the TV on."
"No, not at all," Lily said. "Ava has some DVD's as well. I'm not sure if they'll be your sort of thing but you're welcome to look." Matilda nodded and made her way into the living room. "She's beautiful," Lily told Cal. "I bet she'll break a lot of hearts when she's older."
"She's a right little show-off as well," Cal chuckled. "She wants to be an actress when she's older. I was going to have a look round at local clubs, see if I can enrol her in any drama classes."
"Ava's going to be a doctor," Lily said. "I can tell. Ethan cut his finger the other day and she was looking after him and the blood didn't bother her one bit."
"Does she want to be a doctor or do you want her to be a doctor?" Cal asked. "She's five, Lily. Let her make her own career choice, besides she's too young to be thinking about that now."
"Don't tell me how to look after my own daughter," Lily said, leaning against the fridge with her arms crossed.
"She's my daughter too though," Cal told her. "Right?"
Lily hesitated and chewed her lip before asking, "what makes you say that?"
"Don't play dumb with me, Lily," Cal sighed. "Ethan told me that you fell pregnant shortly after I left. You can't honestly believe that she's Ethan's child."
"Of course she's Ethan's child," Lily argued. "I know who her dad is."
"Did you get a test done then?" Cal asked but Lily didn't say anything. "I thought so. You can't hide this from Ethan forever, it isn't fair on him."
"Well we can't tell him that we slept together, can we?" Lily shouted. "That was a one time thing Cal, can't you just forget about it and move on? You have Matilda now, you already have a daughter so leave Ava alone."
"Look, you couldn't even look after her properly within the first year of her life," Cal mentioned and Lily's eyes widened. "That's right. Ethan told me about your depression, about how you couldn't even look her in the eye let alone get out of bed in the morning."
"I was a first time mother," Lily defended. "Don't you dare hold that against me."
"If you love her you need to let her real father be in her life," Cal said.
"Ethan is her real father!" Lily replied. "You're her uncle, Cal. Do you even realise how inappropriate this is?" She paused with a sigh and said, "no of course you don't. But you can get out of my house right now!"
"Where is she?" Cal asked. "I'd like to see her."
"She's at school, you moron," Lily scoffed. "I don't want you near us, Ava belongs to Ethan. He's her dad."
"Do you still think about that night?" Cal asked her.
"No." Lily shook her head. "Because it meant nothing, we were both upset and it was a huge, stupid mistake. You're Ethan's brother and Ava's uncle and that is all you will ever be so just try and remember that, okay?"
None of them spoke for a second. "Was Ethan surprised to see you?" Lily asked.
"Yeah," Cal sighed. "Angry as well."
"Can you blame him?" Lily scoffed. "You just turned up like this and you expect him to be okay?" Cal gave a small shrug. "How old will Matilda be now?"
"She's seven," Cal whispered. "She doesn't act it though, instead she acts like she's fifteen. Makes me feel old."
"Where are you staying?" Lily asked.
"Only about ten minutes away from the ED," Cal said. "In a flat. It's quite small but it's cosy and big enough for the two of us. I'll be round though to see Ava, I need to see her."
"No you don't," Lily sighed. "I don't want you near my daughter. I know you think she belongs to you but she doesn't, I'm sorry but I have nothing else to say. You can go now."
Hope you liked the chapter :) x
