holby fan112: Thank you and I'm trying to get each character as believable as possible.
CBloom2: It would indeed, you'll soon find out though.
Chapter Four
Everything was very quiet at dinner time that evening. Ava seemed to be the only one who was making noise, Ethan was just eating his dinner and Lily's mind was set on Cal's visit earlier that day. Eventually, Ethan spoke and broke the silence.
"Ava, don't play with your food," he whispered, noticing that she was rolling one of her toy cars across a hill of pasta that she had created. "Good girl," she praised when she'd stopped and turned to look at his wife. "I um...I forgot to tell you, Cal's back."
"Is he?" Lily asked, pretending that she didn't know about it. "Um...How?"
"Wow," Ethan chuckled. "I was expecting more of a reaction from you. Yeah, he's back with Matilda and he says he's staying this time. He's in some flat near the ED."
"What's he doing back?" Lily asked, shovelling a spoonful of pasta into her mouth.
Ethan shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure," he sighed. "He's missed out on so much of my life and after my diagnosis as well, I...I can't help but feel angry at him."
"That's understandable," Lily whispered. "Um...I spoke to Miss Bailey today. She says that we need to work on Ava's R-E-A-D-I-N-G skills."
"And you think that by spelling it, she won't understand what you're saying," Ethan said. "She's brighter than you think."
"We need to do something," Lily hissed. "I don't want her to get to the end of her primary school years without being able to read a bloody Harry Potter book!"
"Don't swear in front of her," Ethan said. "Kids pick things up. We'll help her, okay? Kids struggle with things, I struggled with P.E as a child. Ava obviously struggles with English."
"That's because you're extremely uncoordinated," Lily pointed out. "I just don't want her to be bullied because she can't read."
"She might be dyslexic," Ethan said. "In my opinion, schools put too much pressure on kids these days. It's all about exams and studying, why can't they just sit back and let kids be kids?"
"Mummy, can I...I...Ask you a question..." Ava stuttered out quietly, as she stopped eating.
"Of course, sweetheart," Lily said. "What's on your mind?"
"I'm worried...I'm worried about bullying," she whispered.
"Why are you worried about bullying?" Lily asked and had a small sip of her drink. "Has somebody been mean to you?" She turned to Ethan and mouthed a small 'see what I mean' at him. "What's wrong, darling? Talk to mummy."
"At...At school today, I...I hit Mason with a barbie doll," Ava said.
"Oh?" Lily raised an eyebrow. "You're worried that you're a bully? Well, you know it isn't nice to hit people Ava. Why did you do it?"
"He...He took my chocolate biscuit," Ava said.
"Well, you still shouldn't have hit him," Lily said. "You should have told a teacher or asked him to give it back."
"I did ask him to give it back!" Ava squealed. "But he didn't."
"Well, like mummy said," Ethan put in. "You should have told a teacher. It's just a chocolate biscuit, darling."
"But they are my favourite biscuits, it's always my once a day treat," Ava said, sticking her thumb into her mouth. "Mummy gives me one once a day but I can't have one once a day if Mason always steals them."
"Well, how about I give you one after dinner?" Lily asked and tapped her on the nose. "And I will talk to Miss Bailey about Mason tomorrow. I don't ever want you to hit him again though, okay? It isn't polite."
"Okay, mummy," Ava said. "I'm done with my food now."
"What do you say then?" Ethan asked, narrowing his eyebrows at her.
"Thank you," Ava said.
"Good girl," Lily said, ruffling her hair and giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Ice-Cream? Then I'll give you a biscuit."
"She's going to be sick, Lily," Ethan laughed. "How about just the biscuit? We can open the ice-cream tomorrow."
"I just want her to know that we love her," Lily said, kissing Ava on the head and tucking her hair behind her ears.
"She knows," Ethan whispered. "She doesn't need us to fatten her up with food to know that, don't worry."
"Can I get down please?" Ava whispered.
"Course you can," Lily said and Ava jumped down from her chair. Lily sighed and leaned back in her chair, having a small sip of her drink. "Um...So Cal came round today," she eventually decided to tell Ethan.
"What?" Ethan asked. "Why didn't you tell me, Lily?"
"I don't know," she whispered and gave a small shrug. "He...He mentioned my depression, why did you tell him?"
"I'm sorry," Ethan apologised. "But he asked about Ava and said that we must have been over the moon, it...It slipped out. I didn't think it was that much of a big deal, you're better now and you've come such a long way. He shouldn't have mentioned it to you though, I'll have a word with him about it. You know, I thought you were quiet when I got home."
"I've just been thinking about it, that's all," Lily said. "I feel like I've missed out on so much of Ava's life."
"She loves you," Ethan said. "And you haven't missed out, okay?" Lily nodded, smiling as Ethan walked over and kissed her cheek. "I'll wash up, yeah? Go and play with Ava and watch Dora or something."
"Can't we say that Dora's been cancelled or something?" Lily whined, throwing her head back.
"I don't think that would work somehow," Ethan chuckled. "Go on."
"Don't forget her chocolate biscuit," Lily said. "You can bring it through when you've finished the washing up."
"I won't."
Lily stood up and made her way into the living room. Ava was on the floor by her dolls house, playing whilst making the dolls talk to each other. Lily knew that if she turned the TV on, she'd immediately start talking about Dora so instead, she knelt down on the floor beside her.
"Can I play, sweetheart?" She asked.
"Yes," Ava said and handed a doll to Lily. "This is Lucy, she...She is a queen in a posh house and this is her doggy Barney," she said and held up a plastic dog. "Lucy doesn't work because...Because she has a very, very rich husband. Like daddy!"
"Oh sweetheart," Lily said, looking at the doll in her hand. "Lucy needs a job, she can't just sit at home and let her husband earn all the money. She needs to be independent and work for herself, not let the man control her life. Mummy works, doesn't she?"
"Yes," Ava said. "Can...Can I come to yours and daddy's work one day?"
"The hospital isn't really a place for children, darling," Lily said. "But I'll talk to my boss, okay? Do you think you'd like to help people when you're older, like mummy and daddy?"
"I don't know," Ava said, placing one of her dolls in the house. "Maybe. I like drawing too."
"Oh you're very good at drawing," Lily praised. "I always like your pictures, don't I?" Ava nodded, as she continued playing.
"Washing up is done," Ethan said, walking into the living room. He crouched down beside his daughter and handed her a chocolate biscuit. "Here you go, angel. Your special chocolate biscuit."
"Thank you daddy," Ava said, biting into the biscuit.
"Are you okay?" Ethan asked his wife.
"Yeah," Lily said, looking down at the doll in her hands before looking back to her playing daughter. "Are you happy?" She asked Ethan.
"Yeah," Ethan sighed and smiled at the sight in front of him. "Are you?"
"Yeah," Lily said. "I am now."
